Court Opinion

ID: 9588427
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:34:22.546081+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:01.127672
License: Public Domain

Judge Greene
concurring.
While I agree with the majority in almost every respect, I cannot join in the majority’s statement that “[a]t common law, the court could not find Amanda Croom, age six, guilty beyond a reasonable doubt because a juvenile under age seven could not be charged with, found guilty of and punished for a criminal offense, because of the irrebuttable presumption that she was doli in-capax." As Amanda Croom was six years old and thus irrebut-tably presumed incapable of criminal intent, I agree that she could not be punished for a criminal offense. Given the definition of a “delinquent juvenile” as one “less than 16 years of age who has committed a crime . . .,” N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 7A-517G2) (1986) *351(emphasis added), the majority’s dictum implies that the common law presumption of criminal incapacity precludes the juvenile court from adjudicating the delinquency of certain juveniles.
Any such implication by the majority is clearly erroneous. The common law presumption only shields a child from indictment and punishment for criminal offenses. An adjudication of delinquency does not arise from a criminal indictment. Disposition in a juvenile case is not punishment since the purpose of such disposition is “to design an appropriate plan to meet the needs of the juvenile.” N.C. Gen. Stat. Sec. 7A-646 (1986). While the six-year-old in the instant case had an absolute defense to criminal prosecution, she could nevertheless be adjudicated delinquent in a juvenile proceeding. While the common law presumption limits the capacity of children to commit a criminal act, the legislature has determined in the Juvenile Code that a “criminal” act is a “delinquent” act when committed by a child between the ages of six through fifteen. In short, the Juvenile Code transforms the nature of the act itself.
Our courts have consistently held an adjudication of delinquency is not synonymous with determination of criminal guilt. In State v. Burnett, 179 N.C. 735, 740, 102 S.E. 711, 713 (1920), our Supreme Court stated “that in causes investigated and determined by the juvenile court, ... [a child shall not] be denominated a criminal by reason of such adjudication, nor shall adjudication be denominated a conviction . . . .” In In re Drakeford, 32 N.C. App. 113, 115, 230 S.E. 2d 779, 780 (1977), this Court more recently reaffirmed its decisions that a juvenile proceeding is not a criminal prosecution and a finding of delinquency is not a criminal conviction. Therefore, while Amanda Croom’s legal disability may have shielded her from criminal prosecution, her youth did not divest the juvenile court of jurisdiction to adjudicate her delinquency. On the contrary, her youth was the basis of the juvenile court’s jurisdiction.
Accordingly, the implication of the majority’s dictum erroneously limits the juvenile court’s jurisdiction over cases involving children. However, as I agree that the lower court did not comply with the relevant juvenile statutes, I join with the majority in vacating the adjudicatory and dispositional orders and arresting the judgments.