Court Opinion

ID: 9523745
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:46:26.327038+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:07:32.402770
License: Public Domain

L. P. Borrello, J.
(concurring). While I concur in the result, I would affirmatively hold that due process mandates the application of the insanity defense to proceedings in juvenile court. The majority does not address this issue directly; however, the majority correctly points out that in this case, irrespective of what the probate judge held, the respondent did present evidence regarding his sanity, argued the question, and received a ruling. Thus the respondent was not deprived of his due process defense. Despite the fact that in this case there was no violation of respondent’s due process rights, I believe this Court should go on record that in Michigan the insanity defense is applicable to proceedings in juvenile court.
The defense of insanity has long been a part of the common law of this state. People v Girard, 96 Mich App 594, 597; 293 NW2d 639 (1980). Support for the conclusion that due process mandates the application of the insanity defense in juvenile proceedings can be found in decisions of the United States Supreme Court.
In In re Gault, 387 US 1; 87 S Ct 1428; 18 L Ed 2d 527 (1967), the United States Supreme Court *297found that "[t]he essential difference between Gerald’s case (the juvenile involved) and a normal criminal case is that safeguards available to adults were discarded in Gerald’s case. The summary procedure as well as the long commitment was possible because Gerald was 15 years of age instead of over 18.” Id. at 29. The Court then stated:
A proceeding where the issue is whether the child will be found to be "delinquent” and subjected to the loss of his liberty for years is comparable in seriousness to a felony prosecution. The juvenile needs the assistance of counsel to cope with problems of law, to make skilled inquiry into the facts, to insist upon regularity of the proceedings, and to ascertain whether he has a defense and to prepare and submit it. [Id. at 36.]
Three years after Gault, the United States Supreme Court decided In re Winship, 397 US 358; 90 S Ct 1068; 25 L Ed 2d 368 (1970). The Court held:
In sum, the constitutional safeguard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt is as much required during the adjudicatory stage of a delinquency proceeding as are those constitutional safeguards applied in Gault — notice of charges, right to counsel, the rights of confrontation and examination, and the privilege against self-incrimination. We therefore hold, in agreement with Chief Judge Fuld in dissent in the Court of Appeals, "that, where a 12-year-old child is charged with an act of stealing which renders him liable to confinement for as long as six years, then, as a matter of due process . . . the case against him must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” 24 NY2d at 207; 247 NE2d at 260. [Id. at 368.]
Decisions of this Court indicate that procedural questions for juveniles are determined by analogy *298to procedures for adults. In In the Matter of Sylvester Wilson, 113 Mich App 113; 317 NW2d 309 (1982), lv den 419 Mich 870 (1984), the question before the Court was whether, at the adjudicative phase, the juvenile court may accept, over the prosecutor’s objection, a valid plea in confession to a lesser included offense to the offense charged in the petition. Id. at 120. This Court found that the holding in Genesee Prosecutor v Genesee Circuit Judge, 391 Mich 115; 215 NW2d 145 (1974), i.e., that a circuit judge does not possess supervisory power over the prosecutor, applied to juvenile proceedings. Wilson, supra at 121. This Court stated:
We believe this holding is applicable to the present case. Juvenile delinquency proceedings are not criminal or adversary in nature. MCL 712A.1; MSA 27.3178(598.1), JCR 1969, 1.3. Nonetheless, the procedures for invoking juvenile court jurisdiction in cases where a child is alleged to have committed a criminal act are closely analogous to the adversary criminal process. It is the prosecutor who generally initiates the formal proceeding by filing a petition. See JCR 1969, 4.1, MCL 764.27; MSA 28.886. Proper notice to the affected parties is required. MCL 712A.12; MSA 27.3178(598.12), JCR 1969, 7.2. In cases where the child is taken into custody and not released to his parents or guardian, there must be a preliminary hearing within 48 hours. JCR 1969, 4.2. At the preliminary hearing, the court must, inter alia, read to the child the allegations in the complaint or petition and explain the nature of the proceeding. JCR 1969, 4.2(B)(3)-(5). Functionally speaking, the procedure at the preliminary hearing corresponds closely to the initial arraignment in the instance of an adult offender.
Where a request for waiver of juvenile court jurisdiction is filed, the court must conduct a hearing to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that the child committed the acts *299charged in the petition. MCL 712A.4(3); MSA 27.3178(598.4X3), JCR 1969, 11.1(A). If the waiver request is denied, the matter proceeds to the adjudicative phase, at which the child has a right to a jury trial. JCR 1969, 8.1(A). The rules of evidence for a criminal proceeding and the standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt apply. JCR 1969, 8.3(A). With the exception of the right to a public trial, the usual protections accorded adults in criminal prosecutions govern delinquency proceedings.
After a careful review of the statutes and court rules, we are convinced that, for purposes of deciding the issue at bar, the respective roles of the prosecutor and the court are functionally equivalent to adult criminal prosecutions. The juvenile court does not possess supervisory power over the prosecutor. Accordingly, we hold that the juvenile court may not, without the prosecutor’s concurrence, accept a plea in confession to a lesser included offense to the offense charged in the petition. The people, represented by the prosecutor, are entitled to a determination of juvenile court jurisdiction based on the acts charged in the petition. [Id. at 121-123.]
Similarly, in In the Matter of Chapel, 134 Mich App 308, 314; 350 NW2d 871 (1984), a case of first impression, this Court found that People v Coles, 417 Mich 523; 339 NW2d 440 (1983), the case which "sets a standard for sentence review,” applies to juvenile criminal matters because "nothing in Coles exempts any court where the power to sentence exists.” In In the Matter of Belcher, 143 Mich App 68; 371 NW2d 474 (1985), lv den 424 Mich 863 (1985), the question was whether due process prohibits revocation of a juvenile’s probation unless a violation of a condition of probation is proven beyond a reasonable doubt rather than by a preponderance of the evidence. This Court noted:
*300Although proceedings in juvenile court need not conform with all the requirements of a criminal trial, essential requirements of due process and fair treatment must be met. In re Gault, 387 US 1, 30-31; 87 S Ct 1428; 18 L Ed 2d 527 (1967). Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is an essential requirement of due process and fair treatment in the adjudicative phase of a proceeding in which a juvenile is charged with an act which would be a crime if committed by an adult and faces possible confinement in a state institution. In re Winship, 397 US 358; 90 S Ct 1068; 25 L Ed 2d 368 (1970). [Belcher, supra at 71.]
This Court then cited Gagnon v Scarpelli, 411 US 778; 93 S Ct 1756; 36 L Ed 2d 656 (1973), wherein the Court stated that a probationer was not entitled to all the protections of a criminal trial because he had already been convicted of the crime. Belcher, supra at 71. This Court stated that in Michigan the standard of proof in adult probation revocation proceedings is proof by a preponderance of the evidence and there was no reason to impose a higher burden of proof in juvenile revocation proceedings, the status of a juvenile probationer being analogous to that of an adult probationer. Id. at 71-72.
MCR 5.922, effective January 1, 1988, states in pertinent part:
(B) Notice of Defenses; Rebuttal.
(1) Within 21 days after the juvenile has been given notice of the date of trial, but no later than 7 days before the trial date, the juvenile or the juvenile’s attorney must file a written notice with the court and prosecuting attorney of the intent to rely on a defense of alibi, insanity, or diminished capacity, or a defense of mental illness negating an element of the alleged offense. The notice shall include a list of the names and addresses of defense witnesses.
*301(2) Within 7 days after receipt of notice, but no later than 2 days before the trial date, the prosecutor shall provide written notice to the court and defense of an intent to offer rebuttal to the above-listed defenses. The notice shall include names and addresses of rebuttal witnesses.
(3) Failure to comply with subrules (1) and (2) may result in the sanctions set forth in MCL 768.21; MSA 28.1044. [Emphasis added.]
I would hold that the insanity defense is applicable to juvenile proceedings.