People v. Maurice E.
People v. Maurice E.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion
Maurice E. appeals from an order of the juvenile court in proceedings under Welfare and Institutions Code
Background
On October 1, 2004, a petition was filed alleging that on September 29, 2004, Maurice committed attempted second degree robbery. (Pen. Code, §§ 211, 212.5, subd. (c), 664.) Maurice was taken into custody on September 29, and on October 4 was ordered detained for not more than 15 judicial days. The jurisdictional hearing commenced on October 19, when the victim testified. The victim was able to identify two of the boys who had attacked him, but did not identify Maurice. After the victim’s testimony, the court stated, “Let’s then discuss what we’re going to do next. You have two to three witnesses, Mr. Jhin [the prosecutor]; is that right?” The prosecutor responded, “That’s correct” and the court added, “And pursuant to our discussions, you released the two officers; is that right?” The prosecutor stated that one officer was available to testify the following day, but that another was not. The prosecutor stated, “Detective Sappal is unavailable tomorrow due to the fact that his wife just had a baby in the past couple of days, and he is watching the baby. He found alternate child care for today
Discussion
Maurice contends that the juvenile court violated his statutory right to a jurisdictional hearing within 15 judicial days of his detention order and argues that the error requires reversal. Section 657, subdivision (a)(1) provides that “[i]n the case of a minor detained in custody at the time of the filing of the petition, the petition must be set for hearing within 15 judicial days from the date of the order of the court directing such detention.” California Rules of Court, rule 1485(b)
A jurisdictional hearing may be continued “only upon a showing of good cause and only for that period of time shown to be necessary.” (§ 682, subd. (b); see rule 1486(a).) Rule 1486 is entitled “Grounds for continuance of jurisdiction hearing.” Subdivision (a) of that rule provides, in accordance with section 682, subdivision (a), that “A continuance shall be granted only on a showing of good cause and only for the time shown to be necessary.” That subdivision concludes, “Absent a waiver of time, a child may not be detained beyond the statutory time limits.” Subdivisions (b), (c) and (d) of the rule provide specific grounds for which a court may or must continue a jurisdiction hearing: to allow the minor to prepare for the hearing; to allow the petitioner to subpoena witnesses where the minor has made an admission and then denies it or indicated an intent to admit the allegations and then denies them; or the minor and parent consent.
Maurice argues that the jurisdictional hearing was continued beyond the 15-day limitation, so that the subsequent orders must be reversed and the
At least four questions are presented, however, with respect to Maurice’s challenge to the second continuance. Initially, there are two questions not addressed in the briefs of either party. Since the hearing was timely commenced on October 19, it would be plausible to read the statute and the rule as satisfied, regardless of whether there was good cause for delaying the completion of the hearing to October 25, which was the 16th judicial day after October 4. Section 657 provides only that the petition must be “set for hearing” within the 15-day period, and rule 1485(b) requires only that the jurisdictional hearing “begin” within 15 court days. “If the jurisdictional hearing is not commenced within 15 days and the 15-day period is not tolled for the minor’s failure to appear, the minor is entitled to be released from custody. [Citation.] If the minor is released, the petition may be reset for hearing within the time prescribed for cases of nondetained minors. [Citations.] [][] If the jurisdictional hearing is not commenced and the minor is not released at the expiration of the 15-day period, the petition must be dismissed, unless the hearing is continued pursuant to [current rule I486].” (In re Edwayne V. (1987) 197 Cal.App.3d 171, 174 [242 Cal.Rptr. 748], italics added.) Clearly these provisions do not require that the jurisdictional hearing be completed within 15 days of the detention order. Hearings begun within the 15 day period undoubtedly may proceed from day to day until completed without fear of violating this time limit. Nonetheless, that is not what occurred here. The three-judicial-day interruption of the hearing to await an absent witness might well be characterized as a continuance which is permissible only if authorized by section 682, subdivision (b) and rule 1486. (Cf. Jeff M. v. Superior Court (1997) 56 Cal.App.4th 1238, 1243 [66 Cal.Rptr.2d 343] [“Accordingly, we order the juvenile court to conduct trial every court day, all day, without further continuances in the absence of good cause, until trial is concluded and the matter is fully adjudicated”].) Since the parties have not addressed this question, we shall not base our decision upon
The second issue not addressed by the parties is that rule 1486 unequivocally provides that the minor may not be detained beyond the 15-day limit absent a time waiver by the minor. No such waiver appears in the record. However, Maurice does not refer to or base his argument upon this provision limiting the period of detention. His argument is that the court was not authorized to continue the hearing, not that he was detained longer than permitted. Since Maurice failed to seek immediate writ relief from his extended detention, as he might have done (see A.A. v. Superior Court (2003) 115 Cal.App.4th 1, 7 [9 Cal.Rptr.3d 1]), the propriety of having kept Maurice at juvenile hall until October 25 is now moot.
Assuming that the October 20 order continuing the hearing to October 25 was permissible only if authorized by section 682 and rule 1486, the parties disagree about the proper interpretation of these provisions. As noted, ante, both provide that a continuance “shall be granted only on a showing of good cause and only for the time shown to be necessary.”
Unlike the statute as it read when In re Edwayne V, supra, 197 Cal.App.3d was decided, section 682 and the corresponding rule of court now explicitly use the term “good cause” as the necessary predicate for a continuance.
Finally, even if the court should not have continued the trial until October 25, Maurice’s objection to the continuance was insufficient to require a reversal of the subsequent order establishing jurisdiction. Unlike the situation in In re Edwayne V., supra, 197 Cal.App.3d 171, Maurice did not move to dismiss the petition. (See also A.A. v. Superior Court, supra, 115 Cal.App.4th at p. 6, fn. 9.) The situation is analogous to that which may arise under Penal Code section 1382, which entitles a criminal defendant to a trial within 60 days of the filing of the charging document. That section, “which supplements the basic constitutional right [to a speedy trial], establishes a protective procedure. It provides that a court ‘shall order the action to be dismissed’ where, among other things, the defendant is not brought to trial within 60 days after indictment or information, unless good cause is shown or the defendant waives time or consents to trial at a later date. ([Pen. Code,] § 1382, subd. (a).) However, notwithstanding this mandatory language, courts do not have a sua sponte duty to dismiss an action. [Citation.] Rather,. . . consent to a trial beyond the prescribed time limit will be presumed where a defendant fails to take the necessary procedural steps of making a timely objection and thereafter moving to dismiss the action before trial commences. [Citations.] Consequently, a violation of [Penal Code] section 1382 may not be raised for the first time either on appeal or in a posttrial petition for writ of habeas corpus if the defendant, who was represented by counsel, failed to object to the trial date and make a timely motion to dismiss after the applicable period expired. . . . [Requiring an objection and motion to dismiss prevents a defendant from sitting idly before and during trial and then raising a complaint after being convicted. On the other hand, requiring a timely objection and motion to dismiss is consistent with the general requirement
The same reasoning applies here. If Maurice had timely moved to dismiss the petition, the juvenile court, if it found the motion meritorious, could have dismissed the petition without prejudice to refiling under rule 1485(d). That rule provides that “Absent a continuance under rule 1486, when a jurisdiction hearing is not begun within [15 judicial days, when the minor is in custody], the court shall order the petition dismissed. This shall not bar the filing of another petition based on the same allegations as in the original petition, but the child shall not be detained.” Having failed to move for dismissal in a timely manner, the objection is waived.
Disposition
The judgment is affirmed.
McGuiness, R J., and Parrilli, J., concurred.
A petition for a rehearing was denied September 19, 2005, and appellant’s petition for review by the Supreme Court was denied December 14, 2005.
Further statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code unless otherwise indicated.
All rale references are to the California Rules of Court.
Section 682, subdivision (b) reads in full: “A continuance shall be granted only upon a showing of good cause and only for that period of time shown to be necessary by the moving party at the hearing on the motion. Neither stipulation of the parties nor convenience of the parties is, in and of itself, good cause. Whenever any continuance is granted, the facts which require the continuance shall be entered into the minutes.”
At oral argument, counsel for Maurice suggested that the court was not justified in finding good cause based only on the representations of counsel concerning the need for the postponement and without receiving competent evidence to establish the underlying facts. The court was well within its authority to rely on the representations of the prosecutor, however, particularly since no objection was made on this basis nor was any question raised as to the reliability of the information the prosecutor provided. (See, e.g., Stroud v. Superior Court (2000) 23 Cal.4th 952, 964, fn. 5 [98 Cal.Rptr.2d 677, 4 P.3d 933] [where magistrate recessed preliminary hearing to attend a judicial conference which defendants argued violated the
When Edwayne V. was decided, section 682 provided: “(a) Upon request of counsel for the minor, the court may continue any hearing under this chapter beyond the time limit within which the hearing is otherwise required to be held, H] (b) In any case in which the minor is represented by counsel and no objection is made to an order continuing any such hearing beyond the time limit within which the hearing is otherwise required to be held, the absence of such an objection shall be deemed a consent to the continuance.” (Former § 682, added by Stats. 1971, ch. 698, § 3, p. 1356.)
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.