People v. W.R. (In re W.R.)
People v. W.R. (In re W.R.)
Opinion of the Court
*286In this case, originally filed as In re W.R. (2017)
On February 14, 2018, the California Supreme Court granted W.R.'s petition for review and remanded the matter to this court with directions to vacate our decision and reconsider the cause in light of Assembly Bill No. 529 (Stats. 2017, ch. 685, § 1.5, p. 5132.) That legislation amended section 786, subdivision (e), effective January 1, 2018. We invited the parties to submit supplemental briefs on the application of the amendment to this case. Having considered the parties' briefs, we conclude amended section 786, subdivision (e) requires the sealing of all the minor's petitions at issue in this case.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
A. Original San Mateo County Petition No. 82358.
"On January 15, 2013, the San Mateo County District Attorney filed an original *361wardship petition under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 *287charging appellant with possession of a dirk or dagger ( Pen. Code, § 21310, count 1), battery ( Pen. Code, § 242, count 2), and resisting arrest ( Pen. Code, § 148, subd. (a)(1), count 3). At his jurisdictional hearing, appellant admitted a violation of count 1, with the remaining counts dismissed. At his disposition hearing, the court found minor a ward of the court and removed custody from his parents but ordered him to reside with his mother under the supervision of the Family Preservation Program." ( In re W.R. , supra , A144659/A145118, at p. *2.)
B. Second San Mateo County Petition No. 82358.
"On July 24, 2013, the San Mateo District Attorney filed a second wardship petition accusing appellant of vandalism ( Pen. Code, § 594, subd. (b)(2)(A) ). The minor admitted the charge on August 14, 2013. Minor's supervision under the Family Preservation Program was extended and he was detained at the Youth Services Center for 24 consecutive days." ( In re W.R. , supra , A144659/A145118, at p. *2.)
C. Probation Violation Petitions in San Mateo County No. 82358.
"The probation officer filed a notice of probation violation against appellant under ... section 777, subdivision (a) on December 19, 2013. The petition alleged minor failed to attend the Community Care Program, was truant in school attendance, failed to observe curfew, and tested positive for marijuana. The minor admitted the truancy violation and the court dismissed the remaining allegations. As a result of the violation, the court ordered 30 consecutive days of detention.
"On March 5, 2014, the juvenile probation department filed a new notice of probation violation. The notice alleged continued truancy, failure to attend Community Care Program, failure to follow his curfew restrictions, and positive tests for marijuana use. The minor admitted to truancy and the remaining contentions were dismissed. He was ordered detained for 45 consecutive days and the court terminated the original condition placing the minor in the Family Preservation Program. On April 17, 2014, the court permitted the minor to reside with his father at his home, as well as with his mother at her residence, after the probation officer agreed with the recommendation.
*288"The San Mateo Superior Court ordered the minor's case transferred to San Francisco on April 28, 2014. San Francisco County did not accept the transfer and the case went back to San Mateo County on May 19, 2014." ( In re W.R. , supra , A144659/A145118, at pp. *2-*3.)
D. Third Petition Filed in San Francisco County No. JW14-6119.
"On September 5, 2014, the San Francisco District Attorney filed a third wardship petition charging appellant with robbery ( Pen. Code, § 211, count 1), assault by force likely to cause great bodily injury ( Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(4), count 2), and false personation ( Pen. Code, § 148.9, subd. (a), count 3). After a contested jurisdiction *362hearing, the trial court found the allegations not true and returned the case back to San Mateo County on October 1, 2014." ( In re W.R. , supra , A144659/A145118, at p. *3.)
E. Fourth and Fifth Petitions Filed in San Mateo County No. 82358.
"A fourth wardship petition was filed on October 3, 2014, alleging false personation ( Pen. Code, 148.9, subd. (a) ), possession of vandalism tools ( Pen. Code, § 594.2, subd. (a) ) and possession of cigarettes ( Pen. Code, § 308, subd. (b) ). A fifth wardship petition was filed in the same county on October 9, 2014, for possession of a controlled substance ( Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a) ) and resisting arrest ( Pen. Code, § 148, subd. (a)(1) ). On October 24, 2014, the minor admitted the possession charge in the fifth petition and the remaining allegations were dismissed." ( In re W.R. , supra , A144659/A145118, p. *3.)
F. Sixth Petition Filed in San Mateo County No. 82358 and Transferred to San Francisco County for Disposition.
"A new petition was filed on December 9, 2014. It alleged vandalism ( Pen. Code, § 594, subd. (d)(2) ). The minor admitted the charge at the initial hearing on December 15, 2014. The San Mateo court transferred the case to San Francisco and San Francisco accepted the transfer. On January 23, 2015, the court continued the minor as a ward but ordered out-of-home placement. Appellant filed a timely appeal." ( In re W.R. , supra , A144659/A145118, at pp. *3-*4.) All six petitions were transferred to San Francisco under case No. JW14-6119.
G. Denial of Motion to Modify Disposition.
"On April 20, 2015, the minor moved to modify the order imposing out-of-home placement. He alleged changed circumstances pursuant to ... section 778. The court denied his motion on April 30, 2015. The minor filed a timely appeal." ( In re W.R. , supra , A144659/A145118, at p. *4.) The two appeals, case *289Nos. A144659 and A145118, were consolidated. ( In re W.R. , at p. *1, fn. 1.) This court affirmed the juvenile court's orders on January 6, 2016. ( In re W.R. , at p. *4-*5.)
H. Seventh Petition Filed in San Francisco County No. JW14-6119.
On October 6, 2015, while the minor was in custody in San Francisco's juvenile hall awaiting placement, the San Francisco County District Attorney filed a wardship petition charging the minor, age 16, with assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, a felony. ( Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(4).) The court found minor not competent to stand trial and suspended proceedings on December 4, 2015.
On February 8, 2016, the San Francisco County juvenile court ordered minor placed at Summit Academy in Pennsylvania.
*363I. Motion to Dismiss Petitions.
On November 17, 2016, minor filed a motion in San Francisco County juvenile court to seal his juvenile court records. ( § 786.) At a hearing on November 21, 2016, minor's counsel made an oral motion to dismiss minor's October 6, 2015 petition pursuant to section 782. Regarding "the pending petitions," the deputy district attorney argued for unsuccessful termination of probation. With respect to the section 782 dismissal, she had no opinion and submitted the matter.
The court observed that minor was "doing really well" and "working really hard," was "testing clean," had "really improved" his attendance and behavior at school, and was participating with the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice Case Management and Wraparound Services. With respect to the motion to seal records under section 786, the court terminated the misdemeanor probation terms satisfactorily, "given how well you've been doing since being released on home detention and given that you did complete a program, you have your difficulty with the program, for sure. But you weren't *290kicked out of the program and the program indicated that there was improvement over the period of the program." The court also granted the motion to dismiss under section 782 "the single felony count that you picked up while you were in custody here." The court deferred ruling on the minor's motion to seal his juvenile records.
At a hearing on January 4, 2017, the district attorney argued that section 786 did not authorize the sealing of minor's records pertaining to the October 2015 petition because "the plain reading of the statute indicates that the minor has to ... have successfully or satisfactorily completed probation, 602 probation or have been on 725 probation, or have been on a grant of informal probation. [¶] ... [H]e was only on probation for the cases where he was competent. So this case does not fall under 786 just by the plain reading because he was never on 602 probation, or 725, or 654. So I don't believe that just by the plain reading of the statute that a 786 should be granted for the petition." Minor's counsel argued that nothing in section 786 precluded the court from granting record sealing because minor did, in fact, successfully complete probation for all the petitions included in his unitary juvenile case file when he completed the program in Pennsylvania while he was incompetent to stand trial on the 2015 petition, and it "just doesn't seem equitable" not to include it.
The juvenile court granted minor's request under section 786 to seal his records from the "petitions dated 1/15/13, 7/24/13, 12/19/13, 3/5/14, 10/9/14 and 12/9/14." The court did not mention, or dismiss, or seal the records pertaining to the petition filed in San Francisco on September 5, 2014, which was not sustained, or the petition filed in San Mateo County on October 3, 2014, which was dismissed as part of a negotiated disposition with the petition filed in that county on October 9, 2014. The court declined to seal the records pertaining to the October 2015 petition, which it had dismissed pursuant to section 782. The court stated: "I agree with the district attorney that whether it's a position that this court can infer is certainly not clear by the statute. It's silent on this type of dismissal. And given that it's not silent on different-other types of probation, the court is not going to guess that a 782 falls within this." This appeal follows.
DISCUSSION
As relevant here, Assembly Bill No. 529 added a new subdivision (e) to section 786, which provides in pertinent part: "If a person who has been alleged to *364be a ward of the juvenile court has his or her petition dismissed by the court, whether on the motion of the prosecution or on the court's own motion, or if the petition is not sustained by the court after an adjudication hearing, the court shall order sealed all records pertaining to *291the dismissed petition in the custody of the juvenile court, and in the custody of law enforcement agencies, the probation department, or the Department of Justice."
The parties agree that if the amended statute applies, the minor is entitled to all the relief he seeks. The petition filed in San Francisco County on September 5, 2014, was not sustained by the court after an adjudication hearing; under the current version of section 786, subdivision (e), the records pertaining to that petition must be sealed. The petition filed in San Mateo *292County on October 3, 2014, was dismissed by the court on the prosecution's motion as part of a negotiated disposition; the records pertaining to this petition must also be sealed. Finally, the petition filed in San *365Francisco County on October 6, 2015, was dismissed by the court in the interests of justice, after the minor was found incompetent to stand trial and not likely to become competent in the foreseeable future. Thus, section 786, subdivision (e) requires the sealing of records pertaining to that petition as well.
W.R.'s petition to seal his juvenile records was denied in January 2017, before new section 786 took effect. W.R. timely appealed and we reversed the juvenile court's order denying the minor's sealing request regarding two of the three dismissed petitions at issue, and but affirmed the order as to the third dismissed petition, and remanded for further proceedings in the juvenile court. W.R. successfully petitioned for review from this court's decision. The Supreme Court vacated our decision and transferred the cause back to us for reconsideration in light of Assembly Bill No. 529. Thus, W.R.'s appeal is still pending.
W.R. argues the current version of section 786, subdivision (e) applies to him because it is an ameliorative statute susceptible of an inference of retroactivity. ( In re Estrada (1965)
We review a question of statutory construction de novo. ( In re Jeffrey T. (2006)
The statute at issue here affects the rules governing the sealing of dismissed juvenile petitions. It does not change the legal consequences of a minor's conduct; that is, it does not increase punishment for past criminal conduct or punish past conduct not formerly defined as criminal. ( Tapia v. Superior Court (1991)
For example, in CDR , supra ,
In I.F. , the 18-year-old defendant petitioned to seal his juvenile records pursuant to former section 781. ( I.F ., supra , 13 Cal.App.5th at pp. 681-682,
We note that in I.F . the law had changed (i.e., section 786 had been enacted) before the court adjudicated the defendant's sealing petition. However, in light of CDR , we do not think this is a salient distinction. In CDR , the case had been tried and judgment entered before the law stripping the plaintiff of standing became effective. Yet the new law applied to the case, which was then pending on appeal. Likewise, W.R.'s case is not final and was pending on appeal when section 786, subdivision (e) was amended. We are persuaded the new statute should apply prospectively to minor's case on remand.
DISPOSITION
The juvenile court's orders denying the minor's petition to seal records is reversed. The court is directed to apply current section 786, subdivision (e) [i.e., Assembly Bill No. 529] at the remand hearing and to seal the records pertaining to the minor's September 5, 2014, October 3, 2014, and October 6, 2015 petitions.
We concur:
Margulies, Acting P.J.
Banke, J.
All subsequent statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code unless otherwise indicated.
On our own motion, we take judicial notice of our prior nonpublished opinion in this case (In re W.R. (Jan. 6, 2016, A144659/A145118,
On March 7, 2016, the minor filed a petition for writ of mandate and/or prohibition and stay request to prevent his imminent removal to Pennsylvania. (W.R. v. Superior Court , A147657.) Although this court issued an order granting the stay on March 7, 2016, the order did not reach the juvenile court before the minor left for Pennsylvania.
Section 786, former subdivision (e) provided: "(1) The court may, in making its order to seal the record and dismiss the instant petition pursuant to this section, include an order to seal a record relating to, or to dismiss, any prior petition or petitions that have been filed or sustained against the individual and that appear to the satisfaction of the court to meet the sealing and dismissal criteria otherwise described in this section. [¶] (2) An individual who has a record that is eligible to be sealed under this section may ask the court to order the sealing of a record pertaining to the case that is in the custody of a public agency other than a law enforcement agency, the probation department, or the Department of Justice, and the court may grant the request and order that the public agency record be sealed if the court determines that sealing the additional record will promote the successful reentry and rehabilitation of the individual." (Stats. 2016, ch. 86 (Sen. Bill No. 1171), § 312, eff. Jan. 1, 2017.)
Former subdivision (e) is recodified as subdivision (f) in the current statute.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.