People v. Albert C. (In Re Albert C.)
People v. Albert C. (In Re Albert C.)
Opinion
*486 Like adults, juveniles have a due process right to be free from indefinite commitment if found incompetent to stand trial. In an effort to protect this right, the Presiding Judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Juvenile Division, issued a protocol addressing the process by which minors are found incompetent and later found to have attained competency. The protocol limits the detention of incompetent minors to 120 days. We granted review to decide whether detention of a minor beyond the protocol's 120-day limit without evidence of progress toward attaining competency violates the right to due process and whether a violation of the protocol establishes a presumption of due process violation.
Defendant Albert C. contends that detention beyond the protocol's 120-day limit presumptively violates due process, as
In re Jesus G.
(2013)
I.
In June 2012, when Albert C. was 14 years old, the Los Angeles County District Attorney filed a petition to have him declared a ward of the juvenile court under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602. The petition **243 alleged that Albert had threatened a public officer at his school in violation of Penal Code section 71. At a pretrial hearing, the court put the matter over and *487 ordered that Albert remain in the custody of his mother. But Albert's relationship with his mother was turbulent-Albert had spent about half of his life in foster care due to neglect and abuse-and shortly after a second continuance, Albert ran away from home. Neither the probation department nor the department of children and family services knew where Albert was for the next six months.
On February 13, 2013, after Albert turned 15, he turned himself in to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The next day, the district attorney filed a second wardship petition against him. The petition alleged that Albert had committed *900 assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(4) ), battery with serious bodily injury ( id. , § 243, subd. (d)), possession of a firearm by a minor ( id. , § 29610), and criminal threats ( id. , § 422, subd. (a)). The petition stemmed from an incident in December 2012 in which Albert allegedly strangled his girlfriend until she lost consciousness, threatened her with a gun, and several days later threatened to kill her.
On February 15, 2013, before Albert's arraignment on the second petition, his defense counsel declared a doubt as to his competency. The court, relying on "behavior in court based on the defense report, and ... other issues that the court has seen Albert exhibit," declared a doubt as to Albert's competency, ordered the delinquency proceedings suspended, appointed an expert to evaluate Albert, and set a competency hearing. In the meantime, Albert was detained.
The expert, Dr. Praveen Kambam, submitted a written report to Albert's attorney dated March 17, 2013. In the report, he found "with reasonable medical certainty" that Albert was unable to consult with counsel, assist in preparing his defense, or demonstrate a rational and factual understanding of his delinquency proceedings. Dr. Kambam also found that Albert could attain competency within 12 months "with the proper mental health services and education." Two days later, based on the contents of this report, the court found that Albert was not presently competent and continued the suspension of proceedings.
Between March 2013 and February 2014, while proceedings were suspended and as Albert received weekly competency attainment training, the court ordered Albert detained in juvenile hall on public safety grounds over his attorney's objections. The court acknowledged that the Presiding Judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Juvenile Division, had issued a memorandum in January 2012 that said incompetent minors in Los Angeles County "may not be held in a juvenile hall to participate in attainment services for more than one hundred and twenty days." (Nash, P.J., Amended *488 Competency to Stand Trial Protocol (Jan. 9, 2012) p. 7 < http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/LA-Competency-Protocol.pdf> [as of July 10, 2017] (Protocol).) But the court found "good cause to deviate from protocol" in Albert's case.
In May 2013, the court ordered the probation department to consider the least restrictive placement options for Albert during the suspension of his delinquency proceedings. In June, the probation department indicated that Albert might be placed at a secure group home under the care of the department of children and family services, since he was also under dependency jurisdiction, and the court ordered the probation department and the department of children and family services to pursue that placement. Despite regular prodding by the court, the departments never found Albert a place at a secure group home during the 354-day suspension of proceedings. Albert remained detained in juvenile hall.
In October 2013, the court expressed concern that there was no way to ensure that Albert was not malingering, and it appointed an expert to reevaluate Albert's competency. In mid-November, the court discovered that Albert's attorney had instructed the appointed expert not to evaluate Albert due to a conflict, and it appointed another expert. Upon receiving the expert's report in January 2014, the court questioned its conclusion that Albert *901 remained incompetent, especially **244 since Albert had not been diagnosed with any intellectual disabilities. The court set the case for an attainment of competency hearing.
On February 4, 2014, the court found "overwhelming evidence to suggest that the minor ha[d] been exaggerating his responses" and concluded that Albert had attained competence. On February 20, 2014, Albert admitted to threatening a public officer (Pen. Code, § 71 ) and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury ( id. , § 245, subd. (a)(4)) pursuant to an agreement with the prosecution to dismiss the remaining counts. At that time, Albert's habeas corpus petition, which he had filed in September 2013, was denied as moot. On March 15, 2014, the court declared Albert a ward under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 and ordered him removed from juvenile hall and placed in a secure group home or a specific juvenile camp.
Albert filed a timely appeal challenging the length of his detention on due process grounds, among other claims. The Court of Appeal rejected each of Albert's claims and affirmed the judgment subject to one probation condition modification. In affirming the judgment, the court disagreed with
Jesus G.
, which held that a violation of the Protocol's 120-day limit on detention created a rebuttable presumption that the detention violated due process. (
Jesus
G.
,
supra
, 218 Cal.App.4th at p. 174,
*489 II.
"A minor who is the subject of a wardship petition under Welfare and Institutions Code section 601 or 602 has, like an adult facing criminal prosecution, a due process right not to be tried while mentally incompetent." (
In re R.V.
(2015)
In
Jackson v. Indiana
(1972)
Jackson
adopted two standards to guide courts in such circumstances. First, "a person charged by a State with a criminal offense who is committed solely on
*902
account of ... incapacity to proceed to trial cannot be held more than the reasonable period of time necessary to determine whether there is a substantial probability ... [of] attain[ing] that capacity in the foreseeable future. If it is determined that this is not the case, then the State must either institute the customary civil commitment proceeding that would be required to commit indefinitely any other citizen, or release the defendant." (
Jackson
,
supra
, 406 U.S. at p. 738,
In
In re Davis
(1973)
We have not had occasion to consider whether the rule of reasonableness articulated in
Jackson
and
Davis
applies to the detention of juveniles. But the Courts of Appeal have held or assumed that
Jackson
and
Davis
apply in such situations. (See
Jesus G.
,
supra
, 218 Cal.App.4th at p. 171,
There is no analogous comprehensive statutory scheme implementing Jackson and Davis for incompetent minors. Welfare and Institutions Code section 709, subdivision (c), provides that wardship proceedings shall be suspended for incompetent minors "for a period of time that is no longer than reasonably necessary to determine whether there is a substantial probability that the minor will attain competency in the foreseeable future, or the court no longer retains jurisdiction." During this period of time, "the court may make orders that it deems appropriate for services ... that may assist the minor in attaining competency." (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 709, subd. (c).) But there is no clear statutory authority governing placement of an incompetent minor in an appropriate treatment facility, review of a minor's progress toward attaining competency, or maximum periods of commitment for a minor. The author of the bill enacting section 709 acknowledged as much. (See Assem. Com. on Public Safety, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 2212 (2009-2010 Reg. Sess.) as amended Apr. 8, 2010, p. 10 ["[T]his bill codifies *492 the *904 constitutional requirements for determining juvenile competency. However, it begs the question: assuming a juvenile is found not competent to stand trial, then what? If a juvenile offender is found not competent and the court stays the criminal proceeding, it is unclear what path the minor follows."].)
III.
Relying on
Jesus G.
, Albert argues that the Protocol's 120-day limit on provision of competency attainment services for detained minors establishes a rebuttable presumption that an incompetent minor's detention violates due process under
Jackson
and
Davis
whenever it exceeds 120 days. (See
Jesus G.
,
supra
, 218 Cal.App.4th at pp. 170-171, 174,
Like this case,
Jesus G.
involved a wardship petition filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The juvenile court found Jesus incompetent, and over the course of the proceedings, he was detained for more than a year. (
Jesus G.
,
supra
, 218 Cal.App.4th at pp. 164, 166-167,
The Protocol may serve as useful guidance concerning the placement, detention, and treatment of minors found incompetent in delinquency proceedings. But it does not independently give rise to any claim for relief because it does not by itself have any binding force of law. The Protocol was not adopted as a local rule. (See Code Civ. Proc., §§ 575.1, 575.2 ; Gov. Code, § 68070 ;
In re Gray
(2009)
At the same time, we hold that the Court of Appeal erred in concluding that the Protocol's limit on detention "conflicts with" with the holding in Jackson and the language of Welfare and Institutions Code section 709, subdivision (c), which says that "all proceedings shall remain suspended for a period of *494 time that is no longer than reasonably necessary to determine whether there is a substantial probability that the minor will attain competency in the foreseeable future."
Jackson and Davis set constitutional limits defining when a detention becomes so lengthy or unjustified as to violate due process. But neither Jackson nor Davis requires any court to make the reasonableness determination strictly on a case-by-case basis, with no presumption, time limit, or general guidance. A protocol, local rule, or state statute may adopt a detention policy that is more protective of a juvenile's rights than Jackson and Davis ; neither case requires any jurisdiction to detain an incompetent minor at all.
Indeed, neither
Jackson
nor
Davis
rejected statutory time limits, presumptions, or flexible guidance concerning detention as unconstitutional.
Jackson
did not adopt any constitutional time limits "[i]n light of differing state facilities and procedures and a lack
**248
of evidence in [the] record" (
*906
Jackson
,
supra
, 406 U.S. at p. 738,
Nor does Welfare and Institutions Code section 709 foreclose the adoption of such a protocol or local rule. The statute may be amended in the future; the Judicial Council's Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee has recommended changes to the law (Assem. Com. on Appropriations, Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 2695 (2015-2016 Reg. Sess.) as amended Apr. 19, 2016, p. 2), and the parties have informed us of two bills introduced in the current legislative session that would amend it (Assem. Bill No. 689 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.); Assem. Bill No. 935 (2017-2018 Reg. Sess.)). But, as currently written, section 709 requires suspension of proceedings "[i]f the court finds substantial evidence raises a doubt as to the minor's competency" (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 709, subd. (a) ) and authorizes the court to order appropriate services for the minor during the suspension of proceedings
*495
(
id.
, § 709, subd. (c) ). The statute sets forth only one time limitation: "all proceedings shall remain suspended for a period of time that is no longer than reasonably necessary to determine whether there is a substantial probability that the minor will attain competency in the foreseeable future...." (
Ibid
.) Section 709 does not authorize, restrict, set limits on, or even mention detention. A statute that requires
suspension
of proceedings for "a period of time that is no longer than reasonably necessary" (
ibid.
) does not preempt a local rule or protocol that constrains
detention
to a period of time shorter than what is "reasonably necessary" within the meaning of that statute. Indeed, the statute sets forth no detention authorization, prohibition, or scheme with which a local rule or protocol could be inconsistent. (Cf.
R.V.
,
supra
, 61 Cal.4th at p. 195,
IV.
Separate and apart from the significance of the Protocol, Albert and the Attorney General disagree on whether the record shows sufficient evidence of progress toward attaining competency and, in view of that evidence, whether the length of Albert's detention violated due process under
Jackson
and
Davis
. But we need not decide whether the length of Albert's detention violated due process because any violation would not warrant reversal of his wardship adjudication in light of the juvenile court's finding of malingering. This finding is not within the scope of our review, and we may assume the Court of Appeal correctly determined the juvenile court did not err in finding that Albert was
*907
competent on the evidence before it under
Dusky
,
For the reasons above, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
We Concur:
Cantil-Sakauye, C.J.
Werdegar, J.
Chin, J.
Corrigan, J.
Cuéllar, J.
Kruger, J.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In RE ALBERT C., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. the People, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Albert C., Defendant and Appellant.
- Cited By
- 34 cases
- Status
- Published