In re Barry H.
Opinion of the Court
Appeal- from an order of the Family Court of Franklin County (Main, Jr., J.), entered March 1, 2005, which granted petitioner’s application, in two proceedings pursuant to Family Ct Act article 3, to adjudicate respondent a juvenile delinquent.
At respondent’s initial appearance in Family Court, petitioner
Thereafter, the Law Guardian recited that the admission would satisfy the bus door incident, the person in need of supervision petition and the potential sexual abuse incident. Family Court then asked respondent a single question, “Is it your desire to admit and do you admit the conduct that [the Law Guardian] has just placed on the record?” Respondent replied, “Yes.” Respondent was adjudicated a juvenile delinquent and, following a dispositional hearing, Family Court ordered, among other things, that respondent be placed in the care of the Franklin County Department of Social Services for a period of one year. Respondent appeals.
Respondent first contends that Family Court failed to adequately ascertain through allocution whether he committed the acts to which he was entering an admission. We agree. To satisfy the requirements of Family Ct Act § 321.3 (1) (a), Family Court must elicit a sufficient factual basis to support respondent’s admission (see Matter of Eric CC., 298 AD2d 632, 633 [2002]; Matter of Justin ZZ., 214 AD2d 816, 816 [1995]; Matter of Allen R., 214 AD2d 800, 800 [1995]; see also Matter of Michael J., 267 AD2d 126 [1999], lv denied 94 NY2d 762 [2000]; Matter of Delmar C., 207 AD2d 998, 998 [1994]). It is insufficient for respondent to simply acknowledge an intention to admit to the allegations that are contained in the petition (see Matter of Tiffany MM., 298 AD2d 728, 728-729 [2002]; Matter of
We reject petitioner’s argument that this issue has not been preserved for our review because respondent did not appeal from the fact-finding order. No appeal as of right lies from an order of fact-finding in a juvenile delinquency petition (see Family Ct Act § 1112 [a]; Matter of Jason FF., 224 AD2d 900, 900 [1996]) and, in any event, respondent’s appeal from the dispositional order permits him to challenge the fact-finding order (see Matter of Michael H., 239 AD2d 618, 619 [1997]). We also reject petitioner’s alternative argument that respondent’s consent to the entry of the fact-finding order precludes judicial review. His admission does not foreclose judicial review of the issue of Family Court’s allocution (see Matter of Edgar Q., supra at 432-433).
Crew III, J.P., Peters and Spain, JJ., concur. Ordered that the order is reversed, on the law, without costs, and matter remitted to the Family Court of Franklin County for further proceedings not inconsistent with this Court’s decision.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.