Juvenile Jockeying for Jurisdiction

By Lance Hester; June 2001

     My client was arrested very early on a Thursday morning.  The officer felt probable cause existed to jail him on a DUI charge and either reckless endangerment or drive-by shooting as well.  He was booked into juvenile hall.  He was 17 and this was the first time he’d dealt with the law.

     The Juvenile Justice Act provides authority for a juvenile to be taken into custody.  RCW 13.40.040.  It requires an information to be filed, and a detention hearing to occur within 72 hours. RCW 13.40.050.

     In this case the prosecutor’s office decided it would charge him with the drive-by and determined that he needed to be sent to the adult facility while those charges were pending.  However, it was late on Friday when this decision was made and charges clearly would not be filed until Monday.  Despite the law automatically giving the adult court jurisdiction, I disagreed with the state’s thoughts on immediately sending him to the adult jail on a Friday night.  RCW 13.04.030 does in fact give the adult court automatic jurisdiction in a variety of cases and circumstances, all of which are enumerated in the statute.  But for purposes of delaying adult-style incarceration, careful reading of the statute was necessary.  In pertinent part it states the following:

     (1) Except as provided in this section, the juvenile courts in this state shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over all proceedings:…

     (e) Relating to juveniles alleged or found to have committed offenses, traffic or civil infractions, or violations as provided in RCW 13.40.020 through 13.40.230, unless:…

     (v) The juvenile is sixteen or seventeen years old and the alleged offense is:

     (A) A serious violent offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030; (B) A violent offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030 and the juvenile has a criminal history consisting of:  (I) One or more prior serious violent offenses; (II) two or more prior violent offenses; or (III) three or more of any combination of the following offenses: Any class A felony, any class B felony, vehicular assault, or manslaughter in the second degree, all of which must

have been committed after the juvenile's thirteenth birthday and prosecuted separately;

     (C) Robbery in the first degree, rape of a child in the first degree, or drive-by shooting, committed on or after July 1, 1997;

     (D) Burglary in the first degree committed on or after July 1, 1997, and the juvenile has a criminal history consisting of one or more prior felony or misdemeanor offenses; or

     (E) Any violent offense as defined in RCW 9.94A.030 committed on or after July 1, 1997, and the juvenile is alleged to have been armed with a firearm.

     In such a case the adult criminal court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction. . .

RCW 13.04.030, (emphasis added).

     The officer had chosen to book the 17 year old into juvenile hall.  The judge at juvenile court did find that the officer had sufficiently stated enough to constitute probable cause that a crime had occurred.  However, the state had not yet charged him with anything.  Thus, the judge agreed that until actually charged, it was only appropriate that the juvenile remain in juvenile hall.

      Ultimately he was charged with a drive-by shooting and an information was filed. But until that time, he was detained in the less intimidating environment of the juvenile hall.  Although temporary, this is the ultimate success a juvenile and his parents hope for under the stress and confusion of being charged with a serious crime.  If nothing else, it buys just enough precious time to help one get used to the fact that he or will be an “adult” throughout the rest of the proceedings.

     The above statute specifically enumerates those crimes that shall result in automatic adult court jurisdiction.  This means that, although a juvenile by age, there are a number one isn’t even allow for a hearing on the matter if he is accused of any of the enumerated crimes!  It’s a statute worth reviewing as it has been amended and the list of eligible crimes is now longer than when it was originally enacted.