Wednesday, May 23, 2018

J.N. v. Superior Court (Cal. Ct. App. - May 23, 2018)

You could see why the trial court thought it made sense to charge the defendnat in adult criminal court.  He's twenty years old.  He's charged with murder.  The juvenile court would lose jurisdiction over him entirely in three short years.  And he's got a prior record.  Given those facts, you'd facially think it makes total sense to put him in adult court.

But read Justice O'Leary's opinion.  This is not the usual case with those types of facts.  You can see why the Court of Appeal comes out the other way, holding that the guy should be in juvenile court.  So holding even though the standard of review is "substantial evidence" and abuse of discretion.

A very comprehensive opinion.