People v. Edward B.

Opinion

KINGSLEY, J.

The minor was charged with being a person coming under section 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code in that he had

[364]

committed: (1) robbery, in violation of section 211 of the Penal Code; (2) burglary, in violation of section 459 of the Penal Code; and (3) attempted burglary, in violation of sections 664 and 459 of the Penal Code. After having been given his

Miranda

warnings, he admitted the offenses as charged. After an adjudication hearing and dispositional hearing before a referee of the juvenile court, he was adjudged a ward of the court and ordered committed to the Youth Authority for not to exceed a total of four years. A petition for rehearing was made and denied. He has appealed; we affirm.

On this appeal the minor does not contend that the record does not support the adjudication of wardship nor the Youth Authority commitment. He contends only: (1) that it was unconstitutional to deny his request for an adjudication hearing before a judge;

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and (2) that the maximum term fixed by the court, being for the period prescribed in the Penal Code as the higher term for the offenses involved, denied him the equal protection of the law. We reject both contentions.

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The argument for the first contention is based on the following theory: Since the Supreme Court, in

Jesse W.

v.

Superior Court

(1978) 20 Cal.3d 893 [145 Cal.Rptr. 1, 576 P.2d 963], which held that a referee’s finding of not guilty at an adjudication hearing barred, on the ground of double jeopardy, an attempt to file a second petition for the same offense, said, by way of dicta, in footnote 5 on page 899: “5 Because a referee’s determination favorable to a juvenile cannot be reheard, it is not merely a subordinate judicial act and is constitutionally proscribed. (See