People v. James J.

Opinion

KLINE, P. J.

James J. appeals from a juvenile court order finding him to come within the provisions of Welfare and Institutions Code section 602,

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having found that he committed violations of Penal Code sections 288, subdivision (a), lewd and lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14; 288a, oral copulation; 236, false imprisonment; and 242, battery. We do not reach the merits of the issues presented, as we find that the appeal was taken from a nonappealable order and must be dismissed.

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Discussion

This appeal was taken from the order issued at the close of the jurisdictional hearing on April 18, 1986. Given our disposition, the facts underlying the alleged offenses need not be described. Appellant, age 15,

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and the victim, age 9, each testified at the hearing. The juvenile court judge determined that the victim’s testimony was the more credible, found the allegation in the petition true beyond a reasonable doubt and ordered the matter transferred to San Francisco County, the minor’s county of residence, for disposition. This court requested supplemental briefing on whether the jurisdictional order is immediately appealable. We conclude that it is not.

The case law leaves some confusion on this issue.

In re Melvin S.

(1976) 59 Cal.App.3d 898, 900-901 [130 Cal.Rptr. 844] based its conclusion that the jurisdictional order is not appealable on a legislative modification of the language of section 702, which concerns jurisdictional orders, dispositional hearings and continuances.

(Id.,

at p. 900.) The court explained: “As originally enacted, section 702 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, referred to the determination that a minor was a person described in sections 600, 601 or 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code as a ‘judgment.’ That language led to the opinion that the jurisdictional determination was immediately appealable as a final judgment and that the dispositional order was appealable, under section 800 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, as an order after judgment. (See the discussion of the matter in Judicial Council of Cal., 19th Biennial Rep. (1963) pp. 85-86.) In 1963, section 702 was amended to substitute the term ‘order’ for the former term ‘judgment.’ We conclude that that amendment was intended to, and did, effect the recommendation of the Judicial Council that only the dispositional order ... be appealable and that the jurisdictional order be subject to review on that one appeal.” (Ibid.; see also