In re Hector S. CA6

Filed 12/23/14 In re Hector S. CA6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

IN RE HECTOR S., a Person Coming H040653 Under the Juvenile Court Law. (Monterey County Super. Ct. No. J47580)

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

HECTOR S.,

Defendant and Appellant.

I. INTRODUCTION In declaring Hector S. (Minor) a ward of the juvenile court after he admitted possessing methamphetamine (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a)) and marijuana (Health & Saf. Code, § 11357, subd. (b)), the court did not “expressly declare on the record … its determination … whether the offense [of possessing methamphetamine] is a misdemeanor or a felony” at the jurisdictional or disposition hearings. (Cal. Rules of Court, rules 5.778(f)(9), 5.790(a)(1), 5.795(a).) This oversight is Minor’s sole claim of error on appeal and the Attorney General appropriately concedes that remand is required to correct the omission.

II. THE OFFENSES Salinas police received a report of two juveniles smoking marijuana at an intersection in Salinas on a weekday at around 9:40 a.m. An officer went to the area and found 15-year-old Minor and a 14-year-old female sitting in the bleachers at a park. They admitted they were skipping school. A pat search of Minor revealed a pipe and 0.4 grams of marijuana in a pill bottle and 0.1 grams of methamphetamine in a folded piece of paper. Minor acknowledged using marijuana regularly and said he had used methamphetamine once. III. JUVENILE COURT PROCEEDINGS A petition charging Minor with the felony of possessing methamphetamine and the misdemeanor of possessing less than an ounce of marijuana was filed in December 2013. He was placed on home supervision after a detention hearing at which he denied the charges. In January 2014, a deputy district attorney filed a declaration that Minor was eligible for deferred entry of judgment (DEJ). Among the applicable criteria was that a felony violation was alleged. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 790, subd. (a)(5).) At a hearing on January 9, 2014, Minor waived his trial rights and admitted the charges. The case was scheduled for disposition on January 31. The court signed Form JV-644, “Jurisdiction Hearing‒Juvenile Delinquency,” which included a listing of the allegations admitted and found to be true. Handwritten were “HS 11377(a)(fel)” and “HS 11357(b)(inf).” A home supervision incident report filed on January 21 revealed that Minor had been recorded as late (“Late/Tardy”) to some high school classes and absent at others (“Truant,” “Unverified”). On January 10, Minor told a probation officer he had been marked absent in error. He was informed how to clear attendance errors. By January 17, Minor had not cleared any of the absences between January 6 and 10 and he accumulated several more. On January 17, Minor was seen leaving campus with another known