Myresheia v. Superior Court

Opinion

Introduction

JACKSON, J.* Myresheia W. filed this mandate petition challenging the respondent court’s order in juvenile delinquency proceedings denying her a right to a jury trial. Petitioner was charged with one count of the crime of second degree robbery, in violation of Penal Code section 211.1 Petitioner alleges that with the passage of the “Three Strikes” legislation, she should be entitled to a jury trial because of the consequences delinquency adjudications pose for serious juvenile offenders. We disagree and deny the writ.

Discussion

Juveniles have traditionally not been entitled to jury trials. We review the chronological development of the law in this regard. In the habeas corpus proceeding of In re Daedler (1924) 194 Cal. 320 [228 P. 467], the California Supreme Court denied habeas corpus relief, holding that the minor had no right to a jury trial. Article I, section 16 of the California Constitution provides for jury trials, but it has not been applied to juveniles.2 The Daedler court emphasized that because juvenile proceedings are not penal in nature, juveniles do not have the same rights that adults have in criminal proceedings. (194 Cal. at pp. 323-331.) Juveniles are not convicted [737]of a crime and on that basis sentenced as criminals. Instead, they are found to have committed criminal acts and on that basis declared to be wards of the court. The Supreme Court noted the traditional emphasis in juvenile law has been rehabilitation and not punishment. (Id. at p. 326.)

The United States Supreme Court in In re Gault (1967) 387 U.S. 1 [87 S.Ct. 1428, 18 L.Ed.2d 527] did hold that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment afforded certain rights to minors, including the right to receive adequate notice of the charges, right to have counsel, the privilege against self-incrimination, and the right to confront one’s accuser. In Gault, which held a minor is entitled to counsel, the Supreme Court explained the limited extent of its ruling citing its prior holding in Kent v. United States (1966) 383 U.S. 541, 562 [86 S.Ct. 1045, 1057, 1057, 16 L.Ed.2d 84]: “We announced with respect to such waiver proceedings that while ‘We do not mean ... to indicate that the hearing to be held must conform with all of the requirements of a criminal trial or even of the usual administrative hearing; but we do hold that the hearing must measure up to the essentials of due process and fair treatment.’ We reiterate this view, here in connection with a juvenile court adjudication of ‘delinquency,’ as a requirement which is part of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of our Constitution.” (In re Gault, supra, 387 U.S. at pp. 30-31 [87 S.Ct. at p. 1445], fn. omitted.) Further, three years later, the United States Supreme Court held that due process also requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt in delinquency proceedings. (In re Winship (1970) 397 U.S. 358, 364-368 [90 S.Ct. 1068, 1073-1075, 25 L.Ed.2d 368].)