Error and/or relief
The juvenile court lacked authority to commit the minor to the Secure Youth Treatment Facility, improperly imposed a restitution fine, and miscalculated the maximum confinement term. We reverse the order imposing the restitution fine, and remand for a new disposition hearing. Although the oral pronouncement did not address restitution, the minute order reflects a $240 restitution fine.
First Holding:
A minor can be committed to a Secure Youth Treatment Facility (SYTF) only if (1) The juvenile is adjudicated and found to be a ward of the court based on an offense listed in Welfare and Institutions Code section 707(b) and (2) The adjudication described in criteria (1) is the most recent offense for which the juvenile has been adjudicated. The phrase “most recent” describes when the minor committed the offense, not when the petition is adjudicated.
Appellant’s most recent offenses, criminal threats and burglary, are not among the offenses described in section 707(b). Accordingly, because these offenses were committed after appellant committed an assault with a firearm, an offense that is included in section 707(b), the juvenile court was not authorized to commit appellant to a SYTF. Remand is, therefore, necessary to allow the court to conduct a new disposition hearing
Authority:
WIC 875
In re B.J. (2020) 49 Cal.App.5th 646, 648
Second Holding:
The juvenile court imposed a $240 restitution fine under former section 730.6. While this appeal was pending, the Legislature amended section 730.6 and removed the requirement that a minor pay a restitution fine. The relevant portion of the statute now provides that the court shall not impose a separate and additional restitution fine against a minor found to be a person described in Section 602.
Authority:
WIC 730.6
In re Estrada (1965) 63 Cal.2d 740, 745-746 [ameliorative legislation changes applicable to cases pending on appeal]
Third Holding:
A court shall not commit a juvenile to any juvenile facility for a period that exceeds the middle term of imprisonment that could be imposed upon an adult convicted of the same offense. The aggregate term for an adult convicted of two or more felonies and receiving consecutive terms is the principal (i.e., the greatest term imposed) term plus the subordinate (i.e., other felony conviction with a consecutive term) term. Here, the middle term for both counts is three years. The subordinate term is one-third of the middle term. Therefore, the maximum that term of confinement is four years, or 1,460 days, not the 2,540 days set by the court.
Authority:
WIC 730(a)(2)
PEN 1170.1(a)