Opinion
H050595
10-19-2023
In re J.R., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. v. J.R., Defendant and Appellant. THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
Santa Clara County Super. Ct. No. 21-JV-45410A
Grover, Acting P. J.
The juvenile court sustained an allegation in a juvenile wardship petition that the minor J.R. committed an act which, if committed by an adult, would constitute assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury. At the dispositional hearing, the court adjudged J.R. to be a ward of the court and placed him on probation.
J.R. appeals from the juvenile court's orders. Appointed counsel filed an opening brief summarizing the case but raising no issues. We notified J.R. of his right to submit written argument on his own behalf. He has not done so.
Pursuant to People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 and People v. Kelly (2006) 40 Cal.4th 106, we have reviewed the entire record and find no arguable issue on appeal. Following the California Supreme Court's direction in Kelly, we provide a brief description of the facts and procedural history of the case, the counts that were sustained, and the disposition imposed. (Id. at p. 110.)
I. WENDE/KELLY REVIEW
On August 20, 2021, J.R. was involved in a fight at school. A teacher saw multiple students kicking another student, who was on the floor of the boys' bathroom, while one of her former students guarded the bathroom door. According to the teacher's account, after the fight the victim was hunched over limping and grabbing his knee, and his face looked "like you have snot everywhere kind of thing, like wet." He told the teacher, "They jumped me." Video of the fight showed J.R. falling to the floor with the victim and punching him, then standing up and holding his foot on the victim's back while another student stomped on the victim's head.
Two days earlier, on August 18, another teacher had seen J.R. participating in a large fight between two groups of students. J.R. testified that the August 18 fight started after he accidentally stepped on another student's shoe. He did not attend school on August 19. J.R. testified that on August 20, he was using the bathroom when two other students entered and attacked him. One of the students was hitting him and preventing him from leaving, so J.R. grabbed that student and threw him to the floor. J.R. then stumbled out of the bathroom, accidentally stepping on the other student on his way out. He denied knowing the student who stomped on the victim's head.
At the contested jurisdictional hearing, J.R.'s attorney argued that J.R. had acted in self-defense during the August 20 incident. The juvenile court rejected that argument, finding that J.R. had participated in a violent and forceful coordinated attack. The juvenile court found the video of the fight "simply does not confirm" J.R.'s account, his testimony was not credible, there was no evidence that the victim in the August 20 fight had been involved in the August 18 fight, and the video showed use of force beyond that which could be justified as self-defense. The court found J.R. had committed an act that, if committed by an adult, would constitute assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(4)) and sustained the allegation as a felony. At the dispositional hearing, the court placed J.R. on probation with terms and conditions allowing him to remain in his parents' custody.
We have reviewed the entire record and find no arguable issue.
II. DISPOSITION
The orders are affirmed.
WE CONCUR: Lie, J., Bromberg, J.