Opinion
A158045
11-27-2019
In re W.D., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. W.D., Defendant and Appellant.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. (San Francisco City & County Super. Ct. No. JW186230)
W.D. (Minor) appeals a dispositional order declaring him a ward of the court and placing him in out-of-home care. His counsel has filed an opening brief raising no issues and asking this court for an independent review of the record. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436.) Minor has been apprised of his right to personally file a supplemental brief, but he has not done so.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
The Alameda County District Attorney filed a juvenile wardship petition (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 602) on August 16, 2017, alleging that Minor (then 15 years old) committed felony robbery against a transit passenger (Pen. Code, § 211) and resisted a peace officer (§ 148, subd. (a)(1)). According to the police report, three youths took a cell phone from someone on a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train. Officers who responded saw a group of people matching the description of the culprits, who fled from the officers. Minor was found hiding nearby. He admitted to the offense, and the victim identified him as the person who had taken his phone. Minor also admitted that he "typically" stole cell phones from BART patrons and sold them in order to make money. Minor was taken into custody and detained. He was then released to his mother.
All undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. --------
Minor later admitted to amended misdemeanor allegations that he was an accessory after the fact (§ 32) and resisted a peace officer (§ 148, subd. (a)(1)). The juvenile court found Minor a person described by Welfare and Institutions Code section 602, released him to his mother on home supervision, and transferred the matter to San Francisco County, where Minor lived.
A new wardship petition was filed in San Francisco County on September 10, 2018, alleging Minor committed misdemeanor battery. (§ 242.) According to the detention report, Minor and others were smoking in the laundry room of his housing complex. A security guard responded to a complaint about the smoking, and Minor pushed him to try to get away. The guard grabbed Minor, and Minor punched him. At the District Attorney's request, this petition was later dismissed with the understanding that the juvenile court could consider it for purposes of disposition.
The juvenile court placed Minor on home detention on September 11, 2018. Among the conditions of the detention, he was required to attend school regularly.
Over the next several months, Minor's school attendance was poor and his grades suffered, to the point that by February 2019, he was failing all of his classes. Although he was in eleventh grade, he was not on track to graduate even if he stayed in his high school for a fifth year. Minor was failing to abide by his curfew on the weekends, and he did not answer phone calls from the case manager for the home detention monitoring program. However, he was meeting with a therapist, who reported that Minor was making progress. Minor's mother expressed frustration at his unwillingness to help with household chores, attend school regularly, or seek a job.
In April 2019, the District Attorney recommended that Minor be placed in a group home. Noting that Minor was habitually truant from school, was failing his classes, and appeared to use marijuana daily, the District Attorney argued that he needed more structure than his mother was able to provide.
The probation department reported in mid-May 2019 that Minor still had poor school attendance, although he was attending a substance abuse class and had recently been complying with his curfew. Minor's mother had called the probation officer several times, appearing distraught and eager to get Minor out of the house and saying he had bed bugs and refused treatment for them, his friends had been robbing her, and he ate all of the food in the house.
At a May 17, 2019, hearing, the juvenile court revoked Minor's home supervision, and he was placed in the Juvenile Justice Center. In the ensuing weeks, Minor earned several credits toward graduation and received excellent grades in all of his classes.
At the dispositional hearing on June 18, 2019, the juvenile court declared Minor a ward and placed him in out-of-home placement. It ordered him to stay in his placement and participate in its programs, keep staff informed of his whereabouts, attend school regularly, participate in counseling as recommended by the probation department, obey all laws and the rules of his placement, abide by his curfew, and refrain from using controlled substances, alcohol, and marijuana.
The court hopes that Minor sustains the impressive progress he began making in May, both for his own benefit and for the safety of the community. There are no meritorious issues to be argued.
DISPOSITION
The June 18, 2019 dispositional order is affirmed.
/s/_________
TUCHER, J. WE CONCUR: /s/_________
POLLAK, P. J. /s/_________
BROWN, J.