Matter of L.J.

• Citation: 546 A.2d 429
• Decision Date: 18 August 1988
• Docket Number: No. 88-151.,88-151.
• Parties: In the Matter of L.J., Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeals of Columbia District

546 A.2d 429

In the Matter of L.J., Appellant.

No. 88-151.

District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Submitted July 19, 1988.

Decided August 18, 1988.

Richard Goemann, appointed by the court, and Shari D. Leventhal, Law Student, were on the brief, for appellant.

Frederick D. Cooke, Jr., Corp. Counsel, Charles L. Reischel, Deputy Corp. Counsel, and Mary L. Wilson, Asst. Corp. Counsel, Washington, D.C., were on the brief, for appellee.

Before TERRY and SCHWELB, Associate Judges, and REILLY, Senior Judge.

SCHWELB, Associate Judge:

Respondent L.J. was fifteen and a half years old in mid-June 1987 when, at or about 3:00 a.m., assisted by an 18 year old confederate, A.P.G., he fired an UZI automatic weapon at an automobile occupied by two men with whom he had quarreled, leaving seventeen bullet holes in the vehicle. In this unusual appeal, L.J. claims that the trial judge "abused his discretion" in not lifting a court-imposed restriction on his release from the Children's Center after he had been confined there for about half a year. We do not believe that this court, as an appellate tribunal, has the authority, on facts such as those here presented, to overturn the juvenile analogue to a sentencing decision where the trial judge's disposition order¹ is within legal limits. Moreover, assuming arguendo that this court has such authority, we conclude that the trial judge's decision was not only permissible but also consistent with the policies underlying the District's commitment to rehabilitation as the prime goal of the juvenile justice system.

I

Unfortunately, the appellate record before us is sparse. It does not include L.J.'s social file, or the predisposition report,² or a transcript either of the detention hearing following his arrest or of his guilty plea. Exclusion of these materials from the appellate record restricts our capacity to deal comprehensively with the facts germane to this appeal. Nevertheless, from the limited record before us, we have been able to reconstruct much, if not all, of the context of this offense and of L.J.'s delinquent past. The tale is not a pretty one.

On June 14, 1987, a Metropolitan Police detective applied for custody orders³ authorizing him to arrest L.J. and A.P.G., and for warrants permitting him to search the homes of each of the youths. He submitted an affidavit relating that two complainants had reported to the police that at 3:00 a.m.⁴ they were seated in an automobile in the 600 block of Orleans Place, N.E. Respondent L.J., with whom the two men had argued over "lost money,"⁵ and his companion A.P.G., came out of a nearby alley. L.J. was armed with what appeared to be an "UZI" automatic weapon. A.P.G. had a handgun. Both young men began to fire at the complainants as they were seated in the vehicle. The complainants ducked and, making their escape, drove directly to the police station. Examination of the automobile by the police revealed that it had seventeen bullet holes, that two windows were shattered, and that the entire driver's side of the car appeared to have been sprayed with bullets.

The detective further reported in his affidavit that L.J. had previously been arrested for assault with intent to kill while armed in connection with a violent episode at the Masonic Temple in April 1987. Eleven persons had been shot on that occasion, and L.J. was awaiting trial. Another person charged in the Masonic Temple shooting was A.P.G.'s brother. Neither L.J. nor A.P.G. had a license for a gun and, according to the detective's affidavit, both were known drug dealers.

The warrants issued, and on June 15, 1987, a search warrant was duly executed at L.J.'s home. Officers found two guns, ammunition, and a bullet proof vest. One of the guns is described in the detective's report as "an automatic weapon, like an UZI."

On June 17, 1987, L.J. was arrested at the D.C. Courthouse, apparently while he was there in connection with one of his prior cases. He was charged in what became J-2317-87 with two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and seven weapons offenses. On July 7, 1987, he entered a plea of guilty to two counts of the lesser included offense of assault with a dangerous weapon (gun)⁶ in J-2317-87. The remaining charges in J-2317-87, and all charges in J-1523-87⁷ were dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement.

At the time L.J. committed these offenses, he was, as the detective had sworn, on pretrial release for assault with intent to kill while armed in J-1523-87 (the Masonic Temple case). He was also on probation in J-2487-86 for possession of cocaine, apparently a reduced charge from distribution or possession with intent to distribute.⁸ He had been adjudicated delinquent for driving without a permit (J-3098-86), and had a 1984 "consent decree"⁹ in J-3764-87 in connection with charges of assault with a deadly weapon (rock) and for malicious destruction of property (felony).

It is evident from the foregoing that the instant case represented respondent's third adjudication (and at least his fourth arrest) in the year since mid-1986.¹⁰ Moreover, when L.J. fired the UZI at the complainants, he was on release status pending trial in one case and had been placed on probation in another. It is uniformly made a condition, both of pretrial release and of probation, that the respondent promises to obey the law, so that L.J. had broken two promises to the court.¹¹

Following L.J.'s guilty plea, Judge Robert Richter ordered that he be detained at Oak Hill pending disposition.¹² On July 27, 1987, after considering a predisposition report, Judge Richter committed L.J. to the custody of the Department of Human Services (D.H.S.) for a period of no more than two years, the maximum period permitted by law. See § 16-2322. Noting in handwriting on the printed form order that respondent is a danger to himself and others because of violent conduct, Judge Richter ordered that L.J. was not to be released to aftercare without the consent of a judge of the Family Division. The judge "retained" the case and scheduled a review hearing before him for January 28, 1988. L.J. was returned to Oak Hill in accordance with Judge Richter's order.

II

From the beginning of his confinement, L.J. behaved very well at Oak Hill. Indeed the appellate record is replete with favorable assessments of his conduct and demeanor by members of the staff at Oak Hill. As the prosecutor stated at the hearing on January 28, 1988,

we understand that [L.J.] is doing very well, his behavior has improved; they're very pleased with his progress out there and consider him to be a model student.

Based on L.J.'s improved conduct, counsel soon filed a number of motions with the trial judge during the second half of 1987 asking him to lift the restriction temporarily to permit L.J. to go home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and two funerals. One of these funerals, unhappily, was that of A.P.G., who had been charged with L.J. in the instant case, and who was shot to death at the age of eighteen in September 1987. Judge Richter denied each of the initial motions to lift the restriction.

On January 27, 1988, in connection with the scheduled review, counsel filed a motion to vacate the restriction entirely on the grounds that L.J. had been sufficiently rehabilitated to be placed in the community. In support of the motion, counsel presented evaluations and reports written by a psychologist, a teacher, and staff counselors attesting to L.J.'s exemplary behavior at Oak Hill. Also included in the supporting materials was an evaluation of L.J. by an independent clinical psychologist, Dr. Sarah Jane Elpern. Dr. Elpern concluded that L.J. was ready to return to the community, that he could no longer benefit from treatment at Oak Hill, and that he could avoid trouble by reestablishing his associations with friends from his earlier years and avoiding older youths, with whom he had been associating more recently, and who had led him into trouble. It was the view of the professionals who recommended L.J.'s release that he had learned to control his emotions and had recognized that further contact with firearms would have unfavorable consequences for him. Although Dr. Elpern and the representatives of D.H. S. alluded in general terms to the charges which had brought L.J. to Oak Hill, we are struck by the absence from these materials of any significant attention to the fact that this youngster, while on probation apparently arising from drug dealing, and on pretrial release for alleged assault with intent to kill while armed in connection with the shooting of eleven people, had sprayed automatic gunfire on an automobile occupied by two human beings. We are not dealing here with truancy or public urination or shoplifting. The ammunition was real. The potential for tragedy was fearsome.

At the hearing on the motion, counsel for L.J. presented the testimony of an Oak Hill social worker. That testimony, together with the evaluations and other documentation attached to the motion, reinforced the claim that L.J. had made an excellent adjustment at Oak Hill. Counsel claimed that L.J. had "learned his lesson" and could derive no further benefit from his confinement there. The government, which had not been served with the motion until the day preceding the hearing, orally opposed L.J.'s release "for the record" because of the violent character of the offense.

Judge Richter denied the motion to vacate the restriction on release. He noted that, although L.J. was doing "wonderfully" at Oak Hill, this case was not an isolated incident, for L.J. had made violent and dangerous choices in the past. Judge Richter observed that L.J. was on probation for selling drugs and on pretrial release for a shooting, "and then he does this." Judge Richter also stated that, according to documents in L.J.'s social file, L.J.'s behavior at home was poor prior to his commitment in this case, he was not doing well in school, and he was not keeping his...