PEOPLE EX REL. JMN, No. 00CA2317.

• Docket Nº: No. 00CA2317.
• Citation: 39 P.3d 1261
• Case Date: December 06, 2001
• Court: Court of Appeals of Colorado

39 P.3d 1261

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Petitioner-Appellee,
In the Interest of J.M.N., Juvenile-Appellant

No. 00CA2317.

Colorado Court of Appeals, Div. IV.

December 6, 2001.

39 P.3d 1262

Ken Salazar, Attorney General, Esteban A. Martinez, Assistant Attorney General, Denver, CO, for Petitioner-Appellee

Powers & Associates LLC, Willam A. Powers, Jean M. Powers, Littleton, CO, for Juvenile-Appellant.

Opinion by Judge DAVIDSON.

J.M.N., a juvenile, appeals from a judgment adjudicating him delinquent based on a finding that he committed acts that, if committed

39 P.3d 1263

by an adult, would constitute the crime of cruelty to an animal. We affirm

The evidence at trial established that J.M.N., along with two other juveniles, used a liquid depilatory to emblazon a swastika upon a horse.

I.

Because his trial commenced more than sixty days after the entry of his not guilty plea, J.M.N. argues that the trial court violated his statutory right to a speedy trial. We disagree.

J.M.N. entered a plea on August 9, 2000. The following week, at a hearing on the prosecutor's motion to join this adjudicatory trial with those of the other two juveniles, J.M.N. informed the court that he would not waive his statutory right to have his trial commence within sixty days of the date that he entered his plea. The prosecutor told the court, erroneously, that the sixty-day speedy trial period would not expire until October 22, and J.M.N. did not correct the prosecutor's misstatement. The trial court scheduled the trial for October 18, which was ten days after the sixty-day speedy trial period. When J.M.N. appeared for trial on October 18, he did not move for dismissal of the delinquency petition based on the violation of his speedy trial rights.

Section 19-2-108(2), C.R.S.2001, of the Children's Code, specifies that the parties shall comply with the deadlines set forth in § 19-2-708(1), C.R.S.2001, which in turn provides, inter alia, that a juvenile has a right to have an adjudicatory trial within sixty days following entry of a plea of not guilty. Moreover, § 19-2-108(3), C.R.S.2001, provides that a "continuance with regard to any of the deadlines" may be granted by the trial court "upon making a finding of good cause." However, § 19-2-108(1), C.R.S.2001, further states that "[t]he juvenile's right to a speedy trial shall be governed by section 18-1-405." That latter section sets forth statutory speedy trial provisions general applicable to adult criminal proceedings. See § 18-1-405, C.R.S.2001.

Defendant contends that, because there was no "good cause" finding to extend the speedy trial deadline here, noncompliance with the sixty-day rule of § 19-2-708(1) required automatic dismissal of his delinquency petition. The People argue, however, that § 19-2-108(1) incorporates the speedy trial tolling and enforcement provisions of § 18-1-405, and that, under those provisions, defendant waived his right to a speedy trial. We agree with the People.

Our primary task in construing a statute is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the General Assembly. Each provision of a statute must be construed in harmony with the overall statutory scheme to accomplish the purpose for which the statute was enacted. Statutes must be read and considered as a whole. People in Interest of J.L.R., 895 P.2d 1151 (Colo.App.1995).

By its plain language, § 19-2-108 requires, in addition to specific deadlines set forth therein, that a juvenile's speedy trial rights be "governed by" § 18-1-405. Thus, to give effect to all relevant statutory provisions, as we must, we read § 19-2-108 to incorporate the tolling and enforcement provisions of § 18-1-405, at least to the extent that these provisions are not inconsistent with the more specific sixty-day and "good cause" continuance provisions of § 19-2-108. Cf. People in the Interest of G.W.R., 943 P.2d 466 (Colo.App.1997)(juvenile's waiver of speedy trial governed by § 18-1-405, under former speedy trial provisions of Children's Code).

Section 18-1-405(5), C.R.S.2001, provides:

To be entitled to a dismissal under ... this section, the defendant must move for dismissal prior to the commencement of his trial and prior to any pretrial motions which are set for hearing immediately before the trial or

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