People in Interest of T.M., 85SA444

• Decision Date: 14 September 1987
• Docket Number: No. 85SA444,85SA444
• Citation: 742 P.2d 905
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Petitioner-Appellee, In the Interest of T.M., Child-Appellant, And Concerning I.P., Respondent.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 905

742 P.2d 905

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Petitioner-Appellee,

In the Interest of T.M., Child-Appellant,

And Concerning I.P., Respondent.

No. 85SA444.

Supreme Court of Colorado,

En Banc.

Sept. 14, 1987.

Duane Woodard, Atty. Gen., Charles B. Howe, Deputy Atty. Gen., Richard H. Forman, Sol. Gen., Clement P. Engle, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for petitioner-appellee.

David F. Vela, Public Defender, Diana M. Richett, Deputy Public Defender, Denver, for child-appellant and respondent.

ROVIRA, Justice.

T.M., a juvenile, appeals a delinquency adjudication of the Denver Juvenile Court contending that the court erred in denying her request for a jury trial. Specifically, she challenges the constitutionality of section 19-1-106(4)(a)(I), 8 C.R.S. (1978 & 1984 Supp.), which limits an alleged delinquent's right to a jury trial if "the petition alleges a delinquent act which would be a class 2 or class 3 misdemeanor, a petty offense or a violation of a municipal or county ordinance if committed by an adult and if a commitment to the department of institutions is not being sought." We hold that the statute is constitutional and accordingly affirm the judgment of the trial court. ¹

I.

In 1984, T.M., a 13-year-old child, was charged in a delinquency petition in the Juvenile Court of the City and County of Denver with an act which would have constituted criminal mischief, a class 2 misdemeanor, § 18-4-501, 8 C.R.S. (1983 Supp.), if the child had been an adult. At the plea hearing, T.M. denied the allegation of the petition and requested a jury trial. The district attorney informed the court that the People would not be seeking commitment to the department of institutions and requested a trial to the court pursuant to section 19-1-106(4)(a)(I), 8 C.R.S. (1978 & 1984 Supp.).

T.M. claimed that section 19-1-106(4)(a)(I) was unconstitutional in that it denied her a right to a trial by jury pursuant to article II, section 23 of the Colorado Constitution; denied her due process and equal protection of law under the fourteenth amendment and article II, section 25 of the Colorado Constitution; and was unconstitutionally vague.

The juvenile court denied T.M.'s request for a jury trial, holding that the statute was not unconstitutional. After a trial to the court, T.M. was adjudicated delinquent. In its dispositional order, the court placed T.M. on probation with conditions, one of which included a 30-day sentence to the Gilliam Youth Center, with 10 days to be served subject to school release, and 20 days suspended on the condition that T.M. comply with the terms and conditions of probation. The sole issue which we are called upon to resolve is whether the statutory provision limiting the right of a juvenile to a jury trial is constitutional.

II.

Prior to July 1, 1983, the Colorado Children's Code, § 19-1-106, 8 C.R.S. (1978), provided a statutory right to a jury trial in an adjudicatory hearing in a delinquency proceeding. ² In 1983, however, the legislature amended the statute to eliminate the statutory right to a jury trial in delinquency cases involving lesser matters. Ch. 209, sec. 2, § 19-1-106, 1983 Colo.Sess.Laws 721. The statute as amended provides:

4)(a) A child, his parent or guardian, or any interested party may demand a trial by a jury of not more than six or the court on its own motion may order such a jury to try any case:

(I) In adjudicatory hearings under section 19-1-104(1)(a), (1)(b), or (1)(c), except when the petition alleges a delinquent act which would be a class 2 or class 3 misdemeanor, a petty offense, or a violation of a municipal or county ordinance if committed by an adult and if a commitment to the department of institutions is not being sought....

Section 19-1-106, 8 C.R.S. (1978 & 1984 Supp.). ³

On appeal, the essence of T.M.'s argument is that since juvenile delinquency proceedings are in the nature of a criminal prosecution, and a delinquent child is subject to dispositional alternatives which might result in a loss of liberty, a trial by jury is mandated by article II, section 23 of the Colorado Constitution. She also contends that depriving her of a trial by jury was fundamentally unfair, and thus a violation of her due process rights under the Colorado Constitution. Finally, T.M. claims that her right to equal protection under both the fourteenth amendment and article II, section 25 of the Colorado Constitution was violated because an adult charged with a class 2 or 3 misdemeanor is entitled to a trial by jury and because juveniles charged with more serious offenses but facing the same potential dispositional alternatives also may obtain jury trials. We disagree with these arguments.

III.

Initially, we note that T.M. had no right to a jury trial in this delinquency proceeding under the due process clause of the federal constitution. In McKeiver v. Pennsylvania, 403 U.S. 528, 91 S.Ct. 1976, 29 L.Ed.2d 647 (1971), the United States Supreme Court rejected that contention. T.M. does not dispute the holding of McKeiver but bases her argument instead on the due process and jury-trial guarantees contained in the Colorado Constitution. We decline to construe these provisions in a fashion inconsistent with the Supreme Court's interpretation of the federal constitution in the circumstances specified in section 19-1-106(4)(a)(I).

A.

Article II, section 23 of the Colorado Constitution provides that "[t]he right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate in criminal cases...." T.M. argues that a delinquency proceeding is, in essence, a "criminal" case and therefore the jury trial guarantee should apply. We disagree.

T.M.'s argument fails to take into account the unique nature of delinquency proceedings. Although in some respects such proceedings are similar to criminal trials, the underlying theme of a delinquency proceeding is to provide guidance and rehabilitation for the child and protection for society rather than fixing criminal responsibility, guilt, and punishment. S.A.S. v. District Court, 623 P.2d 58, 60 (Colo.1981). The Colorado Children's Code is explicitly designed "[t]o secure for each child subject to these provisions such care and guidance ... as will best serve his welfare and the interests of society." § 19-1-102(1)(a), 8B C.R.S. (1986). Consequently, the code strives to avoid unnecessarily stigmatizing a child by providing for "delinquency" adjudications, rather than "criminal" trials, §§ 19-1-103(9), -104(1)(a), 8B C.R.S. (1986), and unique protections are afforded to limit the effect of and publicity attending a delinquency proceeding. §§ 19-1-107(2), -109, -111, 8B C.R.S. (1986). In an effort to improve the prospects for rehabilitation of the child, the code envisions a more informal, simple, and speedy judicial procedure. J.T. v. O'Rourke, 651 P.2d 407, 412 n. 5 (Colo.1982); § 19-1-107(2), 8B C.R.S. (1986). The state's role in the proceeding is not regarded as that of a prosecutor, but that of parens patriae to protect the welfare of the child. S.A.S., 623 P.2d at 60; § 19-1-106(3), 8B C.R.S. (1986).

Because of their unique nature, delinquency proceedings have been frequently described as civil in nature, S.A.S., 623 P.2d at 60; People in the Interest of R.A.D., 196 Colo. 430, 433, 586 P.2d 46, 47-48 (1978). Many constitutional protections for the criminally accused were once thought to be inapplicable to alleged juvenile offenders. See In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 14, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 1436, 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967). However, in a series of decisions beginning with Gault, the United States Supreme Court has held that notwithstanding the "civil" nature of juvenile proceedings, due process of law mandates that certain protections available to adult criminal defendants must also be made available to alleged juvenile offenders. Our cases have followed this approach. E.g., P.V. v. District Court, 199 Colo. 357, 609 P.2d 110 (1980); R.A.D., 196 Colo. 430, 586 P.2d 46; People in the Interest of C.B., 196 Colo. 362, 585 P.2d 281 (1978).

Nevertheless, the United States Supreme Court has continually been careful to limit its decisions by noting that: "We do not mean ... to indicate that the [delinquency] hearing ... must conform with all of the requirements of a criminal trial or even of the usual administrative hearing...." Gault, 387 U.S. at 30, 87 S.Ct. at 1445; see also McKeiver, 403 U.S. at 533-34, 91 S.Ct. at 1980. Furthermore, although the Court has criticized the labeling of juvenile proceedings as "civil," it has refused to hold that a delinquency adjudication is a "criminal" proceeding for purposes of the sixth amendment right to jury trial. McKeiver, 403 U.S. at 540-41, 91 S.Ct. at 1984. In this regard, it stated:

Little, indeed, is to be gained by any attempt simplistically to call the juvenile court proceeding either "civil" or "criminal." The Court carefully has avoided this wooden approach.

McKeiver, 403 U.S. at 541, 91 S.Ct. at 1984. Instead, the Court has taken a case-by-case approach analyzing the nature of rights asserted by juveniles under due process standards, giving appropriate weight to the state's interest in "informality, flexibility, or speed" in juvenile proceedings. McKeiver, 403 U.S. at 534, 541, 91 S.Ct. at 1981, 1984.

Again, our cases have followed that approach. In P.V., 609 P.2d at 110, for instance, we held that due process mandated that the constitutional right to a speedy trial be applied to juvenile proceedings as well as adult cases although we could have grounded our decision on the proposition that a delinquency proceeding was a "criminal" case for purposes of the sixth amendment of the United States Constitution or article II, section 16 of the Colorado Constitution. Instead of taking this "simplistic" approach, however, we analyzed the juvenile's claim in light of due process standards and the unique nature of the juvenile system.

We believe a similar approach is applicable here. As we see it, the applicable constitutional...