People v. Rahn
| Decision Date | 27 November 1974 |
| Docket Number | No. 46409,46409 |
| Citation | 59 Ill.2d 302,319 N.E.2d 787 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Don Owen RAHN, Appellant. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
John F. McNichols, J. Daniel Stewart, Richard J. Wilson, Deputy Defender, and Bruce Stratton, Springfield, for appellant.
William J. Scott, Atty. Gen., Springfield, and Walter F. Farrand, State's Atty., Virginia , for the People.
On April 21, 1971, a grand jury indicted the defendant, Don Owen Rahn, and two co-defendants for the crime of arson. The defendant was 16 years of age at the time the alleged offense was committed on March 8, 1971. He was arrested on March 12, 1971, and on that day statements were taken from him and his co-defendants. No delinquency petition concerning the defendant was ever filed with the juvenile court. A jury found the defendants guilty, and Rahn was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than 3 nor more than 10 years. The Appellate Court, Fourth District, affirmed (15 Ill.App.3d 170, 304 N.E.2d 161), one judge dissenting, and we allowed leave to appeal.
In advance of the trial, the defendant's attorney had moved that the State's Attorney be required to seek leave under the Juvenile Court Act to prosecute the defendant as an adult. The trial court denied that motion on the ground that no petition was necessary since the State's Attorney had already decided to proceed against the juvenile under the criminal law and had obtained an indictment. The propriety of this ruling is the only issue raised in this court.
In the appellate court it was contended that this issue was not properly preserved for review. That contention is renewed in this court, but since the appellate court decided the merits of the issue we shall do so too.
The Juvenile Court Act specifies the duties to be performed by an officer who takes a minor into custody. Section 3--2 provides:
Ill.Rev.Stat.1971, ch. 37, par. 703--2.
Section 2--7 of the Juvenile Court Act describes the duties of the prosecutor and the judge with respect to the prosecution of a juvenile under the criminal laws. In 1971 it provided:
'(1) Except as provided in this Section, no boy who was under 17 years of age * * * at the time of the alleged offense may be prosecuted under the criminal laws of this State * * *.
(3) If a petition alleges commission by a minor 13 years of age or over of an act which constitutes a crime under the laws of this State, the State's Attorney shall determine the court in which that minor is to be prosecuted; however, if the Juvenile Court Judge objects to the removal of a case from the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court, the matter shall be referred to the chief judge of the circuit for decision and disposition. If criminal proceedings are instituted, the petition shall be dismissed insofar as the act...
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