State v. Angilau

• Decision Date: 07 January 2011
• Docket Number: No. 20090538.,20090538.
• Citation: 245 P.3d 745,2011 UT 3
• Parties: STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Ricky ANGILAU, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

245 P.3d 745 2011 UT 3 STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Ricky ANGILAU, Defendant and Appellant. No. 20090538. Supreme Court of Utah. Jan. 7, 2011.

Mark L. Shurtleff, Att'y Gen., Kris C. Leonard, Asst. Att'y Gen., Salt Lake City, for plaintiff.

Ronald J. Yengich, Earl Xaiz, Elizabeth Hunt, Salt Lake City, for defendant.

DURHAM, Chief Justice:

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1 The State charged sixteen-year-old Ricky Angilau with murder and other offenses in an adult criminal court. On interlocutory appeal, Mr. Angilau asks this court to dismiss the case in the district court on the basis that the automatic waiver statute ¹underpinning district court jurisdiction is unconstitutional. Mr. Angilau challenged the constitutionality of the statute on multiple grounds. Because we find no state or federal constitutional basis for voiding the automatic waiver statute, we affirm the district court's determination that the statute is constitutional.²

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 The State alleges the following facts. In January 2009, sixteen-year-old Ricky Angilau arranged to fight another juvenile near school property. On his way to the fight, Mr. Angilau showed a friend a gun that he was carrying. While fighting, Mr. Angilau grew tired, pulled out the gun, and fired one shot in the air. He then lowered the gun, pointed it at a group of onlookers, and fired another shot that killed Esteban Manuel Saidi, another minor. Mr. Angilau fled, throwing the gun over the fence of a house he passed.

¶ 3 On January 26, 2009, the State charged Mr. Angilau in the district court under the automatic waiver statute, Utah Code Ann. § 78A-6-701(1)(a) (2008), with murder, obstruction of justice, carrying a concealed dangerous weapon, and possession of a firearm on school premises. Mr. Angilau moved to dismiss the criminal information for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that the automatic waiver statute is unconstitutional. Mr. Angilau also argued that this statute cannot be harmonized with various other statutes in Utah's Juvenile Court Act, Utah Code Ann. § 78A-6-101 to -1210 (2008 & Supp.2010).

¶ 4 The district court held that the automatic waiver statute is constitutional and interpreted relevant law in a manner to preserve the statute's operability. Mr. Angilau sought and received an interlocutory appeal of the district court's ruling.

¶ 5 After oral arguments, the Utah Legislature significantly revised the relevant statutes. See 2010 Utah Laws 38. Both parties stipulated that the amendments mooted statutory issues and some constitutional issues in this case, but differed on what constitutional issues remain. See supra note 2.

¶ 6 This court has jurisdiction under Utah Code section 78A-3-102(3)(h) (Supp.2010).

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 7 "The constitutionality of a statute is a question of law that we ... review for correctness." Merrill v. Utah Labor Comm'n, 2009 UT 26, ¶ 5, 223 P.3d 1089. We are " 'guided by the well-settled proposition that all statutes are presumed to be constitutional and the party challenging a statute bears the burden of proving its invalidity.' " Id. (quoting Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Utah v. State, 779 P.2d 634, 637 (Utah 1989)); see also State v. Herrera, 1999 UT 64, ¶ 18, 993 P.2d 854 ("In testing the constitutionality of legislation, ... we construe the legislation, to the extent possible, as being in compliance with the federal and state constitutions. Given the importance of not intruding into the legislative prerogative, we do not strike down legislation unless it clearly violates a constitutional provision. We resolve any reasonable doubts concerning legislation in favor of constitutionality." (citations omitted)).

ANALYSIS

¶ 8 Mr. Angilau, although a sixteen-year-old minor at the time, was charged as an adult with multiple offenses, including murder. The district court asserted jurisdiction under Utah's automatic waiver statute, which states in relevant part that "[t]he district court has exclusive original jurisdiction over all persons 16 years of age or older charged with ... an offense which would be murder or aggravated murder if committed by an adult." Utah Code Ann. § 78A-6-701(1) (Supp.2010).³ Mr. Angilau argues that the statute is unconstitutional on multiple grounds.⁴ Because we find no constitutional basis for voiding the automatic waiver statute, we uphold the district court's decision that it is constitutional. As explained above, we begin with the presumption that the statute is constitutional, Merrill v. Utah Labor Comm'n, 2009 UT 26, ¶ 5, 223 P.3d 1089, and "resolve any reasonable doubts concerning legislation in favor of constitutionality." State v. Herrera, 1999 UT 64, ¶ 18, 993 P.2d 854.

I. THE AUTOMATIC WAIVER STATUTE DOES NOT VIOLATE DUE PROCESS AS APPLIED TO MR. ANGILAU

¶ 9 Mr. Angilau makes several arguments claiming that he is entitled to fundamental elements of due process in determining whether he should be under the jurisdiction of an adult or juvenile court. We examine his arguments under both the substantive and procedural due process doctrines.

A. The Automatic Waiver Statute Does Not Violate Substantive Due Process Under Either the Utah or Federal Constitution

¶ 10 "When undertaking a substantive due process analysis under both article I, section 7 of the Utah Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, this court applies a rational basis test unless the governmental action implicates a fundamental right or interest." State v. Candedo, 2010 UT 32, ¶ 16, 232 P.3d 1008. If there is no fundamental right at issue, "a statute will not violate substantive due process if it is rationally related to a legitimate state interest." Id. ¶ 19 (internal quotation marks omitted). "[O]ur rational basis analysis is limited to determin[ing] whether the legislature overstepped the bounds of its constitutional authority in enacting [the statute at issue,] not whether it made wise policy in doing so." Id. (alterations in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). This court will uphold a statute under the rational basis standard "if it has a reasonable relation to a proper legislative purpose, and [is] neither arbitrary nor discriminatory." Id. ¶ 24 (alterations in original) (internal quotation marks omitted).

¶ 11 Mr. Angilau argues that this case involves a fundamental right requiring a heightened standard of scrutiny. But, as will be discussed throughout this opinion, we conclude that Mr. Angilau has no fundamental right to treatment in the juvenile system. See, e.g., State v. Mohi, 901 P.2d 991, 1005 (Utah 1995). The juvenile system is a legislative creation, and the legislature can choose to exclude certain minors from that system so long as the exclusion is not arbitrary or impermissibly discriminatory. State ex rel. N.H.B., 777 P.2d 487, 492 (Utah App.1989). Where a right is created only by statute, the legislature can certainly choose not to create it.⁵ We therefore proceed with a rational basis review.

¶ 12 The essential function of the automatic waiver statute at issue in this case is to automatically place the oldest juvenile offenders who have allegedly committed the most serious crimes (murder or aggravated murder) under the jurisdiction of adult criminalcourts. See Utah Code Ann. § 78A-6-701(1)(a).⁶ Because there are longer sentences available in adult courts, convicted defendants can be removed from society for a greater period of time than would be possible in juvenile proceedings. Protection of society from dangerous individuals is unquestionably a legitimate government purpose, and potentially longer incarceration is rationally related to that purpose. The qualifications regarding age and severity of crime are not arbitrary, because they reasonably relate to the degree of threat to society that an individual might pose. Older children, for example, are generally bigger, stronger, and harder to restrain than younger children. And children who have allegedly committed murder would generally be considered more dangerous to society than those who allegedly committed less violent acts. Nor are those qualifications discriminatory in ways objectionable under the Utah or federal constitutions. See infra Part II. Therefore, the automatic waiver statute passes a rational basis standard of review under substantive due process.

B. The Automatic Waiver Statute Does Not Violate Procedural Due Process Under Either the Utah or Federal Constitution

¶ 13 "Utah's constitutional guarantee of due process is substantially the same as the due process guarantees contained in the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution. Therefore, our analysis of questions concerning procedural due process under [both state and federal] constitutions are also substantially the same." Bailey v. Bayles, 2002 UT 58, ¶ 11 n. 2, 52 P.3d 1158 (internal quotation marks omitted). Both constitutions provide that there must be due process of law to deprive any person of "life, liberty or property." U.S. Const. amend. V and XIV; Utah Const. art. I, § 7. Procedural due process guarantees minimal requirements of notice and a hearing where there are significant interests of life, liberty, or property at stake. All parties agree that Mr. Angilau received no hearing regarding whether his prosecution should be in adult or juvenile court, because the automatic waiver statute bypasses the juvenile system entirely. The question then is whether Mr. Angilau had a significant life, liberty, or property interest at stake. If he did, then he was denied proper procedural due process when his case went to the district court without a hearing in the juvenile court.

¶ 14 Mr. Angilau argues he had a liberty interest at stake because of the longer and harsher sentences available in adult criminal court, and because of the possibility of being incarcerated in adult institutions. The incarceration question is a distinct and separate issue, which we do not address here, because it is not the subject of the automatic...