MEMORANDUM DECISION FILED
Feb 01 2018, 8:54 am
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this
CLERK
Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
precedent or cited before any court except for the and Tax Court
purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata,
collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
David L. Joley Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Fort Wayne, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Lyubov Gore
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
S.C., February 1, 2018
Appellant-Respondent, Court of Appeals Case No.
02A03-1708-JV-1971
v. Appeal from the Allen Superior
Court
State of Indiana, The Hon. Michael Douglass, Judge
Pro Tempore
Appellee-Petitioner.
Trial Court Cause No.
02D07-1610-JD-1224
Bradford, Judge.
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Case Summary
[1] In November of 2016, the State filed a delinquency petition alleging that
Appellant-Respondent S.C. committed what would be Level 6 felony escape if
committed by an adult. The petition alleged that S.C. had absconded from
electronic monitoring and was the eighth delinquency petition filed against S.C.
in approximately two years. In the few months following release from a sixty-
five-day commitment to the Allen County Juvenile Center (“ACJC”), S.C.
tested positive for marijuana several times, was suspended from school for
fighting, and absconded from electronic monitoring again. The State petitioned
for modification of the disposition in this case, and, after a hearing, the juvenile
court ordered S.C. committed to the Department of Correction (“DOC”). S.C.
argues that the juvenile court abused its discretion in ordering a DOC
commitment when less restrictive options were available. Because we disagree,
we affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[2] S.C. was born in August of 2002, and his involvement with the juvenile justice
system began in 2015, with two adjudications for leaving home. Prior to this
case, S.C. had accumulated seven juvenile cases involving probation, including
adjudications for escape and intimidation. In September of 2016, S.C. was
expelled from middle school for fighting; at the time, he was on probation and
subject to electronic monitoring following his intimidation adjudication. On
October 21, 2016, S.C., absconded from the electronic monitoring program,
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and an arrest warrant was issued. S.C.’s actions upon being apprehended by
the authorities led to another delinquency petition being filed, based on an
allegation of resisting law enforcement.
[3] On November 1, 2016, the State petitioned to have S.C. found a juvenile
delinquent for committing what would be Level 6 felony escape if committed
by an adult. On December 5, 2016, S.C. admitted to the escape charge and was
adjudicated delinquent. On January 12, 2017, the juvenile court held a
dispositional hearing, after which it placed S.C. in the ACJC for sixty-five days,
under the supervision of the Allen County Juvenile Probation Department, to
be followed by probation. The juvenile court also ordered S.C. to participate in
electronic monitoring, complete substance-abuse counseling, and submit to
random drug testing.
[4] On March 17, 2017, S.C. was released from the ACJC to electronic monitoring.
S.C. was awarded free time from electronic monitoring on April 10, 2017, and
smoked marijuana as soon as he left home. On April 17, 2017, S.C. tested
positive for marijuana. On May 4, 2017, S.C. was suspended from school for
the remainder of the school year after fighting with his sister. On May 20 and
June 7, 2017, S.C. twice again tested positive for marijuana.
[5] Also on June 7, S.C.’s mother contacted the authorities and advised them that
S.C. had been sneaking unauthorized young persons into her home. When
officers conducted a visit at the residence, S.C. had already left, thereby
absconding from the electronic monitoring program. On June 8, 2017, a
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warrant was issued for S.C.’s arrest on allegations that he had violated his
dispositional order by testing positive for marijuana and by failing to follow the
rules and regulations of electronic monitoring.
[6] On June 22, 2017, S.C. was located when police responded to a report of a
burglary in progress. S.C. was arrested, was detained at the ACJC pending
disposition, and again tested positive for marijuana. At a review hearing held
the next day, probable cause was found for filing delinquency petitions against
S.C. for the two new offenses of leaving home and false informing and probable
cause was also found for the violations of the dispositional order in this case.
On June 26, 2017, a petition for modification of the dispositional order in this
case was filed and approved by the juvenile court. An initial/modification
hearing was held on June 27, 2017, and S.C. admitted to the dispositional
violations in this case. As a result, the petition for modification was granted,
and S.C. remained in secure detention pending disposition. An ACJC report
dated July 19, 2017, noted that, since beginning confinement on June 24, 2017,
“[S.C.] has received no incident reports while in detention, Staff state he seldom
has behavior issues and most times he can be easily redirected. His interactions
with peers and staff are positive and he is always willing to extra work on and
off the unit.” Appellant’s App. Vol. II p. 30.
[7] S.C.’s dispositional hearing was held on July 24, 2017. The probation
department recommended a DOC commitment because S.C. had repeatedly
tested positive for marijuana and committed the new offense of escape when he
absconded from electronic monitoring. The probation department introduced
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evidence that S.C. continued to engage in aggressive and/or violent behavior,
continued to disregard reasonable rules of his home, was uncooperative with
probation services, had committed new delinquent acts, continued to abuse
illegal substances, placed his physical and mental health at risk, and acted in
such a way as to pose a danger to himself and others. A report, apparently
prepared by the ACJC placement board, unanimously recommended
confinement in DOC.
[8] After receiving evidence, the juvenile court noted that S.C.’s overall risk
assessment score put him in the high risk to reoffend category, electronic
monitoring had been tried and failed, drug classes were not helping because of
his continued drug use, house arrest had not worked in the past, and he had
repeatedly violated the terms of probation. The juvenile court issued special
findings as follows: S.C. (1) has an extensive history of incorrigible behavior,
(2) was on probation when he committed a new offense, (3) must learn logical
and natural consequences of delinquent behavior, and (4) is in need of
rehabilitation and will benefit from a highly structured environment. The
juvenile court noted a myriad of reasonable efforts had been made to prevent or
eliminate the need for removal, including “Formal Probation (Operational),
[Detention Alternative Program electronic monitoring and home detention],
[Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative day and evening reporting program],
Mental health assessment, drug and alcohol classes, random urinalysis testing,
Project L.I.F.E, Substance Use Outpatient, weekly probation appointments,
Deer Run Academy, school visits, home visit, [and] home detention[.]”
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Appellant’s App. Vol. II p. 49. Finally, the juvenile court acknowledged that,
in his latest stint in the ACJC, S.C. had shown that he was “capable of
following the rules when the environment is proper.” Tr. Vol. II p. 16. The
juvenile court awarded wardship of S.C. to DOC.
Discussion and Decision
[9] S.C. contends that the juvenile court abused its discretion in ordering that he be
committed to DOC. A juvenile court is accorded “wide latitude” and “great
flexibility” in its dealings with juveniles. J.S. v. State, 881 N.E.2d 26, 28 (Ind.
Ct. App. 2008). “[T]he choice of a specific disposition of a juvenile adjudicated
a delinquent child is a matter within the sound discretion of the juvenile court
and will only be reversed if there has been an abuse of that discretion.” Id.
(citing E.L. v. State, 783 N.E.2d 360, 366 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003)). The juvenile
court’s discretion in determining a disposition is subject to the statutory
considerations of the welfare of the child, the safety of the community, and the
policy of favoring the least harsh disposition. Id. (citing C.C. v. State, 831
N.E.2d 215, 216–17 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005)).
[10] An abuse of discretion occurs when the juvenile court’s action is “clearly
erroneous” and against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before
it. Id. The goal of the juvenile process is rehabilitation rather than punishment.
R.H. v. State, 937 N.E.2d 386, 388 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010). “Accordingly, juvenile
courts have a variety of placement options for juveniles with delinquency
problems, none of which are considered sentences.” Id. Indiana Code § 31-37-
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18-6(1)(A) provides that “[i]f consistent with the safety of the community and
the best interest of the child, the juvenile court shall enter a dispositional decree
that … is in the least restrictive (most family like) and most appropriate setting
available[.]” “[T]he statute contains language that reveals that a more
restrictive placement might be appropriate under certain circumstances.” J.S.,
881 N.E.2d at 29 (citing K.A. v. State, 775 N.E.2d 382, 387 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002),
trans. denied). Put another way, the law requires only that the disposition
selected be the least restrictive disposition that is “consistent with the safety of
the community and the best interest of the child.” D.S. v. State, 829 N.E.2d
1081, 1085 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005).
[11] Under the circumstances of this case, we have little trouble concluding that S.C.
has failed to establish that the juvenile court abused its discretion in ordering a
DOC commitment. Since late 2015, S.C. has engaged in repeated delinquent
behavior, including committing acts that would constitute felonies if S.C. were
an adult and has had a total of eleven delinquency petitions filed against him.
In this case, S.C. committed escape while on probation and electronic
monitoring for a previous intimidation adjudication. Within weeks after
completing his initial, sixty-five-day commitment to the ACJC and while again
on probation, S.C. smoked and thrice tested positive for marijuana and was
suspended from school for fighting. In June of 2017, S.C. absconded from
electronic monitoring and was not located for approximately two weeks.
Indeed, since the escape that led to the adjudication in this case, S.C.’s actions
have led to three more delinquency petitions being filed against him. To put it
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bluntly, over the past two years or so, S.C. has engaged in what appears to be
continuous juvenile delinquency.
[12] The record also indicates that although S.C. has repeatedly been shown
leniency, this approach has not been effective. The juvenile court detailed a
lengthy list of less-restrictive options that have been attempted, to no lasting
effect. Only one thing seems to have had the slightest positive influence on
S.C.’s behavior, and that was commitment to the ACJC. Even then, S.C.’s
previous, sixty-five-day commitment to the ACJC was followed very quickly by
a return to delinquent behavior. Although S.C. argues that we should reverse
and remand with instructions that he again be committed to the ACJC, the
record indicates that any benefit S.C. may have received from previous
commitments to the ACJC has not endured. Given the ultimate lack of success
that less-restrictive options have had in curbing S.C.’s delinquent behavior, we
cannot say that the juvenile court abused its discretion in ordering a
commitment to the DOC. See, e.g., J.B. v. State, 849 N.E.2d 714 (Ind. Ct. App.
2006) (concluding that juvenile court did not abuse its discretion by ordering
commitment to DOC following a probation violation where fifteen-year-old
juvenile had a years-long history of juvenile delinquency and substance abuse;
had consistently rejected leniency by violating the terms of probation,
committing new offenses, and continuing to abuse drugs; and probation
department’s predispositional report indicated that juvenile was likely to
continue to commit offenses and recommended that he be placed in the DOC).
[13] We affirm the judgment of the juvenile court.
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Robb, J., and Crone, J., concur.
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S.C. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Combined Opinion