CHILDREN AND THE LAW
...Delinquency Matters
......Jurisdictional Hearing
.........Findings & Orders
............Selected Case Examples
39 Cards On This Topic:

Intentionally igniting and throwing firecracker amidst dry brush on a hillside, done without intent to cause a fire or other harm, were sufficient to establish requisite malice for arson.

Offense of forcible rape occurs when, during apparently consensual intercourse, V expresses objection and attempts to stop the act and D forcibly continues despite the objection.

Force required to kidnap an unresisting baby or child is the amount of physical force needed to take and carry it away a substantial distance for an illegal purpose or with illegal intent. M's kidnap conviction affirmed.

Pliers M possessed during burglary come under PC §466's "other instrument or tool" as evidence showed M possessed them with the intent to use them to effectuate the burglary.

M invaded V's privacy by secretly recording him masturbating in a school bathroom stall and putting it on Snapchat—the right to privacy is not one of total secrecy, but the right to control the nature and extent of firsthand dissemination.

Refusal to cooperate with police investigation only becomes criminal under PC 148 when it obstructs lawful police activity; protesting and urging noncooperation is not sufficient.

M's behavior in refusing to go to group home, though oppositional, impermissible, and a probation violation, did not rise to the level of the crime of resisting a peace officer.

Trial court erred in applying Vargas to strike one of M's ADW offenses where there was one crime/two Vs as he had no prior convictions and it was not a Three Strikes case.

Conviction of battery by gassing in juvenile hall proper as "any local detention facility" as used in W&IC 243.9 includes juvenile halls.

Evidence did not show M committed trespass where she made only transient use of the property; true finding she also aided and abetted BF's vandalism was not supported by sufficient evidence.

M was properly found to have committed 1st degree burglary based on his entry into a closet as it is a room and functionally interconnected and contiguous to the inhabited portions of the residence.

M's unlawful conduct in obtaining girl's Facebook password, changing her profile, and using the information to post prurient messages in her name on her friends' walls, satisfied requirements of PC 530.5 identity theft.

M is subject to punishment under PC 664 and PC 405b for attempted lynching for inciting riot and trying to free her lawfully detained boyfriend from police custody.

When minor passenger grabbed steering wheel and took sufficient control of vehicle to cause a crash, she assumed actual physical control of the vehicle, and was "driving" it within meaning of Vehicle Code.

Read in context, vulgar, sexual language M used in text messages to ex-girlfriend was not obscene, but rather expletives used as verbs and adjectives to emphasize the depth of his feelings.

Although V affected by stun gun for only a few seconds, this sufficient to show he was temporarily immobilized; in any case, statute only required stun gun used be capable of such immobilization.

M's thefts from V's apartment created reasonable inference that M entered apartment with the intent to steal, and burglary finding amply supported by this inference of intent.

M was not "found in any public place under the influence of intoxicating liquor" where he was in a wood shed and ended up in a 'public place' only when he complied with deputy's requests to come out of the shed and to the street.

Sexual battery finding affirmed where circumstances supported conclusion M pinched V's breast for specific purpose of insulting, humiliating, intimidating, and physically hurting her.

PC 12101(b), possession of live ammunition by minor, is violated only once by a minor who simultaneously possesses 3 different types of ammunition.

When crim. D or delinquent ward convicted of aiding and abetting 2 felony firearm assaults, he cannot also be convicted as accessory solely because he fled the scene and denied his own involvement, even if it helped shooter escape.

M violated PC 219.2 when he threw stone at bus; statute does not require specific intent to strike or wreck the bus.

Evidence insufficient to support finding uninvited M who gave party in grandmother's home had intent to commit theft or felony, and insufficient to support finding she, or another, caused damages.

M passing assault rifle to and from others created reasonable inference it was under his control and in his actual possession, and evidence showed he should have known it was a prohibited assault rifle.

M violated anti-graffiti statute by possessing spray paint can while on "public place," a railroad-owned trestle.

Intoxicated minor did not give false name to officer by identifying himself as Kelly K. although name generally hyphenated Kelly W.-K. and system referred to him as Kelly W.

(Former) PC §12091 mandate that possession of a firearm with obliterated identification presumes the possessor did the obliterating, is unconstitutional.

Evidence insufficient to support finding of indecent exposure where no evidence that mooning minor bared his buttocks "lewdly."

On facts of case, charge against M of threat against the public officer was a lesser and necessarily included crime of terrorist threat.

Intent to commit an offense if the opportunity arises is not an element of the offense of unlawful peeking.

Student's angry remark to teacher did not constitute a felonious terrorist threat under Pen. Code §422; it was an emotional response to an accident rather than a death threat that induced sustained fear.

Person giving a false date of birth to police creates a fictitious identity and falsely identifies himself as a fictitious person to peace officer in violation of Pen. Code §148.9.

Although minors have privacy rights under Cal. Constitution, they do not have a constitutionally protected interest in engaging in sexual intercourse.

Juvenile court cannot find minor had no intent to hit teacher with apple, then find he committed intentional assault.

Error to charge M with battery on custodial officer where V was temp. probation counselor. As M not prisoner, V not custodial officer.

Assault with deadly weapon not necessarily included in offense of willfully & maliciously discharging firearm at occupied vehicle.

Threat of death or great bodily injury communicated to intended victim via third person satisfies crime of threatening another.

Evidence sufficient to support findings juvenile hall counselor was peace officer-public officer and minor resisted public officer in discharge of duties.

Case examples: Findings and Orders.