Matthew J. Ruff Juvenile Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Long Beach Juvenile Attorney Explains 3 Strikes Law in California Court

Monday, May 2, 2011 by Matthew J. Ruff

Certain offense in California can render a juvenile offender a third strike candidate which can mean life imprisonment.  For example, according to one Long Beach Juvenile Attorney,  a juvenile adjudication can be a strike under the three-strikes law when there is the following factors as defined by CA criminal statutes:

¿ An express finding by a judge of the court of fitness after the prosecutor or district attorney fails to have the child found unfit under Welf & I C §707, or

¿ An implied finding of fitness following a court hearing which occurs when there is a qualifying juvenile adjudication and the minor is over 16 years of age.

The juvenile offense need not be listed in Welf & I C §707(b); it must be a qualifying offense under the three-strikes law and, in addition, must have been adjudicated in the same proceeding as at least one §707(b) offense. People v Garcia (1999) 21 C4th 1, 13, 87 CR2d 114. As seen by one local Juvenile Lawyer in Long Beach, Neither the fact that the adjudication of a juvenile offense occurred before robbery (minus the “being armed” requirement) was added to the list of strike offenses nor the fact that there was no jury trial for the juvenile adjudication disqualifies the juvenile adjudication as a strike. People v Superior Court (Andrades) (2003) 113 CA4th 817, 825, 830, 834, 7 CR3d 74. Nevertheless, a prior juvenile offense for battery under the applicable statutes will not be a strike if the nature of the force was not likely to produce great bodily injury, even if it in fact did so.

Posted at 23:48 PM
Topic: Juvenile Law
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