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Commonwealth v. Valiton11/17/2000
Berkshire.
September 12, 2000.
Statute, Construction. Delinquent Child. Practice, Criminal , Sentence. Motor Vehicle, Operating under the influence.
Complaint received and sworn to in the Northern Berkshire Division of the District Court Department on January 25, 1999.
On transfer to the jury session, the case was heard by James B. McElroy, J.
The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the case from the Appeals Court.
The issue in this appeal is whether a defendant previously charged in the Juvenile Court with being delinquent by reason of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, with a resulting disposition of the suspension of his license; counseling and evaluation at a program providing education, treatment, and rehabilitation; and an order of probation, may later be charged under the second- offense enhanced penalty provision of G. L. c. 90, ? 24 (1) (a) (1). We conclude that he may.
1. Background.
On January 26, 1999, the defendant was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, second offense, in violation of G. L. c. 90, ? 24. The defendant pleaded guilty to the underlying charge of operating while under the influence, but requested a jury-waived trial on the issue whether the charge constituted a second offense. After a trial, a judge in the District Court convicted the defendant of committing a second offense.
The Juvenile Court docket of the defendant's case, admitted at trial, indicates that, on April 21, 1996, when he was sixteen years old, he was charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor. After the defendant admitted to facts sufficient to warrant an adjudication of delinquency on the charge, a Juvenile Court judge suspended the defendant's license for 210 days, and ordered that he be placed on probation and receive "counseling and eval[uation]" at the Berkshire Council on Alcoholism and Addiction (BCAA). On June 5, 1997, at the request of the probation department, the Juvenile Court judge dismissed that case.
In this case the defendant pleaded guilty to the underlying charge of operating while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, and the only issue was whether the charge was a first or second offense. The District Court judge concluded that the prior disposition in the Juvenile Court constituted a previous assignment to an alcohol treatment facility under G. L. c. 90, ? 24. The judge then found the defendant guilty of operating while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, second offense, and sentenced him to a suspended sentence of sixty days to a house of correction. He further ordered him to complete a fourteen-day treatment program and to pay a number of fines. The defendant appealed, and we transferred the case here on our own motion.
2. Discussion.
The defendant argues that there is a fundamental conflict between the basic tenet of the Commonwealth's law as it applies to children, that juvenile proceedings are not criminal, and the Commonwealth's claim that an earlier juvenile disposition can serve as the basis for a determination of subsequent-offender status. Relying specifically on G. L. c. 119, ? 53, the defendant contends that it would be at odds with the legislative mandate to treat juveniles as children in need of guidance rather than criminals, and then to treat any non-criminal juvenile disposition as a predicate criminal offense for applying repeat-offender, enhanced criminal penalties. A resolution of his claim requires us to determine whether his juvenile
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