D.F. v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) ( 2020 )

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED
regarded as precedent or cited before any Jan 15 2020, 8:51 am
court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK
the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
estoppel, or the law of the case.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Katherine N. Worman Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Evansville, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Justin F. Roebel
Supervising Deputy Attorney
General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
D.F., January 15, 2020
Appellant-Respondent, Court of Appeals Case No.
19A-JV-945
v. Appeal from the
Vanderburgh Superior Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable
Appellee-Petitioner Brett J. Niemeier, Judge
The Honorable
Renee A. Ferguson, Magistrate
Trial Court Cause No.
82D04-1903-JD-578
Vaidik, Judge.
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Case Summary
[1] D.F. appeals the juvenile court’s order committing him to the custody of the
Indiana Department of Correction (DOC). We affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[2] D.F. was born in April 2002. D.F.’s maternal grandmother has had
guardianship of him since 2012 due to his mother’s substance-abuse issues and
his father not being involved in his life. Starting in 2014, D.F. has been heavily
involved in the juvenile system. That year, D.F., then age twelve, received an
informal adjustment for committing what would be Level 6 felony dealing in
hashish oil if committed by an adult. Then, in 2015, D.F. was adjudicated a
delinquent child for committing what would be Class A misdemeanor
possession of a synthetic drug or lookalike substance if committed by an adult.
He was placed on formal probation for six months under a suspended
commitment to the DOC. D.F. later violated his probation and received a
disposition of time served. In 2016, D.F. was adjudicated a delinquent child for
committing what would be Level 4 felony burglary and Level 6 felony theft of a
firearm if committed by an adult. The juvenile court took commitment to the
DOC under advisement and placed D.F. on Intensive Supervision Probation.
When D.F. later violated his probation, the court sent him to the DOC. D.F.
was released from the DOC to parole and house arrest in late August 2017.
Less than three months later, while still on parole and house arrest, D.F.
committed acts that would be Level 3 felony armed robbery, Level 5 felony
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battery by means of a deadly weapon, and Level 6 felony theft if committed by
an adult. The court adjudicated D.F. a delinquent child and committed him to
the DOC. D.F. was discharged from parole on March 1, 2019.
[3] Three weeks later, on March 22, 2019, an Evansville Police Department officer
pulled over D.F., then age sixteen, for driving with no license. During the
traffic stop that ensued, the officer found a handgun and marijuana in the car.
On March 25, the State filed a petition alleging that D.F. was a delinquent child
for committing acts that would be Class A misdemeanor dangerous possession
of a firearm, Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana, and Class C
misdemeanor operating a motor vehicle without ever receiving a valid driver’s
license if committed by an adult. At the March 29 initial hearing, D.F. was
appointed counsel and admitted possessing the handgun and driving without a
license. The juvenile court adjudicated D.F. a delinquent child for these acts,
and the State dismissed the marijuana allegation. The court then proceeded to
disposition.
[4] The probation officer recommended that D.F. be committed to the DOC due to
his “history with this Court, being beyond the control of his guardian, being a
danger to himself by testing positive for an illegal street drug, . . . the serious
nature of the offenses, and the fact that in past cases . . . we placed him on an
informal adjustment, intensive probation supervision, house arrest, counseling,
secure detention, commitment to the [DOC], and parole.” Tr. p. 8. The State
agreed with the probation officer’s recommendation, highlighting that D.F. had
just been discharged from parole three weeks earlier. Defense counsel,
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however, proposed “two alternatives” to committing D.F. to the DOC, that is,
placing him with his father or Job Corps. Id. at 9. The probation officer then
testified that D.F. had never been placed with his father before, as “there’s not
been very much involvement from [him].” Id. The probation officer also
testified that she had looked into Job Corps “as an alternative [to] re-
commitment to” the DOC but concluded that it was not a good fit for D.F.
“due to there being no accountability in the program, meaning that he’s able to
leave the program at any time.” Id. at 10. The probation officer explained that
the program had “little supervision” and that D.F. would not do well with little
supervision. Id. D.F.’s father, who lives in Owensboro, Kentucky, testified that
although D.F. had not lived with him in the recent past, he was willing to “take
over the care and custody” of him once he found a bigger house. Id. at 12.
[5] In announcing its disposition, the juvenile court expressed its frustration with
D.F., noting that it didn’t know “what else to do” with him given all the other
options that had been tried. Id. at 16. Having no “confidence that [D.F.]
w[ould] be law abiding if [he wasn’t] in the [DOC],” the court committed him
to the DOC for a third time. Id.; see also Appellant’s Amended App. pp. 39-40.
The court added, however, that D.F. wasn’t “a lost cause” since he wasn’t
eighteen yet and that no one was giving up on him; however, the court
explained that “serious consequences” were warranted. Tr. p. 17.
[6] D.F. now appeals.
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Discussion and Decision
[7] D.F. contends that the juvenile court erred when it committed him to the DOC.
The 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. J.S. v. State, 881 N.E.2d 26, 28 (Ind.
Ct. App. 2008).
[8] Indiana Code section 31-37-18-6 guides the court’s disposition of a juvenile
delinquent. In part, the statute states:
If consistent with the safety of the community and the best
interest of the child, the juvenile court shall enter a dispositional
decree that
(1) is:
(A) in the least restrictive (most family like) and
most appropriate setting available; and
(B) close to the parents’ home, consistent with the
best interest and special needs of the child[.]
Ind. Code § 31-37-18-6. D.F. claims that commitment to the DOC is not “the
least-restrictive and most family-like setting[]” for him and that he should have
been placed with his father or Job Corps instead. Appellant’s Br. p. 8.
[9] Given the facts of this case, the juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in
committing D.F. to the DOC. Since the age of twelve, D.F. has been given
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numerous opportunities to rehabilitate himself, including an informal
adjustment, probation, house arrest, two commitments to the DOC, and parole.
Nevertheless, he has continued to violate both probation and parole and
commit new offenses. Most notably, he committed the acts in this case just
three weeks after being discharged from parole in the armed-robbery case.
Although D.F. asked to be placed with Job Corps or his father, the court
reasonably found that a Job Corps placement would be just “another one of
those things that we try that I’m not confident you will fully take advantage of.”
Tr. p. 16. And the court had no reason to believe that placing D.F. with his
father would sufficiently address D.F.’s serious behavior problems given his
father’s lack of involvement in his life up to that point. We agree with the
juvenile court that D.F. left it with no other option than to commit him to the
DOC. There is no abuse of discretion.
[10] Affirmed.
Riley, J., and Bradford, C.J., concur.
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