Juvenile Division

The Juvenile Division prosecutes felonies and misdemeanors committed in San Diego County by offenders under the age of 18, at the time of the crime. During 2009, the division was led by Chief Michele Linley and Assistant Chief Giacomo Bucci. Juvenile Deputy District Attorneys review, issue and prosecute the same types of cases that are prosecuted in adult court, except the crimes are committed by juveniles. These cases may involve weapons, injuries, a series of crimes, significant property damage and/or drugs.

During 2009, the number of felonies filed by the Juvenile Division decreased by 548 and the number of misdemeanor cases filed increased by 54. Twelve Juvenile cases were direct filed into adult court. In addition, the Juvenile Court found 11 minors unfit for juvenile court and sent their cases to adult court to be prosecuted in the adult system.

2009 Juvenile Cases Reviewed
Criminal Cases Submitted 7,267
Felony Petitions Filed 3,498
Misdemeanor Petitions Filed 1,820
WI 707 File Petitions 31
Truancy Petitions Filed 451

The Juvenile Division office is broken down into four teams:

Issuing deputies review reports submitted by police agencies then determine whether crimes should be charged. Each calendar team DDA is assigned to a courtroom (there are four delinquency departments) to handle all cases assigned to that courtroom. The motion team responds to motions filed by defense attorneys, researches legal issues, and provides coverage for two specialized calendars.

The first specialized calendar is the dual calendar (a blend of delinquency and dependency court) and the second is a once weekly probation violation calendar. The trial team handles all disputed matters, including but not limited to trials, evidentiary hearings and prima facia hearings.

Trials in the juvenile justice system are called adjudications and are heard in front of a Juvenile Court Judge. The Juvenile Division also handles truancy cases and appears in three different courtrooms as part of the drug court team.

To assure crimes with the highest potential to significantly affect the public and individuals are handled in an efficient manner, certain cases are vertically assigned. This means one Deputy District Attorney handles the case from the time it comes into the division until the case is closed.

These types of cases include:

In 2009, the Juvenile Division handled crimes that ranged from simple misdemeanors to carjacking cases. In addition, we handled several vehicular manslaughter cases involving drug and/or alcohol use by the juvenile driver. Each of these cases resulted in death to either a passenger in the driver’s car or a person in another car.

next »