Juvenile Division

The Juvenile Division prosecutes felonies and misdemeanors committed in San Diego County by offenders who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime. During 2010, Division Chief Michele Linley and Assistant Chief Giacomo Bucci led the Juvenile Division. 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, series of crimes, significant property damage and/or drugs.

During 2010, the number of felonies filed by the Juvenile Division increased by 1508 and the number of misdemeanor cases filed increased by 1577. 37 Juvenile cases were direct filed into adult court. In addition, the Juvenile Court found 12 minors unfit for juvenile court and sent their cases to adult court for prosecution in the adult system.

2010 Juvenile Cases Reviewed
Criminal Cases Submitted For Review 6,242
Felony Petitions Filed 2,885
Misdemeanor Petitions Filed 1,928
WI 707 File Petitions 8
Direct Filed Cases 22
Truancy Petitions Filed 284

The Juvenile Division office is broken down into four teams:

Issuing deputies review reports submitted by police agencies determining whether crimes should be charged. Each calendar team DDA is assigned to a courtroom (there are four delinquency departments and a detention department) 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 specialized calendars.

One specialized calendar is the dual calendar (a blend of delinquency and dependency court) another is weekly probation violation calendar.

Toward the end of 2010 a calendar was established to assist juveniles struggling with mental health issues. Currently the Division Chief of the Juvenile Division along with the Supervising Public Defender, in charge of the Juvenile division, a specially assigned Superior Court Juvenile Court Judge, probation, community partners and mental health professionals work collaboratively to address many issues simultaneously with the minor and family hoping for successful completion of probation This calendar was created with existing resources and a commitment from all partners on this pilot project.

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 by Superior Court Judges assigned to the Juvenile Court Division. The Juvenile Division handles truancy cases in Juvenile Court and South Bay Courthouse and appear in two different courtrooms at Juvenile Court and the Vista Courthouse 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 2010, 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. Several of these cases resulted in death to a passenger in the driver’s car or a person in another car.

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