Juvenile Jurisdiction in Maryland

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

III. Juvenile jurisdiction in Maryland

If a person is a juvenile, that person's status is sometimes referred to as "juvenile," "infancy," "immaturity," or "lack of criminal capacity." See In re Devon T., 85 Md. App. 674, 680 (1991). In the criminal justice system, if the wrongdoer is a juvenile, that person is typically not adjudicated in adult criminal court, in a criminal case, but is adjudicated in juvenile court, in a juvenile case, within the juvenile justice system. In re Johnson, 254 Md. 517, 523 (1969).

Whether an individual is an adult or a juvenile, i.e., whether a person is tried in an adult criminal court or is adjudicated in a juvenile court, is determined by the age of the individual at the time of the alleged conduct. Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-8A-05(a); see In re Darren M., 358 Md. 104, 110 (2000) (age at the time of the act controls). In Parker v. State, 61 Md. App. 35, 39 (1984), the Court of Special Appeals held that fractions of a day do not count, and a person is 18 years old at all times during the day of the 18th birthday.

A. Common law

At common law, a person under age seven lacked criminal capacity and could not have criminal liability. At common law, a person who was at least age 14 was an adult for purposes of criminal liability, regardless of the level of actual adult maturity. Adams v. State, 8 Md. App. 684, 688 (1970).

In In re Timothy F., 343 Md. 371, 382-83 (1996), the Court of Appeals stated: "There is a presumption of criminal incapacity on the part of a child under 14 years of age. The presumption is rebuttable by the State." Id. at 382-83. In Devon T., 85 Md. App. 674, 694 (1991), the Court of Special Appeals held that the presumption of incapacity, based on infancy, begins to diminish on the juvenile's seventh birthday and "diminishes gradually until it disappears entirely at the age of fourteen." Id. at 694.

Thus, at common law, as a matter of law, (1) there was no criminal liability under age seven; (2) there was potential criminal liability beginning at age seven, with a presumption of incapacity going from its highest at age seven to its lowest at age 14; and (3) there was adult criminal capacity at age 14. At common law, there was an exception for rape, which required age 14 for criminal capacity. Waters v. State, 2 Md. App. 216, 226 (1967).

In Maryland, in a juvenile delinquency proceeding, the common law presumption of incapacity between age seven and 14 has been abrogated. Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-8A-05(d).

B. Modern statutory approach

Under juvenile justice systems, a person under a certain age is not subject to criminal jurisdiction but is subject to juvenile jurisdiction for conduct that would be criminal if committed by an adult, but which is deemed only a delinquent act when committed by a juvenile. In re Davis, 17 Md. App. 98, 101 (1973). The purpose of juvenile court is to (1) balance public safety and the protection for the community; (2) make the juvenile accountable to the victim and the community; and (3) assist the juvenile in becoming a productive member of society. Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-8A-02(a)(1).

In Lopez-Sanchez v. State, 155 Md. App. 580, 601 (2004), aff'd, 388 Md. 214 (2005), the Court of Special Appeals recognized that the Juvenile Causes Act was established to rehabilitate delinquent juveniles to become productive members of society. In Gaines v. State, 201 Md. App. 1, 8 (2011), the Court of Special Appeals stated:

The focus of adjudication in juvenile court is to provide a program for treatment, training, and rehabilitation consistent with the child's best interests and the protection of the public interest. Although one of the purposes of sentencing in the criminal justice system is rehabilitation, it also has, as purposes, punishment and deterrence, neither of which is a stated purpose of the juvenile act.

Id. at 8-9 (internal citations and quotations omitted).

The threshold question is whether to place the individual in the adult criminal justice system or in the juvenile justice system. In the juvenile justice system, the status of the individual and the records are deemed to be non-criminal, meaning that the act is a delinquent act (and not a crime) and the individual is a delinquent juvenile (and not a criminal). Davis, 17 Md. App. at 101.

C. Two-step process for determining adult criminal jurisdiction versus juvenile jurisdiction in Maryland

The adult/juvenile jurisdictional issue is a determination of whether subject matter jurisdiction is in Circuit Court, sitting as a juvenile court, or in Circuit Court, sitting as a criminal court. Step #1 of that process determines where jurisdiction starts. Step #1 does not consider the facts of offense or the background of offender. Step #1 determines which court—juvenile or criminal—obtains subject matter jurisdiction, which is resolved by examining three documents, as follows: (1) the jurisdictional statute; (2) the juvenile's birth certificate; and (3) the charging document. In re Appeal No. 1258, 32 Md. App. 225, 231 (1976) (in a juvenile delinquency proceeding, the delinquency petition is the charging document).

Step #2 of that process determines where jurisdiction ends. Once it has been determined, in step #1, whether the criminal court or the juvenile court obtains subject matter jurisdiction, step #2 determines whether jurisdiction remains with...