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Name: In re J.V.
Case #: A140587
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 1 DCA
Division: 3
Opinion Date: 11/26/2014
Summary

Juvenile court has jurisdiction to order restitution in juvenile case after the minor turns 21 where the restitution was previously ordered and a balance remains unpaid. In 2006, when J.V. was 16 years old, he admitted an allegation in a delinquency petition alleging he drove or took a car without permission (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a)) as reduced to a misdemeanor. He was placed on probation. A few months later, the court ordered $2,357.65 in victim restitution. Several years later, at a dispositional hearing after a sustained probation violation, the probation officer reported J.V. still owed over $2,000 in restitution. He was admonished to make payments on the order. In September 2013, J.V. failed to appear on a warrant for a review hearing and defense counsel asked the court to dismiss the juvenile court proceedings. In response, the court said it would first complete a Judicial Council form (former JV-790) to abstract the victim restitution still owed. At the October 2013 hearing regarding its jurisdiction to prepare the order, the court signed the order over defense objection. J.V. appealed the order, arguing that it was issued after he turned 21 years old and the juvenile court lost jurisdiction (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 607, subd. (a)). Held: Affirmed. The juvenile court issued the restitution order before J.V. turned 21. He did not challenge the order and paid down the balance over several years. The abstract appealed merely reinstated the lower remaining balance of restitution owed, it was not a new order. A crime victim has a constitutional right to restitution (Cal. Const., art. I, § 28) and is entitled to a certified copy of the order. To insist on strict adherence to the jurisdictional requirements as urged by J.V. would negate the express intent of the Legislature to enforce juvenile restitution orders in the same manner as civil judgments.