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Name: In re Luis C.
Case #: F043304
Opinion Date: 03/24/2004
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 5 DCA
Citation: 116 Cal.App.4th 1397
Summary

When a minor opts not to testify in a proceeding under Welfare and Institutions Code section 1800, the Fifth Amendment requires the court to instruct the jury that the minor has a right to refuse to testify and that no inference may be drawn from the exercise of that right. The Fifth District here first applied its prior holding in In re Howard N. (2004) 115 Cal.App.4th 1134 to find the procedure under section 1800 to be a violation of due process, but citing its other recent holding in People v. Haynie (2004) __ Cal.App.4th __, further held that Welfare and Institutions Code section 1801.5 require that a minor subject to proceedings under section 1800 is entitled to all the rights enjoyed by a criminal defendant in a jury trial, including the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.