Teens court peers for sentences

When a defendant is on trial in Superior Court, the jurors don't consider whether the lawbreaker will be grounded, their favorite hobbies or how their parents feel about the allegations.

However, these are precisely the topics discussed Monday evening in Teen Court as a group of teenage jurors and a volunteer teen court judge, Santa Maria family law attorney Shannon Ferndandez, questioned 16-year-old Joel Garcia about charges of driving without a driver's license and without insurance.

In this hearing, also unlike a court trial, the jury did not decide Garcia's guilt. Instead jurors decided on consequences that would best help him get back on track.

Each Monday night, Teen Court takes place in two courtrooms of the Santa Maria Court Complex. Teen Court is also held in Lompoc, Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara on various nights of the week.

The Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse program enables first-time teenage offenders who have committed misdemeanor crimes or infractions, and admit guilt, to be sentenced by a group of their peers. If they complete their assigned community service work and abide by the terms of their sentence, the crime will be not be placed on their juvenile record.

Teen Court jurors consist of prior respondents in the teen court system and teenage volunteers, some of whom earn extra credit through school.

The scene Monday was very different from a traditional court setting.

Joel Garcia, dressed in a button-down shirt, sat at the witness stand. His father, Felipe Garcia, accompanied him and remained close during the proceedings.

Fernandez donned a black judge's robe and sat at the judge's bench, but acted more like a concerned parent than judge.

She told the jury that Garcia admitted to driving without a license and without insurance, liked that his mother was understanding and his father was a “good dad,” had never been in trouble at school and enjoyed playing soccer.

She said he conceded to drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana, but not on a regular basis.

After Fernandez asked a few questions, the jurors asked some of their own. Each juror was required to ask at least two questions in order to receive credit for participation.

“Is your mom even angry at you?” came one question from a juror.

“Who were you with when you got stopped?” asked another juror.

“How do you think your parents feel right now?” asked a third.

Fernandez gave the jurors some factors to consider while deciding on appropriate consequences for Garcia before they went to a room to deliberate.

Inside the jury room, Teen Court Program Manager Crystal Moreno led the discussion, and a show of hands was used to vote for elements of Garcia's sentence. There were pre-set sentencing guidelines, and the jurors made decisions within those ranges.

The jurors ultimately agreed on a sentence of two nights of Teen Court jury duty, 20 hours community service, a $100 fine, one life choices class and a letter of apology to each of his parents. Because of Garcia's somewhat poor grades in school, the jurors decided he should attend tutoring. Garcia was also sentenced to six alcohol and drug groups with random testing because he had used marijuana and alcohol.

“It's all right,” Garcia said of Teen Court after his case manager, Miriam Roque, went over his sentence with him and his father.

“This is better (than traditional court) because the punishment that you get, it's from your own peers,” he said.

“I'm OK with it because I deserved it,” Garcia said of his sentence.

Joel Garcia's father, Felipe Garcia, said he thought Teen Court should be stricter.

“It's a good idea that other kids are involved. They will all learn from each other,” he said in Spanish, which was translated to English by Roque.

Juror Johanna Stanley, 15, said she has volunteered for jury service for a couple of months. She came across the program because her father works with Teen Court. Her mother is a probation officer.

“I find it interesting to sit there and ask questions,” she said, and explained that she now had the opportunity to ask questions that she often had while watching court programs on TV.

“Sometimes it's hard to come up with good questions,” Stanley said.

Jury pool member Nancy Rodriguez, 16, got caught along with the bailiff for the Garcia hearing, 15-year-old Vivian Ruvalcaba, smoking marijuana in a bathroom at Pioneer Valley High School.

Rodriguez was the respondent in her own Teen Court hearing after she got in trouble, and her jury service was part of her sentence.

“I thought it was pretty fair,” she said of her hearing. “I think it's pretty interesting. I'd rather be here than home.”

Samantha Yale can be reached at 739-2159 or syale@santamariatimes.com.

April 14, 2007