In Re DCL

D.C.L. appeals from an order by which he was made subject to the supervision of the probation department after the juvenile court found him to be a person coming within Welfare and Institutions Code section 602, in that he trespassed upon residential property in violation of Penal Code section 602.5. [1]

A neighbor of Steven George called the police to report that he had seen two juveniles, strangers to the neighborhood, go up a private driveway in the direction of George's property. When the police arrived, they saw appellant, accompanied by an associate, come out of a shed associated with the George property; appellant was carrying a kite model. When appellant saw the officers, he quickly went back into the shed and put back the kite. A distinctive knife which the owner had stored in a box had been removed from the box and left on a countertop. In the hearing of a police officer, appellant remarked to his companion, "This is no big deal; ... the judge will probably just drop this down to another trespassing."

Wardship was sought upon an allegation that appellant had committed burglary. The court, however, declared, "I'm not going to make a finding of…