In Re Aontae D.

A petition was filed alleging that Aontae D. (appellant) came within the provisions of Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 by having committed a robbery and having personally used a firearm in committing that crime. The matter was tried before referee Dumanis, sitting as a temporary judge pursuant to stipulation. She found the robbery charge and firearm use to be true and sustained the petition. Appellant’s motion for a new trial was denied, and appellant was placed on probation.

Appellant raises three challenges to the adjudication. First, he claims the referee was without jurisdiction to act because there was no written stipulation that she serve as a judge. Second, he claims the evidence was insufficient to support the true finding. Finally, he claims the court erred in refusing to admit the favorable results of his polygraph test to support his new trial motion.

I. Facts

Around midnight on December 6, 1992, having finished work at Pizza Hut, Derrick Garrett (hereafter the victim) was walking home, wearing his hat and carrying pizzas. While enroute home, he saw two males riding bicycles. As the bicyclists passed him, one of them, appellant, said: “Oh, you are…