In Re Michael M.

Michael M., a minor (appellant) appeals from a juvenile court order sustaining a Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 petition charging him with five misdemeanor counts, consisting of two counts of violating Penal Code section 422.6, subdivision (b), two counts of vandalism causing damage under $400 in violation of section 594, subdivision (a), and one count of possession of tools to commit vandalism or graffiti in violation of section 594.2, subdivision (a).

At a contested disposition hearing the court set the maximum confinement at one year four months, with credit for six days served. Appellant was adjudged a ward of the juvenile court and placed under the supervision of the probation officer until February 18, 2001, subject to stated terms and conditions, including 30 days of electronic monitoring and 200 hours of community service.

Appellant challenges the court’s finding that he violated section 422.6, subdivision (b) when he wrote racially motivated words on a classroom door and a building at a public school. His argument raises questions of whether the defaced surfaces were “property of’ a particular teacher and a particular group of students at the school,…