In re A.L. CA6

I. BACKGROUND

A juvenile wardship petition was filed against A.L. on December 20, 2012. The petition alleged that A.L. had committed two felonies--robbery in violation of Penal Code section 211 and battery resulting in the infliction of serious bodily injury in violation of Penal Code section 243, subdivision (d). On February 7, 2013, the district attorney filed an amended wardship petition. In addition to armed robbery and battery, the amended wardship petition charged A.L. with a third felony--assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury in violation of Penal Code section 245, subdivision (a)(4). All of the charges arose from an incident in which A.L. and a friend beat up a man and stole his wallet. A.L. denied all of the charges. On March 15, 2013, following a two-day contested jurisdiction hearing, the court found all three allegations to be true and sustained the amended petition. The defense successfully moved to reduce the violation of Penal Code section 245, subdivision (a)(4) to a misdemeanor. On March 29, 2013, the court declared A.L. a ward of the juvenile court and committed him to the Monterey County Youth Center for one year. The court…