In re Jeremiah C. CA1/4

I. BACKGROUND

The Contra Costa County District Attorney filed a petition under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 alleging Jeremiah made a criminal threat toward his mother and committed battery upon her. After a contested jurisdiction hearing, the juvenile court sustained both allegations and reduced the criminal threat to a misdemeanor (§ 422). Following the disposition hearing, the juvenile court adjudged Jeremiah a ward of the

1 Unless otherwise indicated, all further statutory references are to the Penal Code.

1 court and placed him on probation under the custody of his parents. On appeal, the issue is whether there was sufficient evidence to sustain the allegation of a misdemeanor criminal threat. In late August 2013, Jeremiah lived at home with his mother (M.L.), his stepfather, his brother, and his sister. On August 20, 2013, Jeremiah had a loud argument with M.L. and his stepfather, and M.L. called 911. When Officer Wilkerson arrived at the scene, M.L. was very agitated and told the officer that she was extremely frustrated because Jeremiah had not been listening to her and had been disrespectful towards her. M.L. complained to the officer that Jeremiah had been…