In re W.L. CA1/4

BACKGROUND

The Crime and Conviction M.B. was walking home from a party late at night when three males forced her into a house, tried to force her to drink

1 alcohol, and raped her repeatedly over the course of some three to four hours.1 W.L., who was 16 years old, was one of them. W.L. was tried as an adult and found guilty of rape in concert, with the circumstance that the victim was kidnaped in the commission of the offense. This court conditionally reversed the judgment pursuant to an intervening change in the law and remanded the case to the juvenile court for a hearing to determine whether it should proceed in juvenile or adult court. In light of the nature of the crime and W.L.’s lack of insight, the juvenile court ordered that he remain in custody pending the transfer hearing for his own protection and that of the public. The Transfer Hearing The prosecution moved to transfer the case to adult court. The Del Norte County probation department (department) recommended that W.L., then 21, be transferred to adult court. Although the department believed there was sufficient time for W.L. to be rehabilitated before the juvenile court’s jurisdiction terminated when he turned 25,…