In re Edgar G. CA2/7

INTRODUCTION

A petition was filed in April 2012 pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 alleging appellant Edgar G., then 17 years old, had committed the offenses of unlawfully driving or taking a vehicle, a Honda Pilot belonging to Sophia Diaz (Veh. Code, § 10851, subd. (a); count 1), and receiving stolen property, a backpack (Pen. Code, § 496, subd. (a)). At the jurisdiction hearing, the People successfully moved to amend the petition to add an allegation of second degree burglary (Pen. Code, § 459) as count 3. The juvenile court subsequently found true counts 1 and 3, but dismissed count 2. We agree with appellant that the belated amendment of the petition to add the allegation of second degree burglary violated his due process rights. We reverse the true finding on count 3 and remand for a new disposition hearing.

FACTS

Sophia Diaz and her husband owned a Subaru Impreza and a Honda Pilot that were parked outside their home in the City of Lakewood on April 2, 2012. Both cars were locked. The next morning, Diaz discovered the Subaru had been broken into and the Honda was missing. The molding on one of the Subaru’s doors had been pulled off, the trunk and glove…