An Act To Make Technical Amendments to the Maine Juvenile Code
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §3101, sub-§4, ¶D, as repealed and replaced by PL 1997, c. 645, §3, is amended to read:
(1) Seriousness of the crime: the nature and seriousness of the offense with greater weight being given to offenses against the person than against property; whether the offense was committed in an aggressive, violent, premeditated or intentional manner;
(2) Characteristics of the juvenile: the record and previous history of the juvenile; the age of the juvenile; the juvenile's emotional attitude and pattern of living;
(3) Public safety: whether the protection of the community requires commitment of the juvenile for a period longer than the greatest commitment authorized; whether the protection of the community requires commitment of the juvenile to a facility that is more secure than any dispositional alternative under section 3314; and
(4) Dispositional alternatives: whether future criminal conduct by the juvenile will be deterred by the dispositional alternatives available; whether the dispositional alternatives would diminish the gravity of the offense.
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §3101, sub-§4, ¶E, as amended by PL 1997, c. 645, §4, is further amended to read:
(1) That there is probable cause to believe that a juvenile crime has been committed that would constitute murder or a Class A, Class B or Class C crime if the juvenile involved were an adult and that the juvenile to be bound over committed it; and
(2) After a consideration of the seriousness of the crime, the characteristics of the juvenile, the public safety and the dispositional alternatives in paragraph D, that:
(a) If the State has the burden of proof, the State has established by a preponderance of the evidence that it is appropriate to prosecute the juvenile as if the juvenile were an adult; or
(b) If the juvenile has the burden of proof, the juvenile has failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that it is not appropriate to prosecute the juvenile as if the juvenile were an adult.
Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §3101, sub-§4, ¶E-2, as amended by PL 2013, c. 28, §2, is further amended to read:
Sec. 4. 15 MRSA §3101, sub-§4, ¶F, as amended by PL 1979, c. 681, §38, is further amended to read:
Sec. 5. 15 MRSA §3103, sub-§1, ¶E, as amended by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. B, §29 and affected by c. 614, §9, is further amended to read:
Sec. 6. 15 MRSA §3105-A, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 222, §2, is amended to read:
Sec. 7. 15 MRSA §3311-D, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 384, §4, is amended to read:
§ 3311-D. Limited review by appeal
A juvenile is precluded from seeking to attack the legality of a deferred disposition, including a final disposition, except that a juvenile who has been determined by a court to have inexcusably failed to comply with a court-imposed deferment requirement and thereafter has had imposed a dispositional alternative authorized for the juvenile crime may appeal to the Superior Supreme Judicial Court, but not as of right. The time for taking the appeal and the manner and any conditions for the taking of the appeal are as the Supreme Judicial Court provides by rule.
Sec. 8. 15 MRSA §3318-A, sub-§10, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 282, §4, is amended to read:
SUMMARY
This bill implements the recommendations of the Criminal Law Advisory Commission to make technical amendments to the Maine Juvenile Code. Specifically, the bill makes changes to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 15, Part 6 as follows.
1. It amends references in the Maine Juvenile Code to the Superior Court to more accurately identify that, following a bind-over hearing, a juvenile is prosecuted as an adult.
2. It corrects a cross-reference in the laws concerning hunting and operating under the influence.
3. It corrects a headnote and the term "conviction" in reference to the disposition of a juvenile crime.
4. It changes a reference to the Superior Court to the Supreme Judicial Court to reflect that juvenile appeals are to the Supreme Judicial Court.
5. It establishes that if a juvenile is bound over for prosecution as an adult the issue of the juvenile's competency may be revisited.