In re V.K.B.

408 Mont. 392

510 P.3d 66

In the MATTER OF: V.K.B., a Youth.

DA 20-0430

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs: March 30, 2022

Decided: May 17, 2022

For Appellant: Chad Wright, Appellate Defender, Tammy Hinderman, Assistant Appellate Defender, Helena, Montana

For Appellee: Austin Knudsen, Montana Attorney General, Michael P. Dougherty, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana, Scott D. Twito, Yellowstone County Attorney, Laura Watson, Deputy County Attorney, Billings, Montana

Justice Ingrid Gustafson delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1 Appellant V.K.B., a youth, appeals from the June 25, 2020 oral disposition and accompanying July 2, 2020 Department of Corrections Commitment Order issued by the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County (Youth Court), which committed V.K.B. to the custody of the Montana Department of Corrections (DOC) for placement at the Pine Hills Youth Correctional Facility (Pine Hills), following his adjudication as a Delinquent Youth.

¶2 We restate the issue on appeal as follows:

Whether the District Court exceeded its statutory authority and abused its discretion by committing V.K.B. to DOC custody for placement at Pine Hills.

¶3 We reverse.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶4 On May 11, 2019, V.K.B., then 15 years old, was at a friend's house in Billings. V.K.B. found a .22 caliber bolt-action rifle in his friend's bedroom. V.K.B., who had no training or experience with guns, began messing around with the gun, which was jammed. At some point, V.K.B. started to bang on the gun. When V.K.B. was banging on the gun, it was pointed in the direction of another friend, T.R., who was also 15 years old. As V.K.B. banged on the gun, it discharged and T.R. was shot and killed.

¶5 On August 21, 2019, a Billings Police officer responded to a call about a large group of people fighting and noticed a male, later identified as V.K.B., running from the scene. The officer reported V.K.B. threw rocks at the police vehicle. V.K.B. was later apprehended by the officer, who conducted a pat search where he discovered, among other things, a marijuana pipe. On September 16, 2019, V.K.B. was a passenger in a car pulled over for having an inoperable tail lamp. When the officer approached the vehicle, he could smell a strong odor of marijuana. The officer obtained consent to search the vehicle and discovered, among other things, marijuana and a marijuana pipe. V.K.B. claimed ownership of the marijuana pipe.

¶6 On October 28, 2019, the State filed a Delinquent Youth Petition in Cause No. DJ-19-161 alleging V.K.B. was a delinquent youth. The Petition alleged four counts: Count I, negligent homicide in violation of § 45-5-104, MCA, for the May 11, 2019 incident; Count II, criminal possession of drug paraphernalia in violation of § 45-10-103, MCA, for the August 21, 2019 incident; Count III, criminal possession of dangerous drugs in violation of § 45-9-102, MCA, for the September 16, 2019 incident; and Count IV, criminal possession of drug paraphernalia in violation of § 45-10-103, MCA, for the September 16, 2019 incident. If committed by an adult, Count I would be a felony, while the remaining counts would be misdemeanors.

¶7 The Youth Court conducted an initial appearance on the Petition on November 14, 2019. V.K.B. entered a plea of "not true" to the allegations of the Petition. The Youth Court released V.K.B. on his own recognizance to his father's custody, subject to several conditions, including a mental health evaluation, a chemical dependency evaluation, random urinalysis tests, and GPS monitoring. Based on the results of his mental health evaluation, V.K.B. qualified for treatment at a therapeutic youth group home due to concerns regarding V.K.B.’s drug and alcohol abuse and his stated memories of trauma. In January 2020, V.K.B. was placed in the STAR Youth Home in Billings, a therapeutic youth group home operated by Youth Dynamics, Inc.

¶8 On March 6, 2020, the State filed a separate Delinquent Youth Petition in Cause No. DJ-20-042 alleging V.K.B. was a delinquent youth. This Petition alleged V.K.B. committed the offense of misdemeanor theft, first offense, for stealing $160 from a cash box at Billings Skyview High School in January and February of 2020, while he was conditionally released pending adjudication in the first Petition. After being caught for the theft in February, but before the second Petition was filed, V.K.B. was temporarily placed in detention for violating his release conditions, before again being released on his own recognizance with instructions to continue residing at the group home.

¶9 On May 14, 2020, the Youth Court held an initial appearance on the second Petition. V.K.B.’s attorney informed the court that V.K.B. would also like to make admissions in the first Petition at this time. V.K.B., pursuant to an agreement with the State, then pled "true" to both the theft allegation of the second Petition and to the negligent homicide allegation of the first Petition in exchange for the State dismissing Counts II-IV, the drug-related charges, of the first Petition. At the end of the hearing, the Youth Court received a letter from the STAR Youth Group Home manager, which recounted the progress the manager had observed in V.K.B. during his time at the home and noted the home was confident V.K.B. would "graduate our program successfully." The court congratulated V.K.B. after receiving the letter and told V.K.B. to keep up the hard work.

¶10 On June 11, 2020, the Youth Court held a dispositional hearing on both Petitions. Prior to the hearing, a Social History and Recommendations report was prepared by Juvenile Probation Officer (JPO) LaBree Stephens. JPO Stephens's report noted that since V.K.B. had been placed at the group home he had participated in individual and family therapy, participated in chemical dependency treatment, been placed on medication for anxiety, and had worked towards improving his education. JPO Stephens's report recommended V.K.B. be placed on probation until age 21, "with placement and successful completion at Youth Dynamics Group Home." At the hearing, the Youth Court first heard testimony from T.R.’s family members before turning to JPO Stephens's recommendation V.K.B. be placed at the group home. The State and V.K.B. both concurred with that recommendation.

¶11 The court questioned JPO Stephens about what treatment V.K.B. was getting while at the group home and how much longer he would be there. JPO Stephens informed the court V.K.B. was getting chemical dependency treatment, individual and family treatment, had finished the school year with all passing grades, and was also attending day treatment at the New Day Ranch. JPO Stephens further informed the court V.K.B. had recently received an extension to stay at the group home, and she anticipated V.K.B. would be there for another four months. The Youth Court inquired as to what would happen when V.K.B. left the group home, and JPO Stephens responded that V.K.B. would be under his father's care, with the possibility V.K.B. would live with another family member because his father was not always available and V.K.B. would have lots of appointments for therapy and medication management. The Youth Court stated the recommendation V.K.B. stay at the group home until discharged to his father "[made] no sense" and noted it was "disturb[ed]" that V.K.B.’s father did not fill out the packet Youth Court Services asked him to complete. JPO Stephens told the court V.K.B.’s father had full rights and a youth discharging from a group home would usually go back to their parents and that she spoke to V.K.B. about exploring options to live with other family members after completing group home treatment, to which the Youth Court responded:

If my options are Pine Hills or getting him back with his dad in another four months, he's going to Pine Hills, if those are the only options that you're giving me. So here's what we're going to do. I – I – there's got to be a better way. This young man needs not only treatment which he's getting, and that's awesome, but he needs a lot of supervision and accountability once he gets out of that treatment, and if [he] doesn't have that, he's going to go right back to where he was. So what I want to make sure of is that when he's out of the youth home that he's going to go to a home where's he's going to be held accountable, where he's going to have pretty strict supervision, and I – nothing I see here in this record indicates that his dad is going to provide that for him. He couldn't even be here today. Now I'm not saying other family members can't, but I'm not comfortable at all with his father having that role at this point. So what we're going to do is I'm going—I'm going to continue this disposition. I want Youth Services to work with the family and see if we can't come up with something that provides more structure after he's done with the group home in four months, and, if not, then I'm going to provide more structure because he needs a longer period of structure and – to turn this around.

V.K.B.’s attorney suggested the Youth Court could order V.K.B.’s father to complete parenting classes. The court responded it was "not going to do that," and continued the dispositional hearing for two weeks, indicating it wanted "something that has more structure once [V.K.B.’s] done with the group home." Before going into recess, the court addressed V.K.B. directly, stating:

I run a drug court. You've got drug issues. It takes in my drug court for adults – it takes two to three years of very intense supervision and a lot of treatment before there's any real genuine progress. I call the first year the honeymoon. That's just the honeymoon. The hard part gets when you get back into the community, and what I want to make sure is is that I believe you have the potential to be a very worthwhile productive citizen in this community, but you're going to need help, and you're going to need it for a

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