Sealing Juvenile Records with Two Wardship Petitions
In the recent case of In re J.S. (2024) 100 Cal.App.5th 246, the Third District Court of Appeal was required to interpret Welfare and Institutions Code section 786, subdivision (c)(1). The court found that a subsequent successful wardship application, meaning the juvenile was charged and found a ward of the court two seperate times for two separate incidents, only bars a record sealing request when the second wardship was for a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude.
J.S. was charged as a juvenile for robbery and found a ward of the court. While on juvenile probation for robbery, he was charged and found a ward of the court again for committing battery, a misdemeanor, on a different occasion. After the last offense, J.S. was of good conduct and successfully completed probation. The probation department asked the record to be sealed, and so did J.S.’s attorney. On both applications, the court denied the request. The statutory language at issue was Welfare and Institutions Code section 786, subdivision (c)(1): the juvenile records can be sealed if “the person has no new findings of wardship or conviction for a felony offense or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude during the period of . . . probation.” The trial court determined that any new wardship would bar the right to seal the juvenile record, so the misdemeanor battery probation barred record sealing.
The Court of Appeal interpreted section 786, subdivision (c)(1), and disagreed with the original determination. The Third District Court of Appeal concluded that so long as the second wardship wasn’t a felony or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, the former misdemeanor should be eligible for sealing. Because misdemeanor battery is not a crime involving moral turpitude, J.S. was eligible to have his juvenile record sealed. The court remanded the case to the trial court for a new hearing to determine if sealing should be granted.
This case is helpful to those previously involved with the juvenile justice system because it clarifies who is eligible for a petition to seal when there were multiple juvenile wardship petitions against a person. For any questions regarding eligibility for juvenile record sealing or other clean criminal record relief, contact the Law Office of David Reagan.
