(a) (1) In any case in which a minor is alleged to be a person described in Section 602 by reason of the violation, when he or she was 16 years of age or older, of any felony criminal statute, or of an offense listed in subdivision (b) when he or she was 14 or 15 years of age, the district attorney or other appropriate prosecuting officer may make a motion to transfer the minor from juvenile court to a court of criminal jurisdiction. The motion must be made prior to the attachment of jeopardy. Upon such motion, the juvenile court shall order the probation officer to submit a report on the behavioral patterns and social history of the minor. The report shall include any written or oral statement offered by the victim pursuant to Section 656.2.
(2) Following submission and consideration of the report, and of any other relevant evidence that the petitioner or the minor may wish to submit, the juvenile court shall decide whether the minor should be transferred to a court of criminal jurisdiction. In making its decision, the court shall consider the criteria specified in subparagraphs (A) to (E). If the court orders a transfer of jurisdiction, the court shall recite the basis for its decision in an order entered upon the minutes. In any case in which a hearing has been noticed pursuant to this section, the court shall postpone the taking of a plea to the petition until the conclusion of the transfer hearing, and no plea that may have been entered already shall constitute evidence at the hearing.
(A) (i) The degree of criminal sophistication exhibited by the minor.
(ii) When evaluating the criterion specified in clause (i), the juvenile court may give weight to any relevant factor, including, but not limited to, the minor’s age, maturity, intellectual capacity, and physical, mental, and emotional health at the time of the alleged offense, the minor’s impetuosity or failure to appreciate risks and consequences of criminal behavior, the effect of familial, adult, or peer pressure on the minor’s actions, and the effect of the minor’s family and community environment and childhood trauma on the minor’s criminal sophistication.
(B) (i) Whether the minor can be rehabilitated prior to the expiration of the juvenile court’s jurisdiction.
(ii) When evaluating the criterion specified in clause (i), the juvenile court may give weight to any relevant factor, including, but not limited to, the minor’s potential to grow and mature.
(C) (i) The minor’s previous delinquent history.
(ii) When evaluating the criterion specified in clause (i), the juvenile court may give weight to any relevant factor, including, but not limited to, the seriousness of the minor’s previous delinquent history and the effect of the minor’s family and community environment and childhood trauma on the minor’s previous delinquent behavior.
(D) (i) Success of previous attempts by the juvenile court to rehabilitate the minor.
(ii) When evaluating the criterion specified in clause (i), the juvenile court may give weight to any relevant factor, including, but not limited to, the adequacy of the services previously provided to address the minor’s needs.
(E) (i) The circumstances and gravity of the offense alleged in the petition to have been committed by the minor.
(ii) When evaluating the criterion specified in clause (i), the juvenile court may give weight to any relevant factor, including but not limited to, the actual behavior of the person, the mental state of the person, the person’s degree of involvement in the crime, the level of harm actually caused by the person, and the person’s mental and emotional development.
(b) Subdivision (a) shall be applicable in any case in which a minor is alleged to be a person described in Section 602 by reason of the violation of one of the following offenses when he or she was 14 or 15 years of age:
(1) Murder.
(2) Arson, as provided in subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 451 of the Penal Code.
(3) Robbery.
(4) Rape with force, violence, or threat of great bodily harm.
(5) Sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm.
(6) A lewd or lascivious act as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 288 of the Penal Code.
(7) Oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace, or threat of great bodily harm.
(8) An offense specified in subdivision (a) of Section 289 of the Penal Code.
(9) Kidnapping for ransom.
(10) Kidnapping for purposes of robbery.
(11) Kidnapping with bodily harm.
(12) Attempted murder.
(13) Assault with a firearm or destructive device.
(14) Assault by any means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.
(15) Discharge of a firearm into an inhabited or occupied building.
(16) An offense described in Section 1203.09 of the Penal Code.
(17) An offense described in Section 12022.5 or 12022.53 of the Penal Code.
(18) A felony offense in which the minor personally used a weapon described in any provision listed in Section 16590 of the Penal Code.
(19) A felony offense described in Section 136.1 or 137 of the Penal Code.
(20) Manufacturing, compounding, or selling one-half ounce or more of a salt or solution of a controlled substance specified in subdivision (e) of Section 11055 of the Health and Safety Code.
(21) A violent felony, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5 of the Penal Code, which also would constitute a felony violation of subdivision (b) of Section 186.22 of the Penal Code.
(22) Escape, by the use of force or violence, from a county juvenile hall, home, ranch, camp, or forestry camp in violation of subdivision (b) of Section 871 if great bodily injury is intentionally inflicted upon an employee of the juvenile facility during the commission of the escape.
(23) Torture as described in Sections 206 and 206.1 of the Penal Code.
(24) Aggravated mayhem, as described in Section 205 of the Penal Code.
(25) Carjacking, as described in Section 215 of the Penal Code, while armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon.
(26) Kidnapping for purposes of sexual assault, as punishable in subdivision (b) of Section 209 of the Penal Code.
(27) Kidnapping as punishable in Section 209.5 of the Penal Code.
(28) The offense described in subdivision (c) of Section 26100 of the Penal Code.
(29) The offense described in Section 18745 of the Penal Code.
(30) Voluntary manslaughter, as described in subdivision (a) of Section 192 of the Penal Code.
(Amended November 8, 2016, by initiative Proposition 57, Sec. 4.2. Note: This section was amended on March 7, 2000, by initiative Prop. 21.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018