Mass. SJC says courts must dismiss juvenile cases when charges lowered to misdemeanors

Minors who are convicted in juvenile court of only first-time misdemeanor charges should have their cases dismissed, the Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court ruled Friday.

The high court's ruling addresses how the state's law on juvenile misdemeanors should be applied when there are multiple charges in a case.

State law specifies that a first-offense misdemeanor "for which the punishment is a fine, imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than [six] months" is not under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court system.

But a recent case brought up the question of what happens when the minor is brought to court on felony charges, but is only found delinquent for misdemeanor behavior.

In 2021, a teenager was seen performing a sexual act alone in a car parked in a department store lot. The state charged the teen with open and gross lewdness and lascivious behavior, a felony offense.

During the juvenile court trial, lawyers asked that the judge allow the jury to consider misdemeanor punishable by no more than six months in jail or in a house of correction. With no objection from the state, the jury considered those charges and found the teen delinquent on only the lesser misdemeanor charge.

Lawyers for the teen then filed for the case to be dismissed, arguing a misdemeanor for a first-time offender would not have been under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.

State prosecutors said the law fails to recognize plea-down agreements, in which a minor may have committed a felony, but is able to plea down to a misdemeanor charge. They argued the Legislature did not intend to restrict post-verdict proceedings when the court had authority over the case "until the moment of the verdict."

A juvenile court judge sided with the state. Then lawyers for the teen filed appeal and the state's highest court took up the matter.

The Supreme Judicial Court went against the juvenile judge's earlier ruling, saying the court lost jurisdiction when the jury determined it was a minor misdemeanor for a first-time offender.

In writing the opinion, Justice Scott L. Kafker said the reason for the law to dismiss minor charges for teens "was to provide juveniles who have engaged in an isolated instance of misbehavior a second chance."

In January, the court also ruled that those under 21 cannot be sentenced to life without parole.