In re Joseph H.
Annotate this CaseAt ten years of age, Joseph H. woke up early one morning and shot his father in the head as the father lay asleep on a sofa. Joseph had been physically abused and severely neglected by his mother, and was sexually abused by his mother’s boyfriend. Joseph lived with his father Jeff prior to Jeff's death, and Jeff's girlfriend Krista. Jeff was addicted to Percocet and methamphetamine, and was frequently violent towards both Krista and Joseph. A few days before the shooting, Jeff became violent with Krista. Jeff owned guns, which he frequently showed off, including a handgun that was kept in the closet of the bedroom. There were no child protection locks for the gun, which was kept loaded. Krista called 911 when she discovered Jeff on the sofa. When police arrived, Joseph volunteered that he had grabbed the gun and shot his dad in the ear. Joseph explained he did so because his father had beaten him and his mother, and his father had kicked Joseph “in the ass” the day before. Joseph also said he used his father’s gun and that he had put it under his bed after the shooting. When the residence was searched, the gun used in the shooting was found under Joseph’s bed. A wardship petition was filed alleging Joseph had committed acts which would have been crimes if committed by an adult, specifically, murder, with a special allegation of discharging a firearm causing death. After a contested hearing, the juvenile court found that Joseph understood the wrongfulness of his acts despite the statutory presumption of incapacity, had committed an act which would have been second degree murder if committed by an adult, and had discharged a firearm. Joseph appealed his commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice, arguing: (1) the court erroneously considered statements obtained in violation of his Miranda rights; (2) his evaluation by a prosecution expert during trial, without counsel present, violated his due process rights; (3) the court improperly weighed the evidence in finding that he knew the wrongfulness of his conduct; (4) the true findings must be reversed due to cumulative errors during the adjudicatory hearing; and (5) the court abused its discretion in committing him to the Department of Juvenile J
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