PEOPLE OF MI V NATHANIEL JAMAR ABRAHAM
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,
FOR PUBLICATION
April 10, 2003
9:00 a.m.
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v
No. 227938
Oakland Circuit Court
Family Division
LC No. 97-063787-FC
Updated Copy
May 23, 2003
NATHANIEL JAMAR ABRAHAM,
Defendant-Appellant.
Before: O'Connell, P.J., and Fitzgerald and Murray, JJ.
FITZGERALD, J. (concurring).
I concur in the result reached by the majority. However, I write separately to address
defendant's argument that MCL 712A.2d(1) is unconstitutional because it does not specify a
minimum age under which a juvenile may not be tried as an adult.
MCL 712A.2d(1) provides:
In a petition or amended petition alleging that a juvenile is within the
court's jurisdiction under section 2(a)(1) of this chapter for a specified juvenile
violation, the prosecuting attorney may designate the case as a case in which the
juvenile is to be tried in the same manner as an adult. An amended petition
making a designation under this subsection shall be filed only by leave of the
court.
"Specified juvenile violation" is defined in MCL 712A.2d(9).1
Although I agree with the majority that the statute is not unconstitutional, I am disturbed
by the fact that the statute does not specify any minimum age under which the prosecutor does
1
If the offense committed by the juvenile is "other than a specified juvenile violation," the
prosecutor may request that the court designate the case as a case in which the juvenile is to be
tried in the same manner as an adult. MCL 712A.19d(2). The court may designate the case
following a hearing if it determines that the best interests of the juvenile and the public would be
served by the juvenile being tried in the same manner as an adult. Id.
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not have unrestricted discretion to try a juvenile as an adult. A juvenile tried and convicted as an
adult under subsection 2d(1) may be subject to "any sentence . . . that could be imposed upon an
adult convicted of the offense for which the juvenile was convicted." MCL 712A.18(n).2 Thus,
a juvenile of any age, no matter how young, who is tried and convicted as an adult of a specified
juvenile violation can face up to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.3 While it
may be unlikely for a prosecutor to try a very young child as an adult, under subsection 2d(1) a
prosecutor would nonetheless have unrestricted discretion to try a child of any age as an adult. I
urge the Legislature to revisit subsection 2d(1) and impose a minimum age under which a
juvenile cannot be tried as an adult for a specified juvenile violation.4
/s/ E. Thomas Fitzgerald
2
In the present case, however, defendant was not sentenced as an adult.
3
Indeed, under the plain language of the statute, a child as young as three, or four, or five years
of age could be tried, convicted, and sentenced as an adult.
4
Although this case does not involve an "offense other than a specified juvenile violation," I
would also urge the Legislature to impose a minimum age for purposes of subsection 2d(2).
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