Time to Review Juv Convictions in Cali

A First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, ruling on a burglary case yesterday, called on the California Supreme Court to review a 1978 ruling that allows juvenile offenders to be convicted on the basis of an accomplice’s testimony. “Under California law,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports, “the testimony of an accomplice in the same crime isn’t enough to convict an adult unless prosecutors provide corroboration from an independent witness or physical evidence to support the testimony. But the state Supreme Court ruled in 1978 that the law did not apply to juvenile court.”

The appeals court explained: “With the passage of nearly 30 years and attendant significant changes in juvenile law, the rule of (the 1978 case) is well-positioned for reassessment.”