State v. J.A.

Four days before J.A. was to have fully completed a deferred disposition on a drug charge, she was involved in an altercation in her home, which led to her decision to plead guilty to assault. Although the deferred disposition order prohibited any new law offenses, the juvenile court nevertheless dismissed the drug case based upon evidence that the altercation had been initiated by J.A.’s mother and that J.A. had performed exceptionally well all other terms of her deferred disposition. Because the goals of the Juvenile Justice Act of 1977 (JJA) focus on juvenile rehabilitation as well as…