N.E. v. Wisconsin Department of Health & Social Services

N.E. appeals a dispo-sitional order entered in a juvenile proceeding which adjudicated him delinquent. The sole issue on appeal is whether the court commissioner erred in accepting defense counsel’s withdrawal of the juvenile’s demand for a jury trial in the absence of a personal withdrawal, in writing or in open court on the record, from the juvenile. We hold that as a matter of judicial administration, a juvenile’s statutory right to a jury trial, once demanded, must be withdrawn personally, by the juvenile, either in writing or on the record in open court. Because the court commissioner…