Commonwealth v. Baker

In this appeal, the Court reviews a judgment of the Court of Appeals declaring the transfer of jurisdiction from a juvenile and domestic relations district court to a circuit court ineffectual and the subsequent convictions void. Baker v. Commonwealth, 28 Va. App. 306, 504 S.E.2d 394 (1998).

Central to the decision below was the interpretation of Code § 16.1-263(A), which provides, in part, that after a juvenile petition is filed, the court shall direct summonses “to the parents” of the juvenile. Here, even though the juvenile’s mother received notice, the juvenile’s biological father was not…