J.P. v. State

This is an appeal by the respondent J.P. from a final order after a non-jury trial, which order withheld a juvenile delinquency adjudication and imposed a term of community control for the offense of trespassing on school property after warning. We reverse the final order under review and remand the cause for new trial upon a holding that the trial court committed reversible error in admitting evidence at trial that the respondent had attacked a school teacher in a prior incident. We conclude that (a) the sole relevance of this testimony was to attack the character of the respondent, thus…