State v. R. E. S.

Summary

The Oregon Court of Appeals held that handwritten findings supporting a juvenile’s commitment to the Oregon Youth Authority were illegible and inadequate under ORS 419C.478(1). The court also concluded that the findings that could be read focused on probation violations and community safety rather than explaining why OYA placement was in the youth’s best interests. The order was vacated and remanded for adequate written findings.

Holdings

1. The court would not consider the first three assignments because the arguments were not preserved and the youth did not request plain-error review.
2. Preservation was properly excused because the asserted error appeared for the first time in the judgment.
3. Illegible written findings do not satisfy ORS 419C.478(1).
4. The readable portions of the findings were inadequate because they focused on probation violations, behavioral concerns, and community safety rather than explaining why placement in OYA custody was in the youth's best interests.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the court should reach the youth's first three assignments of error concerning the grounds for revoking probation, committing her to OYA, and placing her in a youth correctional facility when those arguments were not preserved and plain-error review was not requested.
2. Whether preservation should be excused for a challenge to inadequate written findings when the alleged error first appeared in the judgment.
3. Whether illegible written findings satisfy ORS 419C.478(1)'s requirement that the juvenile court describe why OYA placement is in the adjudicated youth's best interests.
4. Whether findings addressing probation violations, behavioral concerns, and community safety, without explaining why OYA placement is in the youth's best interests, satisfy ORS 419C.478(1).

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded