MAY, Judge.
D.E. appeals his adjudication as a delinquent. He asserts the trial court improperly accepted the plea agreement that was not signed by either of his parents. He also argues the trial court abused its discretion when it placed him in the Department of Correction (DOC) when a less restrictive placement was available. We affirm.
On January 19, 2011, D.E. armed himself with a rifle and approached a man at an ATM, intending to rob him. The man, who happened to be a police detective, pulled out his service revolver and pointed
The State alleged D.E. was a delinquent child for committing acts that if committed by an adult would be Class D felony criminal recklessness,
On February 9, D.E. and his attorney both signed the plea agreement. D.E.'s mother would not sign because she was "concerned about the charges or the lack of charges maybe, that was [sic] filed against [J.S.]" (Tr. at 10.) The juvenile court explained the agreement and D.E.'s rights. D.E. and his parents indicated they understood what D.E. was admitting, the waiver of his rights, and the consequences of his plea.
The juvenile court held dispositional hearings on March 2 and March 9, and D.E.'s mother attended both. The court found earlier attempts to rehabilitate D.E. had been unsuccessful and determined D.E.'s behavior caused concern for the public safety of others. It placed D.E. in the DOC until his twenty-first birthday or until the completion of all required programs, with a recommendation of at least eighteen months in a Juvenile Correctional Facility (JCF).
D.E.'s plea agreement required that he waive the following constitutional rights to:
(App. of Appellee
Ind.Code § 31-32-5-1.
D.E. and his counsel signed the plea agreement. D.E. concedes those signatures satisfy the requirements of the statute, but argues his parents' "rights were thwarted by the provisions of Ind. Code § 31-32-5-1, which allowed appointed counsel to waive D.E.'s right to a fact-finding adjudication." (Br. of Appellant at 10.) We cannot agree.
D.E.'s mother was present at every hearing, and his father attended the hearing during which D.E. accepted the plea agreement. Both parents indicated they understood the implications of the waivers in the plea agreement. D.E.'s mother did not approve of the way the State treated D.E. differently than J.S., so she would not sign the plea agreement; however, she never denied D.E.'s guilt or indicated she disagreed with his acceptance of the plea agreement.
D.E. also argues he was denied the "opportunity for meaningful consultation with his parents prior to signing the plea agreement in this case." (Id. at 12) (emphasis in original). He was not. The plea agreement was presented to D.E. on February 7, 2011, and he requested a continuance to consider it. The trial court continued the dispositional hearing until February 9. At the dispositional hearing, neither D.E. nor his parents claimed they had not had an opportunity to discuss the agreement.
D.E. has not demonstrated the waivers in his plea agreement did not comport with Ind.Code § 31-32-5-1. It is undisputed that D.E. and his counsel signed the plea agreement, which is sufficient to satisfy the statute. D.E. has not alleged he involuntarily or unknowingly entered into the agreement. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's acceptance of D.E.'s plea agreement.
The juvenile court has discretion in choosing the disposition for a juvenile adjudicated delinquent. L.L. v. State, 774 N.E.2d 554, 556 (Ind.Ct.App.2002), reh'g denied. This discretion is subject to the statutory considerations of the welfare of the child, the safety of the community, and the policy of favoring the least harsh disposition. Id.; see also Ind.Code § 31-34-19-6.
In Jordan v. State, 512 N.E.2d 407, 408-09 (Ind.1987), our Indiana Supreme Court noted:
The juvenile court placed D.E. in a JCF of the DOC until his twenty-first birthday, or until he completed all required programs, and recommended D.E. stay in the JCF for at least eighteen months. D.E. argues that was an abuse of discretion because a less restrictive dispositional alternative was available. We disagree.
During his dispositional hearing, D.E. presented the option of placement at Lutherwood, a residential treatment center. The trial court instead placed D.E. in a JCF because the "attempts to correct and rehabilitate [D.E.'s] behavior was, [sic] unfortunately, unsuccessful." (Tr. at 63.) D.E. was on probation at the time he committed the acts underlying the instant adjudication, had already violated that probation by testing positive for marijuana, and had been suspended or expelled from multiple schools. Under these circumstances, we cannot say placement in a JCF was an abuse of discretion. See K.A. v. State, 775 N.E.2d 382, 387 (Ind.Ct.App. 2002) (placement of juvenile in DOC not an abuse of discretion when previous less restrictive rehabilitation efforts were unsuccessful).
Because both D.E. and his appointed counsel signed his plea agreement, satisfying Ind.Code § 31-32-5-1, we cannot find the trial court erred by accepting his plea. Further, his placement in a JCF, even though there was a less restrictive option available, was not an abuse of discretion because D.E.'s earlier attempts at rehabilitation through less restrictive means were unsuccessful. Accordingly, we affirm.
Affirmed.
RILEY, J., and NAJAM, J., concur.