K.M.S. v. State
Georgia Court of Appeals
200 S.E.2d 916 (1973)
- Written by Katrina Sumner, JD
Facts
K.M.S. (defendant) was a 12-year-old girl who committed murder by stabbing another person to death with a knife. The state (plaintiff) filed a petition alleging that K.M.S. was a delinquent child who needed treatment or needed supervision or rehabilitation, or who needed treatment and needed supervision or rehabilitation. Georgia law defined a delinquent child as one who had perpetrated a delinquent act and needed rehabilitation or treatment. A delinquent act was defined as an act that was labeled a crime under Georgia law. K.M.S. filed a motion to dismiss the delinquency petition, which the juvenile court of DeKalb County denied. Under Georgia law, a person could not be found guilty of a crime if the person was under 13 years old when the crime occurred. Murder was a crime in Georgia. Therefore, K.M.S. contended, because she was under the age of 13 when the fatal stabbing occurred, it was not possible for her to have perpetrated murder, and because the murder was the only delinquent conduct asserted in the petition, the juvenile court lacked the authority to hold that K.M.S. was in need of treatment or in need of supervision or rehabilitation, or in need of treatment and in need of supervision or rehabilitation, as a delinquent child. K.M.S. appealed the juvenile court’s denial of her motion to dismiss the petition.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Stolz, J.)
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