In the Matter of J.V.J., 209 N.C. App. 737 (2011)

The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the juvenile’s adjudication for assault on a government officer because the trial court failed to make the statutorily mandated findings in its adjudicatory order, which did not address the allegations in the petition. At a minimum, G.S. 7B-2411 requires the trial court to state in a written order that “the allegations in the petition have been proved [beyond a reasonable doubt].” The statute also requires that the order include the date of offense, the misdemeanor or felony classification of the offense, and the date of adjudication. In this case, the order did not even summarily aver that the allegations in the petition had been proved. The form used by the trial court to enter its order contained a large blank space for the court to state its findings. Rather than address any allegations in the petition, the trial court wrote a fragmentary collection of words and numbers in that space, which indicated that an offense occurred and that the juvenile was “responsible.” These “findings” were insufficient to comply with the statute.