## Facts

- Felder was 15 years old when he was alleged to have committed a designated felony: robbery in the first degree.
- The matter was brought in New York Family Court as a juvenile delinquency proceeding rather than as an adult criminal prosecution.
- Felder faced the possibility of placement in a secure facility for up to 12 months if adjudicated delinquent.
- Before adjudication, Felder moved for a jury trial in Family Court.
- Felder relied on *Baldwin v. New York*, arguing that because the authorized loss of liberty could exceed six months, he was constitutionally entitled to a jury.
- The State opposed the motion, arguing that *McKeiver v. Pennsylvania* controlled and that juveniles in delinquency proceedings have no federal constitutional right to a jury trial.

## Issues

1. Whether a juvenile charged in Family Court with a designated felony and facing up to 12 months in a secure facility has a constitutional right to a jury trial under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments.

## Decision

- The court denied Felder’s motion for a jury trial.
- The court treated *McKeiver v. Pennsylvania* as controlling authority on the jury-trial question in juvenile delinquency proceedings.
- The court declined to apply *Baldwin*’s “more than six months” jury-trial line for adult criminal cases to a Family Court delinquency adjudication.

## Legal Principles

- The Sixth Amendment jury-trial right, as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, applies to “criminal prosecutions,” but the Supreme Court has not required jury trials in juvenile delinquency proceedings.
- Under *McKeiver v. Pennsylvania*, due process does not require a jury trial in juvenile delinquency adjudications, even when the alleged conduct would be a serious crime if charged against an adult.
- *Baldwin v. New York* draws a jury-trial line for adult criminal prosecutions based on the authorized term of imprisonment, but that rule does not automatically govern juvenile delinquency proceedings.
- The possibility of a substantial loss of liberty in a juvenile disposition does not, by itself, convert a delinquency proceeding into an adult criminal prosecution for purposes of the federal constitutional jury guarantee.

## Conclusion

In *In the Matter of Felder*, the New York Family Court held that a 15-year-old charged with first-degree robbery in a delinquency proceeding was not constitutionally entitled to a jury trial, even though the potential placement in a secure facility could last up to 12 months, because *McKeiver* foreclosed a federal due process requirement for juries in juvenile delinquency cases and *Baldwin* did not control in the juvenile setting.


In the Matter of Felder, 402 N.Y.S.2d 528 (1978)