## Facts

- Jason P. LeFever was held in official detention at the Fairbanks Youth Facility based on juvenile delinquency adjudications for conduct that would have been felonies if committed by an adult.
- On June 16, 1992, LeFever was allowed to work on facility grounds with minimal supervision and left the facility without authorization.
- LeFever did not return; he was retrieved the next month by his juvenile probation officer in Seattle.
- Because LeFever was over 18 at the time of the departure, the State prosecuted him as an adult for unlawful evasion.
- At trial, LeFever stipulated he was in official detention for juvenile proceedings involving felony-equivalent conduct but did not stipulate to any adult felony conviction.

## Issues

1. Whether Alaska’s first-degree unlawful evasion statute applies when a person leaves official detention that is based solely on juvenile delinquency adjudications.
2. Whether juvenile detention for felony-equivalent conduct satisfies the requirement that the person be “charged with or convicted of a felony” under AS 11.56.340(a).

## Decision

- The Alaska Court of Appeals affirmed LeFever’s bench-trial conviction for first-degree unlawful evasion under AS 11.56.340.
- The court held the statute covers evasion from official detention based on juvenile adjudications when the underlying conduct would have been a felony if committed by an adult.
- The court concluded the State was not required to prove a formal adult felony charge or adult felony conviction to establish the “charged with or convicted of a felony” element.

## Legal Principles

- For AS 11.56.340(a), the felony classification turns on the seriousness of the conduct underlying the detention; juvenile adjudications for felony-equivalent acts can satisfy the statute’s felony condition.
- Statutory interpretation may reject a purely formal reading where it would create an irrational gap in coverage that permits persons in juvenile detention to leave official detention without effective criminal sanction.
- A person over 18 who commits unlawful evasion may be prosecuted as an adult even if the underlying detention arises from juvenile proceedings.

## Conclusion

The court upheld LeFever’s first-degree unlawful evasion conviction, interpreting AS 11.56.340(a) to apply when official detention stems from juvenile adjudications for conduct that would be felonies for an adult, without requiring a formal adult felony charge or conviction.


LeFever v. State, 877 P.2d 1298 (Alaska Ct. App. 1994)