In the Interest of J. M. S.

The juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in transferring the juvenile's case to the superior court, as there was evidence supporting the juvenile court's determinations that it was doubtful the juvenile was amendable to treatment in the juvenile justice system and that the community's interest in transferring the case to superior court outweighed his interest in remaining in the juvenile system.

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J. M. S. was charged with various criminal offenses, via three delinquency petitions, when he was 15 years old, and the Glynn County juvenile court granted the State’s motion to transfer his case to the superior court. J. M. S. appeals, arguing that there was no evidence to support the juvenile court’s finding that he was not amenable to treatment or rehabilitation and that the transfer order lacked sufficient detail to show that the court properly weighed his interest in remaining in juvenile court against the community’s interest in having him treated as an adult.1 For the reasons set forth infra, we affirm.

In relevant part, the evidence shows that, on September 27, 2014, an individual—later identified from surveillance footage as J. M. S.—burglarized a Glynn County pawn shop and stole a laptop computer. The next day, J. M. S. and an accomplice burglarized a second pawn shop and stole three laptop computers and a DVR recording device. The surveillance footage of the second burglary shows that the perpetrators were looking at the gun case, but they were unable to steal any guns. A few days later, on October 2, 2014, J. M. S. and his accomplice burglarized the second pawn shop yet again. But this time, a police officer responded to the scene while the burglary was still in progress. J. M. S. first brandished an AR-15 rifle at the officer before turning and running from him. During the foot chase that ensued, J. M. S. dropped the AR-15 and a backpack on the ground, but continued running through a residential area and then into some nearby woods. Although J. M. S. was very aggressive and put up a fight, the officer was ultimately able to apprehend him by deploying a taser.

In the Interest of J. M. S.

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