In Episode 2 of The Acolyte, Mae travels to the planet of Olega to exact her revenge on Jedi Master Torbin. To facilitate her clandestine intrusion into the Olega Jedi temple, Mae enlists the help of a local street kid, identified only as the “Olega Urchin.” This adorable scamp’s peripheral involvement in Mae’s crime spree raises numerous legal issues, both substantive and procedural. But to avoid referring to her as the Olega Urchin—and in the grand tradition of Star Wars characters with absurdly on-the-nose names—let’s call her Ada-Bette.
Ada-Bette’s Young Life of Crime
The episode began by showing Ada-Bette’s chain of personal criminal conduct. First, she stole an object from a passing vendor’s cart, likely only a petty theft under California Penal Code sections 484(a) and 488. She then chucked the object, striking a sentry droid guarding the entrance to the Jedi temple. Assuming that droids can be victims of crimes and that the sentry droid counts as an on-duty peace officer, this could constitute a battery of law enforcement under PC 243(b). Once she had the droid’s attention, Ada-Bette distracted it so that Mae could disable the sentry, which might be characterized as criminal obstruction of a peace officer’s duty or employment under PC 148(a)(1). These are certainly significant crimes, but all in a standard day’s work for a streetwise ragamuffin like Ada-Bette.
The real crimes start to pile up once we consider Ada-Bette’s exposure to accomplice liability for aiding and abetting Mae’s subsequent conduct inside the Jedi temple. Penal Code section 31, the California aiding and abetting statute, is not a standalone crime. Rather, it permits the prosecution of an accomplice who assists another perpetrator. To wit, Ada-Bette could be liable under PC 31 for Mae’s further battery/disabling of the sentry droid, burglary (entering the temple with the intent to commit a felony within, PC 459), criminal trespass (PC 602(k)), and the attempted murder of Master Torbin (PC 664/187).
Luckily for Ada-Bette, she would likely not be on the hook as an aider and abetter for Mae’s most serious crimes. To convict under PC 31, the prosecution has to establish, among other things, that the accomplice knew that the perpetrator intended to commit the crimes and that the accomplice intended to aid and abet the perpetrator in their commission. There may be evidence that Ada-Bette knew that Mae wanted to gain unauthorized entry to the temple, which might implicate her in Mae’s droid battery and criminal trespass. However, it seems unlikely that Mae confided in Ada-Bette the full plan to murder Torbin, in which case a prosecutor would have a difficult time tying Ada-Bette to the burglary and attempted murder.
Ultimately, Ada-Bette appears to be a pre-teen child, so any criminal conduct would be resolved through delinquency proceedings in juvenile court under California Welfare and Institutions Code section 707(b). Under Penal Code section 26, children under 14 are presumptively incapable of forming criminal intent—which makes sense where, as here, an impoverished child is developmentally unable to fully appreciate the consequences of some light battery and criminal obstruction when a grown-up offers some much-needed food money in exchange. While juveniles can be prosecuted as adults under PC 707(b) when they are accused of serious crimes, including attempted murder, a court likely would not try a juvenile as an adult without much clearer evidence of an appreciation of wrongfulness than circumstances here suggest. Thus, if anything, Ada-Bette would probably be looking at some juvenile court proceedings to connect her with the social, educational, and counseling services that will hopefully get her on the right track.
Ada-Bette’s Custodial Interrogation
The next time we see her after the episode’s opening sequence, Ada-Bette is very clearly under arrest and not free to leave the Jedi’s custody: a padawan has her by the scruff and orders her to stop resisting his physical restraint. Because this is a custodial situation, Miranda v. Arizona would require officers to admonish the suspect that she has a right to remain silent and a right to an attorney before interrogating her.
Additionally, many jurisdictions impose additional, more stringent safeguards for the custodial interrogation of minors. This is because children are uniquely vulnerable to pressure from authority figures—research has found that when being questioned by police, 42% of innocent youth falsely confessed to a crime as compared to only 13% of adults. Samuel R. Gross et al., Exonerations in the United States, 1989 Through 2003, 95 J. of Crim. L. & Criminology (2005), available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=753084; Megan Glynn Crane, Childhood Trauma’s Lurking Presence in the Juvenile Interrogation Room and the Need for a Trauma-Informed Voluntariness Test for Juvenile Confessions, 62 S.D. L. Rev. 626, 627 (2017).
For example, under California Welfare and Institutions Code section 625.6(a), when the subject of the interrogation is under 18, as here, police must go beyond just advising the child of their Miranda rights. Before asking any questions, officers must further (1) provide the opportunity for the minor to meet with a lawyer and (2) ensure that the child actually speaks with an attorney, either in person or by telephone or video conference.
Additionally, while properly Mirandized adults may knowingly waive their Fourth Amendment rights, California law makes the right to an attorney un-waivable for minors. In other words, kids in California always get a lawyer when questioned in custody.
The episode does not show what happened during Ada-Bette’s initial arrest and detention but, given that The Acolyte is all about not giving the Jedi the benefit of the doubt, it seems safe to assume that the Jedi did not observe any constitutional or statutory protections. There certainly is no attorney present when Jecki begins questioning Ada-Bette. Thus, Ada-Bette’s incriminating responses to Jecki’s unconstitutional interrogation would not be admissible in a U.S. court.
Adorably precocious minors getting swept up in interstellar adventures is a ubiquitous staple of the galaxy far, far away. (See, e.g., Broom Boy; Jyn Erso; Boba Fett; Anakin Skywalker; Ahsoka Tano …and literally every other Jedi padawan ever.) Here’s to hoping that Ada-Bette gets some grand adventures of her own, preferably ones that do not involve assisting others’ criminal activities.
