Daniels v. State

• Decision Date: 08 March 2022
• Docket Number: S21A1268
• Citation: 313 Ga. 400,870 S.E.2d 409
• Parties: DANIELS v. The STATE.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

313 Ga. 400

870 S.E.2d 409

DANIELS

v.The STATE.

S21A1268

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Decided: March 8, 2022

Robert L. Wadkins, Jr., Wadkins & Wallace P.C., 233 12th Street, Suite 517, Columbus, Georgia 31901, for Appellant.

Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula Khristian Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Parisia Faith Sarfarazi, Assistant Attorney General Department of Law, 40 Capitol Square, S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30334, Mark Preston Jones, P.O. Box 427, Frederick Lewis, A.D.A., Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office, 100 10th Street, Columbus, Georgia 31901, for Appellee.

Bethel, Justice.

A Muscogee County jury found Kevonta Daniels guilty of felony murder in connection with the shooting death of Kenneth Moore; the aggravated assaults of Jai Williams, Jamal Williams, and James Williams; the theft of vehicles belonging to Jamal Williams, Marcus Jones, and Alvin Walker; and other offenses. Following the denial of his motion for new trial, Daniels argues on appeal that the trial court erred by admitting statements he made to the police into evidence at trial. Daniels, who was 14 years old at the time of the crimes and when he was interviewed by the police, specifically argues that the State failed to prove that he knowingly and voluntarily waived his constitutional rights before speaking with the police and that his statements should also have been excluded because the police failed to comply with provisions of the Juvenile Code relating to custody of juvenile arrestees. We affirm.¹

1. The evidence presented at trial showed the following. During the early morning of December 17, 2017, Daniels stole a red Toyota Tacoma truck from Marcus Jones's residence in Columbus. The next day, Daniels

and Ladarius Render drove the truck to Kenneth Moore's home on Curry Street. Daniels then kicked in the back door of Moore's house, and Daniels and Render went inside. They took Christmas presents, Moore's cell phone, and a key ring with spare keys to three cars owned by the Moore family.

Moore returned home while Daniels and Render were still inside, and he was shot twice, once in the abdomen and once in the shoulder. Daniels later told Devin Burden that both he and Render fired shots at Moore. Around 10:30 a.m., police officers responded to a 911 call. They found Moore inside his house injured from gunshot wounds, but conscious. Moore was taken to the hospital.

Moore spent 13 days in the hospital, underwent two surgeries, and eventually died on January 1, 2018. The medical examiner determined that Moore's death was caused by a series of blood clots

in his lower extremities resulting from his two gunshot wounds and that the manner of death was homicide.

At some point, Daniels gave Jones's truck to Burden, who knew that it had been stolen. On December 21, 2017, the truck was found by the police.

On December 24, Alvin Walker went outside to start his 2004 Acura MDX at his home on Muriel Street. After starting the car, Walker went inside for about three minutes, leaving his car unlocked and unattended. While Walker was inside, Daniels got into the running Acura and drove it away. When Walker came back outside, the Acura was gone. Later that night, Walker saw someone drive the Acura by his house.

The next day, December 25, Jamal Williams drove to his parents’ house on Dirk Way. After he arrived, Jamal left his Buick Lucerne running while he went inside the house. Render, Daniels, and Burden drove by in the stolen Acura and noticed the unaccompanied Buick running in the driveway. Daniels got out of the Acura and into the running Buick and drove away. Still in the Acura, Render and Burden followed Daniels in the Buick.

Inside the house, Jamal's father, James Williams, grabbed his gun and James, Jamal, and Jamal's brother, Jai Williams, went after the Buick in James's car. They followed the Buick to Belvedere Park.

When they saw the Williamses approaching, Render and Burden drove away in the stolen Acura to retrieve weapons. Daniels fired a shot which shattered the glass of James's car and hit Jamal. James and Jai fired multiple shots back at Daniels. Jai recovered the Buick after the shootout and drove it back to James's house.

The Columbus police recovered Walker's Acura a few days later. Inside the Acura, officers recovered a Charter Arms .38-caliber revolver. There was also a shell casing on the floorboard. Although the Williamses stated that no shots had been fired at them from the Acura, Burden later told the police that the revolver had been used in the shooting at Belvedere Park.

Daniels was arrested at his home around 9:45 a.m. on January 11, 2018, and was taken to a Columbus police station. Through the use of an advice-of-rights form designed specifically for juveniles, Daniels was given Miranda warnings² by Detective Jason Carden at 11:40 a.m.³ Detective Carden then interviewed Daniels regarding some vehicle break-ins unrelated to this case.⁴ When Detective Carden concluded his questioning, Investigator Ray Harralson asked Daniels about the thefts of a Toyota Tacoma and an Acura and some other thefts unrelated to this case. Investigator Harralson testified at trial that Daniels confessed to being involved in the thefts of the Tacoma and Acura. Investigator Joseph Austin entered the room and assisted Investigator Harralson with his questioning for about 15 minutes. Investigator Austin then began questioning Daniels about a different set of vehicle thefts after Investigator Harralson concluded his questions. Investigator Austin testified that during their discussion Daniels admitted that he stole a Buick and that he had been a part of the shooting at Belvedere Park.⁵ Investigator Austin testified that he did not provide Daniels with food but was told Daniels was given two slices of pizza and something to drink at the police station.

At some point that afternoon, Daniels was moved to a different interview room.⁶ At 3:25 p.m., Daniels again received Miranda warnings through the use of a juvenile advice-of-rights form from Detective Delante Odom. Detective Odom then told Daniels that he wanted to talk to him about the Curry Street burglary. Around 3:35 p.m., Daniels told Detective Odom that he kicked in the door to Moore's house, searched for money and jewelry, and then ran out of the house after hearing a gunshot. Detective Odom's interview with Daniels concluded just after 4:00 p.m.⁷

2. In related enumerations of error, Daniels argues that his statements to the police should have been excluded at trial. For the reasons set forth below, we disagree with these contentions.

(a) Daniels first argues that his statements to the police should have been excluded because the officers who arrested and interviewed him did not comply with OCGA § 15-11-502 (a) (3). That section of the Juvenile Code provides, in relevant part:

A person taking an alleged delinquent child into custody, with all reasonable speed and without first taking such child elsewhere, shall ... [b]ring such child immediately before the juvenile court or promptly contact a juvenile court intake officer.

OCGA § 15-11-502 (b) provides an exception to this requirement. Subsection (b) provides that, notwithstanding the general rule of subsection (a),

a law enforcement officer may detain an alleged delinquent child for a reasonable period of time sufficient to conduct interrogations and perform routine law enforcement procedures including but not limited to fingerprinting, photographing, and the preparation of any necessary records.

Daniels argues that his detention for questioning violated these provisions of the Juvenile Code because he was not brought before a juvenile court until the next day.

Daniels did not object to the admission of his incriminating statements on this basis at trial. He did so for the first time in his amended motion for new trial. Thus, his claim is subject to review on appeal only for "plain error[ ] affecting substantial rights." OCGA § 24-1-103 (d). To show plain error regarding the admission of evidence, the appellant must satisfy a four-part test:

First, there must be an error or defect — some sort of deviation from a legal rule — that has not been intentionally relinquished or abandoned, i.e., affirmatively waived, by the appellant. Second, the legal error must be clear or obvious, rather than subject to reasonable dispute. Third, the error must have affected the appellant's substantial rights, which in the ordinary case means he must demonstrate that it affected the outcome of the trial court proceedings. Fourth and finally, if the above three prongs are satisfied, the appellate court has the discretion to remedy the error — discretion which ought to be exercised only if the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings.

(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Gates v. State , 298 Ga. 324, 327 (3), 781 S.E.2d 772 (2016).

Although the application of the exception set forth in OCGA § 15-11-502 (b) appears to be a matter of first impression for this Court,⁸ subsection (b) plainly authorized the police to detain and interrogate Daniels for a reasonable period of time after his arrest. And we cannot say that a period of roughly five and a half to six hours was an obviously unreasonable time for interrogation in this case, particularly given the range and number of incidents about which Daniels was questioned by the police.

Daniels also asserted in his amended motion for new trial and in his brief before this Court that he was first brought before the juvenile court at 1:30 p.m. on January 12, the day after his interviews with the police. However, Daniels points to nothing in the record to support that assertion, nor does he even assert what happened during the intervening hours, such as whether a juvenile court intake officer was contacted. Thus, he has not shown that any such delay was obviously unreasonable, such that it was an...