In re Butts
| Decision Date | 20 May 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. COA02-531.,COA02-531. |
| Parties | In the Matter of Travis Ray BUTTS. |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
Attorney General Roy Cooper by Assistant Attorney General Laura E. Crumpler, for the State.
Marjorie S. Canaday, Blowing Rock, for respondent-appellant.
Respondent appeals from adjudication of delinquency for commission of a first degree sex offense. The juvenile charges arose from an incident occurring between respondent and C.C. (the prosecuting witness's initials are used to preserve his privacy). The two boys were seventh grade classmates in a self-contained special education class. On 16 March 2001, C.C. spent the night with respondent, who lived with his father. During the evening, the boys watched movies in respondent's room while his father, Willie Butts, watched TV in the living room. Butts owned several guns, including a .357 magnum, which he usually kept near him, or in a holster. Both boys acknowledge that at some point during the night they engaged in sexual activity. However, their testimony conflicted sharply regarding the nature of the sexual contact.
At the hearing, C.C. testified that after the boys watched a movie, respondent took him to his father's bedroom and showed him his father's .357 magnum gun. When they returned to respondent's bedroom, respondent warned C.C. that if he "told anybody what was about to happen, he'd shoot [him]." C.C. put on his pajamas and got ready for bed, while respondent tried to convince him to experiment with sexual activity, saying "it'll be fun." When C.C. refused, respondent became upset and pinned C.C. down on the bed. He performed an act of oral sex on C.C. in which he bit his penis, and then had anal intercourse with C.C. After respondent stopped, he threatened to kill C.C. if he told anyone. The State presented several other witnesses whose testimony generally corroborated C.C.'s account of the events in question. C.C.'s mother testified that her son was in a special education class, and took medications for depression and "anger control." Two weeks after he spent the night with respondent, C.C. told his mother that respondent had "pinned him down" and forced him to engage in sexual acts. Dr. Mary Lou Cooke, a pediatrician, testified that C.C. had given her an account of the incident consistent with his trial testimony. She also testified that, notwithstanding the absence of physical or medical indicators of abuse, she considered C.C.'s physical examination to be "consistent" with his interview. Detective Robin Carrasquillo testified regarding her investigation of the charges. She first interviewed C.C. and his mother, and obtained a statement from C.C. She then interviewed respondent at the law enforcement center, where respondent signed a statement admitting the allegation in the petition.
Respondent testified at the hearing and denied all charges. He testified that after the two boys watched a movie, they played video games and then went to sleep. When he awoke later in the night, C.C. was penetrating him from behind, and refused to stop. Respondent "throwed [sic] him off" and went to sleep in the living room. Respondent denied threatening C.C. with a gun, or performing anal or oral sex on C.C. Respondent's testimony in this regard conflicted with his admissions in a signed confession obtained by Carrasquillo and introduced over respondent's objection. Ellen Jones, the primary teacher for both boys, testified that C.C. had "difficulty getting along" with other children and "conflict[ed] with all the students in the classroom." Jones also testified that C.C. often told lies at school. Mr. Butts, respondent's father, testified that his son had no access to any of his guns, which were in a locked cabinet, and that he had noticed nothing unusual the night that C.C. stayed over. Other evidence will be discussed as necessary to resolve the issues presented herein.
Respondent raises four arguments on appeal. In two of these, respondent contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress the statement obtained by Detective Carrasquillo.
"[I]n a suppression hearing, the State has the burden to demonstrate the admissibility of the challenged evidence." State v. Tarlton, 146 N.C.App. 417, 420, 553 S.E.2d 50, 53 (2001) (citing State v. Harvey, 78 N.C.App. 235, 237, 336 S.E.2d 857, 859 (1985)). In the instant case, respondent argues that his statement was procured in violation of his rights under N.C.G.S. § 7B-2101, which provides in relevant part that:
N.C.G.S. § 7B-2101(a)(3) and (b) (2001). Respondent notes that the waiver form he signed did not include any notification that he had the right to the presence of "a parent, guardian, or custodian ... during questioning." Moreover, it is undisputed that respondent was under 14 years old at the time, and that only Detective Carrasquillo and another officer were present when much of respondent's statement was obtained. Therefore, if respondent's confession was obtained during a custodial interrogation, it would be inadmissible.
The rights protected by N.C.G.S. § 7B-2101 apply only to custodial interrogations. State v. Gaines, 345 N.C. 647, 661, 483 S.E.2d 396, 405, cert. denied, 522 U.S. 900, 118 S.Ct. 248, 139 L.Ed.2d 177 (1997) (). Thus, the threshold inquiry for a court ruling on a suppression motion based on G.S. § 7B-2101, is whether the respondent was in custody when the statement was obtained. "[I]n determining whether a suspect [is] in custody, an appellate court must examine all the circumstances surrounding the interrogation; but the definitive inquiry is whether there was a formal arrest or a restraint on freedom of movement of the degree associated with a formal arrest." State v. Buchanan, 353 N.C. 332, 338, 543 S.E.2d 823, 827 (2001) (quoting Gaines, 345 N.C. at 662, 483 S.E.2d at 405). This requires the trial court to apply "`an objective test as to whether a reasonable person in the position of the defendant would believe himself to be in custody or that he had been deprived of his freedom of action in some significant way.'" State v. Sanders, 122 N.C.App. 691, 693, 471 S.E.2d 641, 642 (1996) (quoting State v. Greene, 332 N.C. 565, 577, 422 S.E.2d 730, 737 (1992)).
In the instant case, respondent argued to the trial court that he was in custody when his statement was taken, thus invoking his rights under G.S. § 7B-2101 to the presence of a parent, guardian, custodian, or attorney and to be informed of this right. Respondent also argued that the express terms of the statute did not allow for any exceptions to the bar on confessions taken from a child of 13 in the absence of a parent, guardian, custodian, or attorney. G.S. § 7B-2101 (). However, the trial court did not rule on this issue. Instead, following arguments of counsel for respondent and the State on whether respondent was in custody, the court ruled as follows:
(emphasis added). Detective Carrasquillo continued testifying about her interview of respondent, until respondent again objected:
(emphasis added). The trial court overruled respondent's objection on the basis that, inasmuch as Mr. Butts left the interview room of his own free will after respondent and Butts were apprised of their rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), the issue of whether respondent was in custody was rendered moot.
The trial court's ruling was predicated on the assumption that if respondent's father voluntarily absented himself from the room, there would be no violation of G.S. § 7B-2101. However, the statute protects the rights of the juvenile, which his parent cannot waive on his behalf. In State v. Branham, 153 N.C.App. 91, 98, 569 S.E.2d 24, 28 (2002), "[t]he trial court made findings... that defendant's mother refused to see him." This Court held:
These ... findings do not support the conclusion that the defendant's waiver and statement complied with N.C.G.S. § 7B-2101. Even if we assume that defendant's mother did not want to be present during defendant's interrogation, she did not have the ability to, in effect, waive his right to have her present during interrogation.
Id. at 98, 569 S.E.2d at 29 (emphasis added) (citation omitted); see also In re Ewing, 83 N.C.App. 535, 537, 350 S.E.2d 887, 888 (1986)
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