In re R.K.S., No. 04-FS-1231.

• Decision Date: 03 August 2006
• Docket Number: No. 04-FS-1231.
• Citation: 905 A.2d 201
• Parties: In re R.K.S., Appellant.
• Court: D.C. Court of Appeals

905 A.2d 201

In re R.K.S., Appellant.

No. 04-FS-1231.

District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Argued May 17, 2006.

Decided August 3, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

R. Michael LaBelle, Washington, DC, appointed by the court, for appellant.

Janice Y. Sheppard, Assistant Attorney General, District of Columbia, with whom Robert J. Spagnoletti, Attorney General, Edward Schwab, Deputy Attorney General, and Rosalyn Calbert Groce, Chief, Juvenile and Criminal Section, were on the brief, for appellee.

Before REID and FISHER, Associate Judges and SCHWELB, Senior Judge.^*

REID, Associate Judge:

This is one of two related cases which we decide today. The other case is In re T.H., 905 A.2d 195 (D.C.2006). Appellants in both cases are brothers and juveniles who were adjudicated on charges of unauthorized use of a vehicle ("UUV") and receiving stolen property ("RSP"). We reverse R.K.S.' convictions on the ground that he was denied his constitutional due process right, as well as his statutory right and his entitlement under the Superior Court's Family Division — Juvenile Branch rules, to the effective assistance of counsel. However, we remand R.K.S.' case to the trial court for a new trial on the UUV and the RSP charges.¹

FACTUAL SUMMARY

On July 15, 2004, the Office of the Attorney General, District of Columbia, filed a petition in the Family Division — Juvenile Branch of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia — alleging that R.K.S., then fourteen years of age, "on or about July 14, 2004, within the District of Columbia, took, used, operated, or removed, a motor vehicle, and did operate or drive that motor vehicle for his own profit, use or purpose, without the consent of Heidi Fick, the owner of that motor vehicle, in violation of D.C.Code, 2001 Ed. § 22-3215." A second charge alleged that "on or about July 14, 2004, . . . [R.K.S.] received, possessed, and obtained control of property of value of $250.00 or more, consisting of an automobile which belonged to Heidi Fick, and which had been stolen with the intent to deprive Heidi Fick or another of the right to the property or the benefit of the property, in violation of D.C.Code . . . § 22-3232(a) and (c)(1)." The same charges were filed against T.H., R.K.S.' then seventeen-year-old brother.

At trial, beginning on August 19, 2004, the government presented testimony by four witnesses: the owner of the automobile involved in the charges against T.H. and R.K.S., a Maryland State trooper, and two detectives from the Charles County, Maryland Sheriff's office. Ms. Fick, a resident of La Plata, Maryland and the owner of a beige 1997 Toyota Camry, left work on the morning of July 14, 2004, and returned to her home around 11:30 a.m. to pick up her infant son. She dismissed the babysitter, placed her car key on the kitchen counter and proceeded upstairs. When she returned to the kitchen area, her car key was not there and the car was not in the parking lot. Thinking that her husband might have "taken the car for some reason," she called him. He instructed her to call the police. As a result of a call from a Maryland State trooper later in the day, Ms. Fick went to Forestville, Maryland where she identified her car. Her key was in the ignition, but she had given no one, including T.H. and R.K.S., permission to take or use her Camry.

David Darnell Thomas, a Maryland State trooper, received information on July 14, 2004, that he should be "on the lookout for [a] Toyota Camry, gray in color — grayish-green." When he saw the vehicle, Trooper Thomas activated his emergency lights and the vehicle moved to the side of the road and stopped. His superiors advised him to wait for backup before exiting his police car. Before backup arrived, the Camry took off, and Trooper Thomas pursued it along Route 5. He observed two rear seat passengers "looking back at [him]" repeatedly during the "15 to 17 mile[]" chase. Trooper Thomas followed the Camry into the Southeast quadrant of the District of Columbia. When the vehicle hit a curb and crashed into the sidewalk, it came to a halt. Four persons exited and ran in different directions. Trooper Thomas pursued and apprehended one of the rear passengers whom he identified in court as R.K.S. Another law enforcement officer caught T.H. as he ran from the scene of the crash. Trooper Thomas identified T.H. when he was returned to the scene of the crash in a patrol car. He also made an in-court identification of T.H. as one of the other passengers in the Camry. Trooper Thomas was "one hundred percent sure" of his identification of R.K.S. and T.H. He identified the vehicle which he stopped by the VIN number and the license plate, both of which matched the Camry taken from the parking area outside of Ms. Fick's residence. In cross-examining Trooper Thomas, counsel for T.H. sought to show that T.H. had not been driving the Camry. Counsel for R.K.S. did not cross-examine Trooper Thomas.

Upon learning that "[t]wo persons were apprehended in a stolen vehicle . . . believe[d] [to be] related to [a] burglary and homicide [in Maryland]," Timothy Miner, a detective in the Charles County Sheriff's office, traveled to the District of Columbia to interview R.K.S. at the Metropolitan Police Department's ("MPD") Seventh District station.² He was asked to assist Detective John Richard Elliott, who was also employed by the Charles County Sheriff's office. Detective Miner went into the room where R.K.S. was seated; one of R.K.S.' hands "was handcuffed to the wall." Detective Miner read R.K.S. his rights "from a card [he] [kept] in his wallet." He then took a statement from R.K.S. over a two-hour period, which was read at trial and introduced into evidence.³ The statement implicated R.K.S. in the taking of the Camry and the chase into the District.

According to R.K.S.' statement, earlier on the morning that the Camry was taken, R.K.S., who resided in the District, and his brother, T.H., also a District resident, were picked up in the District by M. and a friend of M., in a blue Nissan van which belonged to M.'s sister. R.K.S. and T.H. "had called [M. and his friend]." R.K.S. expressed reluctance to go with the other boys to Charles County, but M. told him, "shut up, stop acting like a little b* * *h before I slap you." They drove to Charles County and met M.'s friend who was in a white van, with no windows. R.K.S. had been instructed to sit in the car and watch out for M.⁴ M. told R.K.S., "I'm going to get my bike." When a truck arrived, the van drove off. The blue van proceeded down the street, and eventually crashed. M. said he was going to get a bike, but "[h]e came down the path with the Camry. He said get in. The car isn't stolen. The keys are in the car." M. drove away and was "going over the speed limit" when they saw a police car. R.K.S. told M. to pull over, and eventually he did, but "he pulled back out." R.K.S. maintained that he did not steal anything, that he faked being a lookout "so he wouldn't have to fight [M.]." R.K.S. said that it was his first trip to Charles County.⁵

Prior to cross-examining Detective Miner, counsel for T.H. "request[ed] Jencks [material] [Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3500] with respect to this officer." The Assistant Attorney General ("AAG") stated that he had received no other material from Detective Miner, and that he did not take any notes when he spoke with Detective Miner prior to trial. When counsel for T.H. asked several questions designed to determine the existence of Jencks material, the trial judge expressed doubt as to whether the Charles County officers were subject to the Jencks Act. Counsel for T.H. also explored the nature of the interactions between the District's MPD and the Charles County Sheriff's office, and whether notes were taken. Detective Miner indicated that he had placed information he obtained from the District's police officers, as well as personal notes he had made, in a notebook which he had not turned over to the District. When asked whether Detective Miner knew that R.K.S. was fourteen-years-old when he interviewed him, Detective Miner replied, "Yes." He did not give R.K.S. a card to sign showing that he understood his rights and wanted to waive them. No District officer was in the room when R.K.S. was interviewed, and the interview was not recorded.

Counsel for R.K.S. did not immediately cross-examine Detective Miner, that is, on August 19, 2004, since she took the position that she was not participating in the proceeding. She cross-examined the detective on August 23, 2004, however, when he returned for that purpose, after the trial court admonished her for not providing representation for R.K.S. During the cross-examination by R.K.S.' counsel, Detective Miner traced his movements and actions from the time he was asked to assist Detective Elliott in the District to the conclusion of the statement made by R.K.S. He spoke with R.K.S.' mother by telephone after the interview. R.K.S. cried at times during the interview but did not appear to be frightened. Detective Miner informed R.K.S. that the Camry had been stolen, and that there had been a motor vehicular death, but on redirect examination, Detective Miner agreed that R.K.S. said "someone stole the car." Counsel for R.K.S. also confirmed that R.K.S. was given no water, or anything to drink while he was being interviewed. Detective Miner and Detective Elliott conferred in the hall during their respective interviews with R.K.S. and T.H. to "shar[e] information." Detective Miner acknowledged that R.K.S. informed him that an older person in the stolen Camry had told him "to stop acting like a b* * *h" when he said he wanted to go home; and that if that person got caught he was "going to f* *k [R.K.S.] up." Furthermore, Detective Miner agreed that R.K.S. was not at the scene where the motor vehicular death occurred.

Detective Elliott journeyed to the District on July 14, 2004, because of a report that two individuals had been detained who...