In the Matter of R.M., No. COA06-730 (N.C. App. 2/20/2007)
| Decision Date | 20 February 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. COA06-730,COA06-730 |
| Parties | IN THE MATTER OF: R.M. |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
Charlotte Gail Blake, for juvenile-appellant.
R.M. ("the juvenile") appeals from adjudication and dispositional orders entered finding him delinquent for: (1) armed robbery; (2) second degree kidnapping; and (3) no operators license. We affirm.
On 8 October 2005 at approximately 7:30 a.m., Carlos Adalberto Arguetta Andrade ("the victim") drove his tan Toyota Sienna van to work at Carocraft Cabinets in Charlotte, North Carolina. As the victim drove into the parking lot, the juvenile approached his vehicle, wearing a black jacket and hat. The juvenile pointed to his wrist to ask for the time. The victim pointed to his wrist to indicate he was not wearing a watch. The juvenile pointed a gun at the victim and signaled for him to roll down the window. The victim complied.
The juvenile opened the vehicle's door and demanded the victim move over to the front passenger's seat. The victim complied. The juvenile entered the driver's seat of the vehicle and demanded money from the victim. The victim gave the juvenile approximately $150.00 in cash. The juvenile drove the vehicle out of the parking lot, while the victim sat in the passenger's seat. The juvenile asked the victim whether he had any children. The victim replied he had two daughters. The juvenile threatened to kill the victim and his two daughters, if he called the police.
The juvenile drove the vehicle into a Big Lots parking lot and waved the gun at the victim to exit the vehicle. The victim asked for his house key. The juvenile gave the victim his house key and one dollar for the bus fare. After the victim exited the vehicle, the juvenile drove the vehicle out of the parking lot.
The victim asked two Big Lot's employees to call the police. The victim provided a description of the juvenile and the van to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers. Shortly thereafter, Officer Richard Conn ("Officer Conn") observed the van approaching him. As Officer Conn made a u-turn to follow the van, the van sped away and ran through several stop signs. Officer Conn lost sight of the van momentarily, but Officer J.M. Helms ("Officer Helms") observed the van approaching her. Officer Helms briefly lost sight of the van, but found it parked in the middle of the road with the keys in the ignition. A witness reported to law enforcement officers she saw two young black males jump out of the van and run across her neighbor's yard toward nearby apartments. K-9 Officer Donald Dolinger ("Officer Dolinger") arrived with his dog, Zato, who picked up a scent from the van. Zato tracked the scent through the witness's neighbor's yard, between two apartment buildings, and stopped at the end of the buildings. Officer Dolinger saw a woman standing in the doorway of the apartment.
Officer Conn arrived on the scene and found the juvenile and another young black male inside the woman's apartment. The juvenile and the other male were detained in separate patrol cars. Law enforcement officers searched the woman's apartment and did not recover a gun from the apartment. The victim was brought to the scene and positively identified the juvenile as the person who had robbed and kidnapped him. The victim remained at the scene while law enforcement officers searched his van. Law enforcement officers returned the van to the victim, and he left the scene.
On 10 October 2005, a juvenile petition was filed that alleged the juvenile to be delinquent because he had committed: (1) armed robbery; (2) second degree kidnapping; (3) fleeing to elude; (4) reckless driving; and (4) and driving with no operators license. The State voluntarily dismissed the juvenile's charges for fleeing to elude and reckless driving.
In addition to the testimony outlined above, the juvenile's girlfriend testified that in late September or early October, the juvenile visited her at her home. He arrived alone in a tan van that the girlfriend had never seen before. The juvenile and his girlfriend sat in the van for a couple of minutes. The juvenile gave her a gun and told her to keep it. Bullets were present in a clip, but not in the gun's chamber. The juvenile's girlfriend kept the gun.
The juvenile testified at his adjudication hearing and stated that on 8 October 2005, he learned from his friend, Michael McGriff ("McGriff"), that the victim wanted to "pawn" his vehicle for drugs. The juvenile testified that McGriff asked the victim whether he wanted to trade the vehicle for drugs, and the victim replied in the affirmative. McGriff and the juvenile made "fake" drugs out of bread and gave the drugs to the victim. McGriff and the juvenile dropped the victim off at the store. The juvenile stated he and McGriff drove away in the vehicle and encountered law enforcement officers ten minutes later.
The juvenile testified he and McGriff jumped out of the vehicle and ran inside the juvenile's cousin's apartment. The juvenile denied possession of a gun on 8 October 2005 or that he pointed a gun at the victim.
On 20 January 2006, the trial court adjudicated the juvenile to be delinquent on all remaining charges. The trial court entered a Level 3 disposition and ordered the juvenile to be confined to a youth development center for an indefinite period or until his nineteenth birthday and that he not be placed in a wilderness camp. The juvenile appeals.
The juvenile argues the trial court erred because it: (1) allowed the State to amend the juvenile petition at the beginning of the adjudication hearing and (2) failed to specifically advise him of his constitutional rights prior to his testimony.
The juvenile argues the trial court should not have allowed the State to amend the juvenile petition at the beginning of the adjudication hearing. We disagree.
The trial court's allowance of an amendment to a juvenile petition rests within its "sound discretion," if the petition "sufficiently alleged the offense" charged and the "amendment in no way changed the nature of the offense." In re Jones, 11 N.C. App. 437, 438, 181 S.E.2d 162, 162, appeal dismissed, 279 N.C. 616, 184 S.E.2d 267 (1971).
Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-2400 (2005),
"Juvenile proceedings in this State are not criminal prosecutions and a finding of delinquency in a juvenile proceeding is not synonymous with the conviction of a crime." Jones, 11 N.C. App. at 438, 181 S.E.2d at 162. "Nevertheless, a juvenile cited under a petition to appear for an inquiry into his alleged delinquency is entitled to the constitutional safeguards of due process and fairness." Id. (citing In re Burrus, 275 N.C. 517, 169 S.E.2d 879, [aff'd, 403 U.S. 528, 29 L. Ed. 2d 647 (1969)]; In re Alexander, 8 N.C. App. 517, 174 S.E.2d 664 [(1970)]). "These safeguards include notice of the charge or charges upon which the petition is based." Id. (citing In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 18 L. Ed. 2d 527 (1967)). InJones, this Court held that allowing an amendment to the petition alleging larceny rested within the sound discretion of the trial court when the amendment "in no way changed the nature of the offense but simply identified more specifically the owner of the property allegedly stolen." 11 N.C. App. at 438, 181 S.E.2d at 162.
At the juvenile's adjudication hearing, the State moved to amend the juvenile petition: (1) to add the word "van" to "Toyota Sienna;" (2) to add the word "all" to indicate the total value of the money and the van; (3) to add "Arguetta" to "Carlos Adalberto Andrade" to reflect the victim's full name; (4) to add "in violation of GS 14-87, class D felony" to "GS 14-87;" (5) to add "2nd degree kidnapping" to "and kidnap;" (6) to add "restraining" to the juvenile's kidnapping charge; (7) to add "armed robbery in violation of" to "GS 14-39;" (8) to clarify "a Class E felony maximum commitment 19 [sic] months or until 19th birthday;" (9) to add "The Juvenile is a delinquent as defined by GS 7B-1501(7) in that on or about the date shown in the county named above the juvenile unlawfully and willfully did" to the description of the no operators license charge; and (10) to add "in violation of" to "GS 20-7(A)" and "a class 2 [sic] misdemeanor maximum commitment 60 days or 18th birthday." Defense counsel responded,
The trial court properly granted the State's motion to amend. The amendments did not change the "nature of the offenses alleged." N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-2400. The juvenile had prior notice of the amendments and admitted the State had informed him of "some of these" amendments several days before the adjudication hearing. The juvenile did not object to the amendments. The juvenile was given a reasonable opportunity to prepare a defense or objection to the amended allegations. This assignment of error is overruled.
The juvenile asserts the trial court failed to specifically advise him of his constitutional right against self-incrimination. The juvenile argues the trial court violated his constitutional rights by failing to comply with N.C....
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