A.M.C. v. State
| Decision Date | 22 July 2021 |
| Docket Number | Case No. J-2020-882 |
| Citation | 496 P.3d 1001 |
| Parties | A.M.C., Appellant v. The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee. |
| Court | United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma |
APPEARANCES AT TRIAL
LENORA F. BURDINE, ASST. PUBLIC DEFENDER, OKLAHOMA COUNTY, 5905 N. CLASSEN COURT, SUITE 204, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73118, COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENDANT
ASHTON BLACKBURN, KATHERINE BAUTISTA, ASST. DISTRICT ATTORNEYS, OKLAHOMA COUNTY, 5905 N. CLASSEN COURT, SUITE 301, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73118, COUNSEL FOR THE STATE
APPEARANCES ON APPEAL
LENORA F. BURDINE, ASST. PUBLIC DEFENDER, OKLAHOMA COUNTY, 5905 N. CLASSEN COURT, SUITE 204, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73118, COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT
ASHTON BLACKBURN, KATHERINE BAUTISTA, ASST. DISTRICT ATTORNEYS, OKLAHOMA COUNTY, 5905 N. CLASSEN COURT, SUITE 301, OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73118, COUNSEL FOR THE APPELLEE
¶1 A.M.C. appeals his adjudication as a juvenile delinquent for the offense of Possession of a Firearm After Juvenile Adjudication in Oklahoma County Case No. JDL-2020-387. A.M.C. was seventeen (17) years, three (3) months and thirty (30) days old on the date he committed the offense in August of 2020. Prior to trial, he filed a motion to suppress his confession, alleging he was improperly interrogated because no parent, attorney, or other adult representative was present. The Honorable Cassandra M. Williams denied his motion to suppress and a jury found him guilty and adjudicated him delinquent. He raises three propositions of error challenging his adjudication:
¶2 Pursuant to Rule 11.2(A)(3), Rules of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals , Title 22, Ch.18, App. (2021), this appeal was automatically assigned to the Court's Accelerated Docket. The Court heard oral arguments on March 25, 2021, and took the matter under advisement. For the reasons detailed below, A.M.C.'s adjudication as a delinquent is AFFIRMED.
¶3 From April 28, 2020 to July 29, 2020, A.M.C. was in the custody of the Oklahoma Juvenile Authority (OJA) and housed at Scissortail Pointe, a Level E Enhanced Group Home facility. Upon his discharge from Scissortail, A.M.C. returned to his mother's Oklahoma City home wearing an ankle monitor as part of his conditions of probation on his seven separate juvenile cases. His mother reported him missing on August 4, 2020, and the court issued a warrant for his arrest for violating his probation.
¶4 Meanwhile, Oklahoma City police began investigating a murder that occurred at the Raindance Apartments in Oklahoma City on August 7, 2020. Homicide detectives developed information that A.M.C. was present at the murder scene and arrested him on August 10, 2020, on his outstanding warrant for violating probation. A.M.C. told detectives that he could not read and a detective read his Miranda rights to him from a printed form. A.M.C. initialed beside each right to indicate he understood, and after being told to sign the form if he was willing to speak with the detectives, he signed the form.
¶5 Detectives then questioned A.M.C. about the shootings at the Raindance Apartments where two individuals were shot, one of whom died. A.M.C.'s interview was recorded, and no parent, attorney, or other adult representative was present during the less than sixty minute interrogation. A.M.C. initially denied being at the murder scene and having a gun, but ultimately admitted both possessing and firing a gun. He adamantly denied killing anyone. That same day he was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail under a probable cause affidavit listing the offense as First Degree Murder. On September 4, 2020, the District Attorney's Office filed a petition charging A.M.C. with Possession of a Firearm After Juvenile Adjudication; he was not charged with the murder.
¶6 Citing 10A O.S.Supp.2018, § 2-2-301, A.M.C. argues the trial court should have suppressed his confession to possessing a firearm because he was a child when the police interrogated him outside of the presence of a parent, adult guardian or representative, or lawyer. Because A.M.C. objected at trial to the admission of his recorded interview, we review the court's ruling for an abuse of discretion. "An abuse of discretion is any unreasonable or arbitrary action taken without proper consideration of the facts and law pertaining to the matter at issue", or "a clearly erroneous conclusion and judgment, one that is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts presented." Neloms v. State , 2012 OK CR 7, ¶ 35, 274 P.3d 161, 170.
¶7 A.M.C.'s claim is based on the fact that at the time of the interrogation, he was not being arrested or detained for an offense mandating adult or youthful offender status; his arrest was for the probation violation. Nor had he yet been formally charged with any crime requiring adult or youthful offender status. The State counters that 10A O.S.Supp.2018, § 2-5-205(B) allows persons seventeen (17) years of age, charged with first degree murder, to be held accountable for their actions as adults. The statute further specifies that individuals so charged are not subject to the provisions of the Youthful Offender Act or the provisions of the Juvenile Code for certification as a juvenile. A.M.C. responds that because he was not formally charged with murder at the time he was interrogated, he was still a child and thus entitled to have an adult or lawyer present during questioning.
¶8 This claim hinges on the meaning of "charged" in Section 2-5-205(B), because if it means the filing of formal charges, then A.M.C. would be considered a child at the time of the questioning requiring the presence of a parent, guardian or adult representative, or lawyer pursuant to Section 2-2-301. We find the State's reading of Section 2-2-205(B), focusing on the offense under investigation and the subject of the interrogation, rather than on the offense of the official arrest or the status of formal charging, is the better one. Accordingly, we hold that the custodial interrogation of a seventeen (17) year old for the offense of murder in the first degree is not governed by Section 2-2-301, but rather by the requirements of Miranda and voluntariness under the Fourteenth Amendment, just as in any other adult custodial interrogation.1
¶9 There is no question that this interrogation was a homicide investigation. It was Oklahoma City Police Department homicide detectives who arrested A.M.C. on his outstanding warrant for a probation violation. They made clear from the very outset of the interrogation that they wished to question him about the Raindance Apartment murder, and the entirety of their questioning centered on this topic. There is no indication that they used the pretext of a homicide investigation to interrogate A.M.C. about offenses which would require the presence of an adult or lawyer during questioning, under Section 2-2-301. All evidence in the record points to the contrary, namely it showed that the detectives were focused on investigating the shooting and murder at the Raindance Apartments, that they acted in good faith, and that they ultimately booked A.M.C. into jail on a first degree murder complaint.
¶10 In criminal law, the term custodial interrogation most often refers to questioning, before the filing of charges, during the investigative stage by law enforcement. "By custodial interrogation, we mean questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way." Miranda v. Arizona , 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Interpreting our juvenile statutes on custodial interrogation to apply only after formal charges are filed runs counter to common usage of that term. It would mean that no one under age 18 could ever be questioned without a parent, guardian, or lawyer, until after they had been charged by the district attorney, at which time the Sixth Amendment right to counsel would have attached and counsel appointed or retained. Taylor v. State , 2018 OK CR 6, ¶ 7, 419 P.3d 265, 268. We find further support for our interpretation as we observe that when the Legislature intends to reference the filing of formal charges in these statutes, it does so explicitly. See 10A O.S.Supp.2018 § 2-5-206(C) (); § 2-5-206(D) (). Thus, had the Legislature intended to limit the term "charged" in Section 2-5-205(B) to include only formal charges, it would have stated so clearly and succinctly, rather than creating a tiered system allowing some under age 18 but not others to be questioned without an attorney or adult representative present.
¶11 For these reasons, we find that Judge Williams did not abuse her discretion in allowing A.M.C.'s confession under Section 2-5-205(B) that was made when he was seventeen (17) years old and being questioned in connection with a first degree murder, even though his initial arrest was for the unrelated warrant and the district attorney ultimately filed a lesser charge than first degree murder.
¶12 We find no error here and deny this claim.
¶13 A.M.C. argues that Judge Williams should have granted his request for a competency evaluation and stayed the proceedings pending the evaluation's outcome. In 2019, A.M.C. committed the crimes of attempted burglary and malicious injury and destruction of property as charged in Oklahoma County Case No. JDL-2019-298. A.M.C. underwent a competency evaluation in...
To continue reading
Request your trial