R. L. N., Matter of, J-79-343

• Decision Date: 03 December 1979
• Docket Number: No. J-79-343,J-79-343
• Citation: 603 P.2d 1149
• Parties: In the Matter of R. L. N., A juvenile under the age of eighteen years.
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma

Page 1149

603 P.2d 1149

In the Matter of R. L. N., A juvenile under the age of eighteen years.

No. J-79-343.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

Dec. 3, 1979.

An appeal from the Juvenile Division of the District Court, Woodward County; Ray Don Jackson, Judge.

R. L. N., a juvenile, appeals from an order of the Juvenile Division of the District Court, certifying him to stand trial as an adult for the crime of Burglary. AFFIRMED.

Henry A. Meyer, III, Hieronymus, Hodgden, Halley & Meyer, Woodward, for appellant.

John F. Reichenberger, Asst. Dist. Atty., Woodward County, for appellee.

OPINION

BUSSEY, Judge:

On October 18, 1978, a petition was filed in the Juvenile Division of the District Court of Woodward County, Case No. J-78-47, requesting that the juvenile, R. L. N., be certified to stand trial as an adult on a charge of Burglary. On October 26, 1978, the prosecutive merit hearing was held, and at the conclusion thereof the court made a finding that a crime had been committed and that there was probable cause to believe that the appellant had committed said crime. After an amenability hearing on December 27, 1978, the court ordered the juvenile to stand trial as an adult. The court, in its order, also concluded that because prosecutive merit had previously been found to exist, the juvenile was not entitled to a preliminary hearing prior to being arraigned.

The first issue presented on appeal is whether or not the prosecutive merit hearing of a juvenile certification proceeding satisfies the requirements of a preliminary nearing as provided in Art. II, § 17, of the Oklahoma Constitution.

Section 17 authorizes two methods of commencing a criminal prosecution; (1) by presentment or indictment and (2) by information. That section further provides that no person may be prosecuted for a felony by information without having had a preliminary hearing before an examining magistrate, unless such hearing is waived. By the express language of Section 17, a preliminary hearing is required, unless waived, where a prosecution is commenced by information. Accordingly, we are of the opinion that the prosecutive merit hearing in a juvenile certification proceeding does not satisfy the requirements of Art. II, § 17, of the Oklahoma Constitution.

In the second assignment of error the juvenile asserts that certain testimony was improperly admitted during the hearing on his amenability to rehabilitation. The testimony complained of was elicited from a staff physician at Western State Hospital, who testified that the juvenile, while undergoing psychiatric evaluation, informed him that he used drugs. The juvenile argues that the...