Shackleford v. Com.

• Decision Date: 08 June 2001
• Docket Number: Record No. 001795.
• Citation: 262 Va. 196,547 S.E.2d 899
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: Dorian Lee-Kirk SHACKLEFORD v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.

547 S.E.2d 899

262 Va. 196

Dorian Lee-Kirk SHACKLEFORD v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.

Record No. 001795.

Supreme Court of Virginia.

June 8, 2001.

Elizabeth P. Murtagh, Senior Assistant Public Defender, for appellant.

John H. McLees, Jr., Senior Assistant Attorney General (Mark L. Earley, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.

Present: All the Justices.

KINSER, Justice.

Dorian Lee-Kirk Shackleford, a juvenile and citizen of Jamaica, was charged with delinquency in petitions alleging that he had committed three drug-related offenses. The juvenile and domestic relations district court (juvenile court) subsequently transferred Shackleford to the circuit court. There, the court tried Shackleford as an adult in a bench trial and convicted him of possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of Code § 18.2-248, transporting one ounce or more of cocaine into the Commonwealth with the intent to sell or distribute in violation of Code § 18.2-248.01, and possession of a firearm with intent to distribute a controlled substance in violation of Code § 18.2-308.4(B).¹ Shackleford then appealed his convictions to the Court of Appeals. That court affirmed the convictions. Shackleford v. Commonwealth, 32 Va.App. 307, 329, 528 S.E.2d 123, 134, (2000).

On appeal to this Court, Shackleford challenges the jurisdiction of the circuit court because his parents did not receive notice of certain proceedings, the voluntariness of his statement to police, the seizure of certain physical evidence, and the sufficiency of the evidence. Finding no error, we will affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

FACTS

We will recite the evidence presented at trial in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the prevailing party before the circuit court. Johnson v. Commonwealth, 259 Va. 654, 662, 529 S.E.2d 769, 773, cert. denied, 531 U.S. 981, 121 S.Ct. 432, 148 L.Ed.2d 439 (2000); Walker v. Commonwealth, 258 Va. 54, 60, 515 S.E.2d 565, 568 (1999), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1125, 120 S.Ct. 955, 145 L.Ed.2d 829 (2000). We also accord that evidence all inferences fairly deducible from it. Horton v. Commonwealth, 255 Va. 606, 608, 499 S.E.2d 258, 259 (1998) (citing Higginbotham v. Commonwealth, 216 Va. 349, 352, 218 S.E.2d 534, 537 (1975)).

Two law enforcement officers with the Virginia State Police, Special Agent J.C. Miers, III, and Trooper Mike Hall, were conducting an undercover drug interdiction at the Greyhound bus station in Lynchburg. At approximately 10:15 a.m. on January 7, 1998, Miers and Hall observed Shackleford exit a bus that had just arrived. At some point after Shackleford entered the bus terminal, he approached Miers, who was wearing civilian clothes, and asked for the telephone number of a local taxicab company. Miers found a listing for taxicabs in a telephone directory and pointed it out to Shackleford. After Shackleford made a telephone call, Miers displayed his police badge to Shackleford and asked to speak with him. Shackleford agreed and accompanied Miers to a corner inside the bus terminal where they engaged in further conversation.

During that conservation, Miers asked Shackleford why he was in Lynchburg. In response, Shackleford stated that he was traveling from New York to Lynchburg to visit his sick aunt in the hospital and that there were things in his carry-on bag that she needed.² According to Miers, Shackleford then changed his story by stating that his aunt was not in the hospital but at her residence, and that he was going to take a taxicab to some other location where his aunt would pick him up later. Miers testified that he then became suspicious and asked Shackleford for permission to search the bag. Shackleford did not consent, stating that the bag contained his aunt's personal items and that he did not know what was in the bag.

The taxicab arrived then, and Shackleford told the taxicab driver to take him to a motel just north of the city limits of Lynchburg. After Shackleford got into the taxicab with his bag, the taxicab left the bus terminal; Hall and Miers, traveling in separate vehicles, followed the taxicab. En route, Miers and Hall both observed Shackleford shifting from side to side in the taxicab and leaning over. When the taxicab arrived at the motel, Shackleford exited on the passenger side, set his bag on the ground, and left the hack door of the taxicab open. Miers then advised Shackleford that he was free to go but that his bag had to remain there long enough for a dog trained in the detection of narcotics (K-9 unit) to sniff it.³ Miers testified that Shackleford then stated, "you can go ahead and search my bag, there's no drugs or anything in it."

While Miers was talking with Shackleford at the motel, Hall requested and received permission from the taxicab driver to search the taxicab. During that search, Hall discovered a semi-automatic weapon "under the lip part of the backseat" on the passenger side of the taxicab. The weapon was in a white, opaque shopping bag. Hall then requested the uniformed officer "to run" the K-9 unit on the vehicle, and when he did so, the "dog alerted" on a package wrapped in tape. That package was located underneath the front, passenger seat and contained 14 plastic baggies, each of which contained an off-white substance later determined to be a total of 194.96 grams of cocaine. The taxicab driver testified that he had cleaned his taxicab the previous night and that Shackleford was his first fare that day. The driver further stated that he heard what sounded like someone sticking a bag or paper under the seat while en route from the bus terminal to the motel, although he admitted he did not see Shackleford doing so.

After the gun and cocaine were discovered, Miers placed Shackleford under arrest and transported him to the police station. At the station, Miers advised Shackleford of his Miranda rights, and because Shackleford had already told Miers that he was 17 years old, Miers also advised him that he could have his parents present during questioning. Shackleford signed a waiver-of-rights form and, without requesting the presence of either a lawyer or his parents, stated that he was a naturalized citizen and was staying in New York. He also told Miers that his father and mother were estranged, that his father lived in Jamaica, and that his mother had taken a trip to that country.

In a hand-written statement, Shackleford said that he had received an anonymous telephone call advising that he could earn some money if he did as he was told. According to Shackleford, the caller knew Shackleford needed money. The caller directed Shackleford to pick up a bag at a certain location and never to look inside the bag. After writing out that statement, Shackleford told Miers that he picked up the bag at a city park in the borough of the Bronx in New York City and that he then purchased a one-way bus ticket from New York City to Lynchburg with money that he found in an outside pocket on the bag.⁴

The petitions filed in the juvenile court charging Shackleford with the drug-related offenses listed Shackleford's mother's name and address. They also contained the name of Shackleford's father and listed his address as Kingston, Jamaica. Pursuant to Code § 16.1-269.1, the Commonwealth moved to transfer Shackleford to the circuit court. After a hearing on that motion, the juvenile court found probable cause to believe that Shackleford had committed the delinquent acts alleged, see Code § 16.1-269.1(A)(2); and that Shackleford was 14 years of age or older, was competent to stand trial and was "not a proper person to remain within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court." Code § 16.1-269.1(A)(4). Accordingly, the juvenile court transferred Shackleford to the circuit court to be tried as an adult.

Shackleford appealed the transfer decision to the circuit court pursuant to Code § 16.1-269.4. Prior to the hearing on that appeal, Shackleford moved to continue the proceedings because his mother had not been notified fled of the hearing. The circuit court denied the motion, and subsequently advised the Commonwealth that it could seek indictments. See Code § 16.1-269.6(B).

After the grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Shackleford, he moved to dismiss that indictment, in part, because of the lack of notice to his parents. He argued that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction because neither of his parents was notified of the hearing in circuit court regarding his appeal of the transfer decision. He also objected to the court's jurisdiction because his father was not notified of either the initiation of proceedings in the juvenile court or the transfer hearing in that court. The circuit court overruled the motion.

Prior to trial, Shackleford moved to suppress his statement and the physical evidence found in the taxicab. The circuit court also overruled that motion.

ANALYSIS

Shackleford's assignments of error raise three separate questions: (1) whether the circuit court had jurisdiction to try Shackleford on the indictment because his parents did not have notice of certain proceedings, (2) whether his statement to law enforcement officials was voluntarily given and the physical evidence was legally seized, and (3) whether there was sufficient evidence to support his convictions. We will address these questions in that order.

I. PARENTAL NOTIFICATION

The question of parental notification involves different facts and issues with regard to each of Shackleford's parents. Hence, we will consider each parent separately.

First, as to Shackleford's mother, he contends that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to try him on the indictment because his mother was neither notified of nor present at the hearing before the circuit court on his appeal of the transfer decision⁵ In making this argument, Shackleford relies on the provision in Code § 16.1-263(B) requiring that "[n]otice of subsequent proceedings shall be provided to all parties in...