T.C. v. State

• Decision Date: 14 May 2010
• Docket Number: No. 09–1128.,09–1128.
• Citation: 364 S.W.3d 53,2010 Ark. 240
• Parties: T.C., a Minor, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

2010 Ark. 240

364 S.W.3d 53

T.C., a Minor, Appellant,

v.STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.

No. 09–1128.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

May 14, 2010.

Dorcy Kyle Corbin, Ark. Pub. Defender Comm'n, for appellant.

Dustin McDaniel, Att'y Gen., by: Deborah Nolan Gore, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.

Steven A. Drizin, Joshua A. Tepfer, Laura H. Nirider, for amicus curiae Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth.

ROBERT L. BROWN, Justice.

Appellant T.C., a minor, appeals from an order of the Ouachita County Circuit Court adjudicating him delinquent on the charge of second-degree murder for the death of his sister, Kaylee, and committing him to the Division of Youth Services.He raises six points on appeal: (1) that the circuit judge erred by denying his motion to suppress his statement; (2) that the circuit judge erred in finding that his statement was reliable; (3) that there was insufficient evidence for the circuit judge to adjudicate him delinquent on the charge of second-degree murder; (4) that the circuit judge erred by denying his motion to dismiss based on the State's failure to provide exculpatory evidence; (5) that the circuit judge's disposition order was contrary to law; and (6) that the circuit judge violated his right to remain silent under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

On the morning of August 7, 2006, police officers of the Camden Police Department responded to a 911 call from T.C.'s residence, which he shared with his mother, Melody Jones, and his eleven-year-old sister, Kaylee.T.C. at the time was twelve years old.Upon their arrival, the police officers found Kaylee dead on her bed with her hands bound together in the front of her body with what was later determined to be a dog leash and her feet bound together with a cloth measuring tape.The police officers learned that Kaylee had been found with two plastic shopping bags over her head, which her mother had removed when she discovered Kaylee on her bed.The cause of Kaylee's death was later determined to be suffocation.

The police officers concluded that they were dealing with a potential homicide and quickly cleared and secured the residence.While police investigators processed the house for evidence, T.C. and his mother waited outside in a relative's vehicle.Some time after noon, the police officers asked the relative to drive T.C. and his mother to the Camden Police Station where it was cooler and where they would not have to witness the removal of Kaylee's body from the residence.The relative then drove T.C. and his mother to the police station where they waited in the station's break room with family.

Having discovered no evidence of forced entry into the home, the police officers returned to the police station to interview T.C. and his mother.Melody Jones was interviewed first at approximately 4:30 that afternoon, while T.C. waited in the break room with his family.Jones's interview lasted approximately one hour and was videotaped in its entirety in the station's interview room.Following Jones's interview, police officers interviewed T.C. with his mother's permission in the interview room.T.C.'s interview began at approximately 5:30 p.m.¹ Forty-five minutes into the interview, he was advised of his Miranda rights, and he signed a waiver-of-rights form.The interview continued until 6:45 p.m., when T.C. told the police officers that he was hungry.At that point, he was taken from the interview room to a detective's office, and the officers went to pick up some food for him.The portion of T.C.'s interview that occurred from 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. was videotaped by the police department.

What happened during the ensuing time period was testified to at the suppression hearing and trial by the police officers and deputy prosecuting attorney.While T.C. was eating his dinner in the detective's office, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Gregg Parish talked with him for five to ten minutes about school, video games, and the things his sister liked.After Parish left, Officer Scott Wells spoke with T.C. about their shared interest in video games and science fiction.Officer Evin Zeek joined T.C. and Wells sometime later.After listening to T.C.'s and Wells's conversation for awhile, Zeek turned the conversation to what had happened to Kaylee the night before.According to the police officers, T.C. soon became frustrated when they began to point out inconsistencies in his version of what had happened the previous night.At some point later in the conversation, T.C. asked, “If I tell the truth, what's gonna happen?Do you think I can get probation?”After the police officers told T.C. that they did not know what would happen to him, he proceeded to tell them that he had placed plastic bags over his sister's face and bound her hands and feet.During part of the time that T.C. was in the detective's office, Melody Jones was being interviewed in the interview room.

Because the interview in the detective's office was not recorded, the police officers then took T.C. back to the interview room to record his confession.The videotaped interview that followed began at approximately 10:20 p.m. with Officer Zeek again advising T.C. of his Miranda rights.After T.C. stated that he understood his rights, Officer Zeek moved on to the waiver-of-rights form and the following colloquy occurred:

Officer Zeek: At the bottom is what we call a Waiver of Rights Okay, and I will read it to you quickly.It says no promises or threats have been used against me to induce me to waive rights listed above.With full knowledge of my rights, I hereby voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently waive them and agree to answer questions.Do you understand the Waiver?

T.C.: No, what is a waiver?

Officer Zeek: It simply says that what you are saying, you are doing of your own free will.

T.C.: Okay.

Officer Zeek: Okay.We haven't made any promises.We haven't threatened you in any way.You are doing this because you want to do this.Okay.And again, it is by your own free will that you do this, that you make this statement.

T.C.: Yes.

OfficerZeek: Do you understand that?

T.C.: Yes.

T.C. then signed the waiver-of-rights form and gave his confession.

On August 15, 2006, the State filed a petition for delinquency charging T.C. with first-degree murder for the death of his sister and moved to designate him as an extended-juvenile-jurisdiction offender under Arkansas Code Annotated section 9–27–503.Following a fitness-to-proceed evaluation in accordance with section 9–27–502, the circuit judge found that T.C. was fit to proceed and that at the time he engaged in the conduct charged he had the capacity to possess the necessary mental state required for the offense charged, to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law, and to appreciate the criminality of his conduct.

On February 13, 2007, T.C. moved to suppress his statement and alleged that it had been elicited in violation of his rights under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution; that he had not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily consented to giving a statement or waiving counsel due to his youth and immaturity; that his mother was not an appropriate person to consent to his questioning because she was also a suspect; and that his statement was coerced by threats from the deputy prosecuting attorney to charge him as an adult and was thus involuntary and false.

After a hearing on the matter, the circuit judge granted the State's request to have the matter designated an extended-juvenile-jurisdiction case under section 9–27–503.²T.C. next filed a motion to reject waiver and a supplemental motion to suppress his statement, arguing, among other things, that neither his waiver nor his confession had been voluntarily, knowingly, or intelligently made; that his confession was inconsistent with the evidence and thus unreliable; and that his confession was the result of an illegal interrogation, as the police had violated Rules 2.2and2.3 of the Arkansas Rules of Criminal ProcedureandArkansas Code Annotated section 9–27–317(h).

On August 27, 2007, the State filed an amended petition for delinquency, reducing the charge against T.C. to second-degree murder.³Following pretrial hearings on August 31, 2007, and October 29, 2007, the circuit judge entered an order denying T.C.'s motions to suppress his statement and his motion to reject his waiver of rights.Specifically, the circuit judge found that the State had met its burden in proving that T.C.'s waiver of rights was freely, voluntarily, and intelligently made; that under the totality of the circumstances T.C.'s statement should not be suppressed; that T.C. understood the consequences of the waiver and that it was not the result of any coercion, force, or inducement; that T.C.'s confession was not unreliable and was given of his own free will; and that the police had not violated Rules 2.2and2.3 of the Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure or Arkansas Code Annotated section 9–27–317(h).

Following a bench trial on March 18, 19, 20, and 24, 2008, the circuit judge found T.C. to be delinquent on the charge of the second-degree murder.A disposition hearing was held on August 15, 2008, after which, T.C. was committed to the Division of Youth Services with the condition that if he was released prior to his eighteenth birthday, he would be placed on probation until his eighteenth birthday.

T.C. appealed his delinquency order and disposition to the court of appeals, and the court of appeals affirmed.SeeT.C. v. State,2009 Ark.App. 604, 342 S.W.3d 832.T.C. next filed a petition for review with this court, which we granted.When we grant review, we treat the appeal as if it were originally filed in this court.See, e.g., McClanahan v. State,2010 Ark. 39, 358 S.W.3d 900.

I.Sufficiency of the Evidence

On appeal, T.C. asserts that the circuit judge erred by failing to grant his motion to dismiss on the basis that the State failed to prove...