Los v. State, J-2014-0891

• Citation: 2015 OK CR 4
• Decision Date: 20 March 2015
• Docket Number: J-2014-0891
• Court: United States State Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma. Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
• Parties: T. G. L., Appellant, v. STATE OF OKLAHOMA, Appellee.

2015 OK CR 4

T. G. L., Appellant,
v.
STATE OF OKLAHOMA, Appellee.

J-2014-0891

Criminal Court of Appeals of Oklahoma

March 20, 2015

OPINION

LEWIS, JUDGE:

¶1 Appellant, T. G. L., appeals from an order entered by the Honorable Rebecca J. Gore, Special Judge, on October 13, 2014, granting the State's motion to sentence Appellant as an adult and denying Appellant's motion for certification as a juvenile in Mayes County District Court Case No. YO-2013-3. An Information was filed on June 13, 2013, charging Appellant, then twenty-five years old, as a Youthful Offender with Count 1 - Forcible Sodomy, 21 O.S.2011, § 888, a felony, and Count 2 - Lewd Molestation, 21 O.S.2011, § 1123, a felony. These crimes were alleged to have been committed in 2004 when Appellant was fifteen years old and the female victim was eight years old.

¶2 Following hearings on August 28, 2014, October 1, 2014, and October 9, 2014, Judge Gore denied Appellant's motion to dismiss, granted the State's motion to sentence Appellant as an adult, denied Appellant's motion for certification as a juvenile, and bound Appellant over for trial. Judge Gore's proceedings were well reasoned, anticipated the issues raised herein, and the order issued was very thorough. This Court granted Appellant's application for a stay of proceedings in the District Court on October 31, 2014.

¶3 Pursuant to Rule 11.2(A), Rules of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, Title 22, Ch.18, App. (2015), this appeal was automatically assigned to the Accelerated Docket of this Court. Oral argument was held January 22, 2015, pursuant to Rule 11.2(E). On appeal Appellant raises the following propositions of error:

1. The trial court erred in not granting the Appellant's motion to dismiss alleging the trial court had no jurisdiction to conduct the prosecutive merit hearing and the certification hearing due to the Appellant's age at the time of the filing of the Information.
2. The trial court erred in granting the Appellee's motion to certify the Youthful Offender as an adult.

¶4 Appellant was charged at age twenty-five for crimes allegedly committed when he was fifteen. The victim was eight or nine years old at the time of the alleged acts. The victim, now eighteen, alleged Appellant touched her vaginal area and held a pocketknife against her neck and forced her to perform oral sodomy. She testified that Appellant threatened her and her family if she said anything to anyone, resulting in the delay in reporting these alleged crimes. Judge Gore found, and all parties agree, that the delay in the reporting and charging of these alleged crimes was not caused by the State.

¶5 The delay in charging Appellant is a significant factor in this appeal. The Youthful Offender Act defines a youthful offender as a person under eighteen years of age "who is charged with" one of the crimes enumerated in the Youthful Offender Act. 10A O.S.2011, §§ 2-5-202(A)(1); 2-5-205(A), (B); 2-5-206(A), (B). The purpose of the Youthful Offender Act is to ensure the public...