BH v. State

941 So. 2d 345, 2006 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 66, 2006 WL 1195615
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMay 5, 2006
DocketCR-04-0506
StatusPublished

This text of 941 So. 2d 345 (BH v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
BH v. State, 941 So. 2d 345, 2006 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 66, 2006 WL 1195615 (Ala. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

941 So.2d 345 (2006)

B.H.
v.
STATE.

CR-04-0506.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

May 5, 2006.

*346 Tyrone Townsend, Birmingham, for appellant.

Troy King, atty. gen., and Beth Slate Poe, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

*347 McMILLAN, Presiding Judge.

B.H. was charged in separate delinquency petitions with enticing a child, a violation of § 13A-6-69, Ala.Code 1975, and first-degree sodomy, a violation of § 13A-6-63, Ala.Code 1975. After an evidentiary hearing, the juvenile court judge found the charges to be true and adjudicated B.H. delinquent. This appeal followed.

The State's evidence tended to show that on January 6, 2004, the mother of the victim saw a movie about a little girl who had been assaulted by a family member. She asked her five-year-old daughter, J.H., if she had ever been touched inappropriately or if she had ever touched anyone inappropriately. J.H. told her mother that when she was at her grandmother's house, her uncle, B.H., who was then 15 years old, called her into his room and asked her to put her mouth on his penis. She said that she complied but then took her mouth off his penis because she thought that he was going to urinate in her mouth. She put her mouth back on his penis when he told her that he would not urinate in her mouth.[1] J.H.'s mother reported what J.H. had told her to the police. On January 9, 2004, Birmingham police detective Cynthia Morrow interviewed B.H. He admitted taking J.H. into his bedroom, pulling down his pants and showing her his penis. He said that he started to make J.H. suck his penis but that he changed his mind and that she did not suck or touch his penis. On January 14, 2004, J.H. repeated essentially the same information she had told her mother to forensic interviewer Cindy Abercrombie at Prescott House. J.H. also reiterated essentially the same facts at trial. B.H.'s mother (J.H.'s grandmother) testified that the victim was not at her house on December 23, 2003, the date stated in the delinquency petition as the date of the offense. She said that the victim visited her only once during December 2003, early in the month, and that B.H. was not at home that day.

I.

B.H. contends that his statement to Detective Morrow should have been suppressed because, he says, he did not knowingly and voluntarily waive his Miranda rights. He argues that he could not execute a knowing and intelligent waiver because he suffers from diminished mental capacity, caused by mild mental retardation, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and lead poisoning. He also argues that he did not understand that he was giving up his right against self-incrimination because he did not read the final paragraph of the waiver form and Detective Morrow did not read it to him or explain the significance of his signature.

"Whether a waiver is voluntary, knowing, and intelligent depends on the particular facts and underlying circumstances of each case, including the background, experience, and conduct of the accused—i.e., the totality of the circumstances." Click v. State, 695 So.2d 209, 218 (Ala.Crim.App.1996). "`[T]he fact that a defendant may suffer from a mental impairment or low intelligence will not, without other evidence, render a confession involuntary.'" Youngblood v. State, 656 So.2d 385, 387 (Ala.Crim.App.1993). B.H. attended regular high school classes. Two experts examined him and found him competent to stand trial. The trial judge asked him to read aloud and found his reading to be "very good." There was no evidence indicating that B.H.'s mild mental deficits rendered him unable to execute a *348 knowing and intelligent waiver. See Cleckler v. State, 570 So.2d 796, 801 (Ala. Crim.App.1990) (defendant classified as trainable mentally retarded could have knowingly and intelligently waived his rights).

With regard to B.H.'s claim that he did not understand the final paragraph of the written waiver, Detective Morrow testified that B.H. read the advice-of-rights portion of the form out loud. She said that she helped him with the few words that appeared to give him trouble, that he stated that he understood his rights, and that he appeared to her to understand them. B.H. admitted at trial that he understood that he could have his mother present during the interview and that he did not have to say anything to Detective Morrow. The trial court's finding that a statement is admissible will not be disturbed on appeal unless it is found to be "manifestly contrary to the great weight of the evidence." Williams v. State, 456 So.2d 852, 855 (Ala.Crim.App.1984). Here, the trial court had sufficient evidence to conclude that B.H. had knowingly and intelligently waived his rights.

II.

B.H. also contends that his statement to Detective Morrow should have been suppressed because, he says, it was "coerced." He argues that Detective Morrow stated that "it would keep him out of trouble if he talked to her" and that it would be better to talk to her if he wanted help. He states that she turned the tape recorder off more than once and talked to him while it was not recording.

The audiotape of B.H.'s interview was played at trial; the parties agreed it contained the following statement by Detective Morrow: "I can't help you if you don't talk to me." Detective Morrow testified that she did not recall stopping the tape or recall any conversation that was not on the tape. The juvenile court trial judge noted that she did not hear the lack of continuity that is typical when audiotapes are turned off and turned back on.

"[T]he test of involuntariness of a confession, or other inculpatory statement, is not whether the defendant bargained with the police but whether in his discussions with the police, which may have included bargaining, the defendant's will was overborne by `apprehension of harm or hope of favor.'" McLeod v. State, 718 So.2d 727, 730 (Ala.1998). There is no evidence indicating that B.H. was subjected to threats or intimidation of any kind, and Detective Morrow's taped-recorded comment was insufficient to render B.H.'s statement involuntary. "A statement made by a law enforcement agent to an accused that the accused's cooperation would be passed on to judicial authorities and would probably be helpful to him is not a sufficient inducement so as to render a subsequent incriminating statement involuntary." United States v. Davidson, 768 F.2d 1266, 1271 (11th Cir.1985), citing United States v. Ballard, 586 F.2d 1060, 1063 (5th Cir.1978).

B.H.'s claim that Morrow made additional statements while the tape recorder was turned off is not supported by the record on appeal. "`[W]here the appellant fails to include pertinent portions of the proceedings in the record on appeal, this court may not presume a fact not shown by the record and make it a ground for reversal.'" Carden v. State, 621 So.2d 342, 345 (Ala.Crim.App.1992). B.H. has failed to show that his statement to Detective Morrow was involuntary.

III.

B.H.'s third and fifth contentions are that the evidence presented at trial *349 was insufficient to prove a prima facie case on either charge.

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Bluebook (online)
941 So. 2d 345, 2006 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 66, 2006 WL 1195615, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bh-v-state-alacrimapp-2006.