Butler v. State

922 S.W.2d 685, 324 Ark. 476, 1996 Ark. LEXIS 324
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMay 28, 1996
Docket95-981
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 922 S.W.2d 685 (Butler v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Butler v. State, 922 S.W.2d 685, 324 Ark. 476, 1996 Ark. LEXIS 324 (Ark. 1996).

Opinions

Donald L. CORBIN, Justice.

Appellant, Louis Ricardo Butler, appeals the order of the Pulaski County Circuit Court, denying transfer of his case to juvenile court. This interlocutory appeal is provided in Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-318(h) (Repl. 1993). Jurisdiction is properly in this court pursuant to Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 1-2(a)(12).

A felony information was filed in circuit court charging appellant and Myron Antonio McClendon with three counts of aggravated robbery, Class Y felony, in violation of Ark. Code Ann. § 5-12-103 (Repl. 1993), and three counts of theft of property, two being Class A misdemeanors and the other being a Class B felony, in violation of Ark. Code Ann. § 5-36-103 (Repl. 1993). The information reflects that the charges stem from three separate instances, taking place on July 7, 1994, July 10, 1994, and August 11, 1994, involving appellant and McClendon robbing three different pizza delivery personnel at gun point with the purpose of committing a theft. Appellant was born April 23, 1979, and was thus fifteen years of age at the time of the alleged offenses.

After the state filed the felony information, a delinquency petition was filed against appellant in juvenile court concerning the robbery which occurred on August 11, 1994. The record reflects that the state mistakenly filed the last aggravated-robbery incident in juvenile court, not realizing that charges arising out of all three robberies had already been filed in circuit court. The state had also filed an unrelated delinquency petition alleging that appellant had committed the offenses of residential burglary, Class B felony, and theft of property, Class A misdemeanor, on July 13, 1994.

Appellant moved to transfer the charges pending in circuit court to juvenile court. The circuit court conducted a hearing on appellant’s motion, during which hearing testimony was heard from appellant’s parents, Mr. Louis Butler Sr. and Mrs. Lady Williams, appellant’s counselor, Mr. Sanford Toilette, and the police officer who investigated the three robberies, Detective Todd Armstrong, of the Litde Rock Police Department.

Mr. Butler testified that his son began having trouble when he and his mother were divorced in 1988, and that before the divorce, appellant had been in advanced classes at school. Mr. Buder stated that after the divorce, appellant had been placed in alternative schooling at the Joseph Pfeifer Kiwanis Camp, and that he had begun to show progress within three or four weeks. Mr. Buder stated that his son was a good kid and that he knew right from wrong. Mr. Buder expressed concerns for appellant’s safety should he be sentenced to prison, and stated that sentencing appellant to prison would not help to rehabilitate him.

Mrs. Williams also testified that appellant had only begun to have trouble since the divorce of his parents, and that because of his troubles, she had put appellant in a program at Pinnacle Point Hospital, in addition to the Pfeifer camp, and she had attempted to place him in the New Futures program. Mrs. Williams stated that prison would not be a good place for appellant because he needs rehabilitation. Mrs. Williams concluded by saying that appellant was not a violent person, but when he consumes alcohol, his personality changes completely.

Sanford Toilette, director of the alternative classroom program for kids at risk at the Pfeifer camp, took the stand next on behalf of appellant. Mr. Toilette stated that appellant had been assigned to his program in November 1988, and that he had completed the thirty-day program. Mr. Toilette stated that appellant had continued to come back to the program over the next three years as part of the summer camp, and that he eventually became an honor camper. Mr. Toilette stated that he felt appellant was a good kid with a good heart, and that the seriousness of the offenses had made an impression on him.

The last witness to testify at the hearing was Detective Armstrong, who described each of the robberies for the court. Detective Armstrong stated that on July 7, 1994, pizza was ordered from Pizza 4 Less and upon the driver’s arrival, two black males — one armed with a shotgun and the other with a handgun — robbed the deliveryman of two pizzas and cash. Detective Armstrong stated that on July 10, 1994, pizza was again ordered from Pizza 4 Less and when the driver arrived, he was asked to come inside. The detective noted that on this occasion the robbery had taken place at appellant’s father’s residence. Once the driver was inside the residence, Detective Armstrong continued, the deliveryman was robbed of his pizzas with the use of a sawed-off shotgun. Regarding the third and last robbery, which occurred on August 11, 1994, Detective Armstrong stated that pizza was ordered from Pizza Hut and upon the driver’s arrival, he was approached by two black males, one of whom was armed with a rock or brick and threatened the deliveryman. Upon the threat being made with the weapon, Detective Armstrong stated, the deliveryman fled his vehicle, while one of the suspects got into the vehicle and left. Detective Armstrong further testified that he had interviewed appellant concerning the crimes, and that appellant had confessed his participation in two of the three robberies. Before leaving the witness stand, Detective Armstrong identified appellant for the record.

At the conclusion of Detective Armstrong’s testimony, the state submitted the two previously mentioned juvenile delinquency petitions against appellant as evidence, and the court received them into the record. The circuit court subsequently denied appellant’s motion to transfer his case to juvenile court at a later hearing. Appellant now brings this interlocutory appeal.

In support of this appeal, appellant raises three points: First, that the circuit court erred in not dismissing the three counts of theft of property charged in the felony information, as they are not listed among those offenses enumerated in section 9-27-318(b)(l); second, that the circuit court erred in denying the motion to transfer the case to juvenile court as there was not clear and convincing evidence that appellant should be tried as an adult; and third, that the circuit court erred by failing to provide a sufficient statement of the court’s findings to demonstrate that each of the elements set out in section 9-27-318(e) was considered. We affirm the circuit court’s ruling denying transfer to juvenile court as to the three counts of aggravated robbery, but we reverse the denial as to the three counts of theft of property.

I. Jurisdiction of Non-enumerated Offenses

Appellant argues that because he was only fifteen years old at the time the offenses were allegedly committed, the circuit court did not have jurisdiction over the three counts of theft charged in the information because theft of property is not among those charges enumerated in section 9-27-318(b)(l). Appellee concedes this error. We agree that the denial of transfer as to the three charges of theft of property was error.

Section 9-27-318 specifically provides, and this court has consistendy held, that the circuit court has jurisdiction over a juvenile aged fourteen or fifteen only when the juvenile is charged with one or more of the offenses enumerated in section 9-27-318 (b)(1). Any other charges against the juvenile must be dismissed by the circuit court for lack of jurisdiction. See, e.g., State v. Gray, 319 Ark.

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Bluebook (online)
922 S.W.2d 685, 324 Ark. 476, 1996 Ark. LEXIS 324, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/butler-v-state-ark-1996.