CMB v. State

594 So. 2d 695, 1991 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1324, 1991 WL 186836
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in CMB v. State. Read the opinion of the Court — 594 So. 2d 695
Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama·Decided August 23, 1991·No. CR-90-540·Published

Opinion

594 So.2d 695 (1991)

C.M.B.
v.
STATE.

CR-90-540.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

August 23, 1991.

*696 Wendy Brooks Crew, Birmingham, for appellant.

James H. Evans, Atty. Gen., and Gail Ingram Hampton, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

TAYLOR, Judge.

The appellant, C.M.B., a juvenile, was charged in a delinquency complaint with the murder of 14-year-old Pavan Pragada. Upon motion of the State, a hearing was held, and the juvenile was ordered transferred to the Circuit Court for Jefferson County to be tried as an adult. He appeals the granting of this motion.

The evidence at the transfer hearing tended to show that the victim's sister found the deceased victim lying face down *697 on his bed in their home on November 9, 1990. The victim had been shot in the head with a small caliber handgun. The victim and the appellant had been friends for several months before the murder. The victim's mother then accused the appellant, C.M.B., of stealing money from her purse, and told him to stay away from her son.

Two days before the murder, the victim had fractured his foot and it had been placed in a cast. The next day the appellant came to visit the victim, they had a disagreement, and the appellant hit the victim on the head with a stick. On the day of the murder, the victim did not go to school because of his foot. His mother saw him that morning and at lunch. When the victim's sister came home from school, the apartment was covered with blood. She went to look for her brother and found him in his room with his head covered in blood. He died that evening as a result of the gunshot wound to his head.

I

The appellant argues that the order transferring him to the Circuit Court for Jefferson County was deficient in that it did not specifically state that the trial court considered all of the relevant factors in § 12-15-34(d), Code of Alabama 1975, before ordering that the case be transferred. That section states:

"(d) Evidence of the following and other relevant factors shall be considered in determining whether the motion shall be granted:
"(1) The nature of the present alleged offense;
"(2) The extent and nature of the child's prior delinquency record;
"(3) The nature of past treatment efforts and the nature of the child's response to such efforts;
"(4) Demeanor;
"(5) The extent and nature of the child's physical and mental maturity; and
"(6) The interests of the community and of the child requiring that the child be placed under legal restraint or discipline."

After a review of the order, we must agree. The order to transfer stated:

"The Court having heard testimony and received evidence as a part of the probable cause portion of this hearing and regarding Defendant's Motion to Suppress and having denied said motion;
". . . .
"The Court having reviewed the records and exhibits admitted in evidence, including the orders of this court, finds that said child has been referred to this court on one prior occasion.
"The Court having considered the relevant factors contained in Section 12-15-34, Code of Alabama, 1975, and having heard the sworn testimony of Edward Braden, Tommy Stewart and Rod Walker as to disposition, finds that said child is not committable to an institution or agency for the mentally retarded or mentally ill; that the best interests of the child and public would be to grant the Motion to Transfer...."

If a court's order recites that it has considered all of the factors then the order will comply with the requirement of § 12-15-34(d). See Slaton v. State, 555 So.2d 814 (Ala.1989). We cannot say with certainty from reading the juvenile court's order that the court in fact considered all the factors as required by 12-15-34(d), Code of Alabama 1975. Thus, we have no choice but to remand this case to the Juvenile Court for Jefferson County so that that court can state whether it considered all of the factors described in § 12-15-34(d).

In the interest of judicial economy, we will address the remaining issues which appellant presents on appeal.

II

The appellant first contends that his arrest was illegal and that any evidence obtained as a result of his arrest should have been suppressed. Specifically, the appellant contends that there was no probable cause to arrest him without a warrant. The admissibility of the confession hinges on the question of whether the appellant's *698 arrest was lawful. We hold that the juvenile court did not err in finding sufficient probable cause to arrest the appellant.

This court in Sterling v. State, 421 So.2d 1375 (Ala.Cr.App.1982), upheld a warrantless arrest, stating:

"Section 15-10-3, Code of Alabama, is the governing statute for warrantless arrests. This statute clearly allows an officer to make a warrantless arrest if he had reasonable and probable cause to effect that arrest. Whether the warrantless arrest was lawful depends upon whether `at the moment the arrest was made, the officers had probable cause to make it.' White v. State, 45 Ala.App. 1, 221 So.2d 117 (1969)."

Sterling, 421 So.2d at 1379.

Probable cause has been equated to reasonable cause. See Daniels v. State, 534 So.2d 628 (Ala.Cr.App.1985), aff'd, 534 So.2d 656 (Ala.1886), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 1040, 107 S.Ct. 898, 93 L.Ed.2d 850 (1987).

"The determination of what amounts to probable cause is based on a `reasonable man' standard. `Probable cause exists where "the facts and circumstances within their [the officers'] knowledge and of which they had reasonably trustworthy information [are] sufficient in themselves to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that" an offense has been or is being committed.'"

State v. Hanson, 480 So.2d 620, 623 (Ala. Cr.App.1985). See also Swicegood v. State, 448 So.2d 433, 434 (Ala.Cr.App.1983).

"The arresting officer need not have evidence before him that would support a conviction for the offense. He need only have knowledge of facts and circumstances which are reasonably trustworthy and which would lead a prudent man to believe that the accused had committed the offense."

Blanco v. State, 515 So.2d 115, 119 (Ala.Cr. App.1987). "Only the probability, and not a prima facie showing, of criminal activity is the standard of probable cause." Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 419, 89 S.Ct. 584, 590, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969). "The question of probable cause must be determined by an examination of the circumstances surrounding the arrest." Daniels v. State, 534 So.2d at 651. See also Blanco.

In the instant case, at the time of the appellant's arrest, the police had the following information:

1. The victim, a 14-year-old child, had been shot with a small caliber handgun.
2. The appellant and the victim had "hung around" each other before the murder.
3. The victim's sister told police that her brother was afraid of the appellant and that the appellant had threatened her brother.
4. The victim's sister told police that the appellant had hit her brother on the head with a "club-like" instrument the day before his death.

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CMB v. State, 594 So. 2d 695, 1991 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1324, 1991 WL 186836 (Ala. Ct. App. 1991).

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