Flowers v. State

2017 Ark. App. 468, 528 S.W.3d 851, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 533
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 20, 2017
DocketCR-16-1140
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 2017 Ark. App. 468 (Flowers v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Flowers v. State, 2017 Ark. App. 468, 528 S.W.3d 851, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 533 (Ark. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

LARRY D. VAUGHT, Judge

|,Appellant, Byron Jamarr Flowers, appeals the Circuit Court, of Miller County’s order denying his rhotion to transfer his case to the juvenile division • of circuit court, We affirm.

In 2014, Flowers and á codefendant, Costello Byrd, were charged with raping a child, R.S., who was under the age of fourteen. The events were alleged to have occurred in 2009 and 2010. While the cáse was pending in the Miller County Circuit Court, Flowers filed a motion to transfer it to the juvenile division. On December 10, 2015, the court held a juvenile-transfer hearing, after which it issued a letter order denying the motion.

' Flowers was twenty years old when the charges' were first brought against him in this case. The acts were alleged to have occurred when the victim was between th'e ages of three arid six years old, and when Flowers was between the ages of fourteen and'sixteen years old. The victim alleged that Flowers and Byrd repeatedly raped her vaginally and anally, causing her to bleed. A sexrial-assault examination revealed four well-healed injuries to her vaginal area |2that were consistent with her accounts of the rapes. By the time Flowers filed his first juvenile-transfer motioii, he hád ■ already turned ■ twenty-one. His amended riiotion was filed after his twenty-second birthday. At the transfer hearing, an employee of the Division of Youth Services testified that there were no programs or facilities available to individuals who have reached the age of twenty-one. Scott Tanner, a juvenile ombudsman, testified that the juvénile court loses'jurisdiction when an individual reaches the age of twenty-one. He also agreed that there are no juvenile programs available to Flowers due to his age. Flowers’s mother testified that, while he had been an obedient child, he was currently on probation for a misdemeanor marijuana conviction. He had worked full time since he was fifteen years old, purchased his own car at sixteen years old, and she now considered him an adult.

Arkansas Code Annotated section 9-27-318(g) (Repl. 2015) sets forth the factors the circuit court must consider and make written findings on at a transfer hearing. Those factors are:

(1) the seriousness of the alleged offense and whether the protection of society requires prosecution in the criminal division of circuit court;
(2) whether the alleged offense was committed in an aggressive, violent, premeditated, or willful manner;
(3) whether the offense was against a person or property, with greater weight being given to offenses against persons, especially if personal injury resulted;
(4) the culpability of the juvenile, including the level of planning arid participation in the alleged offense;
(5) the previous history of the juvenile, including whether the juvenile had been adjudicated a juvenile offender and, if so, whether the offenses were against persons or property, and any other previous history of antisocial behavior or patterns of physical violence;
-| a(6) the sophistication or maturity of the juvenile as determined by consideration of the juvenile’s home, environment, emotional attitude,.pattern of living, or desire to be treated as an adult;
(7) whether there are facilities or programs available to the judge of the juvenile division of circuit cotot that are likely to rehabilitate the juvenile before the expiration of the juvenile’s twenty-first birthday;
(8) whether the juvenile acted alone or was part of a group in the commission of the alleged offense;
(9) written reports and other materials relating to the juvenile’s mental, physical, educational, and social history; and
(10) any other factors deemed relevant by the judge.

R.G.W. v. State, 2014 Ark. App. 545, at 2-3, 444 S.W.3d 376, 377. Proof need not be introduced on each factor. Nichols v. State, 2015 Ark. App. 397, at 5, 466 S.W.3d at 433. The circuit court does not have to give equal weight to each factor. R.G.W., 2014 Ark. App. at 3, 444 S.W.3d 376. The mov-ant bears the burden of proving the necessity of transfer from the criminal division to the juvenile division of circuit court. See Nichols, 2015 Ark. App. 397, at 3, 466 S.W.3d 431, 432.

The court found that almost every statutory factor weighed against granting Flowers’s motion to transfer. As to the first factor, the seriousness of the offense, the court correctly found that rape, a Class Y felony, is serious—the only offense in Arkansas that carries a greater potential sentence is capital murder. Here, the court noted that the alleged rape was of a young child and involved a continuous course of abuse. As to the .second factor, whether the offense was committed in an aggressive, violent, premeditated, or willful manner, the court found that rape is a crime of force and violence and that there was evidence that the acts were willful and premeditated. As to the third factor, the court found that, by its statutory definition, rape is a |4crime committed against a person, not property. Fourth, as to the culpability of each defendant, the court found that there was evidence that each fully participated in sexually assaulting the victim rather than acting as a bystander or lookout. The fifth factor, the juvenile’s previous history, revealed that although neither defendant had significant contacts with the criminal-justice system in the past, Flowers had been arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession. Sixth, regarding the sophistication or maturity of the juvenile, the court found that there was .no evidence of any psychological or behavior disorder, and Flowers had graduated high school, worked full time since the age of fifteen, and had purchased his own vehicle. Seventh, the court noted that .there are no programs or facilities available to rehabilitate Flowers due to his age—he turned twenty-one prior to filing his motion to transfer. Eighth, regarding whether the juvenile acted alone or as part of a group, the court noted' that there was evidence that Flowers sometimes acted alone in sexually assaulting the victim and sometimes acted together with Byrd. As to the ninth consideration, any written reports or other materials relating to the juvenile’s mental, physical, educational, and social history, no such reports were introduced. Finally, as to the tenth factor, in which the court may consider any other evidence deemed relevant by the judge, the court stated that it did not make any inquiry beyond the evidence presented by the parties. After considering all ten factors, the court found that the following weighed against transfer: the seriousness of the offense, the age of the defendants, the lack of any programs or facilities available to rehabilitate them, and the level of maturity shown by the defendants. The court accordingly denied the motion to transfer.

|BThe State later filed a second amended information, adding a second count of rape.

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Bluebook (online)
2017 Ark. App. 468, 528 S.W.3d 851, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 533, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/flowers-v-state-arkctapp-2017.