In Re Butts

582 S.E.2d 279, 157 N.C. App. 609, 2003 N.C. App. LEXIS 928
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedMay 20, 2003
DocketCOA02-531
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 582 S.E.2d 279 (In Re Butts) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Butts, 582 S.E.2d 279, 157 N.C. App. 609, 2003 N.C. App. LEXIS 928 (N.C. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

LEVINSON, Judge.

Respondent appeals from adjudication of delinquency for commission of a first degree sex offense. The juvenile charges arose from an incident occurring between respondent and C.C. (the prosecuting witness’s initials are used to preserve his privacy). The two boys were seventh grade classmates in a self-contained special education class. On 16 March 2001, C.C. spent the night with respondent, who lived with his father. During the evening, the boys watched movies in respondent’s room while his father, Willie Butts, watched TV in the living room. Butts owned several guns, including a .357 magnum, which he usually kept near him, or in a holster. Both boys acknowledge that at some point during the night they engaged in sexual activity. However, their testimony conflicted sharply regarding the nature of the sexual contact.

At the hearing, C.C. testified that after the boys watched a movie, respondent took him to his father’s bedroom and showed him his [611]*611father’s .357 magnum gun. When they returned to respondent’s bedroom, respondent warned C.C. that if he “told anybody what was about to happen, he’d shoot [him].” C.C. put on his pajamas and got ready for bed, while respondent tried to convince him to experiment with sexual activity, saying “it’ll be fun.” When C.C. refused, respondent became upset and pinned C.C. down on the bed. He performed an act of oral sex on C.C. in which he bit his penis, and then had anal intercourse with C.C. After respondent stopped, he threatened to kill C.C. if he told anyone. The State presented several other witnesses whose testimony generally corroborated C.C.’s account of the events in question. C.C.’s mother testified that her son was in a special education class, and took medications for depression and “anger control.” Two weeks after he spent the night with respondent, C.C. told his mother that respondent had “pinned him down” and forced him to engage in sexual acts. Dr. Mary Lou Cooke, a pediatrician, testified that C.C. had given her an account of the incident consistent with his trial testimony. She also testified that, notwithstanding the absence of physical or medical indicators of abuse, she considered C.C.’s physical examination to be “consistent” with his interview. Detective Robin Carrasquillo testified regarding her investigation of the charges. She first interviewed C.C. and his mother, and obtained a statement from C.C. She then interviewed respondent at the law enforcement center, where respondent signed a statement admitting the allegation in the petition.

Respondent testified at the hearing and denied all charges. He testified that after the two boys watched a movie, they played video games and then went to sleep. When he awoke later in the night, C.C. was penetrating him from behind, and refused to stop. Respondent “throwed [sic] him off’ and went to sléep in the living room. Respondent denied threatening C.C. with a gun, or performing anal or oral sex on C.C. Respondent’s testimony in this regard conflicted with his admissions in a signed confession obtained by Carrasquillo and introduced over respondent’s objection. Ellen Jones, the primary teacher for both boys, testified that C.C. had “difficulty getting along” with other children and “conflicted] with all the students in the classroom.” Jones also testified that C.C. often told lies at school. Mr. Butts, respondent’s father, testified that his son had no access to any of his guns, which were in a locked cabinet, and that he had noticed nothing unusual the night that C.C. stayed over. Other evidence will be discussed as necessary to resolve the issues presented herein.

[612]*612I.

Respondent raises four arguments on appeal. In two of these, respondent contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress the statement obtained by Detective Carrasquillo.

“[I]n a suppression hearing, the State has the burden to demonstrate the admissibility of the challenged evidence.” State v. Tarlton, 146 N.C. App. 417, 420, 553 S.E.2d 50, 53 (2001) (citing State v. Harvey, 78 N.C. App. 235, 237, 336 S.E.2d 857, 859 (1985)). In the instant case, respondent argues that his statement was procured in violation of his rights under N.C.G.S. § 7B-2101, which provides in relevant part that:

(a) Any juvenile in custody must be advised prior to questioning:
(3) That the juvenile has a right to have a parent, guardian, or custodian present during questioning; and
(b) When the juvenile is less than 14 years of age, no in-custody admission or confession resulting from interrogation may be admitted into evidence unless the confession or admission was made in the presence of the juvenile’s parent, guardian, custodian, or attorney.

N.C.G.S. § 7B-2101(a)(3) and (b) (2001). Respondent notes that the waiver form he signed did not include any notification that he had the right to the presence of “a parent, guardian, or custodian . . . during questioning.” Moreover, it is undisputed that respondent was under 14 years old at the time, and that only Detective Carrasquillo and another officer were present when much of respondent’s statement was obtained. Therefore, if respondent’s confession was obtained during a custodial interrogation, it would be inadmissible.

The rights protected by N.C.G.S. § 7B-2101 apply only to custodial interrogations. State v. Gaines, 345 N.C. 647, 661, 483 S.E.2d 396, 405, cert. denied, 522 U.S. 900, 139 L. Ed. 2d 177 (1997) (statute “pertains only to statements obtained from a juvenile defendant as the result of custodial interrogation”). Thus, the threshold inquiry for a court ruling on a suppression motion based on G.S. § 7B-2101, is whether the respondent was in custody when the statement was obtained. “[I]n [613]*613determining whether a suspect [is] in custody, an appellate court must examine all the circumstances surrounding the interrogation; but the definitive inquiry is whether there was a formal arrest or a restraint on freedom of movement of the degree associated with a formal arrest.” State v. Buchanan, 353 N.C. 332, 338, 543 S.E.2d 823, 827 (2001) (quoting Gaines, 345 N.C. at 662, 483 S.E.2d at 405). This requires the trial court to apply “ ‘an objective test as to whether a reasonable person in the position of the defendant would believe himself to be in custody or that he had been deprived of his freedom of action in some significant way.’ ” State v. Sanders, 122 N.C. App. 691, 693, 471 S.E.2d 641, 642 (1996) (quoting State v. Greene, 332 N.C. 565, 577, 422 S.E.2d 730, 737 (1992)).

In the instant case, respondent argued to the trial court that he was in custody when his statement was taken, thus invoking his rights under G.S. § 7B-2101 to the presence of a parent, guardian, custodian, or attorney and to be informed of this right. Respondent also argued that the express terms of the statute did not allow for any exceptions to the bar on confessions taken from a child of 13 in the absence of a parent, guardian, custodian, or attorney. G.S. § 7B-2101 (“no in-custody . . . confession . . . may be admitted into evidence unless . . . made in the presence of’ parent, etc.). However, the trial court did not rule on this issue. Instead, following arguments of counsel for respondent and the State on whether respondent was in custody, the court ruled as follows:

Mr. Gurley (respondent’s attorney): ...

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MATTER OF TRB
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In Re Butts
582 S.E.2d 279 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2003)

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Bluebook (online)
582 S.E.2d 279, 157 N.C. App. 609, 2003 N.C. App. LEXIS 928, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-butts-ncctapp-2003.