In Re CR

995 S.W.2d 778, 1999 WL 332566
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 12, 1999
Docket03-97-00785-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 995 S.W.2d 778 (In Re CR) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re CR, 995 S.W.2d 778, 1999 WL 332566 (Tex. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

995 S.W.2d 778 (1999)

In the Matter of C. R.

No. 03-97-00785-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Austin.

May 27, 1999.
Rehearing Overruled August 12, 1999.

*779 Linda Icenhauer-Ramirez, Icenhauer-Ramirez & Hubner, P.C., Austin, for Appellant.

Ronald Earle, District Attorney, Karyn D. Scott, Assistant District Attorney, Austin, for Appellee.

Before Justices JONES, KIDD and YEAKEL.

J. WOODFIN JONES, Justice.

A jury adjudicated appellant C. R., a juvenile then 15 years old, guilty of engaging in delinquent conduct[1] by committing the offense of capital murder.[2] Based on the jury's finding, the 98th District Court of Travis County, sitting as a juvenile court, rendered a determinate sentence of thirty years' confinement.[3] Appellant appeals the adjudication of delinquency, asserting that the court erred in denying his motion to suppress his written statement. We will reverse and remand.

*780 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Because this appeal is limited to a review of a suppression determination, we consider only the evidence presented at the hearing on appellant's motion to suppress. See Rachal v. State, 917 S.W.2d 799, 809 (Tex.Crim.App.1996). The following facts are derived from the testimony of the various witnesses during the suppression hearing.[4]

In December 1995, officers from the Austin Police Department responded to a 911 telephone call reporting a robbery and shooting at Zilker Park in Austin. Upon arriving at the scene, officers encountered Marta Hernandez, who directed them to the body of her estranged husband, Roberto Giral. Giral had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Hernandez told detectives she and Giral had been talking when they were attacked by three men, but she could not describe the attackers.

During the investigation into Giral's death, detectives received two 911 telephone calls from persons claiming Hernandez had orchestrated her husband's murder. One of the calls came from Yvonne Fuentes, who explained that her daughter's boyfriend, Tony Moreno, had bragged to her daughter about his involvement in the shooting. Moreno claimed the victim's wife offered him money to commit the murder, and gave the first names of two individuals as persons who were also involved. Detectives searched their database for known associates of Moreno having either of those names. Their search revealed appellant.

Detective Fuentes,[5] an officer assigned to the murder investigation, testified that three detectives were dispatched to locate appellant in order to verify the statements of Yvonne Fuentes and her daughter, and to determine if appellant had any helpful information. Detective Fuentes testified that at this point he considered appellant to be a potential witness, not a suspect. Detectives Campa and Pedraza, two of the officers sent to locate appellant, testified that they found appellant at home about 9:30 p.m. and asked him to accompany them to the police station to answer questions regarding a pending investigation. Both indicated that appellant was not placed under arrest, that he voluntarily accompanied the officers to the station, and that he could have refused to go. Fuentes, Campa, and Pedraza all testified that appellant arrived at the police station between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m.

Appellant testified that the officers arrived at his house much earlier in the evening, closer to 7:30 p.m. He told the officers he could not go to the police station because his mother was not home and she had left him in charge of taking care of his younger sisters; he agreed to accompany the officers only upon being assured the questioning would not take very long. He stated he arrived at the station around 7:45 p.m.

Once at the police station, appellant was immediately taken into an interview room, where he was questioned alone by Pedraza. At some point during the questioning, appellant implicated himself in the murder. Pedraza testified that he immediately stopped the interview and reported the situation to Fuentes and Campa. While Officers Pedraza and Fuentes testified that appellant implicated himself at about 10:55 p.m., Campa remembered this occurring shortly after 9:45 p.m. or possibly a bit later.[6] All the officers agreed that questioning ceased as soon as appellant *781 implicated himself; at that point appellant was no longer a witness, but rather was considered by the officers to be "in custody" as a suspect. Each officer testified that appellant was immediately taken to a juvenile processing office at the police station, and that Kent Anschutz, a magistrate judge, was contacted to administer juvenile warnings.

Anschutz's testimony confirmed that he was called at home about 11:00 p.m. and asked to come to the police station to administer juvenile warnings. He arrived at the station at approximately 11:30 p.m. and administered the juvenile warnings to appellant shortly after midnight. Appellant was then returned to Pedraza, who drafted appellant's written statement outlining appellant's version of the events surrounding the murder. Thereafter, appellant spoke again with Anschutz, who confirmed that appellant did not want to change anything in the written statement and was signing the statement voluntarily. Appellant signed the statement at approximately 2:45 a.m., and was then transferred to Gardner Betts Juvenile Detention Center.

Pedraza testified that throughout the night, appellant never asked to go home, never asked to contact his mother, and appeared to be very calm and interested in assisting in the investigation. In contrast, appellant testified he continuously expressed his desire to go home, and complained he was hungry and tired. He also stated that Pedraza told him if he did not actually pull the trigger, he could not be convicted of murder, and as soon as he told the truth he could go home. Appellant stated that he finally acquiesced and told Pedraza of the events surrounding the murder. Appellant confirmed that he eventually did see a magistrate, but claims this occurred only after he had related his complete story in detail several times to Pedraza at Pedraza's insistence.

The State filed an original petition alleging that appellant had engaged in delinquent conduct by committing the offense of capital murder, namely, causing the death of Giral for the promise of remuneration; the petition sought a determinate sentence. Appellant filed a motion to suppress his written statement, which was denied. At trial, the statement was read into evidence. In his statement, appellant admitted being involved in the planning and eventual execution of the murder, but contended he waited in the bushes while the murder was actually carried out by either Moreno or Jose Medrano.

A jury found appellant guilty of engaging in delinquent conduct and assessed a thirty-year sentence. Appellant timely filed this appeal, asserting in three points of error that the trial court improperly denied his motion to suppress his written statement because it was taken in violation of former section 51.09(b)[7] and sections 52.02(a) and (b)[8] of the Texas Family Code.[9]

DISCUSSION

Section 52.02(b) Violation

In his third point of error, appellant contends that his written statement should *782 have been suppressed based on the officers' failure to contact his mother as required by section 52.02(b) of the Texas Family Code.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Kotteakos v. United States
328 U.S. 750 (Supreme Court, 1946)
O'NEAL v. McAninch
513 U.S. 432 (Supreme Court, 1995)
Loserth v. State
963 S.W.2d 770 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1998)
King v. State
953 S.W.2d 266 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Reeves v. State
969 S.W.2d 471 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Rachal v. State
917 S.W.2d 799 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Baptist Vie Le v. State
993 S.W.2d 650 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Comer v. State
776 S.W.2d 191 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1989)
Villarreal v. State
935 S.W.2d 134 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Lopez v. State
990 S.W.2d 770 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Easley v. State
986 S.W.2d 264 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Johnson v. State
967 S.W.2d 410 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1998)
In the Interest of D.Z.
869 S.W.2d 561 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Hunter v. State
955 S.W.2d 102 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Guzman v. State
955 S.W.2d 85 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1997)
In re J.R.
907 S.W.2d 107 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)
In re R.R.
931 S.W.2d 11 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1996)
R.S.C., Matter Of
940 S.W.2d 750 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1997)
In re D.V.
955 S.W.2d 379 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Matter of M.A.F.
966 S.W.2d 448 (Texas Supreme Court, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
995 S.W.2d 778, 1999 WL 332566, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-cr-texapp-1999.