In Re JSS

20 S.W.3d 837, 2000 WL 739421
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 6, 2000
Docket08-99-00121-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 20 S.W.3d 837 (In Re JSS) 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 JSS, 20 S.W.3d 837, 2000 WL 739421 (Tex. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

20 S.W.3d 837 (2000)

In The Matter of J.S.S., a Juvenile.

No. 08-99-00121-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, El Paso.

June 8, 2000.
Rehearing Overruled July 6, 2000.

*838 M. Clara Hernandez, El Paso County Public Defender, El Paso, Scott Segall, Martin & Segall, El Paso, for appellant.

Jose R. Rodriguez, Ralph Elwood Girvin, County Attys., El Paso, for State.

Before Panel No. 2 BARAJAS, C.J., McCLURE, and CHEW, JJ.

OPINION

ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, Justice.

J.S.S., a juvenile, appeals from an order committing him to the Texas Youth Commission following an adjudication of delinquent conduct. J.S.S. waived his right to a jury trial, and the trial court found, based upon J.S.S.'s plea of true to the allegations in the petition and his voluntary stipulation of evidence and written admission, that J.S.S. engaged in delinquent conduct by possessing more than 50 but less than 2,000 pounds of marihuana. Following a *839 disposition hearing, the trial court entered a commitment order to the Texas Youth Commission. On appeal, J.S.S. contends that the trial court erred in considering the pre-disposition report at the disposition hearing because it was taken in violation of J.S.S.'s Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Finding that a juvenile's Fifth Amendment rights extend through the conclusion of the disposition hearing and that the use of the incriminating information gathered during the interview violated J.S.S.'s privilege against self-incrimination, we reverse and remand for a new disposition hearing.

FACTUAL SUMMARY

U.S. Customs agents arrested sixteen-year-old J.S.S., a Mexican citizen and resident of Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, when they found 72 pounds of marihuana in a hidden compartment of a vehicle he attempted to drive into the United States through the Ysleta Port of Entry. The State filed a petition alleging that J.S.S. engaged in delinquent conduct by possessing more than 50 but less than 2,000 pounds of marihuana. With the consent of J.S.S., a juvenile court referee held the adjudication hearing in this case. After explaining to J.S.S. all of his applicable rights and ensuring that he understood them, the referee approved J.S.S.'s written waiver of those rights and accepted his judicial admission. That form, entitled "Waiver, Stipulation and Admission" provides:

I, J.S.S., the juvenile in the above entitled and numbered cause, do hereby in open Court admit to the allegations of the petition filed in said cause (or to a lesser included offense), and upon having entered my Admission, hereby waive my right to a trial by jury, waive the appearance, confrontation and cross examination of witnesses and further consent to the introduction of this Stipulation and Admission, and any other documentary evidence in support of the judgment of the Court. I agree that the evidence may be stipulated and that the attorney representing the State may make a statement to testimony upon which the petition was filed and the testimony which would have been produced against me in the trial of my case should I have demanded a trial, jury or non-jury.

I fully understand that if I admit to the offense or offenses, that I can be placed on probation until the age of Eighteen (18), or that I may be committed to the care, custody and control of the Texas Youth Commission, a state correction facility until the age of 21. I also understand that there has been no recommendation as to the disposition made either to me or my attorney by any attorney of the County Attorney's Office.

I hereby request the approval and consent of the Court to the foregoing waiver and consent.

I do now hereby, in open Court, ADMIT all of the allegation(s) (Count(s) I) of the petition in this cause and I confess that I committed the offense(s) charged in the petition (or lesser included offense of ____,[) ] waiving the rights to which I am entitled to under Section 51.09, Texas Family Code, and which rights have been explained fully by the Court and I understand those rights, particularly the right to require sufficient evidence to support the judgement [sic] of the Court, in view of my judicial confession herein made.

Based upon the waiver and stipulation, the court entered an adjudication order and set the case for a disposition hearing. At some point following the adjudication hearing, a juvenile probation officer, Amalia Caro-Sanchez, interviewed J.S.S. while he was in custody. Ms. Caro-Sanchez questioned J.S.S. not only about his personal circumstances and family environment but also about the facts of the instant case and his past history. During the disposition hearing, she testified over objection that J.S.S. told her he had committed *840 the same offense on two prior occasions and his brother-in-law who hired him to transport the drugs had paid him $700 for each trip. J.S.S. voluntarily testified during the disposition hearing. Over objection, the juvenile court questioned J.S.S. at length about the facts of this offense and the extraneous offenses. At the conclusion of the disposition hearing, the juvenile court judge specifically stated that in deciding to send J.S.S. to T.Y.C. rather than placing him in the Mexican National Children's Program, he took into account that J.S.S. had committed the same offense on two prior occasions.

PRE-DISPOSITION REPORT

In Issue One, J.S.S. asserts that the trial court erred in considering incriminating statements made by him during the pre-disposition interview because the juvenile probation officer did not warn him of his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. J.S.S. relies on both Mitchell v. United States, 526 U.S. 314, 325-28, 119 S.Ct. 1307, 1314, 143 L.Ed.2d 424 (1999) and Estelle v. Smith, 451 U.S. 454, 466, 101 S.Ct. 1866, 1875, 68 L.Ed.2d 359 (1981) in support of his argument. The State responds that a juvenile's Fifth Amendment rights are extinguished at the conclusion of the adjudication hearing. It also argues that the privilege against self-incrimination should not be extended to the disposition hearing due to the difference in the goals of the adult criminal and juvenile systems. In addressing the issues before us, we will first consider whether the Fifth Amendment should be extended to the disposition hearing as a general matter, and then will address the more specific question whether the Fifth Amendment bars the use of any incriminating evidence gathered during the pre-disposition interview.

Although the State does not raise this issue, we have considered whether J.S.S. waived his complaint by testifying during the disposition hearing. When the juvenile court questioned J.S.S. about the subject matter of his incriminating statements, defense counsel continued to object. Further, it appears from the record that J.S.S. took the stand, at least in part, to respond to the pre-disposition report and the probation officer's recommendation. Under these circumstances, we do not find waiver. See Leday v. State, 983 S.W.2d 713, 718-19 (Tex.Crim.App.1998)(general rule of waiver or harmless error does not apply if defendant's testimony, which constituted other evidence of a fact that was proved over the defendant's objection, was impelled by the state's introduction of evidence that was obtained in violation of the law); see also Thomas v. State,

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

Related

Kent v. United States
383 U.S. 541 (Supreme Court, 1966)
In Re GAULT
387 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Estelle v. Smith
451 U.S. 454 (Supreme Court, 1981)
Mitchell v. United States
526 U.S. 314 (Supreme Court, 1999)
Marcus T. Baumann v. United States
692 F.2d 565 (Ninth Circuit, 1982)
Garcia v. State
930 S.W.2d 621 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1996)
Leday v. State
983 S.W.2d 713 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Hidalgo v. State
983 S.W.2d 746 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1999)
Smith v. Baldwin
611 S.W.2d 611 (Texas Supreme Court, 1980)
Matter of A---N---M
542 S.W.2d 916 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1976)
Tyler v. State
512 S.W.2d 46 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1974)
Trimmer v. State
651 S.W.2d 904 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1983)
Thomas v. State
572 S.W.2d 507 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1976)
Estate of Padilla v. Charter Oaks Fire Insurance Co.
843 S.W.2d 196 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Wilkens v. State
847 S.W.2d 547 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Carroll v. State
975 S.W.2d 630 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Bank One, Texas, N.A. v. Stewart
967 S.W.2d 419 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1998)
Collins v. County of El Paso
954 S.W.2d 137 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1997)
Lanes v. State
767 S.W.2d 789 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1989)
Beathard v. State
767 S.W.2d 423 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
20 S.W.3d 837, 2000 WL 739421, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-jss-texapp-2000.