In Re Law

226 P.3d 60, 233 Or. App. 456
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJanuary 27, 2010
Docket07J0981, A138346 Petition Number 111307WAL1
StatusPublished

This text of 226 P.3d 60 (In Re Law) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Law, 226 P.3d 60, 233 Or. App. 456 (Or. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

226 P.3d 60 (2010)
233 Or. App. 456

In the Matter of L.A.W., a Youth.
State ex rel. Juvenile Department of Marion County, Appellant,
v.
L.A.W., Respondent.

07J0981, A138346; Petition Number 111307WAL1.

Court of Appeals of Oregon.

Argued and Submitted September 17, 2009.
Decided January 27, 2010.

*61 David B. Thompson, Senior Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for appellant. With him on the opening brief were Hardy Myers, Attorney General, and Mary H. Williams, Solicitor General. With him on the reply brief were John R. Kroger, Attorney General, and Jerome Lidz, Solicitor General.

Christa Obold-Eshleman argued the cause and filed the brief for respondent.

Before WOLLHEIM, Presiding Judge, and SERCOMBE, Judge, and EDMONDS, Senior Judge.

EDMONDS, S.J.

Youth is alleged to be within the juvenile court's jurisdiction as a result of acts that, if committed by an adult, would constitute unlawful sexual penetration in the first degree. ORS 419C.005(1). Specifically, youth is alleged to have unlawfully sexually penetrated a 10-year-old girl. Youth filed a pretrial motion to suppress his statements to a police detective on the ground that he had not voluntarily and knowingly waived his constitutional rights against self-incrimination. After hearing testimony and arguments from counsel, the juvenile court ruled that youth's statements were made voluntarily, but that youth's waiver of his rights was not knowing and intelligent. The state appeals *62 that ruling pursuant to ORS 419A.208(1)(c). For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

We find the following facts on de novo review. ORS 419A.200(6)(b) (2007), amended by Or. Laws 2009, ch. 231, § 6.[1] At the time of the interview between youth and the police detective, youth was a 12-year-old middle school student. On the day in question, the detective and a caseworker with the Department of Human Services Child Welfare Program contacted the complaining witness and took a statement from her. They then went to youth's school where youth was brought to a room used by the school for counseling. The room, which had glass windows and shades on the windows, was next to the attendance room in the school office. The detective, dressed in business attire; the caseworker; and youth were all seated around a desk in the room. Before questioning youth, the detective read youth his Miranda rights from a prepared card. The detective read youth each right, one at a time. The detective then asked youth if he understood his rights or had any questions about them. Youth indicated that he did not have any questions about his rights.[2] When asked if he understood what the detective had read to him, youth replied, "Yeah." The detective then showed youth the card from which the detective had read, turned the card over, and said to youth, "Here they are." He then asked youth to sign an acknowledgement on the card that youth understood his rights and that he had no questions about them. Youth signed the card without asking any further questions. The caseworker testified without contradiction that youth's demeanor throughout the interview was calm and that he did not manifest any indicia of confusion or that he was emotionally upset.

After signing the card, the detective questioned youth about the complaining witness's report. Initially, youth denied the allegations, claiming that the complaining witness was "crazy." The detective persisted, however, explaining to youth that

"[10]-year-old girls don't come up with these ideas off the top of their head, and that if it was a matter of, you know, [youth] making a mistake[,] and, you know, being sorry, you know, for some of his actions, I'd be willing to put that in my report."

Youth then acknowledged that he had sexually penetrated the complaining witness, although he maintained that she had invited his actions by telling him that she would no longer play videogames with him unless he acquiesced. Youth also spontaneously demonstrated how far his finger had penetrated the complaining witness's vagina. After the completion of the interview, which lasted 30 to 35 minutes, youth was placed in custody. As he was removed from the office, youth appeared to have a fainting spell. However, when rebuked by the officer, youth stood and accompanied the detective to his vehicle.

A caseworker was in the room while the detective interviewed youth. The caseworker was seated next to youth in the counseling room, separated by an empty chair. She verified that the detective had read the Miranda warnings to youth:

"The main thing I remember in the beginning was that [youth] did have his Miranda rights read to him. He was told why we were there. And I recall at first him saying, no, it didn't—he must have actually—yeah, [the detective] gave a little summary of why we were there and what the call was, and at first [youth], you know, said, no, that did not happen."

Youth maintained a flat affect throughout the interview, and the caseworker was surprised that youth did not cry. According to the caseworker, the detective did not directly call *63 youth a liar but did tell him that, based on what the complaining witness had reported, the detective did not believe youth. At that point, youth began to volunteer information including a description of how and where the sexual contact occurred. The caseworker stated that the overall tenor of the interview had not been intimidating. She observed that the detective had not raised his voice during the interview.

In the month preceding the hearing, a psychologist whose practice involves adolescent sex offenders conducted a psychological evaluation of youth. He described youth as a 12-year-old with an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 106, which he characterized as "just about right on average for somebody of his chronological age" and a "mental age * * * roughly equivalent to his chronological age." As to youth's ability to understand the nature of the Miranda warnings that he was given, the psychologist testified that youth has "serious emotional problems" and

"he's got this profile, which puts him at some risk [to become a sex offender]. What effect that has on would he sign—did he know what he was doing when he signed the Miranda rights? I really have no idea. I don't put much confidence in that kind of information for a child, a child of unknown emotional problems. I just don't. It's not just a matter of [youth]; it's just as a general rule[,] I don't."

When asked directly about whether youth understood the Miranda warnings given to him, the psychologist responded, "Not necessarily."

After the hearing, the juvenile court made written findings and conclusions of law:

"The State presented sufficient evidence regarding lack of coercive tactics during the interview such to conclude that the Youth's waiver of Miranda Rights was voluntary. Included but not limited to the Court's finding was the fact that the Youth was retrieved from class by school personnel; that he was questioned in an office by a plain clothed detective.

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Related

State Ex Rel. Juvenile Department v. Gallegos
945 P.2d 656 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1997)
State Ex Rel. Juvenile Department v. Cecil
34 P.3d 742 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2001)
State Ex Rel. Juvenile Department v. Deford
34 P.3d 673 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2001)
State ex rel. Juvenile Department v. L. A. W.
226 P.3d 60 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2010)

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226 P.3d 60, 233 Or. App. 456, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-law-orctapp-2010.