In Re the Appeal in Maricopa County Juvenile Action No. J-84357

576 P.2d 143, 118 Ariz. 284, 1978 Ariz. App. LEXIS 412
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedFebruary 16, 1978
Docket1 CA-JUV 57
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 576 P.2d 143 (In Re the Appeal in Maricopa County Juvenile Action No. J-84357) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re the Appeal in Maricopa County Juvenile Action No. J-84357, 576 P.2d 143, 118 Ariz. 284, 1978 Ariz. App. LEXIS 412 (Ark. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

OPINION

WREN, Judge.

A petition for determination of delinquency was filed against the juvenile appellant on January 24, 1977, alleging eight counts involving various acts of burglary and theft in the Cave Creek area. An adjudication hearing was held on June 28, 1977 at which time three of the counts were dismissed. After hearing the evidence the court held that the State had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant was a delinquent child. On September 29, 1977 a disposition hearing was held and appellant was placed under supervised probation. He was released to the custody and care of his mother.

At the adjudication hearing several property owners testified about their discovery of missing property and its value. Appellant was linked to each of the counts by his statements to the investigating officers in which he admitted committing the offenses. The admissibility of these statements is the subject of this appeal.

Prior to the adjudication hearing appellant moved to suppress the statements and a suppression hearing was held on April 27, 1977. Detective Barrett of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office testified that he had received information that appellant may have been involved in some burglaries he was investigating. A juvenile matching appellant’s description had been observed leaving the site of an attempted burglary about a quarter mile from his home. Although he did not believe that he had probable cause to arrest appellant he decided to question him. Barrett and Reserve Deputy John Hilberg went to appellant’s house and told his mother that they would like to talk to him about some burglaries in the area. Appellant was sleeping in the living room and she woke him up. The mother then left to go to the store. It was Barrett’s recollection that he did not ask her to leave.

Barrett told appellant that they were investigating a series of burglaries and that they had an idea he might be involved. He mentioned a particular burglary at a neighbor’s house and appellant informed them that he had done it. The detectives then ceased questioning and asked appellant to come to the sheriff’s office with them. They left a note for appellant’s mother, telling her where they were and that they would return her son home in an hour and a half. Barrett testified that appellant was *286 not in custody during the initial questioning at his home.

Appellant accompanied the officers to their office where he was read standard Miranda warnings from a rights card. Appellant signed the card and stated that he understood his rights and would answer questions. Appellant and the officers then went through each of the burglaries under investigation. The interview was taped and the court listened to the entire tape during the course of the suppression hearing.

Barrett testified that he promised appellant that he would not arrest him and take him to the juvenile home. He said, however, that these promises were not conditioned in any way on appellant’s talking to them. Barrett used no force or threats.

Appellant and his mother agreed in broad outline with the sequence of events to which Detective Barrett testified but their recollection differed in some respects. For example, appellant testified that during the initial interview at his house he was told that if he cooperated no charges would be brought against him. If, on the other hand, he did not cooperate, charges would be filed. It was his understanding that he was merely helping the officers “clean out their file”. He also testified that Barrett asked his mother to leave the room while they talked although he did not believe she was ordered to leave. Finally, appellant testified that he was told that he would not be arrested if he cooperated.

Appellant’s mother also testified that she was asked to leave when the officers first arrived at her house. She recalled that she was still at home in her bedroom when the officers took her son to the station for further questioning and that they asked for her consent before they left. She did not recall finding any note from the deputies. She was also under the impression that there would be no charges and that the officers were merely clearing up their files. She recalled what happened when Deputy Hilberg brought her son back from the station:

“Q. Did he say anything to you when he brought [The Juvenile] home?
A. Oh, yes. He came in and said that Detective Barrett was busy and could not bring him back. He reassured me again that everything was all right and there were no charges. He put his arm around [The Juvenile] and said, T am sure being able to talk things over has helped him. You and your mother will be able to face the new things you have to go through together, now that everything is cleared up.’ ”

At the close of evidence the court entered the following order:

“Having considered the evidence and demeanor and credibility of witnesses, it is ordered denying the Motion to Suppress.”

There is no explicit ruling in the record that the statements were voluntary. Ordinarily an order denying the motion to suppress is not regarded as sufficient compliance with the requirement of Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 12 L.Ed.2d 908 (1964) that a statement may be admitted only if the trial judge makes a definite voluntariness determination. State v. Marovich, 109 Ariz. 45, 504 P.2d 1268 (1973); State v. Knaubert, 27 Ariz.App. 53, 550 P.2d 1095 (1976). However, in the context of this case we are convinced that the court’s ruling is sufficient compliance.

We note at the outset that although appellant was afforded a voluntariness hearing prior to the adjudication proceeding, such a hearing is not constitutionally required in a juvenile proceeding where the court and not a jury sits as a fact finder. In Jackson v. Denno, the Supreme Court found constitutionally inadequate a New York procedure in which the jury not only decided guilt or innocence but also made the voluntariness determination. Jurors were instructed to consider the confession in arriving at a verdict only if they found, on the basis of the evidence, that it was voluntary. The foundation for the Supreme Court’s ruling in Jackson was its belief that lay jurors could not effectively separate the voluntariness determination from the decision on guilt or innocence. The Supreme Court noted that a “jury . *287 may find it difficult to understand the policy forbidding reliance upon a coerced, but true, confession,” and they expressed a belief that “matters pertaining to the defendant’s guilt will infect the jury’s findings of fact bearing upon voluntariness, as well as its conclusion upon that issue itself.” Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. at 382-383, 84 S.Ct. at 1783-1784, 12 L.Ed.2d at 918-919. The constitution requires “only a reliable determination on the voluntariness issue”. Id. 308 U.S. at 387, 84 S.Ct. at 1786,12 L.Ed.2d at 922.

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Bluebook (online)
576 P.2d 143, 118 Ariz. 284, 1978 Ariz. App. LEXIS 412, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-appeal-in-maricopa-county-juvenile-action-no-j-84357-arizctapp-1978.