In Re UG

128 S.W.3d 797, 2004 WL 352693
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 1, 2004
Docket13-02-444-CV
StatusPublished

This text of 128 S.W.3d 797 (In Re UG) 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 UG, 128 S.W.3d 797, 2004 WL 352693 (Tex. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

128 S.W.3d 797 (2004)

In the Matter of U.G., a Child.

No. 13-02-444-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Corpus Christi-Edinburg.

February 26, 2004.
Rehearing Overruled April 1, 2004.

*798 Azalea Aleman Guerra, Aleman &Aleman, McAllen, B. Isabel Rodriguez, Edinburg, Joseph A. Connors, III and Susan Miller, McAllen, for Appellant.

Diane Palmiotti, Mark M. Talbot, Asst. Crim. Dist. Attys., Glenn Devino, Asst. Dist. Atty., Edinburg and Theodore C. Hake, Asst. Crim. Dist. Atty., for State.

Before Justices HINOJOSA, RODRIGUEZ, and GARZA.

OPINION

Opinion by Justice GARZA.

Appellant, U.G., appeals from the judgment of the trial court in a juvenile proceeding. In three issues, appellant alleges that the trial court improperly admitted evidence against him in violation of both the Texas Family Code and his due process rights under the United States and Texas Constitutions. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Background

In the early morning hours of December 8, 2001, Juan "Johnny" Bernal was stabbed in the chest following an altercation on Ivy Street in the city of Alamo. Bernal subsequently collapsed and died from his wounds. After a brief investigation, appellant, appellant's mother and another adult male were all initially arrested and charged in the crime. Ultimately, however, the two adult suspects were released and only appellant faced charges. In appellant's jury trial, he did not testify, and his mother, when called to the stand, invoked her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. However, statements made to the police by both appellant and his mother immediately following the homicide were used against appellant over his objections. The jury found that appellant engaged in delinquent conduct by using a deadly weapon and committing murder while a juvenile, and the trial court accordingly imposed a sentence of commitment in the Texas Youth Commission with a possible transfer to the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for a term of thirty years.

Statement by Appellant

In his first issue, appellant complains that the court abused its discretion in admitting his statement to the police over objections that it was obtained in violation of his statutory and constitutional rights. A trial court has broad discretion in determining the admissibility of evidence, and its ruling on a motion to suppress will not be set aside without a showing of abuse of discretion. Almaguer v. State, 960 S.W.2d 172, 173-74 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1997, no pet.). Only when the trial court's decision is so wrong as to lie outside of the zone of reasonable disagreement will the decision be reversed. Cantu v. State, 842 S.W.2d 667, 682 (Tex. Crim.App.1992).

The Texas Family Code sets out detailed procedures for the detainment and arrest of juveniles accused of delinquency, with which police officers and courts are bound to comply. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. §§ 52.01-52.026 (Vernon Supp.2004); In re D.Z., 869 S.W.2d 561, 564 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1993, writ denied). Section 52.02 provides that a person taking a child into custody must immediately bring that child to a designated juvenile processing office or to one of several listed alternative sites. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 52.02 (Vernon Supp.2004); Anthony v. State, 954 S.W.2d 132, 136 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1997, no pet.) ("The police station must use an area designated exclusively for processing juveniles."). Efforts at compliance with the requirements of the family code have *799 been closely scrutinized by Texas courts in the past. See, e.g., Anthony, 954 S.W.2d at 135; In re R.R., 931 S.W.2d 11, 13-14 (Tex.App.-Corpus Christi 1996, no writ); In re D.Z., 869 S.W.2d at 563-65. Any violations of the family code will render evidence subsequently obtained from the child inadmissible. Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 54.03(e) (Vernon Supp.2004).

Shortly after Bernal's death, appellant was escorted in handcuffs from his grandmother's home to the local police station in Alamo. He was then given an initial set of Miranda warnings by a police officer. Once the magistrate judge arrived at the police station about an hour later, appellant was taken before the judge and again read his rights by the judge in the absence of any police officers. Appellant then signed a form indicating that he understood and waived his rights, and was taken before another police officer for questioning. During this interrogation, appellant was arrested by the police. He also generated and signed a statement detailing his activities during the night in question. He stated that he had seen another person, Alan de Leon, stab the deceased following the altercation in the street. Appellant also described the weapon used as a "red pocket knife."

The Alamo police department has a specially designated area where juvenile suspects are taken in order to be kept separate from adult suspects; however, according to one of the police officers involved, appellant was never taken to that area. Instead, when he was not before the magistrate judge or the investigating officer, appellant was kept in the general waiting area of the station where adult suspects are detained. No reason or excuse for this deviation from procedure was offered at trial by the police officers or magistrate judge.

It is clear from the testimony of the police officers involved in the detainment and interrogation of appellant that the procedures of section 52.02 were not strictly followed. Taking the appellant from his grandmother's home, placing him in handcuffs, transporting him to the police station in a police car, and reading him his rights sufficed to place appellant in custody. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966); In re S.A.R., 931 S.W.2d 585, 587 (Tex.App.-San Antonio 1996, writ denied) (determining "custody" by whether a reasonable person, including a juvenile, would have believed that their freedom of movement had been significantly curtailed). However, once he was placed in custody, appellant was not taken to a juvenile processing office or any of the places listed as an alternative in the statute. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 52.02 (Vernon Supp.2004). He was taken to a police station that had a designated office for juveniles, but he was kept instead in the area used for adult suspects. Because the police officers failed to comply with the requirements of section 52.02, the statement that was obtained from appellant by the investigating officer that night violated his rights as a juvenile under the family code and was inadmissible at trial. See id. § 54.03(e).

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Anthony v. State
954 S.W.2d 132 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1997)
In the Interest of D.Z.
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Castillo v. State
865 S.W.2d 89 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)
In the Matter of U.G., a Child
128 S.W.3d 797 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2004)
In re R.R.
931 S.W.2d 11 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1996)
S.A.R. Matter Of
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Almaguer v. State
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In the Interest of B.L.D.
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Bluebook (online)
128 S.W.3d 797, 2004 WL 352693, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-ug-texapp-2004.