in the Matter of E.M.R., a Juvenile

55 S.W.3d 712, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 6133
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 31, 2001
Docket13-00-00100-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 55 S.W.3d 712 (in the Matter of E.M.R., a Juvenile) 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 the Matter of E.M.R., a Juvenile, 55 S.W.3d 712, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 6133 (Tex. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinions

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice DORSEY.

A jury found E.M.R. guilty of delinquent conduct by committing the offense of murder. The trial court assessed a determinate sentence of twenty-two years with a possible transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Institutional Division. E.M.R. was thirteen at the time of the offense and fourteen at the time of adjudication. In five points of error, appellant challenges the admissibility of two written statements, contends the trial court erred in failing to order a fitness hearing, and complains that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel. We affirm.

Background

Sometime around 1:00 a.m. on September 10, 1999, Benjamin Rojas was assaulted and beaten with a stick.1 Later that morning, the police began an investigation by contacting neighbors in the vicinity. One neighbor told the police that he did not witness the assault, but saw E.M.R. and Nick Ortiz following Rojas, then heard some “loud banging,” and saw the boys return.

Sergeant Hugo Stimmler, a Corpus Christi police officer, testified at the suppression hearing that he and another officer, Ray Rivera, went to E.M.R.’s house on September 10th and spoke to E.M.R. and his mother. Stimmler testified they told E.M.R. they needed to talk to him and he agreed to go with them to the police station. Stimmler also testified that E.M.R.’s mother was told that E.M.R. was going to be taken to the police station to talk to him. Stimmler testified that E.M.R.’s mother agreed to the officers taking E.M.R. to the station, and he did not believe that she asked to go along. E.M.R. was taken to the station, and after being warned by a magistrate, gave a written statement implicating Nick Ortiz and denying participation in the assault. The police continued their investigation, including a photo-lineup in which Ortiz and E.M.R. were identified. A few days later, the police took Ortiz into custody and obtained a statement from him; the statement blamed E.M.R. for the assault.

On September 15, 1999, the officers returned to E.M.R.’s house and asked him to go with them to the station because they “needed to talk to him and resolve some things.” Stimmler testified he “believefs]” that Officer Rivera “might have said something to [E.M.R.’s mother] that, you know, we needed to talk a little bit more about the statement we had taken.” E.M.R. was taken to the station, where he was again warned by a magistrate. E.M.R. gave a second statement, in which he admitted participating in the beating. Stimmler testified that both statements were given vol[715]*715untarily. He also testified that the process of obtaining each of the statements took approximately one hour.

E.M.R. was charged with capital murder and murder in the juvenile court. He filed a motion to suppress his two statements, arguing that the statements were made during “custodial interrogations” and without a knowing waiver of his right to remain silent under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and in violation of articles 1.05 and 38.22 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. A pre-trial hearing on the motion to suppress was held on December 1, 1999. At the suppression hearing, E.M.R.’s counsel also argued that the statements had not been “intelligently and knowingly given, pursuant to Section 51.095 of the Texas Family Code.” At the conclusion of the hearing, the court stated, “[b]ut in the final, analysis, 51.095 gives fairly simple criteria to evaluate this — the admissibility of these statements. And based, particularly, on the testimony of the two judges,2 I’m gonna deny the motion to suppress the statements and deny the motion.” The order denying the motion to suppress was signed the same day.

E.M.R. pled “not true” and was tried by a jury. The jury found E.M.R. had committed delinquent conduct by committing the offense of murder. E.M.R. waived disposition by the jury and the trial court sentenced him to a determinate sentence of twenty-two years with a possible transfer to the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

E.M.R.’s first and second points of error challenge the admission and use of his written statements at the adjudication hearing. In his first point, E.M.R. contends the trial court erred in admitting the statements because: (1) the statements were inadmissible under section 51.095(a)(1)(C) of the family code because E.M.R.’s waiver of his constitutional and statutory rights was not done knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily; and (2) admission of the statements also violated E.M.R.’s due process rights because his maturity level and reasoning ability rendered him incapable of voluntarily waiving his constitutional and statutory rights.3 In his second point of error, E.M.R. argues the statements were inadmissible because they were obtained in violation of section 52.02(b) of the family code. E.M.R. contends he was in custody when his statements were given, and that the State failed to comply with section 52.02(b) by promptly notifying his mother that he was in custody and giving her a statement as to the reason he was in custody. The State argues E.M.R. was not in custody when his statements were taken. It also argues that even if he was in custody, the statements were taken in compliance with all requirements in the family code, were given voluntarily, and were therefore properly admitted. We hold that the trial court correctly admitted the statements.

I.

In his first two points of error, appellant complains of the trial court overruling his motion to suppress his confessions. In that motion to suppress he alleges that [716]*716“[t]he statements allegedly made by the juvenile/defendant are at issue and were made as a result of custodial interrogation and without a knowing, intelligent and affirmative waiver by the juvenile/defendant of his rights to remain silent....” Section 51.095 of the Family Code is entitled “Admissibility of a statement of a Child” and sets out in detail what is required for a statement of a juvenile to be admissible. The trial court conducted a hearing on appellant’s motion to suppress, with a number of witnesses testifying, both for the state and appellant. At issue was whether he understood the warnings he was given. Two municipal judges testified in detail as to the warnings they administered to appellant, as did the police officer. The child’s teacher testified that the juvenile was a poor reader and wouldn’t understand anything above the third grade level. The child’s physician testified that he has a number of disorders, including being bipolar, and was on medication. At the conclusion of the evidence appellant’s lawyer argued that the statements were “not intelligently and knowingly given, pursuant to Section 51.095 of the Texas Family Code.”

The trial court recognized the issue to be whether § 51.095 was complied with and stated that the section gives fairly simple criteria to evaluate the admissibility of the statements. No where is § 52.02(b) mentioned as a potential basis to suppress the statements.

We hold that appellant waived his ability to complain on appeal that his statement should have been suppressed because it was taken in violation of section 52.02(b) of Texas Family Code. See Tex. Fam.Code Ann. § 52.02(b) (Vernon Supp. 2001).

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Bluebook (online)
55 S.W.3d 712, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 6133, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-matter-of-emr-a-juvenile-texapp-2001.