J. E. W. v. State

349 S.E.2d 713, 256 Ga. 464
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedNovember 12, 1986
Docket43883
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 349 S.E.2d 713 (J. E. W. v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J. E. W. v. State, 349 S.E.2d 713, 256 Ga. 464 (Ga. 1986).

Opinion

Marshall, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from an order of the Juvenile Court of Chat-[465]*465ham County transferring the prosecution of a 15-year-old girl for the offense of murder to the Superior Court. OCGA § 15-11-39. We affirm.

Stated as briefly as possible, the evidence shows that the victim was the appellant’s sister. Her corpse was found near their home in Savannah, Georgia, on March 3, 1986. Occupants, of the home consisted of the appellant and her now deceased sister, as well as the appellant’s sister-in-law, the appellant’s brother, and the appellant’s mother. The sister’s body had been severely beaten, as well as stabbed. The family members were questioned, but at least initially none were suspects.

However, a taxicab driver came forward and informed the police that, on the evening prior to the day the body was discovered, he was summoned to the deceased’s home; he picked up a female passenger, whom he later identified as the appellant, and he took her to dispose of a plastic bag, the contents of which he never saw. At the transfer hearing in this case, after identifying the appellant as his passenger on the night in question, the cabdriver testified that on that night she appeared to be nervous.

The appellant was first questioned by the police on March 5, and at that time she told the police that on March 3, the deceased had come from school, and that she had told the appellant and their sister-in-law that she was going to the mall.

However, it was subsequent to this interview on the morning of March 6 that the taxicab driver came forward, and the appellant was again questioned on the afternoon of March 6. The first questioning began at approximately 4:45 p.m., and concluded approximately 45 minutes later. The appellant and her mother were both present at the questioning, and her mother testified that she was not under the impression that the appellant was a suspect. However, the appellant was given Miranda warnings, and she and her mother were required to, and did, sign a waiver-of-Miranda-rights form. The appellant’s mother was asked, “Why, at that time, didn’t you insist on your daughter, Janet, having an attorney, Mrs. Weaver?” She responded, “All I wanted at that time was to find the murderer who killed my daughter and I was not thinking about anything else.” At this first interrogation, the appellant initially denied taking a taxicab for the purpose of disposing of a plastic bag. However, she subsequently hit the table with her fist and said, “ ‘ . . . I’m tired of lying. I want a glass of water.’ ” She then admitted that she had taken the cab in order to dispose of the plastic bag; however, she said that her sister-in-law had called the cab and that she, the appellant, did not know what was in the bag.

The police, accompanied by the appellant’s mother, then returned to the house. The mother consented to a search thereof. In the [466]*466attic and other areas of the house were found what appeared to be blood stains and traces of human hair.

A second interrogation of the appellant occurred at approximately 7:30 p.m. that evening, and it lasted approximately three hours. During this second interrogation, she was again advised of her Miranda warnings, and she was informed that she might be charged with murder. She proceeded to tell various different stories to the police as to what took place on the evening of her sister’s disappearance. The thrust of what she said was that a fight occurred between her sister and her sister-in-law. When the appellant entered the room in which this was taking place, the deceased was slouched over a clothes hamper with blood coming from her throat. She finally admitted to some involvement in beating the deceased, putting the deceased’s body in the attic, later dragging the body out of the house and putting it in a nearby lane, placing the deceased’s clothes in the plastic bag, and then cleaning up the house.

Based on the alleged commission of the offense of murder, a petition alleging the appellant to be a delinquent/unruly child was filed in the Chatham County Juvenile Court. Under the provisions of OCGA § 15-11-39, the state requested a transfer of the prosecution of this offense to superior court. A hearing was held in accordance with the foregoing statute. OCGA § 15-11-39 (a) (1). Following the hearing, the juvenile court entered an order granting the state’s motion to transfer. As required by the statute, the juvenile court in ordering the transfer determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the appellant committed the act alleged, that the appellant is not commitable to an institution for the mentally retarded or mentally ill, and that the interests of the appellant and the community require that the appellant be placed under legal restraint and the transfer be made. OCGA § 15-11-39 (a) (3) (A) — (a) (3) (C). In fact, as to § 15-11-39 (a) (3) (B), the appellant has even stipulated that she is not commitable to an institution for the mentally retarded or mentally ill.

The gravamen of the appellant’s appeal is that the evidence supporting the murder charge consists of the appellant’s statements to the police; under the appellant’s theory, these statements are not admissible as evidence, because: (1) as a result of the appellant’s young age and lack of intellectual ability, her waiver of her right to counsel was not knowing and voluntary; and (2) in that the appellant’s mother was not unbiased and free from conflicting interest in this case, she lacked the capacity to effect a waiver of the appellant’s right to counsel. The appellant also puts forth what appears to us to be the rather curious argument that the evidence in this case is insufficient to show that the deceased was even murdered.

1. It is true that as a general matter “a party is entitled to representation by legal counsel at all stages of any proceedings alleging de[467]*467linquency, unruliness, or deprivation . . .” OCGA § 15-11-30 (b). A. C. G. v. State, 131 Ga. App. 156 (1) (205 SE2d 435) (1974) and cits. “Counsel must be provided for a child not represented by his parent, guardian, or custodian. If the interests of two or more parties conflict, separate counsel shall be provided for each of them.” OCGA § 15-11-30 (b), supra; K. E. S. v. State, 134 Ga. App. 843 (1) (216 SE2d 670) (1975). Consequently, in K. E. S., where there was a juvenile probation-revocation proceeding instigated by a complaint filed by the mother, the Court of Appeals held that “[u]nder the facts of the instant case . . . the waiver of counsel by the mother does not satisfy statutory standards.” 134 Ga. App. at p. 847. There, the Court of Appeals held that “the mother who waives the child’s rights must be an unbiased mother, free of interests conflicting with the needs of her daughter whom she undertakes to represent — an ally, not an adversary.” Id. at p. 848.

2.

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Bluebook (online)
349 S.E.2d 713, 256 Ga. 464, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/j-e-w-v-state-ga-1986.