JTP v. State

1975 OK CR 242, 544 P.2d 1270, 1975 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 268
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 30, 1975
DocketO-75-440
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1975 OK CR 242 (JTP v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
JTP v. State, 1975 OK CR 242, 544 P.2d 1270, 1975 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 268 (Okla. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

544 P.2d 1270 (1975)

J.T.P., a juvenile, Appellant,
v.
The STATE of Oklahoma, Appellee.

No. O-75-440.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma.

December 30, 1975.

Wesley B. Bennett, Sallisaw, for appellant J.T.P.

Larry Derryberry, Atty. Gen. for the State of Okl., Oklahoma City, and John W. Russell, Jr., Dist. Atty., Sallisaw, for appellee.

*1272 OPINION

BRETT, Presiding Judge:

J.T.P., a juvenile, appeals[1] from an order of the Juvenile Division of the District Court, Sequoyah County, waiving jurisdiction over him and empowering the State to prosecute him as an adult for the crime of Murder.

On the Saturday morning of April 5, 1975, an investigation was launched into the death of Henry Ellis whose body was discovered in his home near the City of Sallisaw, Oklahoma. Ellis was an old man who had been killed in a particularly brutal way, an ice pick having been driven deep into his head. J.T.P., 15 years old, was arrested late that same day. On April 8, the following Tuesday, a petition was filed in the Juvenile Division of the District Court, Sequoyah County, alleging that J.T.P. was a child under the age of 18 years who was delinquent by reason of having committed acts in concert with another person which if committed by an adult would constitute the crime of Murder in the First Degree, specifically that he had robbed and murdered Henry Ellis. The petition requested that he be tried for *1273 that crime as an adult. On April 8, also, J.T.P. appeared before a judge for the first time since his arrest. The minute of the court reflects that he was present with his father but without counsel. That initial appearance was continued until Thursday, April 10, to allow time for the appointment of counsel. That proceeding was held on the date set and concluded with the judge, upon the motion of J.T.P.'s newly appointed attorney, entering an order committing him to a State hospital for the purpose of mental observation and evaluation. He was returned from the hospital to the custody of the Sheriff of Sequoyah County on April 23, 1975. Subsequently, a hearing was held on the question of whether the Juvenile Court should relinquish its exclusive jurisdiction over him.

The certification hearing was begun on May 19, 1975, and concluded on May 30, 1975, having been continued to that later date to permit the State to secure the presence of witness Charles Bettis, an Arkansas police officer.

At that hearing the Juvenile Court heard testimony from five witnesses for the State, and three for the appellant. Of the five State's witnesses, four were law enforcement officials whose testimony concerned the circumstances and events transpiring between appellant's arrest on Saturday and his appearance before a magistrate on Tuesday. The remaining State's witness was State psychiatrist Dr. R.D. Garcia who gave his expert opinion on appellant's mental capacity.

The evidence was that appellant in the company of three others was arrested late in the evening of April 5 by a trooper of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and a Fairfax, Oklahoma, police officer. A warrant had issued for the arrest of appellant, and those officers had acted upon information they had received through a teletype message. Nothing in the record reveals why suspicion had focused upon appellant or what information had caused the warrant to be issued. He was initially incarcerated in jail at Fairfax. Rudy Briggs, an investigator for the District Attorney's Office at Sallisaw, testified that he and Jim Rinehart of the Sequoyah County Sheriff's Office drove to Fairfax and transported appellant and the other persons to Sallisaw. They arrived at Fairfax at approximately 1:30 in the morning of April 6, and returned to Sallisaw at 5:00 or 5:30 a.m. After the party arrived in Sallisaw, appellant was immediately transported by automobile to Stillwell where he was placed in the Adair County Jail. Briggs testified that he brought appellant from Stillwell back to Sallisaw several hours later at approximately 9:30 or 10:00 Sunday morning. There is agreement among the testimony of the Oklahoma law enforcement officials that appellant was questioned in Sallisaw Sunday and that his father had been notified and was present during at least part of that questioning. It cannot be determined from their testimony, however, when appellant's father was notified that his son was in custody.[2] Neither can it be determined when the period of questioning *1274 began, when it ended, or whether the juvenile made any expression of desire either to assert or to waive his constitutional rights. The events of the following day, Monday, while not entirely clear, are less obscure than the events of Sunday. W.C. Gilliam, of the Sequoyah County Sheriff's Office, testified that sometime late Monday morning he transported appellant to Ft. Smith, Arkansas, where he was given a lie detector test by a Ft. Smith police officer. Appellant's father was allowed to accompany him to Ft. Smith. Captain Charles Bettis, a police officer with the Ft. Smith, Arkansas, Police Department, testified that it was he who administered the polygraph examination to appellant in Ft. Smith on Monday. Bettis testified that prior to giving the polygraph examination he explained the test procedure to both the boy and his father. His father consented to the procedure. Bettis also testified that he informed the boy of his Miranda rights and that the boy responded that he understood those rights and wished to take the examination. Following that procedure, everyone including the appellant's father was required to leave the room and Captain Bettis, alone with appellant, administered the examination. He testified that at its conclusion when the "charts were outlined and while he was sitting there, I showed what the reactions were on it and he just merely dropped his head and said `yes'" (Tr. 86-87). Appellant then gave a statement which confessed his part in the murder of Henry Ellis and which was taken down in writing by Bettis. There is testimony that his father was allowed to talk to him following the lie detector examination and before Captain Bettis took the written statement. Whether his father was present at the time appellant gave the statement, however, cannot be determined from the record. Captain Betts testified on that point that he simply did not know, stating "... before I took the written statement he left the office and I don't know whether he came back in or not, I will be honest with you." (Tr. 93) The statement that Captain Bettis took was admitted into evidence over the objection of the appellant's attorney. The appellant's father was called as a witness and testified that he could neither read nor write. He testified that he waited in the hall in Ft. Smith while his son was with Captain Bettis because "the Undersheriff said that just him and J.T. was the only ones allowed in there." (Tr. 107) He also testified that the only time he saw his son was "when they took a break and he come out to get a drink of water. I didn't talk to him." (Tr. 106)

The remaining witness for the State, Dr. R.D. Garcia, a psychiatrist, testified that he examined J.T.P. during his commitment to Eastern State Hospital. Asked to explain the results of psychological tests performed upon the juvenile, Dr. Garcia responded thus:

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Bluebook (online)
1975 OK CR 242, 544 P.2d 1270, 1975 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jtp-v-state-oklacrimapp-1975.