K.S. v. State

230 So. 3d 809
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedFebruary 10, 2017
DocketCR-15-1279
StatusPublished

This text of 230 So. 3d 809 (K.S. v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
K.S. v. State, 230 So. 3d 809 (Ala. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

WELCH, Judge.

K.S. appeals from his adjudication as a delinquent child based on the underlying offense of carrying a pistol without a permit. See § 13A-11-73, Ala. Code 1975.

K.S.’s delinquency hearing was consolidated with four juvenile codefendants— R.S., C.M., K.W., and V.C. Each juvenile was accused of committing reckless endangerment based on discharging a weapon at the Johnson Homes housing project in Do-than and carrying a pistol without a permit based on the discovery of two pistols in the vehicle in which they had all been passengers shortly before police intervention. A sixth individual involved in the alleged incidents was an 18-year-old who was not subject to proceedings in the juvenile court. All the juveniles were found not to have committed reckless endangerment. Of the five juveniles, only R.S. and K.S., who are brothers, were found to have been carrying a pistol without a permit. Ultimately, K.S. was placed in the physical custody of Pathway, Inc., and was ordered to perform 40 hours of community service or prepare five book reports. He was also ordered to pay costs and placed on supervised probation for a minimum of six months after his release from Pathway.

Facts

At approximately 5:30 p.m.1 on March 12, 2016, police officers with the Dothan Police Department were dispatched to the Johnson Homes housing project to investigate reports of a shooting. However, once officers arrived, the residents of Johnson Homes said “they hadn’t seen anything” regarding a shooting, and the person who made “the original call” refused to speak with officers. (R. 23.) Nevertheless, officers testified that they were instructed to “be on the lookout” for a red or burgundy or maroon sport-utility vehicle. The source of the description of the suspect vehicle was not explained. A short time later, officers located a burgundy Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle parked in KW.’s driveway located about one mile from the Johnson Homes housing project.

Two of KS.’s codefendants were outside the sporLutility vehicle looking under the hood at the engine. In his statement to police, K.S. admitted that he and three codefendants were seated in the backseat of the vehicle when the police arrived.

Police officers recovered the following from the sport-utility vehicle: in plain view on the driver’s side floorboard in the backseat area was a magazine clip to a gun; a Walther brand .22 caliber handgun was under the driver’s side seat not in plain view; an unloaded Smith & Wesson brand SD .40 caliber handgun was under the passenger’s side seat not in plain view; a [811]*811loaded clip to the .40 caliber handgun was also on the back floorboard in plain view; and an unspent .22 caliber bullet was on the backseat.

One officer testified that R.S., KS.’s brother, admitted that one of the guns belonged to him. (R. 135.)

K.S. admitted in his videotaped statement to police that he had been seated in the sport-utility vehicle behind the driver. However, he stated that he and the other young men had been playing football nearby when KW.’s mother sent him a text telling them to come home, so they drove to her house and parked in the driveway where they were when the police arrived. K.S. denied driving through the Johnson Homes housing project, and he denied any knowledge of the pistols discovered under the front seat of the sport-utility vehicle until an officer removed them from the vehicle. K.S. stated he did not see the pistols until he saw “the man [, i.e., a police officer,] pull the gun out of the car.” State’s exhibit 2 at 3:09 minutes.

Km Adkins with the Houston County Sheriffs Department testified that the Houston County Sheriffs Department had no record of any of the juveniles having a pistol permit as of March 2016. Moreover, she testified that a person has to be 18 years old to have a pistol permit.

K.S. argued at trial in his motion for a judgment of acquittal that the State had failed to present a prima facie case of carrying a pistol without a permit and he also contended that his mere presence in the sport-utility vehicle without some evidence that he intended to exercise dominion and control over a pistol is insufficient to prove that he was carrying a pistol.

The trial court denied the motion for judgment of acquittal and adjudicated KS. to be delinquent based on the offense of possessing a pistol in a vehicle without a permit.

Discussion

K.S. contends that the juvenile court erred when it denied his motion for a judgment of acquittal because, he says, the State failed to present a prima facie case of carrying a pistol without a permit. Specifically, he asserts that there was no proof of his actual or constructive possession of a pistol.

“ ‘The general standard for assessing the sufficiency of the evidence is applicable to our review of juvenile proceedings. See J.W.B. v. State, 651 So.2d 73, 75 (Ala. Crim. App. 1994) (applying “ ‘[t]he general standard by which we review the evidence’ ” to a juvenile proceeding (quoting Robinette v. State, 531 So.2d 682, 687 (Ala. Crim. App. 1987))).
““““In determining the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction, a reviewing court must accept as true all evidence introduced by the State, accord the State all legitimate inferences therefrom, and consider all evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution.” ’ Ballenger v. State, 720 So.2d 1033, 1034 (Ala. Crim. App. 1998), quoting Faircloth v. State, 471 So.2d 485, 488 (Ala. Crim. App. 1984), aff'd, 471 So.2d 493 (Ala. 1985). ‘“The test used in determining the sufficiency of evidence to sustain a conviction is whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational finder of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” ’ Nunn v. State, 697 So.2d 497, 498 (Ala. Crim. App. 1997), quoting O’Neal v. State, 602 So.2d 462, 464 (Ala. Crim. App. 1992). ‘ “When there is legal evidence from which the jury could, by fair inference, [812]*812find-the’defendant guilty, the trial court should submit [the case], to the jury, and, in such a case, this court will not disturb the trial court’s decision.’” Farrior v. State, 728 So.2d 691, 696 (Ala. Crim. App. 1998), quoting Ward v. State, 557 So.2d 848, 850 (Ala. Crim. App. 1990). ‘The role of appellate courts is not to say What the facts are. Oúr role ... is to judge whether the evidence is legally sufficient to allow submission of an issue for decision [by] the jury.’ Ex parte Banakston, 358 So.2d 1040, 1042 (Ala. 1978).”
"'Oliver v. City of Opelika, 950 So.2d 1229, 1230 (Ala. Crim. App. 2006).’
“J.M.A. v. State, 74 So.3d 487, 492 (Ala. Crim. App. 2011).”

C.L.F. v. State, 104 So.3d 291, 294 (Ala. Crim. App. 2012).

Additionally,

“[b]ecause this is a juvenile matter, in which the juvenile court judge is the trier of fact, we keep the following principles in' mind:
“‘Where evidence is presented to the trial court ore tenus in a nonjury case, a presumption of correctness exists as to the court’s conclusions on issues of fact; its determination will not be disturbed unless clearly erroneous, without supporting evidence, manifestly unjust, or against the great weight of the evidence. Odom v. Hull, 658 So.2d 442 (Ala. 1995). However, when the trial court improperly applies the law to the facts, no presumption of correctness exists as to the court’s judgment.

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Related

Ward v. State
557 So. 2d 848 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1990)
Odom v. Hull
658 So. 2d 442 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1995)
Ex Parte Agee
669 So. 2d 102 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1995)
Robinette v. State
531 So. 2d 682 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1987)
Temple v. State
366 So. 2d 740 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1978)
Farrior v. State
728 So. 2d 691 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1998)
Parks v. State
248 So. 2d 761 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1971)
Smith v. State
745 So. 2d 922 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1999)
Bankston v. State
358 So. 2d 1040 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1978)
O'NEAL v. State
602 So. 2d 462 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1992)
Ex Parte Story
435 So. 2d 1365 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1983)
Dept. of Human Resources v. Middleton
519 So. 2d 540 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 1987)
Parker v. State
198 So. 2d 261 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1967)
Ex Parte Board of Zoning Adjustment
636 So. 2d 415 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1994)
Nguyen v. State
580 So. 2d 122 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1991)
Ballenger v. State
720 So. 2d 1033 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1998)
Ex Parte Faircloth
471 So. 2d 493 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1985)
Faircloth v. State
471 So. 2d 485 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1984)
Rueffert v. State
237 So. 2d 520 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1970)
Oliver v. City of Opelika.
950 So. 2d 1229 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
230 So. 3d 809, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ks-v-state-alacrimapp-2017.