Matter of RSC

940 S.W.2d 750, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 1220, 1997 WL 66128
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 13, 1997
Docket08-96-00138-CV
StatusPublished

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Bluebook
Matter of RSC, 940 S.W.2d 750, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 1220, 1997 WL 66128 (Tex. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

940 S.W.2d 750 (1997)

In the Matter of R.S.C., a Juvenile.

No. 08-96-00138-CV.

Court of Appeals of Texas, El Paso.

February 13, 1997.
Opinion Denying Rehearing March 13, 1997.

*751 Eric L. Lindstrom, Midland, for Appellant.

Mark H. Dettman, County Attorney, Midland, for Appellee.

Before BARAJAS, C.J., and LARSEN and McCLURE, JJ.

OPINION

McCLURE, Justice.

R.S.C., a juvenile, appeals from a judgment finding him to be a delinquent child and from a disposition order placing him on probation for a term of one year. We reverse and remand for a new trial.

FACTUAL SUMMARY

The State filed a petition alleging that R.S.C. intentionally and knowingly carried an illegal knife on his person in violation of Section 46.02 of the Texas Penal Code. R.S.C. filed a written motion to suppress the evidence based upon an illegal detention. At the conclusion of the suppression hearing, the trial court denied the motion. Subsequently, R.S.C. waived in writing his right to a jury trial as well as other rights and stipulated that he had committed the offense of unlawfully carrying a weapon as alleged by the State. Based upon that stipulation, the trial court found that R.S.C. had engaged in delinquent conduct and was in need of rehabilitation. The court placed R.S.C. on juvenile probation for one year.

In his sole point of error, R.S.C. asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence. Before addressing the merits of this issue, we must consider whether R.S.C.'s written stipulation of evidence admitted at his adjudication hearing waives his complaint regarding the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress. In reviewing this issue, we must decide whether to apply civil or criminal law.

Juvenile proceedings and appeals from those proceedings are governed by an unlikely and sometimes perplexing hybrid of civil and criminal law. An appeal from an order of a juvenile court is governed by the requirements pertaining to civil appeals generally. TEX.FAM.CODE ANN. § 56.01 (Vernon 1996).[1] Although juvenile delinquency proceedings are considered civil proceedings, they are quasi-criminal in nature. In the Matter of J.R., 907 S.W.2d 107, 109 (Tex. App.—Austin 1995, no writ); C.E.J. v. State, 788 S.W.2d 849, 852 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1990, writ denied); Smith v. Rankin, 661 S.W.2d 152, 153 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1983, orig. proceeding). The juvenile is guaranteed the constitutional rights an adult would have in a criminal proceeding because the juvenile delinquency proceedings seek to deprive the juvenile of his liberty. J.R., 907 S.W.2d at 109; C.E.J., 788 S.W.2d at 852; Smith, 661 S.W.2d at 153. For this reason, numerous aspects of juvenile proceedings are governed by criminal procedural rules, including *752 the State's burden of proof, the presumption of innocence, the right to trial by jury, the privilege against self-incrimination, the right to confrontation of witnesses, and the right to representation by counsel. TEX. FAM.CODE ANN. § 54.03; J.R., 907 S.W.2d at 109; In the Matter of M.A.G., 541 S.W.2d 899, 901 (Tex.Civ.App.—Corpus Christi 1976, writ ref'd n.r.e.). Other than these matters, civil procedural rules apply. TEX.FAM.CODE ANN. § 51.17(a) & (b).[2] Finally, evidentiary matters are governed by the Rules of Criminal Evidence and Chapter 38 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. TEX.FAM.CODE ANN. § 51.17. Of particular significance to this appeal, Section 54.03(e) provides that evidence illegally seized or obtained is inadmissible in an adjudication hearing. TEX.FAM. CODE ANN. § 54.03(e). Because criminal rules are to be applied to evidentiary matters, we conclude that criminal rules and authority also govern the waiver issue.

In order to preserve a complaint concerning the admission of evidence for appellate review, a party must have presented to the trial court a timely request, objection, or motion, stating the specific grounds for the ruling he desired the court to make if the specific grounds were not apparent from the context. TEX.R.APP.P. 52(a); TEX.R.CRIM. EVID. 103(a)(1); Ethington v. State, 819 S.W.2d 854, 858 (Tex.Crim.App.1991). It is settled that when a pretrial motion to suppress evidence is overruled, the accused need not subsequently object to the admission of the same evidence at trial in order to preserve error. Dean v. State, 749 S.W.2d 80, 83 (Tex.Crim.App.1988); Traylor v. State, 855 S.W.2d 25, 26 (Tex.App.—El Paso 1993, no pet.); see TEX.R.APP.P. 52(b). However, when the accused affirmatively asserts during trial that he has "no objection" to the admission of the complained of evidence, he waives any error in the admission of the evidence despite the pretrial ruling. Dean, 749 S.W.2d at 83; Traylor, 855 S.W.2d at 26. A defendant may also waive a prior objection to evidence by offering the same evidence or evidence establishing the same facts at trial. Narvaiz v. State, 840 S.W.2d 415, 430 (Tex. Crim.App.1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 975, 113 S.Ct. 1422, 122 L.Ed.2d 791 (1993); Maynard v. State, 685 S.W.2d 60, 65 (Tex. Crim.App.1985); Nicholas v. State, 502 S.W.2d 169, 174-75 (Tex.Crim.App.1973). This principle is known as the doctrine of curative admissibility.

Here, R.S.C. waived his right to remain silent and his right to confront witnesses and stipulated in writing that he had intentionally and knowingly carried an illegal knife on his person in violation of Section 46.02 of the Penal Code. He also agreed to the introduction of the written waivers and stipulation at the adjudication hearing. Furthermore, he stated that he had "no objection" to the court's consideration of a social history which reflected that R.S.C. had a dagger in his possession. In so doing, he waived his prior objection to the admissibility of the knife.

Ordinarily, this would end our consideration of this point of error. We question, however, whether we may apply the above rules of waiver since R.S.C., with the advice of his attorney, waived valuable constitutional rights and entered into the stipulation with the express understanding and assurance of the trial court that he could appeal the ruling on the motion to suppress. Section 51.17 of the Family Code requires that a waiver by the juvenile of his constitutional and statutory rights be voluntary. TEX.FAM.CODE ANN. § 51.09(a)(3). We hold that R.S.C.'s waiver of rights and stipulation of evidence is involuntary because it was based upon the mistaken understanding that he could appeal the denial of the motion to suppress despite his waiver of rights and *753 stipulation of evidence.[3] We further find that the appropriate remedy in this case is reversal rather than consideration of the point of error on the merits. Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is reversed and this cause is remanded for a new trial.

OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

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Related

Maynard v. State
685 S.W.2d 60 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1985)
Narvaiz v. State
840 S.W.2d 415 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Ethington v. State
819 S.W.2d 854 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1991)
Rosales v. State
748 S.W.2d 451 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1987)
Lewis v. State
911 S.W.2d 1 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Traylor v. State
855 S.W.2d 25 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Wise v. State
857 S.W.2d 813 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1993)
Crawford v. State
624 S.W.2d 906 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1981)
Phynes v. State
828 S.W.2d 1 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Christal v. State
692 S.W.2d 656 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1981)
Smith v. Rankin
661 S.W.2d 152 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1983)
Lynch v. State
903 S.W.2d 115 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Helms v. State
484 S.W.2d 925 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1972)
Lyon v. State
872 S.W.2d 732 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1994)
Nicholas v. State
502 S.W.2d 169 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1973)
Davila v. State
767 S.W.2d 205 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1989)
Olowosuko v. State
826 S.W.2d 940 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1992)
Eaden v. State
901 S.W.2d 535 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1995)
Dean v. State
749 S.W.2d 80 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas, 1988)
In re M. A. G.
541 S.W.2d 899 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1976)

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940 S.W.2d 750, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 1220, 1997 WL 66128, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-rsc-texapp-1997.