Matter of Sanders

1977 OK CR 178, 564 P.2d 273, 1977 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 524
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedMay 16, 1977
DocketJ-77-281, J-77-282
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 1977 OK CR 178 (Matter of Sanders) 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
Matter of Sanders, 1977 OK CR 178, 564 P.2d 273, 1977 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 524 (Okla. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

OPINION

BRETT, Judge:

Appellant, Billy Ray Sanders and James Otis Dodson, appeal from an order of the Tulsa County District Court, Juvenile Division, Joe Jennings, Judge, certifying them to stand trial as adults for criminal prosecution for the alleged offense of Murder in the Second Degree. The two appeals are joined under Rule No. 2.5 of the Rules of this Court.

As was stated in J.T.P. v. State, Okl.Cr., 544 P.2d 1270 (1975), and in the cases following, in order to certify juveniles to stand trial as adults, the juvenile judge must make two findings of fact. First, the judge must find that there was prosecutive merit to the complaint; that is, that a crime has been committed and that there is probable cause to believe that the accused juvenile committed the crime. Second, the judge must find that the child is not a fit subject for rehabilitation by the facilities and programs available to the juvenile court. The defendants here make no contention that the State failed to show prose-cutive merit. Therefore, for the purposes of this appeal it is sufficient to say that the evidence at the certification hearing indicates that the two defendants brutally beat the victim, cut his throat, and threw him over the Bird Creek Bridge on 96th Street in Tulsa County.

Both appellants assert as their single assignment of error that the lower court erred in finding that the juveniles were not amenable to treatment by the facilities of the Juvenile System, thereby denying them due process and equal protection of the laws. The court received into evidence the results of various psychological tests which were conducted on both of the defendants and statements about the defendants from the court psychologist, Dr. John Hickman, Ph.D. In describing the defendant Dodson, Dr. Hickman stated that in his opinion Dodson knew the difference between right and wrong, was of average intelligence, and had a passive aggressive personality. In describing defendant Sanders, Dr. Hickman stated that he thought Sanders knew the difference between right and wrong, was antisocial, was seriously disturbed, and was dangerous both to himself and to others. He stated that although Sanders was in the bright average range of intelligence, he re *275 acted in a hostile, aggressive manner to any aggravation from others. He stated that his prognosis for the defendant Sanders was “guarded to poor” and that it seemed likely that the defendant Sanders would be involved in violence in the future, particularly if he were aggravated by others. The court took judicial notice of the fact that defendant Sanders had been committed previously to Helena School for Boys for his commission of an armed robbery. According to the record, the defendant Dodson had no previous contacts with law enforcement authorities. The record reflects that defendant Dodson is 17-years-old, and the record is unclear whether defendant Sanders is 16-years-old or 17-years-old.

In discussing his reasons for certifying the two defendants, the juvenile court judge said:

“. . .As long as there is a realistic program that will provide rehabilitation for the juvenile and protection to the public, then that person should be handled as a juvenile regardless of whether he’s 13 or lacks ond (sic) day being 18.”

He went on to discuss the rehabilitation programs which would be available to the two defendants as juveniles. First, he said that there was an outpatient care and treatment program at Children’s Medical Center which was a good program, but that giving thought to public protection in a case such as this one, the judge did not consider it a realistic treatment program. The second possible treatment program was the Juvenile System’s Lakeside Home. However, the judge stated that that home was set up to deal with juveniles who primarily had family oriented problems. He said that it was not a secure setting and was not staffed by personnel who were equipped to handle juveniles who posed a threat to the staff, the public or other juveniles involved in the program. The judge then discussed placing the defendants with the Department of Institutions, Social and Rehabilitative Services, noting that the defendant Sanders had been sent there previously for committing an armed robbery and had been released after four months, after apparently receiving no rehabilitative treatment. He said that considering the defendant Sander’s case the boy needed more than a minimal program. With regard to the defendant Dodson, the trial court stated that it was the policy of the Department of Institutions, Social and Rehabilitative Services to dismiss juveniles in their charge at or about the time they reached the age of 18 years. Considering that defendant Dodson was within three months of attaining age 18, the judge said that realistically there was no effective rehabilitative program available to the defendant.

According to the defendants, they were denied due process of law and equal protection of the laws because it was only the nature of their offenses coupled with the policy of the Department of Institutions, Social and Rehabilitative Services which caused the juveniles to be certified to stand trial as adults. The defendants argue that 10 O.S.1971, § 1129, which provides that the act should be liberally construed to the end that its purpose may be carried out, to wit: “That the care and custody and discipline of the child shall approximate, as nearly as may be, that which should be given by its parents, and that, as far as practicable, any delinquent child shall not be treated as a criminal,” requires a higher showing of lack of amenability than was present in this case. However, our legislature in 10 O.S.1971, § 1112, the section dealing with certifying juveniles to stand trial as adults, indicates that the legislature thought that there were some instances in which the interests of society and the individuals involved would be best served by treating as adults the children who were alleged to have committed crimes. In so stating, the legislature listed eight criteria which were to be considered by the court in determining whether or not to certify a child. Those eight guidelines were reiterated in J.T.P. v. State, supra, at 1278-1279. The criteria to be considered are (1) the seriousness of the alleged offense to the community; (2) whether the alleged offense was committed in an aggressive, violent, premeditated or wilful manner; (3) whether the offense was against persons or prop *276

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Related

In re G. L. W.
1978 OK CR 60 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1978)
In Matter of Glw
1978 OK CR 60 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1978)
Berryhill v. State
1977 OK CR 269 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1977)
McKeever v. State
1977 OK CR 203 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma, 1977)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1977 OK CR 178, 564 P.2d 273, 1977 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 524, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matter-of-sanders-oklacrimapp-1977.