People v. S.X.G.

2012 CO 5, 269 P.3d 735, 2012 Colo. LEXIS 71, 2012 WL 370041
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedFebruary 6, 2012
DocketNo. 11SA98
StatusPublished
Cited by356 cases

This text of 2012 CO 5 (People v. S.X.G.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. S.X.G., 2012 CO 5, 269 P.3d 735, 2012 Colo. LEXIS 71, 2012 WL 370041 (Colo. 2012).

Opinion

Justice MARQUEZ

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

T1 In this juvenile delinquency case, the prosecution has filed an interlocutory appeal under sections 16-12-102(2), 19-1-108(5.5), 19-2-903(2), C.R.S. (2011), and C.AR. 4.1, seeking our review of a juvenile magistrate's order suppressing certain statements made by S.X.G. during a police interrogation.

12 Section 19-2-908(2) expressly authorizes the prosecution in a delinquency case to appeal "any decision of the trial court as provided in section 16-12-102, C.R.S." Seetion 16-12-102(2) permits the prosecution to file an interlocutory appeal in the supreme court from "a ruling of the trial court ... granting a motion to suppress an extrajudicial confession or admission" if the prosecution certifies that the appeal is "not taken for purposes of delay and the evidence is a substantial part of the proof of the charge pending against the defendant." Before such an appeal may be filed in the supreme court, however, section 19-1-108(5.5) and Colorado Magistrate Rule (C.R.M.) 7(a)(11) require a petition for review of the magistrate's order to be timely filed and decided in accordance with the Colorado Rules for Magistrates. Under C.R.M. 7(a)(10), the reviewing judge "shall adopt, reject, or modify the initial order or judgment of the magistrate by written order, which order shall become the order or judgment of the district court."

13 In this case, the record reveals that the prosecution timely filed a petition for review of the magistrate's suppression order with the district court pursuant to section 19-1-108(5.5). However, the district court did not adopt, reject, or modify the magistrate's order; it instead concluded that it lacked authority to review an interlocutory order of the magistrate. Because the juvenile magistrate's suppression order was never reviewed and adopted by the district court, as is required by section 19-1-108(5.5) and C.R.M. T(a)(11) before an appeal may be filed, we lack appellate jurisdiction under sections 16-12-102(2) and 19-2-903(2) to review the mer[737]*737its of the suppression ruling. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal.

I. Facts and Procedural History

{4 The prosecution filed a petition in delinquency against S.X.G., alleging acts which, if committed by an adult, would constitute the offenses of second degree burglary,1 criminal mischief,2 and theft.3 On March 4, 2011, SX.G. moved to suppress certain statements he made to a police detective during an investigatory interview on the grounds that they were improperly obtained in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and section 19-2-511(1), C.R.S. (2011), which generally provides that statements or admissions of a juvenile made during a custodial interrogation are inadmissible against the juvenile unless the juvenile's parent, guardian, or legal or physical custodian was present during the interview and also advised of the juvenile's Miranda rights.

15 On March 30, 2011, the juvenile magistrate held a suppression hearing and heard testimony from law enforcement officers, SX.G., and S.X.G.'s mother, who had been present during the custodial interrogation. On April 1, 2011, the juvenile magistrate issued an order suppressing statements SX.G. made during the second part of his interview, following an approximately two-hour break in the questioning. The magistrate concluded that S.X.G. and his mother did not freely, knowingly, and intelligently waive their rights before the second part of SX.G.'s interview. The magistrate also concluded that (1) the detective's comment to SX.G's mother, "Now, Mom, I want you to just bear with him during this, okay," and his statement to SX.G. to "go ahead," effectively "usurped the role of the parent" in the interview by suggesting to the parent that she should be silent and allow S.X.G. to respond; (2) the intent of the detective's statement was to influence the mother to withhold guidance to the juvenile; and (8) the detective's comment interfered with the exercise of the juvenile's and the mother's rights.

I 6 On April 5, 2011, the prosecution timely filed a petition for review of the magistrate's suppression order with the district court under section 19-1-108(5.5) and simultaneously requested a stay of the bench trial set for the next day, pending the district court's review of the magistrate's order. The prosecution contended that (1) the magistrate erroneously applied a "clear and convincing evidence" standard of review; (2) the detective was not required to re-advise the juvenile and his mother of their Miranda rights before the second half of the interview; (8) the detective was not required to advise the juvenile in advance about the subject matter of the interview; (4) the detective's statement to S.X.G.'s mother did not overbear the will of either the parent or the juvenile and did not usurp the role of the parent; and (5) under the totality of the cireumstances, the juvenile's statements were voluntary.

17 That same day, the district court denied the request to stay the trial, concluding that it lacked authority to review an interlocutory order of the magistrate.

{8 On April 6, 2011 (the scheduled trial date), the prosecution filed this interlocutory appeal, invoking our interlocutory appellate jurisdiction under sections 16-12-102(2) and 19-2-903(2), and CAR. 4.1. Both parties proceeded to brief the merits on appeal without addressing the propriety of our appellate jurisdiction or whether the district court properly declined to review the magistrate's order.

II. Analysis

19 Because we must always satisfy ourselves that we have jurisdiction to hear an appeal, we may raise jurisdictional defects sua sponte, regardless of whether the parties have raised the issue. See J.P. Meyer Trucking & Constr., Inc. v. Colo. Sch. Dists. Self Ins. Pool, 18 P.3d 198, 201 n. 3 (Colo.2001).

110 Here, the statutory prerequisite for filing an interlocutory appeal in this court has not been satisfied, because the district [738]*738court declined to address the prosecution's petition for review, concluding that it lacked authority to review the magistrate's suppression order. Because the district court never adopted the magistrate's order (with or without modification), we do not have appellate jurisdiction under sections 16-12-102(2) and 19-2-903(2), which only permit our interlocutory review of a "trial court" order. See Shamrock Oil & Gas Corp. v. Sheets, 313 U.S. 100, 109, 61 S.Ct. 868, 85 L.Ed. 1214 (1941) (noting that courts should "serupulously confine their own jurisdiction to the precise limits which the statute has defined").

T11 "As a general matter, an appeal may be taken only from a final judgment of a district, probate or juvenile court, See C.AR. l(a)(1). An appellate court does not review interlocutory orders absent specific authorization by statute or rule." City of Grand Junction v. City & Cnty. of Denver, 960 P.2d 675, 678 (Colo.1998).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 CO 5, 269 P.3d 735, 2012 Colo. LEXIS 71, 2012 WL 370041, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-sxg-colo-2012.