State ex rel. J.J.M.

207 So. 3d 609, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 347, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 2064
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 9, 2016
Docket16-347
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 207 So. 3d 609 (State ex rel. J.J.M.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. J.J.M., 207 So. 3d 609, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 347, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 2064 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

KEATY, Judge.

| rThis Juvenile appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress and the trial court’s acceptance of his admission. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court’s denial of the Juvenile’s motion to suppress; however, we vacate the Juvenile’s admission, adjudication, and disposition, and remand for further proceedings.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In this juvenile delinquency matter, the State asserted by petition filed in Calca-sieu Parish, Louisiana, that from approximately 2011 to 2015, J.J.M.1 (hereinafter “the Juvenile”) performed anal, oral, or vaginal sexual intercourse with his younger sister, A.C. (hereinafter “the victim”), without lawful consent. The Juvenile also kissed and touched the victim without lawful consent. The offenses occurred when [611]*611the Juvenile was nine to thirteen years old and the victim was six to nine years old.

On July 13, 2015, the Juvenile was charged with aggravated rape of a victim under the age of thirteen, a violation of La.R.S. 14:42, and three counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile under the age of thirteen, violations of La.R.S. 14:81. The Juvenile initially denied the charges. On July 31, 2015, the Juvenile filed a motion to suppress the statements made by him to law enforcement. The trial court denied that motion on August 31, 2015. On September 16, 2015, the Juvenile filed a Motion to Determine Competency which the trial court granted. At the competency hearing held on November 16, 2015, the trial court appointed a third | ^doctor to examine the Juvenile because the reports of the two previous examining physicians conflicted. On December 11, 2015, the trial court found that the Juvenile was competent to proceed to trial.

On that same day, the State amended the charge against the Juvenile to simple rape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:43. Pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970), and State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La. 1976), the Juvenile entered an admission to simple rape and one count of indecent behavior with a juvenile under the age of thirteen. The two remaining charges of indecent behavior with a juvenile were dismissed. Following the trial court’s acceptance of the admission, the Juvenile was adjudicated a juvenile delinquent. The trial court imposed its disposition, ordering the Juvenile to be placed in the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Office of Juvenile Justice, for a period of time not to exceed three years. Placement was to be in a facility best suited for his needs, with an emphasis on sexual behavior. The Juvenile was ordered to have no contact with the victim until it was deemed appropriate by a counselor.

The Juvenile filed a Motion for Appeal on December 11, 2015, asserting the following assignments of error:

1) The juvenile court erred in not suppressing the statement made by J.J.M. to law enforcement.
2) The juvenile court erred in accepting the Alford plea entered by counsel for the juvenile without advising J.J.M. of both his constitutional rights, generally referred to as Boykin [v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969)] rights, and the rights required by La.[Ch.]Code art. 855, and assuring that the plea was knowingly and voluntarily entered by J.J.M.
3) The juvenile court failed to personally address J.J.M. as statutorily required and failed to obtain from him a valid waiver of his constitutional rights before imposing the disposition.
ls4) The juvenile court erred in failing to advise J.J.M. of the two[-] year period for filing a post-conviction relief application. This issue is an error discoverable on the face of the record and should be considered by this court in its error patent review.

DISCUSSION

I. Errors Patent

The Louisiana Children’s Code is silent as to whether a juvenile criminal proceeding is entitled to an errors patent review. This court, however, has found that such a review is mandated by La.Ch.Code art. 104 and La.Code Crim.P. art. 920.2 See [612]*612State in Interest of J.C.G., 97-1044 (La. App. 3 Cir. 2/4/98), 706 So.2d 1081. After reviewing the record, we find errors patent which we later address since the Juvenile has raised same in his Assignments of Error numbers two through four.

II. First Assignment of Error

In his first assignment of error, the Juvenile contends that the trial court erred in not suppressing his statement made to law enforcement. The Juvenile filed a motion to suppress “any oral, written, or video statements, confessions, and all reports” which the State intended to introduce at trial, arguing that they were obtained in violation of his constitutional rights. The Juvenile alleged that he “did not knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waive his Constitutional rights[,]” and |4that the following violations occurred: the statement was given without the presence of an interested parent, adult, guardian, or attorney; and the statement was obtained in a coercive environment where the Juvenile did not feel free to leave.

In Louisiana, a “child may move to suppress evidence obtained in violation of the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of Louisiana.” La.Ch.Code art. 872. At the hearing on a motion to suppress, the State must prove the free and voluntary nature of the statement beyond a reasonable doubt. La.Code Crim.P. art. 703(D) and State v. Boyer, 10-693 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/2/11), 66 So.3d 1119, writ denied, 11-0769 (La. 1/20/12), 78 So.3d 138. Jurisprudence further provides:

[Louisiana Constitution Article] I, § 13 incorporates the prophylactic rules of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), which require that a prosecutor, before using an accused’s confession at trial, establish that the accused was informed of his or her rights against self-incrimination and to have an attorney present at any interrogation; that the accused fully understood the consequences of waiving those rights; and that the accused in fact voluntarily waived those rights without coercion. The constitutional privilege against self-incrimination and the constitutional right to counsel apply to juveniles as well as to adults. In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967); State ex rel. Coco, 363 So.2d 207, 208 (La.1978) (recognizing that juveniles are entitled to same constitutional protections as adults).
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Under the federal constitution, the determination of whether a juvenile’s incriminating statements are admissible, as based on a knowing and voluntary waiver of the right against self-incrimination and the right to assistance of counsel, is made on the totality of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation. Fare v. Michael C., 442 U.S. 707, 99 S.Ct. 2560, 61 L.Ed.2d 197 (1979); Gallegos v. Colorado,

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Bluebook (online)
207 So. 3d 609, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 347, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 2064, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-jjm-lactapp-2016.