State ex rel. K.G.

778 So. 2d 716, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 15
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 24, 2001
DocketNo. 34,535-JAC
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 778 So. 2d 716 (State ex rel. K.G.) 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. K.G., 778 So. 2d 716, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 15 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

| KOSTELKA, J.

After the juvenile, K.G., was adjudicated delinquent for the crime of armed robbery, the trial court ordered him to be continued in the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections until his eighteenth birthday. K.G. now appeals. We affirm the adjudication but vacate the disposition and remand for a disposition hearing.

Facts

At approximately 10:00 p.m. on December 20, 1999, the manager of the Homer, Louisiana, Bill’s Dollar Store, Beverly Ruth Cotty (“Cotty”), and her assistant, Deanne Beatty (“Beatty”), closed the store, set the alarm and exited the building through the front doors. As Cotty attempted to lock the door, two men with bandanas covering their faces ran toward the women on the sidewalk, which was located in the front of the establishment. One of the men grabbed Cotty around the [719]*719neck, put a gun to her neck and threatened to kill her if she moved or said anything. The other man grabbed Beatty and put his hand on her shoulder; his other hand was in his pocket.

Cotty recognized the man who held the gun on her as Dan Mitchell and the other assailant as B.F., a juvenile at the time the offense occurred, because both frequented the store and the victim recognized their voices.

Cotty opened the door and Mitchell forced her into the store. B.F. and Beatty followed. Still holding the gun at Cotty’s head and his arm around her neck, Mitchell shoved Cotty toward the alarm and ordered her to disarm it. Cotty complied with Mitchell’s demand. Mitchell then ordered Cotty to take him to the safe and shoved her in the direction of the office. Mitchell shoved Cotty onto the office floor and under a counter where the metal box used for storing change was located. Cotty opened the metal box and explained to Mitchell that it contained only quarters, dimes and nickels. Cotty placed the change in a zipper bag and |j>MitcheIl shoved her with his knee as he searched the underside of the counter for an alarm.

Thereafter, Mitchell jerked Cotty up by the neck, put the cocked gun in her face and threatened, “Where is the money or I’m going to kill you?” Cotty and Beatty told Mitchell that the rest of the money was in a bank bag on the counter. After Mitchell ordered Beatty to retrieve it, B.F. led Beatty to the counter to get it. Beatty handed the locked bag to Cotty who attempted to retrieve the bank bag key when Mitchell again threatened her life. Cotty then unlocked the bag and told him that the bag contained approximately $5,000.

Cotty and Beatty were shoved to the floor and told to lie face down. As Cotty attempted to make a mental note of B.F.’s clothing description, Mitchell once again threatened her life. Beatty complied with Mitchell’s order to give the cash bag to B.F. When B.F went to the door and could not open it, Mitchell ordered Beatty to open the door for him. After Beatty complied, B.F. put the money in a store bag and ran out of the store. During B.F.’s escape, Mitchell held a gun to Cotty’s head and ordered her to wait thirty minutes before calling the police because he claimed to have two cousins outside who would kill her if she moved prior to that time. Beatty was able to crawl around to the office without being seen and called the police.

Police investigation implicated K.G., a twelve-year old, and another minor, B.G., in the offense.1 Officers went to K.G.’s home with information that K.G.' had been given a share of the stolen money. “When questioned regarding his knowledge of the offense, K.G. presented police with $820 which he removed 13from behind wallpaper in the bathroom of his house. After grand jury indictment of K.G. as a principal in the armed robbery, the state instituted juvenile delinquency proceedings against the juvenile. When the court denied timely motions to vacate the adjudication and to reconsider the disposition, this appeal ensued.

Discussion

Sufficiency of the Evidence

On July 6, 2000, K.G. filed a Motion to Vacate Adjudication, pursuant to La. Ch.C. art. 894B(4), averring that the adjudication judgment was contrary to the law and evidence. On appeal, K.G. argues [720]*720error in the denial of that motion based upon the allegation that the evidence was insufficient to place K.G. at the scene of the armed robbery. Specifically, he points out that neither victim was able to identify K.G. as a participant in the robbery, that KG.’s sister and her friends testified K.G. was at home at the time of the robbery, and that no testimony showed KG.’s knowledge of the planning of the robbery. Finally, K.G. questions the credibility of the codefendants’ testimony which implicated him in the crime.

When a defendant challenges both the sufficiency of evidence and one or more other trial errors, the appellate court should first resolve the sufficiency challenge. State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731 (La.1992); State v. Mickens, 31,737 (La.App.2d Cir.03/31/99), 731 So.2d 463, writ denied, 99-1078 (La.09/24/99), 747 So.2d 1118. The same rule should apply to juvenile adjudications. See, State in Interest of K.W., 93-716 (La.App. 5th Cir.02/09/94), 632 So.2d 5.

In a juvenile delinquency proceeding, the state’s burden of proof is the same as in a criminal proceeding against an adult-to prove beyond a reasonable doubt every element of the offense alleged in the petition. La. Ch.C. art. 883. In a juvenile case, the reviewing court is constitutionally compelled to review both facts and law. La. Const, art. 5, § 10(A) and (B). However, the reviewing court |4must recognize that the juvenile judge observed the conduct and demeanor of the witnesses and was in the best position to determine credibility and weigh the evidence. Therefore, this court grants great deference to the juvenile court’s factual findings and credibility determinations and assessment of the weight of particular testimony. State v. S.B., Jr., 31,264 (La.App.2d Cir.09/25/98), 719 So.2d 1121. Not only does the standard of review in Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) apply to juvenile delinquency adjudicatory hearings, but our state constitution mandates that we determine, after reviewing the record evidence, whether the juvenile court was clearly wrong in its fact-findings. State v. Redd, 445 So.2d 126 (La.App. 2d Cir.1984). See discussion, State in Interest of Cason, 438 So.2d 1130 (La.App. 2d Cir.1983).

The Jackson standard is applicable in cases involving both direct and circumstantial evidence. An appellate court reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence in such cases must resolve any conflict in the direct evidence by viewing that evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution. When the direct evidence is thus viewed, the facts established by the direct evidence and inferred from the circumstances established by that evidence must be sufficient for a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty of every essential element of the crime. State v. Sutton, 436 So.2d 471 (La.1983); State v. Owens, 30,903 (La.App.2d Cir.09/25/98), 719 So.2d 610, writ denied, 98-2723 (La.02/05/99), 737 So.2d 747. In the absence of internal contradiction or irreconcilable conflict with physical evidence, the testimony of one witness, if believed by the trier of fact, is sufficient support for a requisite factual conclusion. State v. Fuller,

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778 So. 2d 716, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 15, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-kg-lactapp-2001.