State, in Interest of Wells

532 So. 2d 191, 1988 WL 103138
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 5, 1988
DocketCR87-1239
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 532 So. 2d 191 (State, in Interest of Wells) 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, in Interest of Wells, 532 So. 2d 191, 1988 WL 103138 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

532 So.2d 191 (1988)

STATE of Louisiana, Plaintiff-Appellee, In the Interest of Isaac WELLS, III, Defendant-Appellant.

No. CR87-1239.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

October 5, 1988.

*192 Michael Bonnette, Natchitoches, for defendant-appellant.

Michael Henry, Dist. Atty., Natchitoches, for plaintiff-appellee.

KING, Judge.

The sole issue presented by this appeal is whether a waiver of rights and a confession by an accused, relative to an offense committed prior to his seventeenth birthday and while under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, is admissible when the accused made the waiver and gave the confession after attaining the age of seventeen.

Isaac Wells, III (hereinafter defendant) was arrested on March 20, 1987, for the armed robbery of a grocery store in Natchitoches, Louisiana that occurred in October, 1985. At the time of the armed robbery defendant was a juvenile, however, at the time of his March 20, 1987, arrest, he had reached his seventeenth birthday on February 3, 1987. After his arrest, defendant signed a waiver of rights form and gave a complete confession admitting to the 1985 armed robbery of the grocery store. Prior to an adjudication hearing in the juvenile court, defendant filed a motion to suppress his waiver of rights and the confession alleging that his parents had not been present when he signed the waiver and gave the confession. The trial court denied the motion to suppress and, thereafter, the defendant pled guilty to armed robbery, reserving his right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress. We affirm.

FACTS

On March 20, 1987, defendant, Isaac Wells, III, was arrested for armed robbery by Corporal Larry Vaughn of the Natchitoches City Police Department. Corporal Vaughn and his partner, Officer Paul Johnson, picked up defendant at Natchitoches Parish Junior High School and brought him to the City Police Department where Vaughn called and notified defendant's mother of her son's arrest.

Defendant had been a suspect in the armed robbery of a neighborhood grocery store in north Natchitoches since the crime took place. Eventually, by March 20, 1987, Corporal Vaughn had gathered enough evidence to substantiate the arrest of defendant in connection with the armed robbery.

Later that morning, defendant was released into the custody of his mother after he had signed a waiver of his Miranda rights[1] and signed a confession about his role in the October, 1985 armed robbery. On June 18, 1987, defendant, through counsel, waived formal arraignment and denied the charge of armed robbery levied against him. This proceeding took place in Juvenile Court of the City of Natchitoches, Louisiana.

*193 In July, 1987, defendant's counsel filed a motion to suppress the confession given by defendant to the police at the time of his March 20, 1987, arrest. In particular, defendant alleged that he had requested the presence of an attorney during questioning and that the interrogating officer denied his request and threatened him. On July 23, 1987, the Juvenile Court held a hearing on the motion to suppress.

The prosecution first called Corporal Vaughn to testify. He testified that Mrs. Wells arrived before any of the interrogation of her son took place. Vaughn testified that in Mrs. Wells presence, he informed her son, defendant, of his right to remain silent, the right to an attorney or appointment of an attorney if they could not afford to hire one, and that anything which he said could be used against him in a court of law. The prosecution then introduced a waiver of these rights, signed by defendant, and witnessed by Vaughn and Officer Paul Johnson. Also introduced was defendant's signed confession of the events that took place on Halloween Night in October, 1985, which led to the armed robbery of the grocery store. In it, defendant admitted to his role in the armed robbery of the store of $20.00 and of splitting the proceeds with his three accomplices. Additionally, there was introduced a custodial release signed by Mrs. Wells indicating that she would retain custody of her son until further notification for a hearing on the matter. Corporal Vaughn testified that neither defendant nor his mother requested an attorney during the interrogation.

The version of defendant and his mother as to what took place at the police station that morning is much different.

Defendant testified that the Natchitoches City Police had twice picked him up in reference to the 1985 armed robbery charge; once on February 3, 1987, for questioning and a month later on March 20, 1987, when he was arrested. Defendant stated that when he was picked up in February, his mother was called and allegedly, after requesting an attorney, the police released him into his mother's custody. Defendant further testified that on March 20, 1987, the arresting officers threatened him with prison time en route to the police station. When they arrived at the station, defendant stated he was forced to sign a typed confession of his involvement in the October, 1985 armed robbery. He also stated that his mother was not in the room when he signed the waiver of rights and the confession. Under cross-examination, defendant stated he was told of all of his rights except for his right to an attorney during questioning and that if he could not afford one, one would be appointed for him. He specifically stated that the arresting officers did not ever tell him of his right to counsel.

At trial, the prosecution introduced copies of the Miranda rights form and of the confession signed by defendant at the time of his arrest. Both documents contain explicit recitations of the Miranda rights of an accused; both also contain the defendant's signature.

Defendant's mother testified that when she arrived at the police station on March 20, 1987, she was denied access to her son and did not see him until after he gave his confession. She further stated that when she came to the police station a month earlier in February, she told the officers that she wanted an attorney for her son and that she was told there was no need for an attorney, and her son was released.

Officer Vaughn denied ever threatening defendant upon his arrest. He denied telling defendant that others had confessed to the armed robbery and had implicated him. Vaughn specifically stated he read the rights of the accused to him before he signed either document and included in the recitation was the right to have an attorney present during questioning. He concluded his testimony by indicating that although the defendant was picked up a month earlier for questioning, that he did not ever remember the defendant or his mother requesting an attorney.

After hearing arguments from counsel, the trial judge denied defendant's motion to suppress the confession given by him. Defendant thereafter pled guilty to the armed robbery, reserving his right to appeal the *194 denial of his motion to suppress under State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976).

LAW

Defendant asserts that the trial judge erred when he denied the motion to suppress his inculpatory statement. Two issues are raised by this assignment of error. The first is that the armed robbery was committed while defendant was a juvenile and that for this reason the defendant's statement was obtained in violation of State In Interest of Dino, 359 So.2d 586 (La.1978), cert. den., 439 U.S. 1047, 99 S.Ct. 722, 58 L.Ed.2d 706 (1978).

This statement was not obtained in violation of the special protections afforded juveniles in Dino.

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Bluebook (online)
532 So. 2d 191, 1988 WL 103138, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-in-interest-of-wells-lactapp-1988.