State v. Manus

632 S.W.2d 137, 1982 Tenn. App. LEXIS 463
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedFebruary 1, 1982
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 632 S.W.2d 137 (State v. Manus) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Manus, 632 S.W.2d 137, 1982 Tenn. App. LEXIS 463 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

OPINION

LEWIS, Judge.

This is an appeal by defendant Johnny Manus, a juvenile, from a jury verdict finding him to be a “delinquent child.”

Defendant presents four issues for our determination. They are: (1) whether his confession was properly admitted at trial, (2) whether the verdict of the jury is a nullity for failure to comply with T.C.A. § 37-202 et seq., (3) whether the Trial Judge erred in charging the jury on the various degrees of homicide, and (4) whether the recitations in the Court’s final order require a reversal.

The pertinent facts in regard to defendant’s first issue, i.e., whether his confession should have been suppressed, are as follows:

Randy Galloway, an investigator for the District Attorney’s office, received a call at approximately 8:45 P. M. on July 10, 1980, to come to the Sheriff’s office in Woodbury, Tennessee. Mr. Galloway reported to the Sheriff’s office and was told that he should go to the apartment of Ed Manus in Wood-bury. When Mr. Galloway arrived at the Manus apartment, the Sheriff of Cannon County and two deputies were present. Mr. Galloway took a shotgun from the Ma-nus apartment and returned to the Sheriff’s office at approximately 9:30 P. M. Ed Ma-nus and his son, the defendant Johnny Ma-nus, were at the Sheriff’s office when Galloway returned.

At approximately 11:30 P. M. Mr. Galloway, prior to questioning Ed Manus, informed him of his constitutional rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). After being informed of his Miranda rights, Mr. Manus stated that he would talk with Mr. Galloway and at that time gave Galloway the name of the person who shot Wiley Adams. Subsequently, Mr. Galloway talked with the defendant. The conversation with defendant took place at the Cannon County Sheriff’s office. Present were Mr. Galloway, the Sheriff, Juvenile Judge Kenneth Banks, Detective David Grissom, Ed Manus and the defendant.

In the presence of his father, defendant was advised that Mr. Galloway wished to talk with him concerning the death of Wiley Adams. Ed Manus gave permission to Galloway to talk to his son, the defendant. Defendant was then advised of his Miranda rights and the conversation between the defendant and Galloway was recorded on tape and a transcription made. Following is the explanation by Mr. Galloway to defendant of his Miranda rights.

Galloway: “Johnny, before I ask you any questions, I want to tell you what your rights are. I want you to listen carefully. [139]*139You have the right to remain silent. That means you don’t have to say anything. If you give up the right to remain silent you still have the right to stop answering questions at any time; do you understand that much?”
Johnny: “Yes.”
Galloway: “You have the right to have a lawyer here while I’m questioning you; do you understand that? And if you can’t afford to hire a lawyer, then we will get a lawyer appointed to represent you before I ask you anything; do you understand that?”
Johnny: “Yes.”
Galloway: “If you decide to answer my questions without a lawyer here — ”
Johnny: “Uh huh.”
Galloway: “You have the right to stop answering questions at any time until you get a lawyer; do you understand that?”
Johnny: “Yes.”
Galloway: “Having all these rights in mind, the right that you don’t have to say anything, that if you do say anything it will be used against you in Court, and that you don’t have to say anything until you get a lawyer, if you cannot afford to hire one we’ll get one for you. Having all those rights in mind, do you wish to give me a statement about what happened tonight?”
Johnny: “Wiley Gray come down to the house.”
Galloway: “Wait a minute. Do you understand all those rights?”
Johnny: “Yes.”
Galloway: “You’re fourteen years old, right?”
Johnny: “Yes.”
Galloway: “How far have you been in school?”
Johnny: “Seventh grade so far.”
Galloway: “What kind of grades do you make in school?”
Johnny: “Not too good.”
Galloway: “Not too good, do you understand what I mean when I say you have a right to remain silent?”
Johnny: “Yes.”
Galloway: “That means you don’t have to say anything; do you understand that?”
Johnny: “Yes.”
Galloway: “But you passed the seventh grade, you got out of the seventh grade?”
Johnny: “Yes.”
Galloway: “Do you have a regular class at school?”
Johnny: “Not any special classes.”
Galloway: “What kind of grades do you make in school?”
Johnny: “C’s, D’s, and two or three P’s.”
Galloway: “Do you understand what I mean when I say lawyer?”
Johnny: “Yes.”
Galloway: “What is a lawyer?”
Johnny: “Upholds you in court.”
Galloway: “To uphold you in court and take care of your side and protect your interests. So you know what a lawyer is for?”
Johnny: “Yes.”

Following this colloquy, defendant informed Galloway that he wished to make a statement. He then told Galloway that following an argument between his father, Ed Manus, and Wiley Adams, he shot Adams while Adams was trying to enter the Manus apartment. Defendant also stated that he shot Adams one more time to keep him from coming back.

Defendant complains that it was error for his statement to be admitted at the original juvenile hearing and at his jury trial in Circuit Court.

A juvenile confession, as an adult, is not admissible unless it appears from the totality of the circumstances that the defendant made a knowing and intelligent waiver of his constitutional right to counsel and his right to remain silent. Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981); Braziel v. State, 529 S.W.2d 501 (Tenn.Cr.App.1975). Additionally, T.C.A. §§ 37-215, 37-226, and 37-227 describe conditions that must be met in juvenile cases in order that juvenile confessions will be admissible in evidence. T.C.A. [140]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
632 S.W.2d 137, 1982 Tenn. App. LEXIS 463, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-manus-tennctapp-1982.