State v. UG

726 So. 2d 151, 1998 WL 753528
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 29, 1998
Docket94-CA-00773-SCT
StatusPublished

This text of 726 So. 2d 151 (State v. UG) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. UG, 726 So. 2d 151, 1998 WL 753528 (Mich. 1998).

Opinion

726 So.2d 151 (1998)

STATE of Mississippi
v.
U.G.

No. 94-CA-00773-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

October 29, 1998.
Rehearing Denied January 14, 1999.

*152 Christopher Klotz, Jackson, Attorney for Appellee.

Patricia Watkins Bennett, Jackson, Attorney for Appellant.

EN BANC.

PITTMAN, Presiding Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. This appeal presents a question of first impression for this Court. The State has appealed the granting of a motion to transfer a case from circuit court, which had original jurisdiction, to youth court, claiming that the circuit court abused its discretion. The issue presented is important due to the number of youth criminal offenders in this State. We find that the record was not adequately developed so that the interest of justice could be considered by the circuit court. We further find that the circuit court did not allow the State the opportunity to establish its proof on the interest of justice, but looked only to the interest of the juvenile in question. For this reason we reverse and remand.

I.

¶ 2. On April 14, 1994, U. G., Dedrick Terrell Roach and Dontellus Funches were indicted by a Hinds County grand jury on two separate counts of armed robbery. On *153 June 8, 1994, U.G. filed a motion requesting that the circuit court transfer his case to the Hinds County Youth Court pursuant to Mississippi Code § 43-21-159(4) (Supp.1993). After a hearing on June 17, 1994, the circuit court transferred U. G.'s case to the Hinds County Youth Court on July 1, 1994. Aggrieved by the decision of the circuit court to transfer jurisdiction, the State of Mississippi filed its appeal with this Court.

¶ 3. Mississippi law classifies persons who have not yet reached the age of eighteen as youths. Miss.Code Ann. § 43-21-105(d)(Supp.1997). The youth court has original jurisdiction over all cases involving youths other than those excepted by Miss. Code Ann. § 43-21-151. "Any act attempted or committed by a child, which if committed by an adult would be punishable under state or federal law by life imprisonment or death, will be in the original jurisdiction of the circuit court." Miss.Code Ann. § 43-21-151(1)(a)(Supp.1997). Armed robbery is punishable under Mississippi law by a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-79(1994). Thus, the circuit court had original jurisdiction. U.G. was fourteen years of age at the time of the alleged crime and indictment. At the time of the transfer hearing, U.G. was three months shy of his fifteenth birthday. At the transfer hearing, the circuit court heard testimony from two witnesses. Vicky Jenkins, an employee of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, and Dr. Timothy Summers, a psychiatrist, testified for U. G.

¶ 4. Jenkins testified about some of the services provided at the Department of Corrections, including counseling, psychological care and psychiatric treatment. There is no specialized treatment for juveniles. Education, rehabilitation, and counseling for adults and juveniles are all the same. The Department of Corrections does not have any special counselors or people who are specialized in the area of child psychology. Jenkins also testified that when an inmate's size or inability to cope in the general population warranted protective service, it was provided. There were no special educational programs for juveniles in the adult system. If a juvenile such as U. G., a fourteen year-old seventh grader, wanted to go to school, he would be attending the same classes as an adult criminal.

¶ 5. Jenkins further testified, based on fourteen years of experience in dealing with the Mississippi Department of Corrections, that juvenile offenders were "usually preyed upon, physically, sexually, and everything." She testified that U.G. had already run into a problem at the Hinds County Detention Center where other inmates were taking his food from him. She explained that in the adult system, the only remedy to these types of problems was to place the juvenile into segregation.

¶ 6. Dr. Summers, whom the court recognized as an expert in psychiatry over the State's objection, testified next. He stated that approximately twenty-five percent of his practice consisted of evaluating and treating children, particularly troubled adolescents. Dr. Summers talked with U.G. "for approximately three hours on one occasion." The only information within Dr. Summers' knowledge of the case was provided either by U.G. or his counsel. He was unable to verify any of the information he received.

¶ 7. When asked his expert opinion about the effects of placing U.G. in an adult facility, Dr. Summers' response was, "[Y]ou can anticipate that he's going to learn a lot about how to be criminal and a lot of his values, a lot of his morals, a lot of his ethics are going to be primarily centered around criminal behavior." Dr. Summers further testified that it was his opinion that U.G. did not comprehend the seriousness of his situation due to his level of maturity and his level of psychological development.

¶ 8. The essence of Dr. Summers' testimony was that he did not think a juvenile should be treated as an adult. U. G.'s age was the main factor in Dr. Summers' testimony. Even though U.G. would turn fifteen three months after the hearing, Dr. Summers testified that it would not change his opinion. Dr. Summers stated that his opinion applied to youth in the age range of thirteen to sixteen. The basis for Dr. Summers' opinion regarding U.G. was that "[t]his young man has never been emancipated."

*154 ¶ 9. The court called U. G.'s mother and questioned her in chambers about U. G.'s schooling and family background. Counsel for both U.G. and the State were present at this time. While the court reporter was present for this questioning, Nwabek was not under oath as a witness in this hearing. The court denied both sides an opportunity to question or cross-examine Nwabek. However, counsel for the defendant was allowed to clarify Nwabek's answers from time to time. During the transfer hearing, the court granted U. G.'s motion to exclude the testimony of the victims. The State notes that subsequent to the hearing, the court received and considered a letter from the Hinds County Youth Court Administrator and U. G.'s school records. These records are not a part of the court record and therefore are not properly before this Court. Neither the State nor the defense were allowed to view and inspect these records.

¶ 10. After the hearing, the court presented its opinion and order on July 1, 1994. The order states that "the Court is persuaded that the sole factors to be considered in determining whether or not to transfer this cause [are] (1) the best interests of the Defendant/Juvenile; and (2) the interest of justice." Further, the court held that "it would be in the best interest of the Defendant U.G. and also in the best interest of justice, that this cause be transferred to the Hinds County Youth Court."

Standard of Review

¶ 11. The decision to transfer a case to youth court is committed to the circuit judge's sound discretion. Therefore, the standard of review for this Court is an abuse of discretion. Parker v. State,

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State v. U.G.
726 So. 2d 151 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
726 So. 2d 151, 1998 WL 753528, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ug-miss-1998.