Title: Ex Parte Brown

State: alabama

Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court

Document:

540 So. 2d 740 (1989)
Ex parte Thomas Andrew BROWN, Jr.
(Re Thomas Andrew Brown, Jr. v. State of Alabama).[*]
87-1481.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
February 10, 1989.
*741 Hugh C. Harris of Harris & McClellan, Cullman, for petitioner.
Don Siegelman, Atty. Gen., and Charles W. Hart III, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.
HOUSTON, Justice.
Thomas Andrew Brown, Jr., a 16-year-old, was arrested and charged by delinquency petition in the Juvenile Court of Cullman County with the murder of Robert Earl Sides. The State filed a motion seeking to transfer Brown to the Circuit Court of Cullman County for prosecution as an adult. After a hearing, the juvenile court entered an order of transfer directing that Brown be tried as an adult. Brown appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed the order of transfer, without opinion, 537 So. 2d 78. We granted Brown's petition for certiorari.
On January 12, 1988, the body of Robert Earl Sides was discovered behind the steering wheel of his pickup truck, wrapped in a sleeping bag and with a garbage bag over his head. The coroner pronounced the victim dead at the scene and determined that the cause of death was stab wounds to the throat. The victim's family and Brown were questioned by the police. Brown, after being read his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966), as well as his rights under the Alabama Rules of Juvenile Procedure, gave a detailed confession of his involvement in the murder of Sides.
Following a detention hearing on January 14, 1988, the juvenile court determined that Brown was in need of continued detention and committed him to the Robert Neaves Detention Center in Huntsville, Alabama. On February 8, 1988, the juvenile court committed Brown to the care and custody of the Department of Youth Services for preadjudication and predispositional evaluation. That order was amended by the juvenile court to provide that Brown *742 be committed to the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility for evaluation of his competency to stand trial and of his mental state at the time of the alleged offense. While at the facility, Brown was interviewed and psychologically tested. The report prepared by the staff at the facility states, inter alia:
At the transfer hearing, the State introduced Brown's confession. Brown argues that the juvenile court erred in admitting this confession because, he says, it was obtained in violation of his Miranda rights.
Johnny Nesmith, an agent with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, testified that he talked to Brown at the Florence Police Department and that prior to any questioning he read Brown his constitutional rights from a Miranda card. When asked if he understood his rights, Brown replied, "Yes." Nesmith then read Brown his juvenile rights from a juvenile rights *743 waiver form, and Nesmith asked Brown if he understood those rights, and Brown again replied, "Yes." Nesmith, thereafter, handed the form to Brown, who appeared to read it before signing it. No promises, rough language, coercion, or overbearing police conduct was used in obtaining Brown's confession.
In opposition to the introduction of the confession at the transfer hearing, Brown's attorney called Dr. Roger Rinn, a licensed psychologist, who testified that he had examined Brown at the request of the Madison County Juvenile Court. Dr. Rinn concluded that Brown had an I.Q. of 72, which falls within the range of borderline intelligence. He further determined that Brown had a mental age of approximately 12 years and 2 months, and that his reading ability was below a third grade level. Dr. Rinn stated that while Brown understood the nature of the charges against him and knew right from wrong, he did not think a person with Brown's intelligence and reading level could understand the significance of the waiver of his right against self incrimination. Dr. Rinn did indicate, however, that he thought Brown could understand the meaning of the statement, "You're not required to say anything and anything you say may be used against you." Dr. Rinn also stated that Brown knew the "short term implication of the statement, `You have the right to remain silent.'"
Under the Constitution, any suspect of a crime is guaranteed the right to assistance of counsel and the right to remain silent during in-custody police interrogation, and any statement obtained in derogation of those rights is inadmissible in a subsequent criminal prosecution. Miranda v. Arizona, supra. The suspect may waive these rights, provided the waiver is knowingly and intelligently made. Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S. Ct. 1019, 82 L. Ed. 1461 (1938).
However, as the United States Supreme Court cautioned in Miranda, 384 U.S.  at 475, 86 S.Ct. at 1628:
The evidence presented by the State clearly established that Brown was informed of his Miranda rights as well as his juvenile rights, and that, after being informed, he signed a waiver of those rights. The question presented by this petition for writ of certiorari is whether the waiver was knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made so as to uphold the juvenile court's order admitting Brown's confession.
Garrett v. State, 369 So. 2d 833, 836 (Ala. 1979).
In Garrett, supra, the defendant was mentally retarded, with an I.Q. of 50, and was classified by his teachers as trainable, but not educable. The Court held that "[a]lthough such a degree of mental retardation in a given case may be controlling, we need not so hold here because we find from the totality of the circumstances that the confession was involuntary." 369 So. *744 2d at 836. In Hines v. State, 384 So. 2d 1171 (Ala.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 384 So. 2d 1184 (Ala.1980), the statement of a highly suggestible retarded defendant, who had an I.Q. of 39, was excluded. The mental deficiency of the defendant in Hines was "extreme," and that fact justified a consideration of mental deficiency as the "most important and controlling factor to be considered." 384 So. 2d  at 1181. Despite the fact that Brown had an I.Q. of 72, he had been consistently promoted in school and had made it to the ninth grade before dropping out. Unlike the defendants in Garrett and Hines, Brown was not mentally retarded, but was within the borderline range of intelligence.
In Elrod v. State, 281 Ala. 331, 334, 202 So. 2d 539, 542 (1967), this Court stated:
This Court is limited to determining whether the juvenile court abused its discretion, considering the totality of the circumstances involved, in admitting Brown's confession at the transfer hearing. After careful consideration of all the circumstances, we are not persuaded that the juvenile court abused its discretion in admitting the confession. There was no evidence presented at the hearing of any overbearing police conduct, coercion on the part of the police, trickery, rough language, threats, or exhausting questioning over an extended period of time. In fact, after reading Brown his rights, the investigating officers told Brown that he was not under arrest and that he was free to walk out of the room at any time. Brown scored higher on a test generally believed to measure comprehension and judgment for social situations than he did in his overall intelligence test. Dr. Rinn testified that Brown could understand the meaning of the statements "You're not required to say anything and anything you say may be used against you" and "You have the right to remain silent." After examining the record, we cannot find that the juvenile court abused its discretion in finding the confession admissible.
Brown also contends that he is entitled to a new transfer hearing because, he says, the juvenile court, in conducting the transfer hearing, did not comply with the requirements of Rule 24, Alabama Rules of Juvenile Procedure. In Ex parte Anonymous, 466 So. 2d 81 (Ala.1984), this Court addressed the requirements of Rule 24, A.R.J.P.:
The record in the instant case shows that the juvenile court substantially complied with all the requirements of Rule 24 in conducting the transfer hearing, except for explaining Brown's rights during the proceeding. The failure of the trial court to give the juvenile the explanations required by Rule 24 will constitute reversible error only if there was a proper and timely objection. Shedd v. State, 505 So. 2d 1306 (Ala. Crim.App.1987); Newton v. State, 474 So. 2d 775 (Ala.Crim.App.1985). Here, since *745 there was no objection, no error was preserved below, and error cannot be asserted for the first time on appeal. Ex parte Gilchrist, 466 So. 2d 991 (Ala.1985).
Brown next contends that the juvenile court's order transferring him to the circuit court for adult prosecution was not supported by the evidence. This contention is without merit. A transferring court is required by Alabama Code 1975, § 12-15-34(d), to consider evidence of six specific factors in determining whether to grant a motion to transfer. Mayne v. State, 416 So. 2d 741, 742 (Ala.1982). These factors are:
Code 1975, § 12-15-34(d).
The transfer order clearly stated that the court considered each of the six factors enumerated in the statute in reaching its decision. It has been previously held that "a mere restatement of the factors set out in the statute is sufficient" to meet the requirements of § 12-15-34(d). Smith v. State, 475 So. 2d 633, 635 (Ala.Crim.App. 1985); Brown v. State, 353 So. 2d 1384 (Ala. 1977). A reading of the order clearly demonstrates that each factor was considered in this case.
In reviewing an order transferring a juvenile to the circuit court for criminal prosecution as an adult, this Court will not interfere with the order unless it is clearly erroneous. Williams v. State, 361 So. 2d 1157 (Ala.1978). The purpose of the transfer hearing is to determine whether there is probable cause for believing that the allegations are true and not to determine guilt or innocence. Snow v. State, 423 So. 2d 220, 222 (Ala.1982); Bragg v. State, 416 So. 2d 715, 716 (Ala.1982). Our review convinces us that the juvenile court considered and weighed each factor listed in § 12-15-34 and made a conscientious and comprehensive determination that the juvenile should be transferred to the circuit court for criminal prosecution as an adult. The juvenile court's order transferring Brown to the circuit court is, therefore, affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
JONES, SHORES, ADAMS and KENNEDY, JJ., concur.
[*]  Reporter's note: The action of the Court of Criminal Appeals in this case was reported under the style T.A.B. v. State.