Case Name: Corey Lamont BLEVINS v. STATE of Arkansas
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Arkansas
Decision Date: 1992-03-16
Citations: 308 Ark. 613
Docket Number: 91-298
Parties: Corey Lamont BLEVINS v. STATE of Arkansas
Judges: Brown, J., dissents.
Reporter: Arkansas Reports
Volume: 308
Pages: 613–620

Head Matter:
Corey Lamont BLEVINS v. STATE of Arkansas
91-298
826 S.W.2d 265
Supreme Court of Arkansas
Opinion delivered March 16, 1992
Daniel D. Becker, for appellant.
Winston Bryant, Att’y Gen., by: Teena L. White, Asst. Att’y Gen., for.appellee.

Opinion:
Jack Holt, Jr., Chief Justice.
This case is another in a series involving transfer of cases between circuit and juvenile court under provisions of our new Juvenile Code. Here, the issue is whether the trial coürt's finding by clear and convincing evidence that the appellant, Corey Blevins, should be tried as an adult under Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-318 (Supp. 1991) was clearly erroneous and against the preponderance of the evidence. We find that it was and reverse the judgment of the trial court.
On August 19, 1991, Detective McCoy of the Hot Springs Police Department was on his routine patrol when he observed Blevins and another male sitting on a wall by an apartment complex where each had a quart of beer at his feet. Detective McCoy confirmed that Blevins was sixteen years old, whereupon Blevins started backing away and stated, "Don't come near me."
Detective McCoy observed that Blevins was acting as if he had something in his pocket and requested that Blevins turn out his pockets. Blevins pulled his right hand out of his pocket and threw a small package on the ground. Detective'McCoy retrieved the package, which contained what appeared to be fifteen rocks of crack cocaine.
Blevins was placed in custody and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. An information was filed against Blevins in Garland County Circuit Court on August 20,1991. Blevins subsequently filed a motion to transfer the case to Juvenile Court, and a hearing was conducted in accordance with section 9-27-318. The trial court denied Blevins's motion to transfer, which ruling Blevins argues on appeal was clearly erroneous and against the preponderance of the evidence.
Section 9-27-318 addresses waiver and transfer to circuit court and provides in pertinent part as follows:

(c) When a case involves a juvenile age sixteen (16) years or above at the time the alleged delinquent act occurred and the alleged act would constitute a felony if committed by an adult, the prosecuting attorney has the discretion to file a petition in juvenile court alleging delinquency or to file charges in circuit court and . to prosecute as an adult.
(d) Upon the motion of the court or of any party, the judge of the court in which a delinquency petition or criminal charges have been filed shall conduct a hearing to determine whether to retain jurisdiction or to transfer the case to another court having jurisdiction.
(e) In making the decision to retain jurisdiction or to transfer the case, the court shall consider the following factors:-
(1) The seriousness of the offense, and whether violence was employed by the juvenile in the commission of the offense;
(2) Whether the offense is part of a repetitive pattern of adjudicated offenses which would lead to the determination that the juvenile is beyond rehabilitation under existing rehabilitation programs, as evidenced by past efforts to treat and rehabilitate the juvenile and the response to such efforts; and
(3) The prior history, character traits, mental maturity, and any other factor which reflects upon the juvenile's prospects for rehabilitation.
(f) Upon a finding by clear and convincing evidence that a juvenile should be tried as an adult, the court shall enter an order to that effect.
In Walker v. State, 304 Ark. 393, 803 S.W.2d 502, reh'g denied, 304 Ark. 402-A, 805 S.W.2d 80 (1991), a case where we affirmed the trial court's denial of a criminal defendant's request to transfer to juvenile court based on an information charging the defendant with murder in the first degree by use of a firearm, we examined section 9-27-318 in light of our prior statutes and case law, concluding that 1) a moving party has the burden of going forward with proof to show that he meets the criteria of the statute to warrant transfer, 2) the trial court need not give equal weight to each factor in juvenile transfer cases, and 3) proof need not be introduced by the prosecutor against the juvenile on each factor. In addition, we held that a criminal information may provide a sufficient basis for a trail court's decision noting, however, that "[t]his does not mean that the mere filing of an information will qualify as sufficient evidence in every instance. Allegations in the information will vary based on the offense charged as will the positive factors presented at hearing in support of the transfer."
In Walker, we observed on more than one occasion that the trial court found that the seriousness of the crime and the violence attached to it as set out in the criminal information outweighed the other relevant factors in making its decision to retain jurisdiction. Unlike Walker, the facts of this case are underpinned with the claim of seriousness alone; Blevins presented testimony, at the hearing on his motion, that he was sixteen years old at the time of the incident, he had no prior record, he regularly attended high school, his grades were C's and D's, and he had previously participated in the high school's athletic program. Blevin's mother also testified that her son lived at home and that she had had no discipline problems with him.
The trial court found there was countervailing evidence that was clear and convincing to deny Blevin's motion to transfer and reasoned that " [t] his is not only a serious offense, it's a very serious offense. . . . I'm going to consider the affidavit. Let's just assume it was fifteen rocks of cocaine and I'll take the affidavit for its face value then. So, again that, to me, is a weighted factor against transfer." Other than the information against Blevins, the trial court was not presented with any opposing evidence relating to the other factors to be considered in accordance with section 9-27-318.
In Walker v. State, supra, we reaffirmed our holding in Evans v. State, 287 Ark. 136, 697 S.W.2d 879 (1985), that, although preferable, there was no statutory duty for the trial court to make findings of fact supporting its decision or to cite a specific rationale for refusing the transfer. Here, however, it would have been most helpful to our analysis for the trial court to have enunciated its rationale; consequently, we can only deduce from the record that the trial court apparently found that the seriousness of the crime outweighed the other factors that were proven by Blevins at his hearing, such as the non-employment of violence in the commission of the alleged offense, the lack of a repetitive pattern of adjudicated offenses, and his positive character traits.
We do not agree and, in light of the facts of this case, find the trial court's decision that Blevins should be tried as an adult to be clearly erroneous and against the preponderance of the evidence. To hold otherwise would be to allow the trial court to simply categorize all felonies as serious, which they are, and utilize this reason alone to retain jurisdiction rather than transfer the case based on consideration of all of the statutory factors.
Reversed.
Brown, J., dissents.