Court Opinion

ID: 9633746
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 11:58:44.157817+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:11:02.225175
License: Public Domain

LUMPKIN, Vice Presiding Judge,
concuring in results:
While I must concur in the results reached by the Court in this case based on stare decisis, I cannot join in the Court’s statement “that the special protections afforded children under Section 1109(A) are not abrogated by the arrest or detention of a juvenile for, nor the charging of a juvenile with, an unrelated crime”.
The provisions of 10 O.S.1981, § 1104.2(A), provide that “[a]ny person sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age who is charged with [one of the enumerated offenses], shall be considered as an adult”, (emphasis added.) The statutes do not create a distinction regarding the treatment of these particular offenders as it relates to the taking of statements after they are “charged”. In other words, once a juvenile is charged with an enumerated offense, then law enforcement officers can question the juvenile regarding both enumerated and nonenumerated offenses, if the constitutional rights and protections of an adult are afforded to the juvenile.
The record in this case reveals the Appellant had been previously charged and detained for the offense of robbery by force and fear, an offense not listed in Section 1104.2(A), and was awaiting transportation to the juvenile detention center. Therefore, the charging and detention of the Appellant on that offense cannot be used as the basis for the admission of the statement in this case. The record also reveals the officer talked to the Appellant on August 12, 16 and 20. It appears that the officer did not advise the jailer to add the charges giving rise to these convictions until after the Appellant admitted his participation in the crimes. The facts reveal the officer knew of the status of the juvenile and failed to follow the procedures mandated by 10 O.S.Supp.1982, § 1109, thus rendering the confession inadmissible against the Appellant.