Court Opinion

ID: 9732482
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:22:56.524456+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:28.416343
License: Public Domain

FLAHERTY, Justice,
concurring.
This Court recently adopted, in Commonwealth v. Christmas, 502 Pa. 218, 465 A.2d 989 (1983), a presumption that statements obtained from a juvenile defendant are inadmissible, when the juvenile has been denied an opportu*523nity to consult with an interested and informed adult, unless the evidence clearly demonstrates that the juvenile was in fact competent to make a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of his rights. This presumption serves as a necessary focus for analysis in determining whether any given statement should be suppressed, and reflects the fact that “juvenile defendants are not, in the usual case, on a par with adults with respect to adequacy of their judgment, knowledge of the consequences of their admissions, and ability to resist overbearing police interrogation.” Id., 502 Pa. at 222, 465 A.2d at 991. Indeed, the totality of the circumstances approach, advanced in the opinion authored by Mr. Justice Larsen, provides an inadequate analytical framework for addressing the suppression issue, for it accords no recognition to the need, in the typical case, to afford the juvenile an opportunity to consult with an interested and informed adult.
The rule promulgated in Christmas rested upon a recognition that, “ '[bjecause of the unique disadvantage in the custodial interrogation process of the youthful accused due to his immaturity, ... merely a consideration of the fact of youth in the totality of the circumstances formulation ... was inadequate to insure that a juvenile waiver was indeed a knowing one.’ Commonwealth v. Smith, 472 Pa. [492] at 497-498, 372 A.2d [797] at 800 (footnote omitted).” Commonwealth v. Christmas, 502 Pa. at 222, 465 A.2d at 992. Accordingly, this Court stated in Christmas,
[W]hile the presumption of inadmissibility will serve to protect the juvenile defendant, who, in the usual case, is likely to be disadvantaged by his youth, consideration will no longer be foreclosed with respect to the totality of circumstances present in a particular case that may render the juvenile’s waiver of rights a knowing and voluntary one. Such circumstances include the manner in which the juvenile was treated by police authorities, as well as the juvenile’s age, experience, background, intelligence, capacities, and prior record.
*524Id., 502 Pa. at 223-24, 465 A.2d at 992. The Christmas rule is a sound one, responsive to the needs of juveniles and to the interests of justice. Abandonment of its requirements is not warranted.
While I dissent to the abandonment of the Christmas rule, I concur that, under the circumstances of the instant case, the juvenile’s statement was in fact knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily given. The evidence clearly demonstrates that a presumption of inadmissibility should be regarded as rebutted by factors such as the defendant’s age of nearly eighteen years, his extensive experience with the criminal justice system through repeated adjudications of delinquency and sentences of probation, the non-overbearing circumstances under which he was informed of his rights, and the fact that he did have some opportunity to consult with his father before issuing a confession.