Court Opinion

ID: 9623819
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 06:44:08.105158+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:35.135003
License: Public Domain

Beasley, Judge.
The juvenile court adjudged appellants to be delinquent by reason of their attempted theft of an automobile. The separate appeals, which proceed on identical enumerations of error raising only the gen*637eral grounds, are consolidated.
In juvenile proceedings, “the standard of proof on charges of a criminal nature is the same as that used in criminal proceedings against adults — proof must be beyond a reasonable doubt. [OCGA § 15-11-33 (c)]; [Cits.]” M. W. W. v. State of Ga., 136 Ga. App. 472, 474 (221 SE2d 669) (1975).
On review of the sufficiency of the evidence to support an adjudication of guilt, “that view of the evidence most favorable to the State must be taken, for every presumption and every inference is in favor of the verdict [or adjudication].” Swain v. State, 74 Ga. App. 391, 393 (39 SE2d 727) (1946); Thomas v. State, 161 Ga. App. 159, 161 (1) (288 SE2d 112) (1982). Where there is a conflict in the evidence, “the credibility of the witnesses is for the judge’s determination, where the trial judge hears the case without intervention of a jury.” Thomas, supra at 162 (1). This applies to juvenile court proceedings on petitions alleging delinquency. See OCGA § 15-11-33 (a).
Positive evidence supports the following sequence of events. On Father’s Day, Sunday, June 17, 1990, which was also M. B. J.’s 15th birthday, he and 16-year-old J. T. M. went to the Chapman home in J. T. M.’s car sometime after 1:30 p.m. The Chapman home is less than a mile from J. T. M’s home. The boys played basketball with the Chapman boy and watched a video. They left before 4:00 p.m.
On the way to J. T. M.’s house, they stopped at the Eiland home around the block from J. T. M.’s home. Ben Eiland’s 1982-280ZX Datsun automobile, which J. T. M. had previously asked to drive, was in the carport. Ben was not at home, and he was missing the main set of keys. On an occasion less than two weeks before, the keys were on the seat of his father’s truck when only he and J. T. M. used the truck. Ben had a spare set so he could drive the car, and he did not tell his mother the keys were missing.
That Sunday afternoon, Mrs. Eiland was upstairs watching television and dozing. Around 4:00 p.m. she was alerted by a noise which sounded to her like a car crash or car door in her own or the neighbor’s driveway. She walked to the window to see if her son was out there, and she heard a knock at the door, directly below the window. She looked down and saw at the door a young man whom she immediately recognized as J. T. M., a former next-door neighbor whom she had seen over a period of the last four years. J. T. M. played basketball with her son. The boy said something aloud to someone. He did not wait for her to respond, and as he walked away from the door she clearly saw his whole body and recognized it as J. T. M.’s. She saw her son’s car rammed up against a tree and went out to see if anyone was in it. The car’s bumper was broken and the hatchback was dented. When she saw the boy at the door, the car was not in the carport. Finding no one around, she went in and tried to phone her *638husband but got no answer. She went back out, and her son was coming with the neighbor from next door, where he had been watching television until about 4:00 p.m. After telling him that J. T. M. had been there and not to touch the car, she went back in to call the police, who came promptly. Her perception was that J. T. M. was wearing a bright red shirt and black or dark grey shorts, although there was evidence that he was wearing a pink shirt and light pants that afternoon.
The two boys arrived in J. T. M.’s car at his house around the block shortly after 4:00 p.m., went in briefly, and then walked two houses down, played basketball and went inside to look at a yearbook. J. T. M.’s father was washing his car and, to dry it, drove in the neighborhood and around the block past the Eiland house, which was about one-half mile around from J. T. M.’s house. When he returned, he told J. T. M. and M. B. J. that he had seen police cars at the Eiland home. They wanted to go see what happened, so he drove them by slowly. This was about 5:00 p.m. They did not determine the cause of the police presence, and although the two boys were at J. T. M.’s home for several hours before they went out that evening for supper, they did not make any further inquiry.
The police took written statements from the boys the next day, after they had been individually confronted that night in the presence of their parents and denied the charge. According to both statements, which were admitted in evidence, the boys were at Eiland’s around 3:00 p.m. before going to the Chapman’s house. J. T. M’s statement acknowledges that Mrs. Eiland looked out the window when the door-knocking occurred, but he said M. B. J., not he, knocked.
There was no evidence whatsoever that there were two instances that afternoon of a young man knocking on the door while Mrs. Eiland was upstairs and leaving before she answered it, after she looked out. The trier of fact was not required to discredit Mrs. Eiland’s positive identification of J. T. M. because of the discrepancy in the description of the color of his clothing. She recognized him because of his physical characteristics, not because of what he wore. Nor was the court obligated to credit the boys’ statements that they were at Eiland’s around 3:00 p.m., before rather than after going to Chapman’s. There was opportunity before making their statements to the police to collaborate and fabricate. They were hampered in their effort to extricate themselves because they knew Mrs. Eiland had looked out when the door was knocked on.
“To warrant a conviction on circumstantial evidence, the proved facts shall not only be consistent with the hypothesis of guilt, but shall exclude every other reasonable hypothesis save that of the guilt of the accused.” OCGA § 24-4-6. Applying the standard of Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560) (1979), there was *639sufficient evidence to find that J. T. M. and M. B. J. were delinquent by reason of their acts, which if committed by persons 17 years of age or older would constitute their being parties to the crime of attempting to take Ben Eiland’s automobile. OCGA §§ 16-4-1; 16-8-2; 16-2-20.

Judgment affirmed.

McMurray, P. J., Banke, P. J., Pope and Andrews, JJ., concur. Sognier, C. J., Birdsong, P. J., Carley and Cooper, JJ., dissent.