A Primer on Juvenile Confession Law
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What makes a kid a kid
Section 51.095 is the functional equivalent of Article 38.22 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure for juvenile offenders. The principal difference, of course, is that §51.095 applies only to juvenile offenders.
However, although juvenile court is full of kids, not all kids are equal in the eyes of juvenile confession law. A “child” is defined by Section 51.02(2) of the Texas Family Code to be between the ages of 10 and 17, and 17 or older, but not 18 if the allegations stem from acts committed before the juvenile turned 17. This distinction determines which section applies.
A child’s statement is governed by §51.095 only if one of three criteria are met: 1.) the child is in a detention facility or other place of confinement, 2.) the child is in the custody of an officer, or 3.) during or after the interrogation of the child by an officer if the child is in possession of the Department of Protective and Regulatory and suspected of a crime.
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Custodial Interrogation
Custodial interrogation is the questioning initiated by law enforcement after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of their freedom in any significant way. A child is in custody if, under the objective circumstances, a reasonable child of the same age would believe his freedom of movement was restrained to the degree associated with a formal arrest.
The issue of custody is as important to the admissibility of a juvenile’s statement as it is in adult court. Texas Family Code § 52.01(b) states “The taking of a child into custody is not an arrest except for the purpose of determining the validity of taking him into custody or the validity of a search under the laws and constitution of this state or of the United States.” This language extends the same constitutional protections to juveniles as afforded to adult suspects even though the Family Code uses different terminology for purposes of custody.
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Custodial Interrogation - Continued
The courts utilize a two-step analysis to determine the issue of custody. The court will first examine all of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation to determine whether there was a formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement to the degree associated with a formal arrest. This is an objective analysis, and does not focus on the subjective beliefs of either the interrogating officers or the individual being questioned. The second step of the analysis is the consideration of whether a reasonable person would have felt free to terminate the interview and leave. See, Stansbury v. California, 511 U.S. 318 (1994); Dowthitt v. State, 931 S.W.2d 244 (Tex.Crim.App. 1996).
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Custodial Interrogation - Conitnued
There exist four factors generally considered by courts in making this determination: (1) the existence of probable cause at the time of questioning; (2) the subjective intent of law enforcement; (3) the investigation’s focus; and (4) the subjective belief of the defendant. With that said, the subjective intent of both law enforcement and the defendant are relevant only to the extent that the intent may be manifested by the words or actions of law enforcement. The determination of custody is to be determined solely on objective circumstances. See, In the Matter of D.A.R., 73 S.W.2d 505 (Tex.App.-El Paso, 2002).
When the circumstances show that the individual acts upon the invitation or request of the police and there are no threats, express or implied, that he will be taken, then that person is not in custody at the time. Merely being the subject of police investigation is not sufficient to constitute custody.
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Voluntariness
In addition to the analysis associated with custodial interrogation, a separate analysis must be performed in order for a statement to be admissible. That secondary, yet equally important analysis is that of the voluntariness of the statement.
All statements which the State attempts to use against a juvenile must be voluntary. If the circumstances indicated that the juvenile defendant was threatened, coerced, or promised something in exchange for his confession, or if he was incapable of understanding his rights and warnings, the trial court must exclude the confession as involuntary. Diaz v. State, 04-00-00025-CR, (Tex.App.-San Antonio, 2001). A statement is also not voluntary if there was “official, coercive conduct of such a nature that any statement obtained was unlikely to have been the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice by its maker.” Alvarado v. State, 912 S.W.2d 199, 211 (Tex.Crim.App. 1995).
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