Court upholds ruling to toss youth's statement

By Melody Mcdonald

Star-Telegram Staff Writer


FORT WORTH - If the appeals court ruling stands, Tarrant County prosecutors will not be able to use a teen-ager's written statement to police or a gun as evidence during his murder trial.

The 2nd Court of Appeals has agreed with a juvenile court judge that the written statement a teen-age boy gave to a detective after his arrest in the fatal shooting of a North Crowley High School classmate was obtained improperly and is inadmissible in court.

Last week, the appellate court in a 2-1 decision affirmed a ruling by state District Judge Jean Boyd to throw out the teen's written statement.

In the majority opinion, written by Justice Sue Walker, the justices also agreed that the gun that was found in a sewer as a result of the teen's statement is also inadmissible.

Defense attorney Shawn Matlock said he and the teen's parents are pleased with the ruling.

"If we were to go to trial tomorrow, [prosecutors] wouldn't be able to introduce a confession or any type of firearm," Matlock said. "I spoke to his family yesterday, and they were very excited. They are anxious to get a trial going. In their minds, the playing field is going to be fair now."

Assistant District Attorney David Curl, who handled the appeal, said the district attorney's office plans to ask the appeals court for a rehearing. If that is declined, prosecutors will appeal to the Texas Supreme Court.

The teen, who is not being identified because he is being prosecuted as a juvenile, is accused of shooting 16-year-old Daniel Oltmanns in the head on Sept. 9, 2003, after the pair skipped class and went to hang out at the suspect's home.

Investigators said the teen put Oltmanns' body in a trash bin, wheeled it to a nearby construction site and dumped the body in a hole.

The teen, who is originally from Bosnia, was arrested three days later after officers watching his home saw him scaling his fence with a large rolled-up piece of bloodstained carpet, according to court testimony.

The teen was taken downtown for questioning, where Municipal Judge Gabriella Bendslev advised him of his rights. Afterward, the teen agreed to talk to homicide Detective Mike Carroll and provided a written statement.

In that statement, the teen said that Oltmanns' death was an accident, that Oltmanns had shot himself. The teen also drew a diagram of where he had disposed of the gun, which police later located.

The teen was charged with delinquent conduct/tampering with physical evidence and delinquent conduct/murder.

At a hearing in November 2003, Matlock asked Boyd to suppress the teen's written statement and the gun, arguing that they were obtained illegally because the teen had tried to invoke his right to an attorney when Bendslev informed him of his Miranda rights.

At the hearing, Bendslev testified that, when she advised the teen of his rights, he told her that he was 16 years old and that he wanted to talk to his mother about getting a lawyer.

Bendslev said she told him that he was old enough to invoke his right to an attorney and that he just needed to say so. She told him that he was not entitled to contact his mother at that time. The teen, upon further admonishment by the judge, then agreed to waive his rights and talk with Carroll, Bendslev testified.

Boyd ruled that the teen had tried to invoke his right to counsel by asking to speak to his mother about it and that the teen's written statement and gun were inadmissible.

Prosecutors appealed the ruling. On Thursday, Justice Bob McCoy joined Walker in affirming Boyd's decision.

In his dissenting opinion, Justice Dixon Holman wrote: "The magistrate read and explained to the Appellee his right to have an attorney or have one appointed for him. When Appellee continued to ask for his mother, the magistrate explained to him two more times that he had the option of asking for an attorney, making a statement or not making any statement. At that point, the Appellee decided to speak to the detective."

The teen, meanwhile, is in the custody of the Texas Youth Commission, the prison for juveniles. While the murder case against him was being appealed, he was tried in April on an evidence-tampering charge. After he pleaded guilty, Boyd sentenced him to be held for an undetermined period.

The teen, who is now 18, is close to completing his rehabilitation program and could be released soon, Matlock said Tuesday.

Prosecutor Sheila Wynn, who is handling the case with Jim Hudson, said they hope the teen will remain in custody until the appeals process is completed.

"It is a complicated situation, and we are doing everything we can to make sure that he is brought back here to answer for Daniel's death," Wynn said.

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No word yet on the level of "excitement" the parents of the murdered boy are feeling.

[This message was edited by BLeonard on 03-23-05 at .]

I'm pretty sure (without going to the family code and getting the exact section) that when a child is arrested, his/her parent/s have to be notified and given an opportunity to be present when the child is interrogated. Is that the reason the Ct of Appeals suppressed this statement? (I was a juvenile public defender for about a year before I became an ADA, but I know I will quickly be corrected if I am wrong.)

52.02 requires that parents be notified but, no, that did not have anything to do with the coa opinion.

http://www.2ndcoa.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/HTMLopinion.asp?OpinionID=16392

[This message was edited by D.Merritt on 03-23-05 at .]

While failure to comply with another statute could work causally to trigger 38.22 CCP, there is still only one exclusionary rule.

"The teen, who is originally from Bosnia"

I immediately thought: So - did the magistrate inquire as to his citizenship? Is she required to? Can he lie? If he is a Bosnian citizen, did the magistrate inform him that he had a right to consult with the Bosnian consulate . . .

This Vienna Convention thing has much wider implications than the 50 plus guys on death row . . .It really gives me a headache.