Opinion
No. CA12-509
02-27-2013
M.L. APPELLANT v. STATE OF ARKANSAS APPELLEE
Terry Goodwin Jones, for appellant. Dustin McDaniel, Att'y Gen., by: Ashley Argo Priest, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.
APPEAL FROM THE CRAIGHEAD COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, WESTERN DISTRICT [NO. JV-2011-336]
HONORABLE LEE FERGUS, JUDGE
AFFIRMED
ROBERT J. GLADWIN , Chief Judge
Appellant M.L. appeals from the revocation of his probationary sentence by the Craighead County Circuit Court Juvenile Division, claiming that the State failed to prove that he committed an act of terroristic threatening. We affirm.
On April 18, 2012, appellant was adjudicated delinquent in juvenile court in Craighead County for disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to a deferred thirty-day commitment in the Craighead County Juvenile Detention Center, six months of supervised probation, and forty hours of community service, and he was ordered to pay fines and costs. Appellant's terms and conditions of probation ordered him to obey all state, federal, and municipal laws and be of good behavior.
On April 23, 2012, the State filed a petition to revoke, alleging that on April 18, 2012, appellant committed terroristic threatening in the first degree in violation of his probation. The charge stemmed from an incident at a park—on the same day he was initially placed on probation—when appellant was asked to leave the park due to his argumentative behavior and his refusal to allow the smaller children their basketball court time. According to two employees of the park, police were called when appellant refused to leave and began to issue threats about returning with a gun. Officers were dispatched to the park and then went to appellant's house where they talked to appellant's mother, contacted the juvenile-probation officer, and placed appellant into custody.
At the hearing, the two employees testified that appellant threatened the children and the employees, particularly the male employee, and that once he realized that the police were on their way, he left the park to go to his house. The arresting officer testified that he went to appellant's house, talked to appellant and his mother, and then notified the juvenile-probation officer who asked that appellant be taken into custody.
The trial judge held that appellant violated the terms of his probation by committing a new crime of terroristic threatening, revoked his probated sentence, sentenced him to ninety days in the Craighead County Juvenile Detention Center and one-year probation, and ordered him to pay fines and costs as well as abide by previous orders. A timely notice of appeal and designation of record were filed.
Under Arkansas Code Annotated section 9-27-399 (Repl. 2011), a juvenile court may revoke a juvenile's probation if it finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the juvenile violated the terms and conditions of probation. R.W. v. State, 2010 Ark. App. 220. The State need only show that the appellant committed one violation in order to sustain a revocation. Brock v. State, 70 Ark. App. l07, 14 S.W.3d 908 (2000). On appeal, the juvenile court's findings will be upheld unless they are clearly against the preponderance of the evidence. Id. Because the determination of a preponderance of the evidence turns on questions of credibility and weight to be given testimony, appellate courts defer to the trial judge's superior position to gauge these matters. Williams v. State, 351 Ark. 229, 91 S.W.3d 68 (2002).
Appellant claims that the testimony of his mother indicates that they were unsure whether he had been placed on probation at the time of the incident at the park. His mother testified that she did not recall having signed papers attesting to that fact. But appellant acknowledges that his mother did admit that she and her son had been in court the same morning of the incident and that she recalled that the trial court had ordered him to be placed on probation. His distinction, however, is that his mother did not realize that appellant's probation was already in effect at the time this incident occurred. Appellant submits that the trial court should not have found him guilty of violating the terms and conditions of his probation because there was a question as to whether appellant actually understood the terms of probation and that the actual probationary sentence was in effect.
We disagree and hold that the trial court's findings are not clearly against the preponderance of the evidence. Amy Powell, a Craighead County juvenile office employee, testified that appellant was placed on six months' probation on April 18, 2012, for disorderly conduct, and was subject to an 8:00 p.m. curfew, outpatient counseling, fines and fees, forty hours of community service, and a thirty-day-detention deferred sentence.
Eric Jackson, an Allen Park Community Center (APCC) employee, testified that on April 18, 2012, he was notified that appellant would not share a basketball court with younger children. Jackson told appellant that he needed to share the court with the younger kids, to which appellant replied, "F*** that. This is some bullsh**. I ain't going anywhere. Y'all over there playing full court. I ain't gotta do sh**." Jackson then asked him to leave, and appellant refused. Jackson called the Jonesboro Police Department's non-emergency number to report appellant's refusal to leave. According to Jackson, as appellant began to leave, he threatened Jackson that he had something for him and that he would be back to "shoot this motherf***er up."
Teniqua Cooper, another APCC employee, testified that she was present during the incident and heard appellant yelling that he was going to shoot Jackson and the gym. Cooper also asked appellant to leave because she was concerned with his behavior in front of a number of children playing outside. Cooper testified that, prior to this incident, she had kicked appellant out of the gym because he would "mouth off."
Aronda Livingston, appellant's mother, testified on cross-examination as follows:
Q. Your son was on probation for about six hours on April 18th when this happened, right?
A. Well, to be honest I knew we had probation, but I thought we had to sign paperwork first, so I really didn't know he was on probation yet.
Q. Y'all were in court that day?
A. Yes.
Q. And you heard the Judge say that he was on probation?
A. Yes, but I was told that I had to sign paperwork or something, so, --
Q. Okay.
A. I'm just letting you know.
The trial court weighed the testimony of Jackson and Cooper and found their versions of the events to be credible. We hold that the trial court did not err in finding that the State proved by a preponderance of the evidence that appellant committed the act of terroristic threatening at the APCC and that, in doing so, he violated the probation terms from his disorderly conduct adjudication.
Affirmed.
WYNNE and HIXSON, JJ., agree.
Terry Goodwin Jones, for appellant.
Dustin McDaniel, Att'y Gen., by: Ashley Argo Priest, Ass't Att'y Gen., for appellee.