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Yankaway v. State9/29/2004
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
Julius Yankaway was charged with one count of capital murder, four counts of attempted capital murder, and one count of residential burglary in Mississippi County Circuit Court. Appellant was fifteen years old on August 4, 2002, the date on which he allegedly committed the crimes. In this interlocutory appeal, appellant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to transfer his case to the juvenile division of circuit court. We find no error and affirm.
On March 7, 2003, a hearing was held on appellant's motion to transfer. During the hearing, it was established that on August 4, 2002, three black males kicked in the back door of a residence in the housing authority of Wilson. Brandishing guns, the suspects ordered the seven or eight people inside the home to get on the ground. Some mention was made of money but suddenly shots rang out. Jimmy Jackson was shot in the face with a .38-caliber pistol while Yolanda Daniels, Jerome King, and Charles Womack were injured with shotguns. Mykitha Winder was shot by both weapons, but the .38, which was fired twice, produced the fatal shot.
Investigator Robert Ephlin of the Mississippi County Sheriff's Department developed appellant Julius Yankaway, Cedric Loving, and Larry Nash as suspects. Loving and Nash gave statements implicating appellant. According to their statements, appellant carried the .38-caliber pistol while they had shotguns. Investigator Ephlin testified that Loving and Nash said that appellant sought revenge for events stemming from an incident at his father's house where shots had been fired.
Jack Wallace, a probation officer at the Mississippi County Juvenile Probation Department, testified that appellant was adjudicated delinquent on August 30, 1999, for residential burglary and on May 22, 2000, for violation of probation, disorderly conduct, aggravated assault, residential burglary, and theft of property. He stated that the Mississippi County Juvenile Probation Unit had not handled a capital murder case and that there were no programs for youths charged with that particular crime.
Appellant was evaluated by Dr. Tamisha Utermark at Mid-South Health Systems on January 3, 2003. In her report, Dr. Utermark concluded that appellant was currently mentally competent and that there was no evidence of any psychiatric impairment that would have caused him to be unable to conform his behavior to the requirements of the law at the time of the alleged offense.
Christine Yankaway, appellant's mother, testified that appellant was moved frequently because his father was in the military and that his father was often gone in his current job as a truck driver. She testified that appellant got along well with his family but that he hung out with the wrong crowd. She testified that appellant and his friends often had fist fights. Mrs. Yankaway described appellant as a hyperactive child. According to her, appellant was prescribed medicine for his hyperactivity but had stopped taking it.
When a case involves a juvenile who is fourteen or fifteen years old when he engages in conduct that, if committed by an adult, would be capital murder, the criminal division of circuit court and the juvenile division of circuit court have concurrent jurisdiction, and a prosecuting attorney may charge the juvenile in either division. Ark. Code Ann. ยง 9-27-318(c)(2)(A) (Repl. 2002). Upon the motion of the court or of any party, the judge of the division of circuit court in which criminal charges have been filed shall conduct a hearing to determine whether to retain jurisdiction or to transfer the case to another division of the circuit court having jurisdiction.
Page 1 2 3 Arkansas Personal Injury Attorneys
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