OPINION
G.E.D., a sixteen-year-old appellant, was charged as an adult for the offense of First Degree Burglary in the District Court of Pittsburg County, Case No. F-87-168. Appellant’s motion to be certified as a child under Oklahoma’s Reverse Certification
K.H. awoke late at night upon hearing a knocking at her front door. She answered the knock and found a boy later identified as appellant standing there. He asked K.H. to check her water to see if it wás working because his family was having trouble with the water at their house. She complied with his request. Upon returning to the door, she observed appellant pushing at it trying to gain entrance. Appellant succeeded in his efforts, and once inside K.H.’s residence, he grabbed her and threw her onto the living room couch. He then jumped on top of her and threatened to cut her throat with a knife he was holding. K.H. calmed appellant down and talked him into leaving. She then called the police who escorted appellant and his mother to the police station for questioning. After being read the Miranda rights, appellant admitted to doing what K.H. reported, and both he and his mother signed statements introduced as evidence at the preliminary hearing.
For his first proposition of error, appellant contends that the court was without jurisdiction because appellant was not properly charged in the information to be considered an adult. He claims that the information must specifically charge one of the enumerated felonies in 10 O.S.1981, § 1104.2 in order for a sixteen-year-old such as he to be tried as an adult. The caption for the information is entitled “Burglary, First Degree” and appellant asserts that this is not one of the felonies with which a child must be charged in order to fit the exception to the definition of “child”. See 10 O.S.1981, § 1104.2. He is correct in this assertion; however, the burglary caption is not the only charging language that must be considered. This Court has stated on many occasions that:
[t]he caption of the cause is placed on the information for convenience, and for the purpose of ready identification, and constitutes no part of the information itself.
Roberson v. State,
Under the Oklahoma certification statute, “[a]ny person sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age who is charged with ... use of firearm or other offensive weapon while committing a felony ... shall be considered an adult.” See 10 O.S.1987 Supp. § 1101(1). See also 10 O.S.1981, § 1101(1) (incorporating this language into the definition of “child”). The information charged appellant with breaking and entering a dwelling and “holding an offensive weapon” to K.H.’s throat. In light of these facts, it is clear that the charging language falls within the requirements of Section 1104.2(A). Therefore, appellant was properly certified as an adult and the trial court had proper jurisdiction of the case. This assignment of error is without merit.
Appellant contends in his second proposition that the trial court abused its discretion in denying appellant’s motion to be certified as a child under the reverse certification statute. Once found to be an “adult” under 10 O.S.1981, § 1104.2(A), a sixteen (16) year-old accused may file a motion to be certified as a child by the trial court. The court is required to consider four guidelines in determining whether such “reverse certification” is warranted. See 10 O.S.1981, § 1104.2(C). Appellant was permitted to offer evidence in support of his motion, and the trial court noted in the record how each of the four guidelines were considered.
Secondly, the court must consider whether the offense was against persons or property. See 10 O.S.1981, § 1104.2(C)(2). Greater weight should be given against reverse certification if the offense was against a person, especially when personal injury resulted. Id. The court noted that Ms. Hall received very minor injuries, but the fact remains that a person was attacked. We cannot say that the trial court erred in its consideration of this guideline.
The statute also requires a court to consider the “record and past history of the accused person.” See 10 O.S.1981, § 1104.2(C)(3). Appellant has no known criminal record; however, his mother told police that on at least two occasions, appellant had exhibited similar behavior to that behavior with which he is charged, though the previous acts were not as violent as the offense against K.H. Appellant relies on Burks v. State,
The fourth guideline concerns the “prospects for adequate protection of the public if the accused person is processed through the juvenile system.” See 10 O.S.1981, § 1104.2(C)(4). We note that extensive testimony was heard in regard to this factor, yet it is the least important one to consider. After hearing all the evidence, the court announced that the prospects for adequate public protection did not exist. However, the court did not explain the basis for this finding. We again find no abuse of discretion. The statute clearly states that a trial court need not detail responses to each of the considerations as long as they are each noted in the determination. See
On appeal, the trial court’s ruling will not be disturbed absent an abuse of discretion. Trolinger v. State,
Appellant contends in his third assignment of error that the reverse certification statute violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution because the burden of proof is shifted to the juvenile. He asks this Court to reconsider its holding in State ex rel Coats v. Rakestraw,
As his final proposition, appellant contends that the statements made by him
For the foregoing reasons, the order appealed from is AFFIRMED.