In re Thomas R. CA2/1

Filed 1/24/14 In re Thomas R. CA2/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

In re THOMAS R., a Person Coming B247000 Under the Juvenile Court Law. (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. YJ33543)

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

THOMAS R.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Kevin L. Brown, Judge. Reversed. Gerald Peters, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Victoria B. Wilson, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, and Brendan Sullivan, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. _____________________

Thomas R. appeals from the juvenile court’s order sustaining a petition and finding true the allegations that Thomas R., a minor, possessed a firearm and live ammunition. Thomas R. contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress his statement to police officers. We agree and reverse. BACKGROUND A Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 petition filed January 7, 2013, alleged that Thomas R., a minor, violated Penal Code section 29610 by possessing a firearm (count 1) and violated Penal Code section 29650 by possessing live ammunition (count 2).1 Thomas R. denied the allegations and moved to suppress his statement to police. The trial court denied the motion to suppress and found the allegations true, declaring count 1 a felony and count 2 a misdemeanor. The court declared Thomas R. a continued ward of the court,2 and ordered a camp community placement with a maximum term of 18 years and eight months, and 42 days of predisposition credit. Thomas R.’s suppression motion argued that his arrest was without probable cause, and the warnings he received pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 [86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694] (Miranda) did not purge the taint of the illegal arrest, so that his statements, both oral and written, were inadmissible. At the suppression hearing, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Abel Estopin testified that on January 3, 2013, he and his partner were on duty in the area of Byrnhurst Avenue and 67th Street. Officer Estopin saw Thomas R. standing where the sidewalk met the common driveway running between the two buildings of a six-unit apartment complex on Brynhurst, where Officer Estopin knew Thomas R. lived. Thomas R. was with three other people, Logan, Jenkins (who lived in another apartment in the complex),