Court of Appeals of Texas, Second District, Fort Worth
On
Appeal from the 323rd District Court Tarrant County, Texas
Trial Court No. 323-110598-19
Before
Gabriel, Kerr, and Womack, JJ.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Dana
Womack Justice.
I.
Introduction
This is
an appeal from the juvenile court's order transferring
appellant T.L. (Tom)[1] to an appropriate district court or
criminal district court (criminal court) to be tried as an
adult.[2] In a single issue, Tom argues that the
juvenile court's decision to transfer him to a criminal
court was an abuse of discretion. We disagree and will affirm
the juvenile court's transfer order.
II.
Background
The
evidence presented at the May 29, 2019 transfer hearing
consisted of testimony from several witnesses and multiple
documentary and media exhibits. The evidence developed during
the hearing revealed the following facts.
A.
Factual Background
On
September 3, 2018, Detective Daniel Koplin of the Fort Worth
Police Department began investigating a robbery at a grocery
store. Between September 3, 2018 and September 23, 2018, a
total of nine robberies involving fifteen victims were
committed at seven Fort Worth locations.
Although
some of the robbers attempted to conceal their identities,
the surveillance video recordings and witness descriptions
indicated that the perpetrators of the nine robberies were
young individuals of Asian descent. The recordings also
showed that the perpetrators of the nine robberies appeared
to be the same four or five individuals based on their
height, weight, and clothing and revealed the guns used and
backpacks carried during the commission of the robberies.
The
robberies appeared to be preplanned and occurred quickly-in a
matter of minutes. The robbers were very well-organized, with
each seeming to know his exact role. Koplin explained that
many convenience stores have a lock in the counter area that
the store clerk can activate to prevent the exterior door
from opening, and it appeared that the robbers understood
this. One robber would open and hold the door to allow two to
three others to enter the store with weapons-a gun and a BB
gun-and would not allow the door to close during the robbery.
Displaying or pointing one or both guns, the robbers would go
directly to the store clerks and force them to attempt to
remove money out of the cash register. During some robberies,
there were as many as four victims, and one of the robbers
stole a gold necklace from a store employee during the first
robbery. One of the robbers awaited the others in a getaway
vehicle located nearby but away from the front of the store.
It appeared that the same vehicle was always used. During the
last robbery, one of the robbers-not Tom-shot victim Bobby
Weeks.
Officers
observed that on one surveillance video, two robbers were
seen entering the store without any type of mask. After
learning that a significant population of persons of Asian
descent lived in a particular apartment complex near the
robberies, detectives showed still images of the unmasked
robbers to the apartment complex's employees. One
employee identified a juvenile resident as one of the
robbers. Officers spoke with that juvenile at his school, and
he implicated Tom as also being involved in the robberies and
advised that Tom probably had the guns. Tom also lived in the
apartment complex.
Koplin
conducted a noncustodial interview of Tom at his school. Tom
initially denied any involvement in the robberies, but he
eventually admitted that he had held the door during the
first robbery at a Texaco, had wielded the BB gun in another
instance, and on September 23, 2018-the last robbery date-had
driven to one of the robbery locations and had been the
getaway driver after the shooting. He was also implicated by
other suspects for his role in the robberies.
Detectives
obtained search warrants for several locations, including
Tom's apartment. During the search of Tom's
apartment, officers found items that were consistent with
those seen on the surveillance videos-clothing (including the
hoodie and shoes that Tom wore during some of the offenses),
masks, and backpacks. One of the two backpacks found in
Tom's bedroom closet contained a 9mm semiautomatic
pistol, and the other backpack contained a long-barrel BB
gun. These guns also appeared to match the guns that were
seen on the surveillance videos.
After
conducting other interviews and observing the surveillance
videos, officers determined that Tom had held the door during
the first robbery, had held the BB gun during several
robberies, and in one of the robberies, had wielded the 9mm
semiautomatic pistol-"the real gun." The relevant
information for each offense as it relates to Tom is as
follows:
(1) Date: September 3, 2018
Business: Texaco
Location: 5324 Trail Lake Drive
Victims: Robert Moreland and Kapugamage Wickremaratne
Property: cash, cigars, tobacco products, gold necklace
Role: held door
(2) Date: September 9, 2018
Business: Ark. Grocery
Location: 1211 Seminary Drive
Victim: Jesus Aguiniga-Arroyo
Property: $2, 500, cigarettes, beer, sweet tea
Role: wielded BB gun
(3) Date: September 9, 2018
Business: 7-Eleven
Location: 5300 Sycamore School Road
Victim: Phillip Darden
Property: $250 cash and Darden's wallet
Role: wielded BB gun
(4) Date: September 13, 2018
Business: Quick Way
Location: 5375 Granbury Road
Victims: Gagan Budhathoki and Tesfahun Anbessie
Property: cash
Role: wielded handgun
(5) Date: September 16, 2018
Business: JW Food Store
Location: 5001 East Berry Street
Victims: Mary Dudley and Roger Carter
Property: cash and Carter's wallet
Role: participant
(6) Date: September 17, ...