Juvenile Statements

Juvenile confessions are not always excluded upon a violation of the juvenile statutes. The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 38.23 requires a causal connection between the illegality and obtaining the evidence according to the Texas Criminal Appeals court in the Gonzales v. State case.

That case was remanded to consider whether failure to notify parents of arrest had connection to the juvenile giving a statement. Even if an improper custodial interrogation results in an illegal confession, a subsequent confession may still be admissible. In the Matter of R.J.H. was a 2002 case where the juvenile’s non-custodial inculpatory statements made after the juvenile had already given the police a confession was inadmissible under the Texas Family Code because a magistrate was not present were nevertheless voluntary.

The Family Code section 51.095 statute does not apply if the juvenile is not in custody.