P.B. v. State

Appeal from Jefferson Juvenile Court (JU-21-456.01)

McCOOL, Judge.

P.B. appeals a judgment of the Jefferson Juvenile Court that adjudicated him delinquent on a charge that he had unlawfully possessed a pistol as a minor. See § 13A-11-72(b), Ala. Code 1975.

Facts and Procedural History

On April 20, 2021, Officers Johnny Scott and Daryl Dobbs of the Birmingham Police Department were patrolling a public-housing community in Birmingham when they stopped and approached a large crowd, which included P.B., who was 17 years old. During a Terry^[1] frisk of P.B., Officer Scott found a pistol in the pocket of P.B.'s pants; the next day, Officer Scott filed a delinquency petition charging P.B. with unlawfully possessing a pistol as a minor in violation of § 13A-11-72(b).

P.B. subsequently filed a motion to suppress the pistol, arguing that "[t]here was not reasonable suspicion within the meaning of Terry v. Ohio[, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), ] when officers searched [P.B.] and discovered what is alleged to be a handgun." (C. 9.) The juvenile court held a suppression hearing and, following that hearing, denied the motion to suppress.

On June 10, 2021, P.B. pleaded "true" to the charge of unlawfully possessing a pistol as a minor, and the juvenile court placed him on probation. Before pleading, however, P.B. reserved the suppression issue for appellate review. That same day, the juvenile court issued the

delinquency judgment, and the clerk of the juvenile court entered the judgment into the record later that day. (C. 20.)

On June 16, 2021, P.B. filed a motion to amend the judgment to reflect that he had reserved the suppression issue for appellate review. The juvenile court granted that motion and, on June 24, 2021, amended the judgment in accordance with the motion; the court made no other changes to the judgment. (C. 22.) On July 8, 2021, P.B. filed a notice of appeal.

Discussion

On appeal, P.B. argues that the juvenile court erred by denying his motion to suppress the pistol that Officer Scott found during the Terry frisk. However, before we may reach the merits of P.B.'s claim, we must first determine whether P.B.'s notice of appeal was timely filed because, if it was not, this Court has no jurisdiction to consider the appeal. See Wank v. State, 18 So.3d 972, 974 (Ala.Crim.App.2009) (" 'Timely filing of notice of appeal is a jurisdictional requisite, and the appeal must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction if notice of appeal was not timely filed.'" (quoting Woods v. State, 371 So.2d 944, 945 (Ala. 1979))). "Although the parties do not raise any argument regarding this Court's jurisdiction to

hear th[is] appeal[ ], 'jurisdictional matters are of such magnitude that we take notice of them at any time and do so even ex mero motu.'" MPQ, Inc. v. Birmingham Realty Co., 78 So.3d 391, 393 (Ala. 2011) (quoting Nunn v. Baker, 518 So.2d 711, 712 (Ala. 1987)).

Rule 4(a), Ala. R. App. P., and Rule 28(D), Ala. R. Juv. P., provide that a notice of appeal from a final judgment of a juvenile court must be filed within 14 days of the entry of the judgment. However, in juvenile-delinquency cases, this time is tolled if, within that 14-day period, the prospective appellant seeks relief from the judgment in a motion filed pursuant to...