Opinion
5 Div. 216.
October 1, 1974. Rehearing Denied October 29, 1974.
Appeal from the Court, Lee County, L. J. Tyner, J.
Jack Floyd, Gadsden, for appellant.
It is mandatory for the trial judge to refer any person under 21 years of age, whose case has not been disposed of in juvenile court and who is charged with a crime involving moral turpitude or is subject to a sentence of confinement for one year or more, to a probation officer to make an investigation, before determining if the person should be tried as a youthful offender. Morgan v. State, 291 Ala. 764, 287 So.2d 914; Title 15, Sec. 266(1-6) Code of Alabama, 1940 Recompiled 1958.
William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen., and Richard F. Calhoun, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Not all federal constitutional errors, regardless of the facts and circumstances, must always be deemed harmful, but there are some constitutional errors which, in the setting of a particular case, may, consistently with the Federal Constitution, be deemed harmless, so as not to warrant automatic reversal of a conviction. Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967); Harrington v. California, 395 U.S. 250, 89 S.Ct. 1726, 23 L.Ed.2d 284 (1969).
Appellant was indicted in the Circuit Court of Lee County for nighttime burglary with intent to rape. At arraignment, the appellant, then twenty years of age, filed a petition to be tried as a youthful offender. When presented to the court, the motion was overruled. Counsel for appellant contends that the court overruled the motion without referring the matter to a probation officer for investigation and without an examination by the court.
We are of the opinion that the cause must be remanded to the court to investigate and examine the appellant at a hearing and determine whether in its discretion appellant should be tried as a youthful offender. Title 15, § 266(1), Code of Alabama; Morgan v. State, 291 Ala. 764, 287 So.2d 914.
The trial court is further instructed that the hearing be held speedily, and that a full record be made together with the court's determination. A transcript of these proceedings, under the seal of the Clerk, will then be forwarded to this court for review. Seibold v. State, 287 Ala. 549, 253 So.2d 302.
Remanded with directions.
All the Judges concur.