Source: https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/people-v-braeseke-23222
Timestamp: 2020-07-02 17:56:58
Document Index: 50027380

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2', '§ 682', '§ 226', '§ 13', '§ 906', '§ 215', '§ 682']

People v. Braeseke - 25 Cal.3d 691 - Thu, 11/15/1979 | California Supreme Court Resources
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Citation 25 Cal.3d 691
People v. Braeseke , 25 Cal.3d 691
Quin Denvir, State Public Defender, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, and Clifton R. Jeffers, Chief Assistant State Public Defender, for Defendant and Appellant. [25 Cal.3d 694]
Defendant was taken to the sheriff's substation where he was interviewed by Sergeants Cervi and Seher shortly after 4 a.m. He related [25 Cal.3d 695] the same version of events he had earlier recounted. The interview ended about 5:15 a.m. Sergeants Cervi and Seher then discussed the case out of defendant's presence. They noted that defendant had blood splattered on his pants leg and that there were inconsistencies between defendant's story and that of his friend David Barker whom the officers had interviewed earlier. The officers therefore decided to conduct a further interview of defendant.
Cervi then asked defendant, "[C]an I turn the tape recorder on; and can we get a statement from you to that effect?" Defendant said yes, and Cervi turned on the tape recorder at 7:25 a.m., from memory attempted to readmonish defendant of his Miranda rights, and recorded his statement (hereinafter referred to as Confession No. 1). In response to leading questions by Cervi, which omitted reference to the "off the record" request, defendant acknowledged that he had come forward during the booking procedure and asked to talk to Cervi about the incident. [25 Cal.3d 696] In response to further questions, defendant stated that he was acting voluntarily and was willing to waive his right to have an attorney present. Cervi concentrated on defendant's understanding of his right to counsel and neglected to include in his readmonishment the right to remain silent. fn. 2
About 1 p.m. the same day defendant gave a tape-recorded statement to Deputy District Attorney Michael Cardoza (hereafter referred to as Confession No. 2). Cardoza began by advising defendant of his Miranda rights. Defendant said he understood them and was willing to talk. He confirmed the prior sequence of events and stated that he was aware of his Miranda rights and understood them at the time he asked to talk to Sergeant Cervi. fn. 3 Defendant was again asked whether he was willing to waive his rights and talk; he said he was and again gave a full confession (Confession No. 2). This interview ended at 2:09 p.m. [25 Cal.3d 697]
Defendant made a pretrial motion to suppress his off the record statement to Sergeant Cervi, the two tape-recorded confessions (Confessions No. 1 and 2), the rifle and various items of physical evidence which were allegedly products of the confessions. He also moved to suppress a statement made two days after his arrest on the ground that it too was a product of the earlier confessions. The trial court ruled that the confession to Cervi (Confession No. 1) must be suppressed because [25 Cal.3d 698] it had not been preceded by an adequate Miranda warning. fn. 4 (Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 [16 L.Ed.2d 694, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 10 A.L.R.3d 974].) The rest of the items defendant sought to have suppressed were ruled admissible.
[1] Since defendant's challenge to the latter ruling is premised on the validity of the ruling suppressing the initial confession, the first question we must decide is whether the People may obtain review of the ruling on the first confession under section 1252. Section 1252 provides in pertinent part: "On an appeal by a defendant, the appellate court shall, in addition to the issues raised by the defendant, consider and pass upon all rulings of the trial court adverse to the State which it may be requested to pass upon by the Attorney General." This portion of section 1252 was enacted in 1927 as part of the statutory amendments [25 Cal.3d 699] proposed by the Commission for the Reform of Criminal Procedure. (Stats. 1927, ch. 620, § 2, p. 1048; see The Association's Legislative Program (1927) 1 State Bar J. 113.) In its report to the Legislature on the proposed amendments, the commission stated: "The additional provision that the appellate court shall pass upon rulings adverse to the state which it is requested to consider by the Attorney General is deemed an important one. At the present time the state has no way to review rulings adverse to it made during the trial. The proposed amendment will give this right, and thus a way will be opened to settle many disputed questions." (Rep. of Com. for Reform of Crim. Proc., Sen. J., p. 26 (1927).)
Despite the statute's broad language and stated purpose, defendant contends that section 1252 does not authorize review of the ruling on the first confession. He relies on People v. Zelver (1955) 135 Cal.App.2d 226 [287 P.2d 183]; People v. Burke (1956) 47 Cal.2d 45 [301 P.2d 241]; and People v. Green (1968) 264 Cal.App.2d 614 [70 Cal.Rptr. 647]. In Zelver defendant was charged with and convicted of three offenses. The trial court granted a new trial as to count II and then dismissed it on its own motion. Defendant appealed from the judgment of conviction on counts I and III; the People sought review under Penal Code section 1252 of the grant of a new trial and dismissal of count II. The Court of Appeal held that the People were not entitled to such review because the ruling was one from which they could have appealed under section 1238, but did not do so: "The statute here involved [section 1252] was intended to give the People the right, on an appeal by the defendant, when a judgment of conviction is reversed, to raise points that might be involved on a retrial. The statute was not designed to give the People a right in the nature of an appeal. The right of appeal is governed by other sections of the code." (People v. Zelver, supra, 135 Cal.App.2d at pp. 236-237.)
In People v. Green, defendant appealed from a judgment convicting him of two counts of receiving stolen property. The trial court had ruled that defendant's arrest was illegal. The Court of Appeal held that the [25 Cal.3d 700] ruling that the arrest was illegal necessitated a determination that a search of defendant's room was likewise illegal because consent to the search was secured immediately after the illegal arrest and thus was inextricably bound up with it. Although the People attempted to argue on appeal that the search was valid because based upon a lawful arrest, the Court of Appeal, citing Zelver, held that it could not undertake such a review where the result would be affirmance of the judgment of conviction.
The present situation is one which the Legislature may well have had in mind when it added this provision to section 1252. Since an appeal by the People is not authorized in this instance, an interpretation of section 1252 as precluding review of the order suppressing the initial confession would result in that order being binding on us even if clearly erroneous. Such a result would be patently unreasonable here where defendant's challenge to the admissibility of the subsequent confession and other evidence is premised on the validity of the ruling that the first confession was inadmissible. Thus, if the trial court erred in ruling that the first confession was inadmissible, it follows that the second confession was admissible and that the trial court's ruling to that effect was correct, even though based upon erroneous reasoning. To preclude the People from making this argument would be contrary to the rule that a correct decision of the trial court must be affirmed on appeal even if it is based on erroneous reasons. (See People v. Grana (1934) 1 Cal.2d 565, 571 [36 P.2d 375]; People v. Towner (1968) 259 Cal.App.2d 682, 685 [66 Cal.Rptr. 559]; Davey v. Southern Pacific Co. (1897) 116 Cal. 325, 329 [48 P. 117]; D'Amico v. Board of Medical Examiners (1974) 11 Cal.3d 1, 19 [112 Cal.Rptr. 786, 520 P.2d 10]; Witkin, Cal. Criminal Procedure, Appeal, § 682, pp. 665-666; 6 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1971) Appeal, § 226, pp. 4215-4216.) To preclude review of an erroneous ruling on the admissibility of the first confession would also be contrary to the constitutional provision permitting judgments to be [25 Cal.3d 701] reversed only when a miscarriage of justice has occurred. (Cal. Const., art. VI, § 13.)
Accordingly, we conclude that the People may, on an appeal by the defendant and pursuant to the provisions of section 1252, obtain review of allegedly erroneous rulings by the trial court in order to secure an affirmance of the judgment of conviction. fn. 5 Our conclusion is consistent with the rule regarding review of points raised by the respondent in civil appeals. (See Code Civ. Proc., § 906; 6 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (2d ed. 1971) Appeal, §§ 215-217, pp. 4205-4208; Selected 1957 Code Legislation (1957) 32 State Bar J. 556-557; see also Traynor, Some Open Questions on the Work of State Appellate Courts (1957) 24 U.Chi.L.Rev. 211, 220.) It is also consistent with the holding in the Zelver and Burke cases where review was denied because the People had an independent right of appeal which they failed to exercise and sought to raise error for purposes other than securing an affirmance of the judgment. We disapprove People v. Green, supra, 264 Cal.App.2d 614, to the extent it is inconsistent with this opinion.
[2a] We turn to the question of the correctness of the ruling that defendant's first confession was inadmissible. The People contend the trial court erred in excluding the confession on the ground that the Miranda warnings were inadequate. Defendant, on the other hand, contends that even if the trial court's reasoning on the Miranda warnings was incorrect, its ruling must nevertheless be upheld if there is any basis in the record to sustain it. (See People v. Rios (1976) 16 Cal.3d 351, 356 [128 Cal.Rptr. 5, 546 P.2d 293]; People v. Towner, supra, 259 Cal.App.2d at p. 685; Witkin, Cal. Criminal Procedure, Appeal, § 682, pp. 665-666.) On this record we agree with both contentions but, as we shall show, we conclude that the trial court's ruling on the first confession must be sustained because there is no evidence from which the trial court could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the confession was the product of a knowing and intelligent waiver of defendant's Miranda rights. (See People v. Jimenez (1978) 21 Cal.3d 595 [147 Cal.Rptr. 172, 580 P.2d 672].)
[3] A Miranda warning is not required before each custodial interrogation; one warning, if adequately and reasonably contemporaneously [25 Cal.3d 702] given, is sufficient. (People v. Johnson (1969) 70 Cal.2d 469, 477 [74 Cal.Rptr. 889, 450 P.2d 265]; People v. Bynum (1971) 4 Cal.3d 589, 600 [94 Cal.Rptr. 241, 483 P.2d 1193].) Defendant was given proper Miranda warnings only an hour and a half before the incomplete readmonishment immediately preceding the confession. The warnings given appear sufficient. (See People v. Duren (1973) 9 Cal.3d 218, 241-242 [107 Cal.Rptr. 157, 507 P.2d 1365].) There remains, however, the question whether defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his Miranda rights.
[4] It is beyond dispute that once a defendant has asserted his right to counsel the interrogation must cease. (People v. Fioritto (1968) 68 Cal.2d 714, 718-719 [68 Cal.Rptr. 817, 441 P.2d 625]; People v. Pettingill (1978) 21 Cal.3d 231, 237-241 [145 Cal.Rptr. 861, 578 P.2d 108].) It may not be resumed without counsel unless compelling evidence of a waiver of the suspect's rights appears. (Cf. Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. at p. 474 [16 L.Ed.2d at p. 723]; People v. Randall (1970) 1 Cal.3d 948, 956 [83 Cal.Rptr. 658, 464 P.2d 114].) Even when the defendant has not asserted his right to counsel, a "heavy burden rests on the government to demonstrate that the defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his privilege against self-incrimination and his right to retained or appointed counsel." (Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. at p. 475 [16 L.Ed.2d at p. 724].) When, as here, the defendant has asserted his right to the presence of an attorney that burden is particularly onerous (People v. Randall, supra, 1 Cal.3d at p. 958; cf. People v. Brockman (1969) 2 Cal.App.3d 1002, 1007-1008 [83 Cal.Rptr. 70]) and usually is discharged only by a showing that the defendant initiated without reservation the renewed interrogation. (See People v. McDaniel (1976) 16 Cal.3d 156, 172 [127 Cal.Rptr. 467, 545 P.2d 843]; People v. Randall, supra, 1 Cal.3d at p. 956.) [2b] In the present case defendant did not unreservedly institute the renewed interrogation, and the People did not in any other way discharge the heavy burden imposed upon them by Miranda. A request to speak "off the record" cannot constitute a knowing and intelligent waiver of rights which include the advisement that "anything [a suspect] says can be used against him in a court of law." (Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. at p. 479 [16 L.Ed.2d at p. 726]; cf. People v. Nudd (1974) 12 Cal.3d 204, 207 [115 Cal.Rptr. 372, 524 P.2d 844]; People v. Disbrow (1976) 16 Cal.3d 101, 105-106 [127 Cal.Rptr. 360, 545 P.2d 272].) Indeed, defendant's request revealed a marked lack of [25 Cal.3d 703] understanding of the Miranda warnings. fn. 6 (Cf. People v. Skinner (1965) 235 Cal.App.2d 16 [44 Cal.Rptr. 883].) Sergeant Cervi then contributed to defendant's lack of understanding by agreeing to the request rather than informing defendant that there could be no such thing as an off the record discussion. (Cf. People v. Honeycutt (1977) 20 Cal.3d 150, 158-161 [141 Cal.Rptr. 698, 570 P.2d 1050].)
In view of the lack of any credible evidence that defendant's initiation of the conversation with Sergeant Cervi constituted a knowing and intelligent waiver of his Miranda rights, we must conclude that the continued interrogation of defendant was in violation of Miranda and that the confession resulting therefrom is inadmissible. fn. 7 (See People v. Pettingill, supra, 21 Cal.3d at pp. 237-241; People v. Disbrow, supra, 16 Cal.3d at pp. 105-106; People v. Randall, supra, 1 Cal.3d at p. 958; People v. Fioritto, supra, 68 Cal.2d at p. 719.) The lack of a knowing and intelligent waiver by defendant of his Miranda rights makes the present situation similar to that in People v. Pettingill, supra, 21 Cal.3d 231, and the line of cases discussed therein where police improperly continued interrogating a suspect after he had invoked his rights under Miranda. As in those cases, it is immaterial that the continued interrogation was preceded by another advisement of Miranda rights. Nor do we believe that anything that occurred in the course of defendant's second confession, which clearly was a product of his first confession, can "cure" the defects in the method by which defendant's first confession was obtained.
Defendant contends that the trial court erred in not suppressing his subsequent statements and certain physical evidence as products of the first confession. [5] "The fruits of an illegally conducted interrogation are no less inadmissible during the trial of the declarant than his statements themselves." (People v. Schader (1969) 71 Cal.2d 761, 778 [80 Cal.Rptr. 1, 457 P.2d 841]; see also People v. Buchanan (1966) 63 Cal.2d 880, 887 [48 Cal.Rptr. 733, 409 P.2d 957].) Absent prosecution evidence showing a break in the causative chain between seriatim confessions, there is a presumption that the subsequent confessions were [25 Cal.3d 704] the product of the same improper police conduct which induced the first confession. (People v. Spencer (1967) 66 Cal.2d 158, 165-168 [57 Cal.Rptr. 163, 424 P.2d 715]; People v. Johnson (1969) 70 Cal.2d 541, 547 [75 Cal.Rptr. 401, 450 P.2d 865]; People v. Sanchez (1969) 70 Cal.2d 562, 574 [75 Cal.Rptr. 642, 451 P.2d 74]; People v. McClary (1977) 20 Cal.3d 218, 229-230 [142 Cal.Rptr. 163, 571 P.2d 620].)
[6] The improper introduction of a confession constitutes reversible error. (People v. Pettingill, supra, 21 Cal.3d 231; People v. McClary, supra, 20 Cal.3d at p. 230; People v. Randall, supra, 1 Cal.3d at p. 958; People v. Fioritto, supra, 68 Cal.2d at p. 720.) The judgment is reversed.
The conduct of the police was irreproachable. Therefore, the lesson ("prophylactic effect") derived from today's decision can only be that this court no longer accepts convictions based on voluntary confessions. fn. 1 This despite the fact that many convicted criminals (few criminals, of course, are convicted) would go free but for confessions. Worse, recognition that some desire to tell the truth-and should be permitted to do so -- escapes the majority of our court. [25 Cal.3d 705]
A few hours later defendant gave a taped statement to a deputy district attorney. Defendant was again given the Miranda admonition and again stated he understood it and was willing to waive its protection. He acknowledged he had previously been advised of these rights, had understood them at that time, had stated he did not wish to talk without an attorney present and had then been advised that if he wanted to talk further, he would have to reinitiate discussion with the officers. Defendant affirmed he had later told Officer Cervi he wished to speak to him, that he had acted voluntarily in reinitiating communication with the officer, and he had done so with his Miranda rights in mind. Defendant was again asked whether he was willing to waive his Miranda rights, stated he was and again gave a full description of his crimes. [25 Cal.3d 706]
­FN 2. The transcript of that discussion reads in pertinent part as follows:
­FN 3. The transcript of that colloquy reads as follows: "Q. [Cardoza] Now, what I'd like to talk to you about, Barry, is last night. Now earlier this morning, on August 24, 1976, you were in the Sheriff's Office, is that correct?
­FN 4. In view of the pretrial ruling that defendant's second confession was admissible, defendant's trial counsel concluded that defendant's best defense was diminished capacity. He further concluded that defendant's first confession, which had been suppressed, would lend support to that defense since it contained references to defendant's use of the drug PCP. Accordingly, defense counsel stipulated to the admission at trial of the first confession on the condition that the stipulation would not constitute a waiver of defendant's right to challenge on appeal the rulings made at the suppression hearing.
­FN 5. The People may, of course, also obtain review of questions likely to arise on retrial when a judgment of conviction is reversed. (See People v. Zelver, supra, 135 Cal.App.2d at pp. 236-237; People v. Burke, supra, 47 Cal.2d at p. 54.)
­FN 6. Thus, even if it be assumed that defendant was attempting to condition his discussion with Cervi, the assumption simply underscores defendant's lack of understanding rather than establishing the invalidity of the request.
­FN 7. In light of this conclusion it is unnecessary to decide whether the first confession was also inadmissible because it was the product of a promise of leniency.
­FN 1. For recent cases manifesting our court's attitude toward confessions, see People v. Jimenez (1978) 21 Cal.3d 595 [147 Cal.Rptr. 172, 580 P.2d 672]; In re Michael C. (1978) 21 Cal.3d 471 [146 Cal.Rptr. 358, 579 P.2d 7], judgment reversed and cause remanded sub nomine, Fare v. Michael C. (1979) 442 U.S. 707 [61 L.Ed.2d 197, 99 S.Ct. 2560]; People v. Pettingill (1978) 21 Cal.3d 231 [145 Cal.Rptr. 861, 578 P.2d 108].
Thu, 11/15/1979 25 Cal.3d 691 Review - Criminal Appeal Opinion issued
Nov 15 1979 Opinion: Reversed
SCOCAL, People v. Braeseke , 25 Cal.3d 691 available at: (https://scocal.stanford.edu/opinion/people-v-braeseke-23222) (last visited Thursday July 2, 2020).