Opinion ID: 2633286
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Interviews

Text: On October 26, 1990, Los Angeles Police Detectives Kurt Wachter and Charlie Brown approached defendant at the office of his employer, D'Erections, the company that was remodeling the house next door to Powell at the time of her murder. Defendant spoke Spanish and not English, but another employee translated for them. They asked defendant if he would accompany them to the police station for questioning about a crime that was committed the previous day. They said he was not under arrest and would not be handcuffed. Defendant agreed. The detectives drove him, unhandcuffed, to the West Los Angeles police station in an unmarked detective car and placed him, still unhandcuffed, in an interrogation room. There, with Detective Sergio Guzman translating, Wachter interviewed defendant. Defendant was concerned but calm. Throughout the interview, all participants maintained a relatively conversational tone. Wachter thanked defendant for coming to the station and advised him that he was there voluntarily and not in custody or under arrest. He advised defendant of his Miranda rights. ( Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 ( Miranda ).) When the translator asked defendant if he wanted to give up his right to remain silent and speak with the detective, defendant answered, Yes. Yes. The translator then asked him if he wanted to give up his right to speak with an attorney and have one present during questioning. Defendant said he did not need an attorney and did not have money to pay an attorney. At Detective Wachter's request, the translator again explained to defendant his Miranda rights. The interview continued as follows: [Translator]: Okay, do you wish to give up the right to remain silent? [Defendant]: Yes. [Translator]: Do you wish to give up the right to speak an, with an attorney ha ... and to have him present during your questioning? [Defendant]: Okay. [Translator]: Okay. What is okay, what? That you don't want the, the, the, the attorney? [Defendant]: Uh, I, attorney, no, because I don't have any money, right? [Translator]: I, I know, but also, one can be appointed [ sic ] for you without cost before you are questioned. [Defendant]: And I don't have to pay for him? [Translator]: Yes. [Defendant]: And I don't pay? But since, since I don't, I don't have, uh, a problem to, to have any attorney, I don't [UI] [5] that is I am, I am . . . [Translator]: [ENG] Yeah, I don't have money for an attorney, but however I have no problem. I, I have no ... there is no problem going on with me because, `cause I did nothing wrong or something so there's no need for me having an attorney. [Wachter]: Okay, just understand, uh, please make him understand that he has to answer the question yes or no. [Translator]: [SPAN] Oh, okay, then, the thing is we need to know that neither [ sic ] you say whether or not you want the attorney here before you are questioned. And as I say, one can be appointed for you without cost before ... [Defendant]: That, that is fine, well then, appoint one for me. [Translator]: Huh? [Defendant]: Well that is fine, for him to be appointed for me [UI] have an attorney, right? [Translator]: Then, do you want an attorney? [Defendant]: Yes, I want an attorney. [Translator]: [ENG] He said, `Yes, I want an attorney.' [Wachter]: Okay, understand this, if he wants the attorney and doesn't wish to speak to us, then from the information that we have, he's going to be arrested for murder and we'll book him into jail right now. [Translator]: [SPAN] Okay, I want you to ... the detective says that I want, that it is, that you (should) know about this. Then if you want the attorney here and you don't want to speak to the detectives about yesterday's case then I want you to ... they have enough in ... information about what oc ... occurred yesterday ... [Defendant]: Uh-huh. [Translator]: ... that right now they are going to arrest you. They are going to put you in jail for the, for the death of the lady [UI]. [Defendant]: That is, the thing is, is that I didn't understand you, right? I understand you, right? That, well, if I ask for an attorney for myself, but since I'm not guilty of anything, nor do I know, nor do I know what, what that is, then, I need to speak to them. That they tell me, they tell me what, what ... [Translator]: What? Speak with whom, then? The detectives? [Defendant]: With them, with them. [Translator]: That, that's why I'm here. I, I[UI] am ... [Defendant]: [UI] [Translator]: [UI] [Defendant]: Then [UI] rather speak with them and [UI]. [Translator]: [UI] Spanish, that's why I'm, I'm here helping you. [Defendant]: [UI] as I say, the thing is, I don't, don't know, I am, I don't know anything about that. Uh-huh. [Translator]: Don't, don't you know anything about what happened, it, of what happened? [Defendant]: I don't know, I don't know because I, I go in to work, uh, at eight. I go to the office to work. [Translator]: Okay, but, sir, you are telling me about what happened yesterday. I don't want you to tell me anything until you, until, that, that, that, you say that you didn't want the attorney here, but you also have your right, so, to have the attorney. But as I say, they have enough information about you ... [Defendant]: Uh-huh. [Translator]: ... about what happened yesterday ... [Defendant]: Uh-huh. [Translator]: ... and if you want the attorney present here, then they are going to go, put you in jail. [Defendant]: I know, I know what they are telling me, I know. But, as I say, right? I would rather speak to them, and I don't want an attorney. I don't want an attorney. The detectives then proceeded to question defendant. After defendant was shown a photograph of Powell, he admitted that he had seen her go by the jobsite. But defendant said he was not on familiar terms with her and denied that he had ever been in Powell's house or on her property. He further denied that he ever approached her car or spoke to her. The detectives asked defendant about the clothes he wore at the jobsite on the previous day. Defendant offered to take the detectives to his apartment and retrieve the clothes he wore to work that day. He then asked for directions to the police station and informed the detectives he would go to his apartment, get his clothes, and come back. The translator told defendant the detectives would accompany him to his apartment. Defendant later signed a form stating that he voluntarily consented to the detectives searching his residence.
Defendant was initially arrested and placed in custody after he retrieved his clothes from his apartment following the first interview on October 26, 1990. Four days later, on October 30, 1990, Detective Wachter interviewed defendant again. He again advised defendant of his Miranda rights, and defendant waived them. When asked if he wanted an attorney, defendant replied, No, because it's a waste (of money) for the Government and everything, you understand me? And I prefer, well, by himself [ sic ], right? Detective Wachter described defendant as self-assured and forceful with his responses. Defendant again denied that he ever spoke with Powell but admitted he may have gone into her yard, possibly at the direction of his supervisor. The translator informed defendant that his fingerprints were left in Powell's blood in her house and at the jobsite. Defendant responded, My prints are there? and I don't think that my prints are there. He maintained that he had not entered Powell's house. Defendant later stated that he might have been drunk and gone into Powell's house after someone else killed her. He stated he was not capable of killing that person. He then suggested, perhaps maybe, maybe I went in but maybe I found her dead. And perhaps, and perhaps I, I was too drunk when I went in and perhaps I thought she wasn't dead and, and I saw her perhaps, I don't know. He said he did not remember but he might have tried to pick her up to see if she was alive. He saw no one in the house or running from the house. Defendant drank maybe some, some five beers or more on the day Powell was murdered, but he also said he did not recall getting drunk. Defendant was arraigned later that day.