Opinion ID: 853312
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Search and Seizure of West's Blazer

Text: West challenges the search of his Blazer that revealed Hollen's blood on the horn and a knife in the back seat. Two days after the crime, on May 1, 1998, police officers arrived at his home between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. The Blazer was hauled away by a tow truck before West accompanied officers downtown to sign a consent form and answer questions. West was questioned by two officers in a small room with no windows and handcuffs were within eyesight and readily available. The State contends that West orally consented at his house to the search and processing by the crime lab of his vehicle. Later, at the police station, he signed a form entitled Permission to Search (Not in Custody), which also authorized seizure of items the police deem[ed] as evidence or pertinent to their investigation. The form stated in capital letters at the bottom: This permission is given knowingly and voluntarily upon full knowledge of my right to refuse such permission. The State also notes that West's statement was a witness statement (i.e., West was interviewed only as an employee of the Clark station), that West was not read his rights or handcuffed, and that at the conclusion of the interview he was driven home. One of the detectives testified that, if West had asked to leave, he would have been free to do so. The interview did not last longer than an hour, and West was not arrested until four months later. West argues that he was entitled to the advice of counsel before consenting to the search. West cites Pirtle v. State, 263 Ind. 16, 323 N.E.2d 634 (1975), where this Court, citing both the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 13 of the Indiana Constitution, held: [A] person who is asked to give consent to search while in police custody is entitled to the presence and advice of counsel prior to making the decision whether to give such consent. This right, of course, may be waived, but the burden will be upon the State to show that such waiver was explicit.... Id. at 29, 323 N.E.2d at 640. Pirtle emphasized the importance of the right to counsel in protecting other constitutional rights. Id. at 28, 323 N.E.2d at 640. In Pirtle, the defendant consented to a search of his apartment after having been Mirandized and after his request for an attorney. Pirtle noted that the defendant had consented to a search at a time police no longer possessed any authority to speak with him. Id. at 24-25, 323 N.E.2d at 638. The State contends that West was not in custody for purposes of the Fourth Amendment or Article I, Section 13 such that the right to the advice of counsel had attached. Whether a defendant is in custody for purposes of the Fourth Amendment and Article I, Section 13 is governed by an objective test. Ultimately, the question is whether a reasonable person under the same circumstances would have believed that he was under arrest or not free to resist the entreaties of the police. Joyner v. State, 736 N.E.2d 232, 241 (Ind.2000); Jones v. State, 655 N.E.2d 49, 55 (Ind.1995) (citing Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429, 433-34, 111 S.Ct. 2382, 115 L.Ed.2d 389 (1991)). Several circumstances have been held relevant to this issue: whether the defendant is read his Miranda rights or handcuffed or restrained in any way, and the manner in which the defendant is interrogated, Torres v. State, 673 N.E.2d 472, 474 (Ind. 1996), whether a person freely and voluntarily accompanies police officers, Williams v. State, 611 N.E.2d 649, 651-52 (Ind.Ct.App.1993) trans. denied, at what point the defendant is arrested for the crime under investigation, id. at 652, the length of the detention, Cooley v. State, 682 N.E.2d 1277, 1279 (Ind.1997), and the police officer's perception as to the defendant's freedom to leave at any time, Joyner, 736 N.E.2d at 241. We have no findings from the trial court on this issue. Although no single circumstance is dispositive, we agree with the State that the record supports the trial court's admission of the evidence on the ground that West was not in custody when he consented to the search. Detective Timothy Knight testified at trial that West agreed to speak with the police on May 1. However, according to Knight, West had been difficult to reach. When he learned West was at home in the early morning hours of May 1, the decision was made to call on him. Unlike the defendant in Torres, West was never handcuffed or otherwise restrained. Although the police went to West's home at a very early hour, there is nothing in the record controverting the State's evidence that West consented initially at his home and then voluntarily accompanied police to the station to sign the consent form. Thus, West had already orally consented to the search of his vehicle when the vehicle was impounded, and West followed up by giving his written consent on a form reciting that he was not in custody. At police headquarters, West was questioned for about an hour and was either transported back to his home by police or picked up by his girlfriend. His arrest did not come until four months later. West urges that, even if he was not in custody, his consent was involuntary, a product of mere acquiescence to the authority of the police. In Darnell v. State, this Court held that consent to a warrantless search is valid unless procured by fraud, duress, fear, intimidation, or where it is a mere submission to the supremacy of the law. 435 N.E.2d 250, 254 (Ind.1982). Voluntariness is a question of fact to be determined from all of the circumstances. Id. As discussed above, there is nothing in the record to indicate that West's consent to the search was involuntary. After orally consenting to the search of the vehicle, West agreed to accompany officers to the police station where he signed a written waiver and made a witness statement. Thus, West's claim of involuntariness of his consent also fails. [1]