Opinion ID: 1584057
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: The Third Time Frame: Sudden Change of Story as to the Wound

Text: Next, we examine the circumstances surrounding the handcuffing of Hayward for the trip to the police station and his subsequent statement. Once Hayward agreed to accompany Officer Mace to the police station, he was handcuffed and placed in the back seat of the patrol car. Prior to handcuffing Hayward, Officer Mace explained to him that it was police policy to handcuff all persons transported in police vehicles. As he was entering the vehicle, Hayward suddenly stated that he wasn't going to lie. He then told Officer Mace that he had been robbed and shot. The State concedes that handcuffs are restraining devices but contends that Hayward was not detained because the use of handcuffs during transport was a routine safety measure followed by the police. Although Hayward was in the process of being handcuffed pursuant to police policy at the time of his statement, the totality of the circumstances, including the purpose of the officer's conduct and the spontaneous nature of Hayward's statement, demonstrate that his statement was not the result of any alleged illegal detention. See, e.g., Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590, 603-04, 95 S.Ct. 2254, 45 L.Ed.2d 416 (1975). In addition to this Fourth Amendment analysis, we must also consider any Fifth Amendment implications. See Voorhees, 699 So.2d at 611. Hayward agreed to accompany the police to the station for further questioning and his statement was clearly spontaneous and voluntary and thus not the product of interrogation. See Ramirez v. State, 739 So.2d 568, 573 (Fla. 1999) (Interrogation takes place ... when a person is subjected to express questions, or other words or actions, by a state agent, that a reasonable person would conclude are designed to lead to an incriminating response.) (quoting Traylor v. State, 596 So.2d 957, 966 n. 17 (Fla.1992)); see also Johnson v. State, 660 So.2d 648, 659 (Fla. 1995) (concluding that the defendant's statement was voluntary and spontaneous and not elicited by any interrogation); State v. Foster, 562 So.2d 808, 810 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990) (holding that spontaneous statements are not always the product of an interrogation); Rosher v. State, 319 So.2d 150, 152 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975) (Spontaneous statements are admissible in evidence [when they] are not the product of interrogation.). Based on the foregoing, we conclude that there is no merit to Hayward's claim that his voluntary, unsolicited statement that he had been shot, not stabbed, should have been suppressed.