Opinion ID: 1895037
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: defendant's right to silence june 27 consent to search

Text: The trial court suppressed the evidence seized at defendant's living quarters, utilizing the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine, because it determined that defendant's consent to search and any evidence discovered was only obtained after the police had failed to scrupulously honor defendant's right to counsel. The appeals court affirmed Judge Anderson's suppression order, but did so because it believed that the consent was obtained in derogation of defendant's constitutionally protected right to silence, rather than because of a right to counsel violation. Because we affirm the appeals court's holding that defendant waived his right to counsel and that the police had not violated that right, we also agree with the appeals court that Judge Anderson improperly invalidated the consent to search on the right to counsel basis. Therefore, if the consent to search is invalid, it must be found invalid on grounds separate from the right to counsel issue. Defendant believes that the appeals court was correct in deciding that a violation of his right to silence, rather than his right to counsel, now provides a proper basis for invalidating the consent to search. We turn to that issue now. Defendant believes that suppression is required on right to silence grounds [2] and that the court need look no further than Miranda to dispose of this issue. Miranda requires that a defendant be informed of various constitutional rights, including the right to silence, and that the defendant knowingly and intelligently waive those rights before evidence obtained as a result of interrogation can be used against the accused. 384 U.S. at 479. In order to support his conclusion that Miranda and the fifth amendment apply here, defendant must necessarily argue that the police request to search constituted interrogation because of Miranda's limited applicability to interrogation of an accused. Id. at 444. The defendant concedes this and, in fact, states in his brief that the action of the police after the defendant invoked his right to silence consisted of questioning and interrogation and that the police ... questioned [defendant] regarding consent to search his room. The state argues that defendant's reliance on Miranda and the fifth amendment is misplaced because both focus on the privilege against self-incrimination; however, the consent to search, at issue here, is properly governed by the fourth amendment which protects an individual's privacy rights. [3] The thrust of the state's argument is that the fifth amendment and Miranda do not apply because defendant's consent to search was not a testimonial or communicative statement, nor was the request to search equivalent to interrogation. Since Miranda governs only in-custody interrogation, a mere request to search does not enjoy its protections. And since the fifth amendment protects a defendant from testifying against himself, merely complying with a request to give consent does not take on the necessary testimonial nature such that fifth amendment protections should be triggered. We agree with the state that both the defendant and the court of appeals have improperly framed the consent to search issue in Miranda and fifth amendment terms. Those authorities do not control because consent to search is not testimonial or communicative in nature, even if the consent leads to the discovery of incriminating evidence. To support our holding, we rely on the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757 (1966), where the court described the scope of the fifth amendment protection against self-incrimination. The court in Schmerber held that the withdrawal of blood from an accused and the admission of the blood analysis into evidence did not violate defendant's privilege against self-incrimination because the privilege protects an accused only from being compelled to testify against himself, or otherwise provide the State with evidence of a testimonial or communicative nature .... Id. at 761 (emphasis added). The court determined that the withdrawal of blood simply did not take on testimonial or communicative qualities. Several cases have recognized that a consent to search is not an incriminating statement. Cody v. Solem, 755 F.2d 1323 (8th Cir. 1985), cert. denied ___ U.S. ___, 106 S. Ct. 104 (1985); United States v. Lemon, 550 F.2d 467 (9th Cir. 1977); United States v. Faruolo, 506 F.2d 490, 495 (2d Cir. 1974). In Wisconsin, we have held that when a defendant merely consents to provide a handwriting sample or other physical evidence to the police, that conduct does not even arguably implicate the constitutional restriction against self-incrimination contained in the Wisconsin Constitution because it is not equivalent to testimonial activity. State v. Doe, 78 Wis. 2d 161, 175, 254 N.W.2d 210 (1977). Other jurisdictions have reached similar holdings. The court in People v. Thomas, 12 Cal. App. 3d 1102, 1110, 91 Cal. Rptr. 867, 872 (1970), stated that, A consent to search, as such, is neither testimonial, nor communicative in the fifth amendment sense. If appearing in a lineup and speaking words used by a robber is not a `disclosure of any knowledge [the accused] might have,' ... neither is a consent to search. The fact that the search leads to incriminating evidence does not make the consent testimonial, any more than the victim's identification at the lineup gives such a quality to the words spoken by the suspect. (Citation omitted.) Also, see, People v. Phillips, 197 Colo. 546, 549, 594 P.2d 1053, 1055 (1979). The underlying reason why a consent to search is not a testimonial utterance deals with the distinct interests Miranda and the fifth amendment are designed to protect vis-a-vis what consent to search principles and the fourth amendment are designed to protect. The Miranda decision's focus was on the need to protect the integrity and fairness of the trial, 384 U.S. at 466; Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 240 (1973), while the fourth amendment has nothing whatever to do with promoting the fair ascertainment of truth at a criminal trial. Id. at 242. The fourth amendment, instead, focuses on an individual's right to privacy and to be left alone. Id. Because the consent to search implicates fourth amendment, rather than fifth amendment/ Miranda concerns, and because the weight of authority is against finding defendant's consent to search to be testimonial in nature, thereby triggering fifth amendment principles, we must hold that the appeals court erred in applying fifth amendment principles to the facts of this case. The remaining question for us to consider deals with the voluntariness of defendant's consent to search. The analysis we utilize is that articulated in State v. Rodgers, 119 Wis. 2d 102, 349 N.W.2d 453 (1984). The Rodgers standard for determining voluntariness of consent under the fourth amendment is based on the principles articulated in Schneckloth. Under Schneckloth, the test of voluntariness looks to whether the accused has exercised a free and unconstrained choice or whether, alternatively, `his will has been overborne and his capacity for self-determination critically impaired.' 412 U.S. at 225, quoting Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 602 (1961). This is determined by looking to the totality of the circumstances. Rodgers, 119 Wis. 2d at 110. The state believes that consent was voluntarily given under the totality of the circumstances test. Defendant believes that the fact findings of the trial court should not be reversed. The trial court determined that the consent to search was not voluntary because of its finding that defendant's right to counsel had been violated. No findings were made on the voluntariness of consent issue because the court suppressed the evidence seized and found the consent invalid on other grounds, namely, that police had failed to scrupulously honor defendant's right to counsel. Even though no specific fact findings were made, the court did make detailed fact findings regarding the circumstances surrounding the June 27 interrogation which would be relevant here. We examine those facts now to determine whether they would require a finding of involuntariness. We hold that they do not. We find nothing in the record to support a finding of involuntariness. Defendant had earlier indicated his desire to speak with his attorney, but he later initiated conversation with police and waived that right. Subsequent to conferring with his probation officer, the defendant invoked his right to silence, and the police promptly ceased the interrogation. Thereafter, Turner read and signed a consent to search form at the request of the officers. There is no indication that he was incapable of understanding what he was signing. There was no evidence of any overbearing tactics by police, nor was there any evidence of coercion. We now hold that the trial court correctly determined that there was no evidence that would support a finding that defendant's will to resist was overcome. Accordingly, we determine that defendant's consent to search was voluntarily given. Therefore, the consent to search is admissible evidence, as are the items seized incident to that search.