Opinion ID: 2260480
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: On the Bus.

Text: Having been drawn to the carnage by a panic-stricken passenger, two police officers sped to the bus and entered with guns drawn. They observed the Appellant and the victim's body on the floor, they yelled freeze to the Appellant who quickly hid behind a seat. After approaching the Appellant who had stood up in a surrender posture, one officer directed him to lie on the floor and immediately straddled the Appellant between his legs. The second officer had left the bus hurriedly to talk to witnesses. Just prior to being handcuffed inside, the prisoner mumbled words to the straddling officer that he wanted to be shot, executed, and beaten. Handcuffs were applied, and at that point the officer quoted from several, but not all, of the Miranda rights: Q. Now, when you called rescue, after you got back to the bus, did you give the defendant any information from any cards you had in your possession? A. Also, yes, I did. Not from a card in my possession even though at all times I do possess a card with the Miranda warnings. However, I didn't read the litany from the card. The defendant was on the floor at this time for my safety and Lieutenant Wilson's safety. Articles were taken from his possession. Q. What were those articles? A. A claw hammer was taken from Mr. Logan's outer coat pocket and a rubber mallet was taken from inside his coat pocket. As the defendant was laying there from my memory I gave him a short explanation of his rights. Q. Okay. Can you tell us as close as you possibly can what you told him? A. I told him that he was under arrest. I told him he had a right to remain silent. Anything he can use  anything he says can be used against him in a court of law and that an attorney would be provided for him. I was cut short or maybe that's not the proper term, cut short. But  Q. Were you able to finish the litany of rights? A. No sir, I was not. Q. Why were you not able to finish? A. Mr. Logan was saying words to me that I just didn't understand what he was saying. It didn't seem that  I'm not saying  I'm just not  He just wasn't responding properly to what I was saying. (N.T., 2/5/82, pp. 42-43.) Appellant was patted down. As noted in the testimony, a hammer and mallet were taken from his coat. Testimony at trial demonstrated also that Appellant seemed to be stating in somewhat garbled terms that he was tired of being provoked and that in prison he was going to run the place. [1] As the Appellant was being led away through the bus, he blurted out that, I did it; I'm glad I did it; I will get ten years for it but I hope he dies. The arresting officer on the bus testified that in the clutch of those circumstances, he did not quote Miranda warnings immediately because he was engaged in the strenuous task of securing the Appellant in order to prevent harm to his own person, other officers, as well as to the prisoner himself. Other officers who had contact with the Appellant at the scene testified that they saw no evidence of the influence of drugs on the Appellant although he did appear to be excited. The officer who straddled and handcuffed the Appellant on the bus also stated on the record at trial that he had not engaged in any interrogation and had not asked the Appellant if the quoted Miranda warnings were being understood.