Opinion ID: 1191871
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Validity of the Waiver of Rights

Text: {19} The State does not dispute that the police interviews in this case constituted custodial interrogations invoking the protections of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Thus, we must determine the validity of Martinez's waiver of rights. Martinez contends that the State failed to satisfy its burden of establishing a knowing and voluntary waiver because he did not expressly waive his rights. Martinez misapprehends the State's burden. In North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369, 374-75, 99 S.Ct. 1755, 60 L.Ed.2d 286 (1979), the United States Supreme Court addressed a similar contention. The Court explicitly rejected the argument that Miranda requires an express waiver of rights and directed that courts should, instead, evaluate the particular facts and circumstances of the interrogation in determining whether the waiver of rights is knowing and voluntary. Id. The Court later clarified that [t]his totality-of-the-circumstances approach [from Butler ] is adequate to determine whether there has been a waiver even where interrogation of juveniles is involved. Fare v. Michael C., 442 U.S. 707, 725, 99 S.Ct. 2560, 61 L.Ed.2d 197 (1979). Thus, we do not require the State to prove that Martinez expressly waived his rights in order to demonstrate a constitutionally valid waiver. {20} Martinez also contends that the police prevented a knowing and voluntary waiver of rights by excluding his mother from the first interview by way of deception. Although Section 32A-2-14(E)(8) directs courts to consider the presence or absence of an attorney, friend, or relative at the questioning, that is merely one of the factors relevant in determining the validity of a waiver of rights, and the Legislature has not established a requirement that parents be notified about a custodial interrogation of their juvenile child. Similarly, as a constitutional matter, [t]here is no due process requirement that the juvenile's parents be notified for the waiver to be valid.... Rather, the lack of parental notification is one factor to consider in the totality of the circumstances. United States v. Doe, 155 F.3d 1070, 1073 (9th Cir.1998) (en banc); accord United States v. Gonzales, 164 F.3d 1285, 1290 (10th Cir.1999); Roberts v. Commonwealth, 18 Va.App. 554, 445 S.E.2d 709, 711 (1994). {21} Reviewing the totality of circumstances surrounding the custodial interrogations in this case, we conclude that the State satisfied its burden of demonstrating a valid waiver. In determining a knowing and intelligent waiver of rights, we ascertain whether Martinez was fully aware of the nature of the right he was waiving and the consequences of abandoning the right. For this inquiry, we apply several of the factors listed in Section 32A-2-14(E): Martinez's age and education at the time of questioning, the manner in which he was advised of his rights, the length and time of day of the questioning, his mental and physical condition at the time of questioning, and the presence of counsel or a relative. We begin with a review of Martinez's waiver of rights at the first interrogation. {22} At the time of questioning, Martinez was seventeen and a half years of age and was, thus, old enough to comprehend Miranda warnings and the consequences of waiving his rights. State v. Jonathan M., 109 N.M. 789, 791, 791 P.2d 64, 66 (1990) ([A] child over age fifteen is unlikely to make an involuntary statement ... after receiving Miranda warnings.); see Setser, 1997-NMSC-004, ¶ 14, 122 N.M. 794, 932 P.2d 484 (concluding that a sixteen-year-old defendant had sufficient intelligence to understand her rights and the repercussions of a waiver); State v. Jones, 566 N.W.2d 317, 324-25 & n. 4 (Minn.1997) (stating that the defendant's age of seventeen and a half, among other factors, weighed in favor of a conclusion that the waiver was knowing and intelligent). In addition, Detective Mike Schaller, one of the detectives who interviewed Martinez, testified that Martinez appeared fairly intelligent and able to understand the questions asked during the interview. He also testified that Martinez did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs and that Martinez answered questions in a coherent and rational manner. Further, the interview was not particularly long, lasting only approximately one hour, and was conducted at a time of day, between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m., when officers could expect Martinez to be alert and cognizant of the significance of the interview. Finally, Detective Schaller read Martinez his Miranda rights in full and repeated twice to Martinez that, if he chose to answer questions, he could stop the interview or refuse to answer questions at any time. Martinez stated that he understood these rights and that, in fact, he had previously been advised of these rights. Detective Schaller opened the interview by explaining to Martinez that his name had come up in relation to a triple homicide and that he wanted Martinez to explain some of the evidence that had thus far been gathered. Martinez began answering questions immediately after being advised of his rights and did not indicate in any way that he wished to speak to an attorney or a relative before answering questions or that he did not wish to answer questions. {23} While Martinez did not expressly waive his right against self-incrimination, we believe this course of conduct indicates an implied waiver of rights by Martinez. Additionally, even though Martinez did not have a relative present, the totality of circumstances clearly indicate that Martinez fully understood the nature of his rights and the consequences of his waiver. We therefore conclude that Martinez knowingly and intelligently waived his right against self-incrimination. Cf. Conner v. State, 334 Ark. 457, 982 S.W.2d 655, 660 (1998) (concluding that a seventeen-year-old defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his rights despite the absence of his parent); Commonwealth v. Williams, 388 Mass. 846, 448 N.E.2d 1114, 1119 (1983) (concluding that a seventeen-year-old defendant knowingly and intelligently waived the right against self-incrimination and that, because the individual did not appear immature for his age or under the influence of drugs, the fact that he had no relative living in the state did not interfere[] with the defendant's ability to make a voluntary and knowing waiver); Jones, 566 N.W.2d at 325 (similar). {24} We next address whether Martinez voluntarily waived his rights or whether it was a product of intimidation, coercion, or deception by the police. Martinez contends that the custodial surroundings of the interview with six officers in the room created an unduly coercive environment. However, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the district court's ruling, it appears that only two officers, including Detective Schaller, directly questioned Martinez and that the other four officers came in and out of the room to inform Detective Schaller of the events occurring in interviews with other suspects in the case. In addition, Detective Schaller and Martinez's mother testified that he had numerous previous contacts with law enforcement, which would have made the surroundings much less intimidating. Cf. Fare, 442 U.S. at 725-26, 99 S.Ct. 2560 (relying on a sixteen-and-a-half-year-old defendant's record of several arrests in concluding that the waiver of rights was constitutionally valid and discussing a difference between young persons, often with limited experience and education and immature judgment, and an experienced older juvenile with an extensive prior record). Further, the police did not use any type of threat or physical coercion in asking Martinez to answer questions. Although the police misled Martinez's mother about the subject of the interview at the time he was picked up for questioning, it appears that this was done as a matter of safety against possible retaliation from others for Martinez answering questions, and a police officer testified that he did not intend to deprive Martinez of the opportunity to have a parent present. Further, Martinez was fully informed about the subject of the interview immediately after being advised of his rights. See Colorado v. Spring, 479 U.S. 564, 575-77 & n. 8, 107 S.Ct. 851, 93 L.Ed.2d 954 (1987) (refusing to require police to inform a suspect of the scope or subject of an interrogation but leaving unaddressed the situation of an affirmative misrepresentation to a suspect by police). Thus, this action did not have the effect of trick[ing] Martinez into waiving his rights. Miranda, 384 U.S. at 476, 86 S.Ct. 1602. Finally, our review of the interview reveals that Martinez's will was not overborne and that he spoke freely and voluntarily to the police, even maintaining throughout that he did not have a shotgun on the night of the killings, that he did not kill Aponte, and that, although he instructed Francisco Cuellar to obtain drug money from Jaramillo, he did not instruct Cuellar to kill her. Based on the totality of circumstances, we conclude that Martinez knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his rights in the first interrogation. {25} Additionally, it is clear that Martinez's waiver of rights in the second interrogation was constitutionally valid. In addition to the circumstances present for the first interrogation, Martinez had considerable time, approximately three weeks, to reflect on his decision to speak to police by the time of the second interrogation. The police again fully advised Martinez of his Miranda rights during the second interview. Also, unlike the first interrogation, Martinez's mother attended the second interrogation and apparently encouraged Martinez to cooperate with police. Finally, there is no evidence that Martinez's second waiver was the product of coercion. In fact, in terminating the interview, Martinez exercised his right against self-incrimination by telling the police that he did not want to answer any additional questions. Thus, we are convinced by the totality of circumstances that Martinez knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his rights in the second interrogation. Further, because the first interrogation was not a product of coercion, [2] any possible infirmity in the first interrogation would not taint the valid waiver Martinez gave at the second interrogation. See Oregon v. Elstad, 470 U.S. 298, 314, 105 S.Ct. 1285, 84 L.Ed.2d 222 (1985) (A subsequent administration of Miranda warnings to a suspect who has given a voluntary but unwarned statement ordinarily should suffice to remove the conditions that precluded admission of the earlier statement.). As a result, because Martinez gave a substantially similar statement to police during the second interrogation, we would uphold the trial court's decision to admit Martinez's statements from the first interrogation even if we had not rejected Martinez's assertion that the waiver from the first interrogation was defective. See State v. Woodward, 121 N.M. 1, 10, 908 P.2d 231, 240 (1995) (The erroneous admission of cumulative evidence is harmless error because it does not prejudice the defendant.). Therefore, we conclude that the trial court properly admitted Martinez's statements to police during the first and second interrogations.