Opinion ID: 1611671
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: was the wcso's failure to provide jones with an initial appearance within 48 hours prejudicial to him?

Text: ¶ 44. Jones cites as his fourth assertion of error the failure of WCSO to provide him with an initial appearance within 48 hours, as required by Rule 6.03 of the Uniform Circuit and County Court Rules. Rule 6.03 provides, Every person in custody shall be taken, without unnecessary delay and within 48 hours of arrest before a judicial officer or other person authorized by statute for an initial appearance. ¶ 45. Jones was arrested in Memphis on January 10, was returned to Mississippi on January 12 at approximately four o'clock p.m., and was given an initial appearance in Mississippi on January 15, 1998; a period clearly exceeding the period mandated by Rule 6.03. Upon his return to Mississippi on the 12th, Jones confessed to the murder. Between this confession and his initial appearance on the 15th, Jones made other incriminating statements and led police to substantial physical evidence used against him. ¶ 46. Jones cites Abram v. State, 606 So.2d 1015 (Miss.1992), where this Court found reversible error in part due to failure to provide an initial appearance according to Rule 6.03 (then Rule 1.04). In Abram, the confession in question was found to be coerced, and this Court found the confession to have devastating consequences for the defense because the State would not have obtained an uncounseled confession if the accused had been provided a timely initial appearance and access to counsel. Under these circumstances, where the defendant's conviction relied solely upon his confession, this Court held it to be reversible error for the State to fail to provide an initial appearance where a judge was available at all times. Abram, 606 So.2d at 1029. In the case at bar, the confession provided by Jones prior to his initial appearance was the substance of the State's case against him. Moreover, he provided information that led to the arrest of Shamoun on January 12, 1998, who was given a timely initial appearance by Judge DeVane on January 13, 1998. WCSO Officer Barrett acknowledged that in addition to Judge DeVane's availability on January 12th, 13th, 14th, other magistrates were available. ¶ 47. It is well established that the failure to provide an initial appearance for an accused within the time provided is not, of itself, a reason to suppress a confession. Davis v. State, 743 So.2d 326, 337 (Miss.1999). In Morgan v. State, 681 So.2d 82 (Miss.1996) and Veal v. State, 585 So.2d 693 (Miss.1991), this Court found that a violation of Rule 6.03 alone will not result in the suppression of evidence or reversible error where the defendant was informed of his rights and made a knowing and voluntary waiver. But see Gordon v. State, 160 So.2d 73 (Miss.1964); Parker v. State, 244 Miss. 332, 141 So.2d 546 (1962) (holding that considerable delay in providing an initial appearance alone can be reversible error). ¶ 48. In Veal, this Court was confronted with a situation similar to the case at bar. Veal, like Jones, had been arrested by warrant before he confessed. Veal, like Jones, was informed of his Miranda rights and he waived those rights. Veal, like Jones, argued on appeal that the lower court erred in refusing to suppress his confession because the State had unnecessarily delayed his initial appearance to gain a confession. On appeal, this Court rejected Veal's argument and held that he had been promptly advised of his attached right to counsel, and he clearly and promptly waived that right. Accordingly, no error was found in the use of Veal's post-initial appearance confession. See also Ormond v. State, 599 So.2d 951, 955 (Miss.1992) (delay in initial appearance cannot constitute per se reversible error, even when a defendant gives evidence prior to the delayed appearance). ¶ 49. Jones waived extradition to Mississippi at some point between his arrest in Memphis on January 10 and his return to Washington County, Mississippi, on January 12, 1998. The State argues that this was sufficient to comply with the spirit of Rule 6.03, because there would have been a hearing in Memphis to determine if Jones would waive extradition to Mississippi and this hearing would have necessarily included a determination of probable cause to hold him. However, there is no evidence in the record confirming that any such determination was made at the hearing in Memphis, or that a hearing of any kind was conducted. Moreover, Rule 6.03 lists several rights of which a magistrate must inform a person brought before him/ her in an initial appearance. [5] Assuming, arguendo, that an extradition hearing was conducted in Memphis, there is no evidence that any of these rights were communicated to Jones at the Memphis extradition hearing. ¶ 50. Additionally, the State argues that it is determinative on this issue that Jones was arrested pursuant to a valid arrest warrant. The main purpose of the initial appearance, they argue, is to determine probable cause for arrests made without a warrant, thus when an arrest is made pursuant to an arrest warrant there is no requirement for an initial appearance, as the determination of probable cause has already been made. However, this argument fails as it does not consider that Jones was initially arrested without a warrant, and it overlooks the other purposes of Rule 6.03. ¶ 51. Jones gave a written confession on January 12 at 6:27 p.m., shortly after returning to Mississippi. In this confession he described his and Shamoun's plan to murder Wilkerson. He told the officers the details of how they carried out the murder, where he discarded the murder weapon, the hotel where he and Shamoun washed the blood off of themselves and threw away their clothes, and the location where he and Shamoun sank Wilkerson's car. In short, Jones provided WCSO with sufficient evidence to charge him with the murder of Wilkerson and for them to independently locate all the remaining evidence that Jones subsequently led them to. Though this confession was made more than 48 hours after Jones was arrested in Memphis, it was immediately after he was returned to Mississippi. ¶ 52. In County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, 500 U.S. 44, 111 S.Ct. 1661, 114 L.Ed.2d 49 (1991), the United States Supreme Court examined what is reasonable delay before determining whether there was probable cause for a warrantless arrest. The Court acknowledged that practical realities would sometimes result in delays, such as: transporting a prisoner from one facility to another, handling late-night bookings where no magistrate is readily available, and obtaining the presence of the arresting officer. Such delays are reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Id. at 57, 111 S.Ct. at 1670. ¶ 53. The WCSO should not be punished for failing to provide Jones an initial appearance while he was under the custody of Memphis police. The practical reality of waiting for Jones to waive extradition and then transporting him back to Mississippi naturally caused a delay in providing an initial appearance. The 48 hour period should have begun at the point when Jones was under the control of the WCSO. Applying this reasoning, Jones's initial appearance would have been required no later than four o'clock p.m. on January 14, 48 hours after being taken into custody by WCSO. The statement given by Jones on January 12 was completely incriminating, sufficient to prosecute him for Wilkerson's murder, and well within the 48 hour period. Therefore, the delay in providing Jones an initial appearance caused him no prejudice. A timely initial appearance in Mississippi might have resulted in less evidence being gathered, but it would not have resulted in suppression of the evidence against Jones to the extent where there is any reasonable probability that the verdict would have changed. ¶ 54. Moreover, exclusion of Jones's confession on this ground will not further the deterrent purpose of the exclusionary rule because WCSO has no control over what occurred in Memphis. Holding them responsible for the failure of Memphis authorities to provide criminal defendants timely initial appearances will not, in this Court's opinion, increase Memphis authorities' compliance with Mississippi law. ¶ 55. The trial judge found that Jones's confessions were admissible because Jones had been advised of his right to counsel and that he knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived this right. As this decision does not appear to be manifestly wrong, it will be upheld here on appeal. ¶ 56. This issue is without merit.