Opinion ID: 1711914
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Voluntariness Hearing

Text: Harris objected to Cass' testimony and argued that he was entitled to a hearing on the voluntariness of this statement. Harris also moved for a mistrial. The district court did not hold a hearing or rule on the voluntariness of the statement. The district court determined initially that Harris had not made a showing that the defense had not been provided with Cass' police report regarding the December 10, 1996, interview, and thus, the district court concluded that Harris' motion for a hearing was untimely. The district court also observed that the statement was innocuous and that its admission was not prejudicial to Harris. The district court offered Harris the choice of having Cass' testimony stricken from the record or cross-examining Cass on the issue. Harris chose to cross-examine Cass instead of having the testimony stricken. On cross-examination, Harris elicited testimony from Cass that Harris had not, in the December 10, 1996, interview, admitted to knowing Hicks personally and that Harris had indicated only that he knew Hicks' nickname and knew that Hicks was involved with Corey Bass. Harris' first assignment of error is that the district court erred in failing to conduct a hearing on the voluntariness of Harris' statement. Harris claims that he was entitled to such a hearing under Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 12 L.Ed.2d 908 (1964), and § 29-115. To be admissible, a statement or confession of an accused must have been freely and voluntarily made. See State v. Kula, 260 Neb. 183, 616 N.W.2d 313 (2000). The Due Process Clause of the U.S. Const. amend. XIV and the due process clause of Neb. Const. art. I, § 3, preclude admissibility of an involuntary confession. State v. Garner, 260 Neb. 41, 614 N.W.2d 319 (2000). A defendant objecting to the voluntariness of a confession is entitled to a fair hearing in which both the underlying factual issues and the voluntariness of his or her confession are actually and reliably determined. Jackson, supra . A person who is aggrieved by a statement taken from him or her which is claimed to be involuntary may move for suppression of that statement. State v. Hittle, 257 Neb. 344, 598 N.W.2d 20 (1999). An objection to such a statement is waived if it is not raised by a motion prior to trial with the exception that a court may entertain such motions to suppress after the commencement of trial when the defendant is surprised by the introduction of such statements by the State. Id. Specifically, § 29-115 provides, in relevant part: Unless claims of a statement being involuntary... are raised by motion before trial as provided in this section, all objections to the use of such statements as evidence on these grounds shall be deemed waived, except that the court may entertain such motions to suppress after the commencement of trial when the defendant is surprised by the introduction of such statements by the state, and also the court in its discretion may entertain motions to suppress such statements when the defendant was not aware of the grounds for any such motion before the commencement of trial, or in such situations as the court deems that justice may require. The district court determined that it would not entertain Harris' motion to suppress, as the district court was not satisfied that Harris lacked notice of Cass' testimony. Because § 29-115 clearly commits the determination whether to entertain a motion to suppress made after the commencement of trial to the discretion of the trial court, we will review such a determination for an abuse of such discretion. Compare State v. Davlin, 263 Neb. 283, 639 N.W.2d 631 (2002). Based on the record before us, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in determining that Harris' untimely motion should not be considered. The district court was confronted with essentially a he said, she said scenario, as the prosecutor stated that Cass' police report regarding the December 10, 1996, interview had been provided to the defense, while defense counsel claimed that the defense had not received the report. Given the record before us, we have no basis to find that the district court abused its discretion in concluding that Harris' showing of surprise was insufficient, particularly given the court's greater familiarity with the course of the proceedings. We are not in a position to question the veracity of either the prosecution or defense on their contradictory claims regarding the process of discovery. It is possible that the prosecution overlooked the police report of the December 10, 1996, interview and failed to provide it to the defense, and it is equally possible that the defense either misplaced or failed to appreciate the significance of the report once it was received. Given the absence of dispositive proof, we cannot conclude that the district court abused its discretion. Therefore, Harris' first assignment of error is without merit.