Opinion ID: 2468448
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: plea agreement and incriminating statement

Text: Gooden argues that the court erred in failing to enforce the terms of his plea agreement entered into with his Louisiana attorney and the deputy prosecuting attorney for Faulkner County. In the alternative, Gooden argues that the court committed reversible error in denying his motion to suppress a written summary of his incriminating statement made in connection with the plea agreement and in allowing the interrogating officer, Ron Lewis, to testify as to the contents of the statement. In support of the latter argument, Gooden cites Rule 25.4 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure, which provides: No evidence of any discussion between the parties, of any statement made by the defendant, or of the fact that the parties engaged in plea discussions shall be admissible in any criminal ... proceeding [with exceptions not applicable]. .... Irrespective of whether a plea of guilty... is the result of a plea agreement, if it is not accepted or is withdrawn ... neither the plea ... nor any statement by the defendant in connection with the making or acceptance of the plea ... is admissible in evidence against the defendant in any criminal [proceeding]. [Emphasis ours.] Rule 410 of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence is essentially the same in purpose and effect. Although the written summary of Gooden's incriminating statement was not introduced at trial, it is obvious to us that Officer Lewis should not have been permitted to testify as to the contents of the statement. As such, we do not reach the contention that the court erred in failing to enforce the terms of the plea agreement. In reviewing the admissibility of Gooden's statement, either as to the written summary or the testimony by Officer Lewis, this court makes an independent determination based upon the totality of the circumstances and reverses the actions of the trial judge only if it is found that the court's finding was clearly against a preponderance of the evidence. Smith v. State, 286 Ark. 247, 691 S.W.2d 154 (1985). Gooden's motion sought suppression of the introduction of any ... custodial statements made in connection with his plea agreement. (Emphasis ours.) During the hearing on the motion, the State tendered Officer Lewis' written summary of Gooden's incriminating statement, which the court ruled admissible in evidence. Gooden's counsel responded, Your Honor, that's over my objection. Rather than introduce the written summary at trial, the State presented the statement through testimony by Lewis. We see no difference in the admissibility of the written summary as opposed to Lewis' testimony. Both are inadmissible under Rule 25.4 since Gooden's incriminating statement was made in connection with his plea agreement. Gooden's motion to suppress any statements should have been granted. The trial court committed reversible error in not doing so. The State argues that the trial court's determination should be upheld because Gooden failed to present the Rule 25.4 argument to the trial court, he did not abstract the incriminating statement in his brief on appeal, and the incriminating statement was not made in reliance upon the plea negotiations. We disagree. In support of Gooden's motion to suppress, it was specified that the statement was given in reliance upon and induced by the plea agreement entered into between Gooden and the prosecuting attorney, the details of which were included in the motion. Our general rule is that we do not consider issues raised for the first time on appeal, Stephens, supra , and objections at the trial court level must be sufficiently specific to apprise the court of the nature of the error complained of. Cobbs v. State, 292 Ark. 188, 728 S.W.2d 957 (1987). While Gooden may not have cited Rule 25.4 in his motion, our review of the proceedings and the underlying motion convinces us that the issue has been preserved for appellate review. We are equally convinced that the incriminating statement was made in connection with the plea negotiations. At the suppression hearing Gooden stated that while in Louisiana on February 27 he refused to make a statement to officers until he had something in writing. Gooden further stated that he did not give the officers his statement until his attorney indicated that he had something in writing and Gooden could give a statement. It was conceded by the officers that Gooden's attorney was conferring with the prosecuting attorney as to the details of the plea agreement in the hall outside the room where Gooden was being detained for questioning. The officer who eventually took Gooden's statement admitted he knew negotiations were going on and that at one point Gooden's attorney came into the room and gave the go ahead for a statement from Gooden. Our review of the record convinces us that the evidence clearly preponderates in favor of a finding that the statement was made in connection with and in reliance upon the plea agreement. The State's argument as to Gooden's failure to abstract the statement in his brief on appeal is misplaced, as is its reliance upon Sutherland v. State, 292 Ark. 103, 728 S.W.2d 496 (1987). The written statement was never introduced; rather, the State substituted the testimony of Officer Lewis, which was abstracted. In any event, we stated in Sutherland that any defect caused by failure to abstract an allegedly incriminating statement could be cured if the contents of the statement and its incriminating nature could be derived from other parts of the abstract. In sum, Gooden's objection to the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress any custodial statements was sufficient to protect him at trial from Officer Lewis' testimony. His incriminating statement was made in connection with the plea agreement and, while the written summary of the statement was not introduced, the State was nonetheless able to place the contents of the statement before the jury through Lewis' testimony. We find this to be reversible error under Rule 25.4.