Opinion ID: 1801680
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Harmless error in the admission of defendant's statements

Text: Even assuming that the just described statements violated the principles of Miranda, supra, 384 U.S. 436, and Edwards, supra, 451 U.S. 477, the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. ( Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18, 24 [17 L.Ed.2d 705, 87 S.Ct. 824]; People v. Cunningham, supra, 25 Cal.4th 926, 994.) (22) If, after invoking the right to counsel, a suspect remains in custody, and the police initiate further questioning in the absence of counsel, the suspect's statements are presumed involuntary and are inadmissible as substantive evidence at trial, even if the suspect later waives the right to counsel and the statements would be considered voluntary under traditional standards. ( McNeil v. Wisconsin, supra, 501 U.S. 171, 176-177; People v. Cunningham, supra, 25 Cal.4th at pp. 992-993; People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 128.) Therefore, if no exception to the Miranda/Edwards principles applied to Sergeant Meese's questioning of defendant on the morning of December 4, 1993, and their later telephone conversation, the failure to honor defendant's request for counsel would render all of his later confessions inadmissible in the prosecution's case-in-chief despite his willingness to waive his Miranda rights at the outset of each interrogation. ( People v. Peevy, supra, 17 Cal.4th 1184, 1193 [statements obtained in violation of Edwards are not admissible in the prosecution's case-in-chief, but, if made voluntarily, may be used to impeach the defendant's credibility as a witness]; see also Oregon v. Hass (1975) 420 U.S. 714, 722 [43 L.Ed.2d 570, 95 S.Ct. 1215].) (23) Any such violation of defendant's rights under Miranda, supra, 384 U.S. 436, and Edwards, supra, 451 U.S. 477, would not, however, taint the admissibility of any physical evidence derived from those confessions. The fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine does not apply to physical evidence seized as a result of a noncoercive Miranda violation ( United States v. Patane (2004) 542 U.S. 630, 637-638, 645 [159 L.Ed.2d 667, 124 S.Ct. 2620]; People v. Davis (2005) 36 Cal.4th 510, 552 [31 Cal.Rptr.3d 96, 115 P.3d 417]; People v. Whitfield (1996) 46 Cal.App.4th 947, 957 [54 Cal.Rptr.2d 370]), and a violation of the prophylactic rules of Miranda/Edwards does not automatically mean that any ensuing confession was coerced. (See People v. Bradford (1997) 14 Cal.4th 1005, 1039-1040 [60 Cal.Rptr.2d 225, 929 P.2d 544] [continued interrogation after a Miranda/Edwards violation does not inherently constitute coercion without evidence of actual coercion or other circumstances bearing on the suspect's free will].) Under the totality of the circumstances here, defendant's December 4, 1993, confession to Petaluma Police Sergeant Meese over the telephone was not the product of coercion. (See Withrow v. Williams (1993) 507 U.S. 680, 689 [123 L.Ed.2d 407, 113 S.Ct. 1745] [we continue to employ the totality-of-circumstances approach when addressing a claim that the introduction of an involuntary confession has violated due process].) As already discussed, defendant was no stranger to the criminal justice system. He had freely confessed when arrested for previous crimes. (See ante, pt. II.D.1.) Sergeant Meese's questioning was neither harsh nor threatening. Nothing indicated that defendant was confused or misled by Meese's questions about Polly's whereabouts and whether she was still alive. (See People v. DePriest (2007) 42 Cal.4th 1, 35-36 [63 Cal.Rptr.3d 896, 163 P.3d 896] [rejecting a coerced confession claim where the defendant was not Mirandized during his 45-minute interrogation and initially said he was invoking his right to counsel, but the officer's questioning was not harsh or threatening, the defendant had prior experience as a felony suspect, and nothing indicated that the defendant was confused or intimidated].) Without defendant's statements, the physical evidence still established defendant's guilt as to all the crimes charged and the special circumstances alleged. In addition to the eyewitness testimony identifying defendant as Polly's kidnapper, there was ample physical evidence linking defendant directly to the crimes. His palm print and matching DNA profile were found in Polly's bedroom, from which defendant had taken her. Fibers consistent with the bindings used in the crimes were located in defendant's car. Also, Polly's leggings and defendant's sweatshirt were found near the ditch where defendant was stranded on the night of the crimes. The exclusion of defendant's various confessions would have reduced the quantum of evidence supporting defendant's conviction for the crime of attempting to commit a lewd act on Polly, as well as the special circumstance allegation that he killed Polly in the attempted commission of such an act. Even without defendant's statements, however, the physical evidence and defendant's prior crimes were strong evidence of the attempt. (See post, pt. III.B.) Under these circumstances, the admission of defendant's statements, even if they had been obtained in violation of Miranda, supra, 384 U.S. 436, and Edwards, supra, 451 U.S. 477, was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.