Opinion ID: 2441099
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Suppress Statements to the Police

Text: Next, Martin claims that the trial court committed reversible error when it refused to suppress the taped statement he gave to the police on April 23. Martin argues that the statement should have been suppressed because it was taken in violation of Ark. R.Crim. P. 2.3 and his right to receive Miranda warnings. Before addressing the merits of these two arguments, it should be noted that the State asserts that Martin failed to properly raise these issues before the trial court. We strongly disagree with the State's contention. In December, Martin filed a pro se motion regarding a violation of Ark. R.Crim. P. 2.3, and his attorney filed a motion to suppress the statement based on the alleged Miranda violation. During a pretrial hearing, Martin's counsel addressed the alleged Rule 2.3 violation, and the judge delayed his ruling so that both sides could submit posthearing briefs on the issue. Although Martin submitted a brief, it does not appear from the record that the State complied with the trial judge's request. Finally, the trial court rendered a ruling on both issues. Therefore, we find that contrary to the State's assertion both issues have been properly preserved for appeal.
Martin claims that Ark. R.Crim. P. 2.3 was violated when the police appeared at his house on April 23 without a warrant, asked him to come to the station for questioning, and failed to notify him that he did not have to comply with this request. We agree with Martin's argument, and accordingly we find that the statement should have been suppressed. In United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980), the United States Supreme Court first defined the type of police conduct that amounted to a seizure of the person under the Fourth Amendment. Instead of adopting a bright-line rule, the Supreme Court opted for a totality-of-the-circumstances approach and held that: a person has been seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment only if, in view of all of the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave. Id. In accordance with the Mendenhall test, the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure state that: If a law enforcement officer acting pursuant to this rule requests any person to come to or remain at a police station, prosecuting attorney's office or other similar place, he shall take such steps as are reasonable to make clear that there is no legal obligation to comply with such a request. Ark. R.Crim. P. 2.3 (emphasis added). As in Mendenhall , our initial cases interpreting Rule 2.3 reviewed the totality of the circumstances to determine if the officers had taken reasonable steps to advise the citizen that he or she was not obligated to comply with the officer's request. Burnett v. State, 295 Ark. 401, 749 S.W.2d 308 (1988); Foster v. State, 285 Ark. 363, 687 S.W.2d 829 (1985), cert, denied, 482 U.S. 929, 107 S.Ct. 3213, 96 L.Ed.2d 700 (1987). For example, in Burnett, six armed officers awoke Burnett at approximately 6:00 a.m. and told him to get dressed and to come to the station. Burnett, supra . Burnett was not arrested, but neither was he told that he did not have to comply with the officers' instructions. Burnett, supra . Upon arrival at the police station, Burnett gave the police an inculpatory statement, which on appeal, he argued should have been suppressed because he was unlawfully seized by the police. Burnett, supra . Citing both Rule 2.3 and the Mendenhall test, we found that: Considering the totality of the circumstances, we conclude that Burnett was seized at his home in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The officers did not comply with our rules of criminal procedure, which require that an officer inform a person that he is free not to accompany the officer if the officer does not have a warrant. A reasonable person in Burnett's position would have thought that he had no choice except to accompany the officers to the police station. (internal citations omitted). Thus, by looking at the totality of the circumstances and the officers' failure to inform Burnett that he was free to decline their request, we held that the police officers' conduct amounted to an unlawful seizure under Rule 2.3, and accordingly, Burnett's statement should have been suppressed. Id. Over the years, we have departed from our totality-of-the-circumstances approach to Rule 2.3 and have replaced it with the bright-line rule that a statement must be suppressed under Rule 2.3 if the police officers simply fail to notify the person that they do not have to come to the station for questioning. Burks v. State, 293 Ark. 374, 738 S.W.2d 399 (1987); Addison v. State, 298 Ark. 1, 765 S.W.2d 566 (1989); Hart v. State, 312 Ark. 600, 852 S.W.2d 312 (1993); Prowell v. State, 324 Ark. 335, 921 S.W.2d 585 (1996). In these cases, we have imposed a positive duty upon the police to inform the citizen of his or her right to refuse the request although the plain words of Rule 2.3 do not specifically require such a verbal notice. We acknowledge that our recent case law has placed a greater burden on the police than was initially required by either Mendenhall or our earlier cases interpreting Rule 2.3. See, Burks, supra ; Addison, supra . However, the bright-line rule is the course this court has chosen to follow, and we decline to depart from our precedent at this time. During Martin's suppression hearing, the witnesses testified that at approximately 10:00 p.m. on April 23, Martin's wife called the police to notify them that Martin had returned from Pine Bluff. Shortly thereafter, four armed officers arrived at Martin's house and asked him to come to the station for questioning. Although Martin was not placed under arrest, it appears that the officers did not notify him that he could refuse their request. Based on our recent decisions, this fact alone amounted to a violation of Rule 2.3. Therefore, we find that the trial court erred when it refused to suppress Martin's taped statement. This, however, does not end our inquiry because we have previously recognized two exceptions to a Rule 2.3 violation. First, we have held that a Rule 2.3 violation is excused when the police had probable cause to arrest the defendant at the time of the request. Burks, supra ; Addison, supra ; Hart, supra . Because the State did not argue that there was probable cause to arrest Martin, we do not consider this exception to Rule 2.3. As we noted in Prowell, a Rule 2.3 violation will also be excused where the admission of the inculpatory evidence resulted in mere harmless error. Prowell, supra . Moreover, we have consistently held that the failure to suppress evidence is not prejudicial error when the same or similar evidence was otherwise properly admitted. Weber v. State, 326 Ark. 564, 933 S.W.2d 370 (1996); Jones v. State, 326 Ark. 61, 931 S.W.2d 83 (1996). During Martin's trial, his brother and sister testified that Martin told them that on the night of the murder he was in Pine Bluff driving, drinking, and smoking crack cocaine, and that he threw away his clothes and bought a new set. In fact, the siblings' testimony is almost a verbatim recitation of the alibi statement that Martin gave to the police. In addition, Martin's wife testified that she suspected that Martin was using crack cocaine on April 22, and that they had previously encountered marital difficulties due to his use of the substance. Therefore, we cannot say that the failure to suppress Martin's taped statement was prejudicial, reversible error. Accordingly, we affirm Martin's conviction on this point.
Martin also contends that his taped statement was inadmissible because the police did not advise him of his Miranda rights before questioning him. It is well settled that the safeguards prescribed by Miranda are applicable as soon as a suspect's freedom of action is curtailed to a degree associated with formal arrest. Johnson, supra ; State v. Spencer, 319 Ark. 454, 892 S.W.2d 484 (1995). As explained above, we agree that the police unlawfully seized Martin, and thus we can say that his freedom was sufficiently curtailed such that the Miranda warnings should have been given to him prior to the questioning. During the suppression hearing, the officers admitted that they did not Mirandize Martin until after he gave his taped statement. Therefore, we agree that Martin's constitutional right to Miranda warnings was violated, and therefore the statement should have been suppressed. However, as we have already mentioned, the admission was mere harmless error in light of the testimony of Donald Lewis, Debra Dillard, and Wanda Martin. We acknowledge that when constitutional errors are involved the error must be harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Isbell v. State, 326 Ark. 17, 931 S.W.2d 74 (1996); Schalski v. State, 322 Ark. 63, 907 S.W.2d 693 (1995). We conclude that the error in this case also satisfies this heightened standard; therefore, we also affirm on this point for reversal.