Opinion ID: 2116666
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Admissibility of Houser's Statements to Police

Text: Houser also unsuccessfully moved to suppress all statements he made to police about the robbery and murder. Particularly at issue in this appeal are Houser's conversation with police at Lee's Automotive on November 12, 1993 and Houser's statements to police later that evening at the police station while in custody. Police essentially detained Houser in a corner of Lee's Automotive as they executed the search warrant. At that point officers discussed the robbery and murder with Houser for approximately fifteen to twenty minutes without giving Houser the warnings required by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Before receiving Miranda warnings, Houser admitted telling White he committed the murder but denied actual involvement in the killing, claiming he fabricated his account to White in order to impress him. After finding Murphy's billfold in the ceiling and some time after reading the Miranda rights, the officers placed Houser under arrest. Houser argues that he was in custody from the time police arrived at Lee's Automotive to execute the warrant and that he should have been given Miranda warnings before any questioning or conversation with police. The State contends that Houser was not in custody until the time of actual arrest and, alternatively, even if he was in custody all information was volunteered and therefore not the product of interrogation. It is axiomatic that Miranda warnings must be given before any custodial interrogation. Loving v. State, 647 N.E.2d 1123, 1125 (Ind.1995). A criminal defendant is deemed in custody if a reasonable person in the same circumstances would not feel free to leave. Id. Cases in which a person was restrained while police executed a search warrant have gone both ways on the question whether the person was in custody for Miranda purposes. JOSEPH G. COOK, 2 CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF THE ACCUSED § 6:29 (3d ed. 1996). Until Murphy's billfold was found in Houser's ceiling, Houser was not formally under arrest. Nonetheless a reasonable person in Houser's shoes would not have felt free to go. As the search was underway police did not tell Houser he was free to leave and did not deny Houser's assertions that he was a suspect in the case based on White's information. It is at best questionable that police would have let Houser leave if he tried to do so. [6] Although one of the officers characterized the exchange as a conversation and not an interrogation, in light of the thorough search and effective detention of Houser at the scene, the exchange between Houser and the police bordered on express questioning. Loving, 647 N.E.2d at 1126; see also Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 300-01, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 1689-90, 64 L.Ed.2d 297, 308 (1980) (interrogation for Miranda purposes includes words or actions on the part of the police . . . that the police should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from the suspect). Assuming without deciding that Miranda warnings should have been given prior to the questioning of Houser at Lee's Automotive, Houser repeated all prejudicial statements after receiving Miranda warnings. [7] Thus any error in admitting the pre- Miranda statements was harmless because they were repetitive of properly admitted statements. [8] The post- Miranda statements were not coerced and therefore were properly admitted irrespective of any irregularity in the pre-warning dialog between Houser and the officers. [9] More damaging statements came later that evening at the police station. However, they were not given in violation of Houser's rights. After being arrested and transported to police headquarters, Houser gave a videotaped statement to police. Before making the statement, Houser was again read Miranda warnings and also signed a waiver of rights form. Houser changed his story from a denial of involvement to a claim that he and White had carried out the robbery together. Houser said, among other things, that White beat Murphy on the head and that Houser was the one who found Murphy's wallet. Houser asserts that these post-arrest statements were coerced and should not have been admitted. The voluntariness of a statement to police is assessed based on the totality of the circumstances, with the focus on whether the statement was freely given. Knight v. State, 570 N.E.2d 1281, 1283 (Ind.1991). Here, Houser points to nothing that would support the conclusion that his due process rights were infringed. Houser was given Miranda warnings at the police station and yet he still agreed to speak with officers. Police acknowledged using typical interview techniques, such as good cop, bad cop, but denied coercing or physically assaulting Houser. We see no reason Houser's statements should have been suppressed and, in fact, we have upheld confessions taken under similar circumstances. See, e.g., Roell v. State, 438 N.E.2d 298, 300 (Ind.1982) (confession held admissible where defendant was read Miranda warnings several times, continued to give statement, and all officers present stated they did not threaten defendant or mislead him into confessing). [10]