Opinion ID: 1089450
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Motion to Suppress (82-KA-0764, 82-KA-0763)

Text: By this assignment in both cases Harper contends that the trial court erred in denying his Motion to Suppress his oral statements. Defendant claims that during his first statement on April 5, 1981, he asserted his right to counsel, after which the interrogating officers continued to question him. This statement was suppressed in part by the trial judge out of an abundance of caution, beginning with Harper's response that he was not willing to answer questions at that time without a lawyer present. [3] The other statements taken from Harper on April 7, 1981, were all attacked on the grounds that they were taken in violation of Harper's expressed desire to speak with counsel, and that they resulted from coercive tactics on the part of the police. We find that evidence taken at the hearing on the motion to suppress rebuts these allegations. Harper alleged at the suppression hearing that between his arrest and his statements on April 7, Officers Kay and Kavanaugh came to see him in the jail several times at night, yelled at him and promised that things would go easier on him if he confessed. Early the next day the officers allegedly showed him pictures of the crime scene and interrogated him further. Harper stated that when he again requested a lawyer during the interrogation, he was struck on the head by Kay. He was also allegedly threatened with execution, or a long sentence, if he did not give a statement. Roland Kay, inspector with the Ruston Police Department, testified that Harper was advised of his Miranda rights at the time of his arrest at 8:25 p.m. on April 5, 1981. At that time Harper indicated clearly that he was not willing to answer questions without a lawyer present. Despite this, Kay asked Harper a few more questions, received no inculpatory answers and then ended the interview. According to Kay, Harper then sent word on April 7th through his jailer that he wanted to talk. Between April 5th and April 7th, Officer Kay knew of no one's making any threats or promises to Harper. Kay had passed Harper's cell but did not interrogate him during the day and a half between statements. James Kavanaugh, another Ruston police officer, confirmed that on April 5th Harper was advised of his rights before talking with him and Kay. Unlike Kay, Kavanaugh did not ask any more questions after Harper asserted his right to counsel. Between April 5th and April 7th, Kavanaugh fingerprinted Harper at the jail but did not interrogate him. Kavanaugh likewise verified that Harper on April 7th requested through the jailer that he be allowed to talk to the investigators. Harper was brought to the investigator's office and again advised of his Miranda rights. He thereupon gave a statement at about 11:30 a.m. Another request came from Harper for a meeting with the investigators at about 4:00 p.m. the same day. He was returned to the investigator's office and again advised of his rights at the outset of a 4:30 p.m. statement and at the outset of a 5:45 p.m. statement. At no time on April 7th did Harper indicate that he wanted to see an attorney. Instead he stated that he would make his statements without seeing an attorney and he executed individual waiver of rights forms prior to each statement indicating he did not want an attorney present. The transcripts themselves reveal that Harper was fully and separately advised of his rights before each statement and he specifically stated in the course of his last three statements that he was giving them freely and voluntarily and that he had knowingly waived his rights. Defense counsel had been appointed by the afternoon of April 7, 1981. [4] Harper was aware of the appointment and still expressed his willingness to give a statement without the presence of that counsel. The jailer, Frederick Cowan, testified that on April 7, 1981 after Harper requested and made one phone call, he asked to see the investigating officers without suggestion by anyone. Jailer Cowan specifically denied any knowledge of ill treatment towards Harper, although he did say that Harper had told him of beatings and fears which were otherwise uncorroborated. Mr. Cowan also testified that Harper exhibited no physical evidence of mistreatment. The Chief of the Ruston Police Department, Bruce Thompson, was present during the taking of the second and third statements from Henry Harper, and confirmed at the suppression hearing that the defendant had not been interrogated between the April 5th and April 7th, that no threats or coercion were used to obtain the statements, and that the defendant was fully apprised of his rights before talking about the events for which he had been arrested. Robert Sharp, an attorney appointed by the court to serve as Harper's counsel, [5] also testified at the suppression hearing. Mr. Sharp had not been present in court on April 7th and became aware of his appointment by written notification placed in his mailbox at the Clerk of Court's office and picked up by his secretary later in the afternoon. He testified that he first met with the defendant on April 8th, at which time the defendant informed him that he had made several statements the day before to police officers concerning the trailer incident. As indicated earlier, despite a belief that Harper's responses were more exculpatory than inculpatory, the trial court out of abundance of caution suppressed that portion of the first statement made on April 5th after defendant's assertion of his right to counsel. Regarding the oral statements of April 7th, the trial court found that Harper had initiated contact with the officers and that he knowingly and voluntarily waived his rights including the right to counsel before to making those statements. The statements of an accused, whether exculpatory or inculpatory, when made during a custodial interrogation should be suppressed unless the accused is first advised of, and subsequently waives his right to remain silent and his right to counsel. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). When an accused asserts his right to counsel the police must scrupulously honor the invocation of the right and interrogation must cease. State v. Thucos, 390 So.2d 1281 (La. 1980); State v. Manning, 380 So.2d 46 (La. 1980). However, a majority of this Court has concluded recently that the question of whether an accused's rights are scrupulously honored depends on the totality of the circumstances involved in the particular facts of each case. One factor to be considered is who initiates the further questioning. Other factors include the time delay between the original request and subsequent interrogation, whether Miranda warnings were given before each separate interrogation, whether waiver of rights forms were signed, and whether or not pressures were asserted on the accused by the police between the time he invoked his right to counsel and the subsequent interrogation. State v. Shea, 421 So.2d 200 at 209 (La.1982), (on rehearing). See also State v. McCarty, 421 So.2d 213 (La.1982). In the instant case, the continued questioning of Harper by Officer Kay on April 5th after Harper had asserted his right to counsel was clearly impermissible. The trial court therefore correctly suppressed those remarks made by the defendant on April 5th after he indicated that he would not answer any questions at this time without a lawyer present. Miranda, supra . Concerning the admissibility of statements made after a defendant asserts his right to counsel during police interrogation, Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981) found inadmissible a defendant's statement made after such an assertion when coupled with the officers' initiation of further questioning. The statements in the instant case were made before the Edwards decision. A majority of this Court found that Edwards v. Arizona should not be given retroactive application. State v. Shea, supra ; State v. McCarty, supra . In any event we also conclude that Harper himself reinitiated the interrogations knowingly and voluntarily. Accordingly his April 7th statements would be admissible even under the mandate of Edwards v. Arizona, supra . The admissibility of a confession in the first instance is a matter for the trial court and its determination will not be disturbed unless not supported by the evidence. State v. Burkhalter, 428 So.2d 449 (La.1983). The testimony of police officers at the suppression hearing attest that Harper reinitiated the contact between him and the officers on April 7. Each of the April 7th statements were prefaced by a reading of constitutional rights to Harper and Harper's knowing and voluntary waiver of those rights, including the right to counsel. The record contains copies of the waiver forms. The transcripts and the tapes themselves reveal that Harper was advised of his rights and waived them. Moreover the testimony of Kay, Kavanaugh, Thompson and Cowan rebuts Harper's specific allegations of abuse and threats in the interim between April 5 and 7. The judge accorded greater weight to the testimony of the police officers and jailer. We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in so crediting that testimony over that of the defendant, who alleged that the statements had been obtained only as a result of coercive tactics by the investigators. State v. Serrato, 424 So.2d 214 (La.1982). Additionally, in considering the important question of the voluntariness of the defendant's statements, we, as the trial court before us, had the benefit of reviewing the several audio and especially the one video/audio-tape of the defendant's interview of the morning of April 7th during which he first made inculpatory statements. We were impressed with the calm, non-coercive environment, the relaxed attitude of the defendant, the courteous treatment he was afforded, and the voluntary character of the defendant's responses. The totality of the circumstances, as set forth in the record, shows that Harper's right to counsel, as to his April 7th statements, was scrupulously honored under the Shea standards, that Harper himself reinitiated contact with the police and that Harper waived his rights prior to giving the statements. Therefore the statements on April 7 were ... sufficiently an act of free will entirely purged of and independent of the primary taint. State v. Davis, 336 So.2d 805 (La.1976). Finally, the fact that the defendant had an appointed attorney with whom he had not conferred does not invalidate his April 7th afternoon statements. This Court has said: We do not believe that the fact that a defendant has an attorney means that law enforcement officials cannot procure a statement of any kind from him without prior notice to, if not the consent, of the attorney. State v. Siegel, 366 So.2d 1358 at 1360, (La.1978), quoting State v. Cotton, 341 So.2d 355 at 359 (La.1977). A defendant may waive his sixth amendment right to legal representation when the government interrogates him after the commencement of adversarial proceedings, but it is incumbent upon the [prosecution] to prove an intentional relinquishment of a known right or privilege. Jordan v. Watkins, 681 F.2d 1067 at 1075, rehearing denied, 688 F.2d 395 (5th Cir.1982), quoting Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387 at 404, 97 S.Ct. 1232 at 1242, 51 L.Ed.2d 424 (1977). The validity of a waiver is determined by carefully scrutinizing the particular facts and circumstances surrounding that case, including the background, experience and conduct of the accused. Jordan, supra at 1074 quoting Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458 at 464, 58 S.Ct. 1019 at 1023, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938). The defendant in this case was a married twenty-two year old who had completed twelve years of school and had received his G.E.D. diploma. From the record, we have concluded that he had not been interrogated concerning the trailer incident from the time the April 5th interview ended until the time he himself reinitiated contact with the investigators the morning of April 7th. The defendant was present in court when the trial judge named his appointed attorney. There is no indication that the defendant subsequently requested that his attorney be notified of his intention to meet with the officers, nor is there any indication that he tried to contact the attorney. The record also clearly indicates that he was reminded during his afternoon statements of the fact that an attorney had been appointed for him. He was informed before those statements that he was free to consult with his attorney before making any statements and that he could end the interview at any time, should he so desire. We conclude that the particular facts and circumstances surrounding this case, including the background, experience and conduct of the accused, strongly support the state's contention that Harper intentionally relinquished his known right to counsel when talking with police officers on April 7, 1981. Accordingly the trial court's denial of defendant's Motion to Suppress was correct. This assignment lacks merit. The remaining assignments of error as relate to these two trials and convictions will be discussed separately. The one assignment of error remaining for defendant's appeal of his conviction for the attempted murder of Martha Spinks (No. 82-KA-0764) challenges a denial of a motion for a mistrial. Those remaining for defendant's appeal of his conviction for the attempted murder of Pam Spinks (No. 82-KA-0763) involve essentially challenges to the jury selection. [6]