Opinion ID: 1809787
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the trial court erred in failing to suppress the statement given by holloway.

Text: ¶ 13. The standard of reviewing the admission of a confession is well-settled. Determining whether a confession is admissible is a finding of fact which is not disturbed unless the trial judge applies an incorrect legal standard, committed manifest error, or the decision was contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Wright v. State, 730 So.2d 1106, 1108 (Miss.1998) (quoting Lee v. State, 631 So.2d 824, 826 (Miss.1994)). The voluntariness of a waiver, or of a confession, is a factual inquiry that must be determined by the trial judge from the totality of the circumstances. O'Halloran v. State, 731 So.2d 565, 570 (Miss.1999); Gavin v. State, 473 So.2d 952, 954 (Miss. 1985); Stevens v. State, 458 So.2d 726, 729 (Miss.1984). The applicable standard for determining whether a confession is voluntary is whether, taking into consideration the totality of the circumstances, the statement is the product of the accused's free and rational choice. Herring v. State, 691 So.2d 948, 956 (Miss.1997). Once a determination of voluntariness is made by the trial court, the defendant bears a heavy burden in attempting to reverse the trial court's finding that the confession is admissible. Blue v. State, 674 So.2d 1184, 1204 (Miss.1996). ¶ 14. Holloway was arrested on the morning of January 14, 1998, at the Magnolia Regional Health Center. He was then transported to the Prentiss County Justice Center where he waived his rights and made a statement to Officers Gilley and Tynes. Holloway asserted in his motion to suppress that at the time of his statement, he was under the influence of strong medication administered to him while he was undergoing treatment at the Health Center. Subsequent to a hearing outside the presence of the jury, the trial judge denied Holloway's motion to suppress his statement. Holloway here contends that the State failed to demonstrate that the statement was voluntarily given and that because his statement was given while he was under the influence of drugs, its admission is reversible error. ¶ 15. The procedural rule of Agee v. State, 185 So.2d 671, 673 (Miss.1966), requires that the trial court hold an evidentiary hearing upon the accused's objection to the introduction of the confession. The State has the burden of proving the voluntariness of a confession. Id. This burden is met by the testimony of an officer, or other person having knowledge of the facts, that the confession was voluntarily made without any threats, coercion, or offer of reward. This makes out a prima facie case for the State on the question of voluntariness. Id. (citing Lee v. State, 236 Miss. 716, 112 So.2d 254 (1959)). ¶ 16. At the suppression hearing, the State offered the testimony of Officer Gilley of the Prentiss County Sheriff's Department, who arrested Holloway and ultimately recorded Holloway's statement. The State clearly made out its prima facie case by offering the testimony of Gilley. Gilley testified that upon arriving at the facility, he spoke to a nurse about having Holloway released into police custody. Gilley testified that the woman spoke with a doctor. Gilley stated that he asked the woman whether Holloway was on any kind of medication that would render him unable to give a statement or to be questioned, and that she replied that he was not on any such medication. Gilley testified that upon his arrest, Holloway was transported to the Prentiss County Justice Center. Upon arriving at the Justice Center, Gilley read Holloway his rights, and Holloway signed the waiver of rights at 10:47 a.m. Having waived his rights, Holloway gave a statement, which was recorded on audio tape, to Gilley and Tynes. The tape recording began at 11:22 a.m. ¶ 17. Gilley testified that he had known Holloway since 1984 and that at the time Holloway made the statement, Holloway did not appear to be in any way different from Gilley's previous experience with him. Gilley stated that Holloway did not appear to be under the influence of any medication or alcohol. Gilley stated that Holloway did not appear to be inhibited, nor did his speech patterns, eye dilation, or physical movements appear to be influenced by drugs or alcohol. Gilley testified that Holloway knowingly, freely and voluntarily waived his rights and gave the statement. ¶ 18. Upon the State's presentation of a prima facie case of admissibility, the burden shifted to Holloway to provide evidence to rebut the State's assertion. Cox v. State, 586 So.2d 761, 763 (Miss.1991) (citing Agee, 185 So.2d at 673). Holloway presented no evidence, testimony or otherwise, at the suppression hearing that his statement was involuntarily made. He offered neither his own testimony nor evidence from persons or documents at the Magnolia Regional Health Center that he had taken the medication, librium, he alleges to have taken in his brief. At trial, he testified to having taken librium and to its effects on him, and he offered the testimony of his wife that at the time she picked Holloway up at the sheriffs department he was hardly aware of anything. Holloway offered no such evidence at the suppression hearing. ¶ 19. Holloway asserts that his statement contains numerous errors of simple fact which indicate that he was confused and under the influence of drugs. Though Holloway does not state in his brief to this Court what those errors are, it will here be assumed that he refers to those errors which were emphasized by defense counsel at the hearing. Specifically, on cross-examination of Officer Gilley, defense counsel questioned Gilley regarding Holloway's mistakenly referring to Mary as Jane. Also, defense counsel questioned Gilley regarding Holloway's apparent confusion over which day of the week it was and regarding Holloway's difficulty in pronouncing the word hallucinating. Defense counsel also questioned Gilley about the lapse of time between the time that Holloway waived his rights and the time the recording began. ¶ 20. This Court has held that the mental condition of a defendant does not in and of itself render a confession inadmissible, but instead [is] but one factor to consider among the totality of the circumstances of a confession and interrogation. Kircher v. State, 753 So.2d 1017, 1026 (Miss.1999) (quoting Blue v. State, 674 So.2d at 1205). See also Neal v. State, 451 So.2d 743 (Miss. 1984). This Court has stated that intoxication or sickness does not automatically render a confession involuntarily. The admissibility of the confession depends on the degree of intoxication. Kircher, 753 So.2d at 1026 (quoting Johnson v. State, 511 So.2d 1360, 1365 (Miss.1987)). It cannot be said that the trial court erred in determining that Holloway's mistakenly referring to Mary as Jane, apparent confusion over which day of the week it was, and his difficulty pronouncing the word hallucinating were insufficient to demonstrate that Holloway was rendered unable to make a voluntary statement to police by his alleged drug consumption. The trial judge had before him the testimony of Officer Gilley that Holloway was not inhibited by drugs at the time of his confession and that Holloway waived his rights knowingly and voluntarily. Also before the trial judge was the absence of any evidence that librium had been actually administered to Holloway at the Health Center and scant evidence that Holloway may have been impaired in some way at the time the statement was taken. Though defense counsel emphasizes the lapse of time, thirty-five minutes, between the time Holloway waived his rights and the time the statement was recorded, Gilley denied on cross-examination that anything improper had transpired during that time period, and Holloway put on no evidence that anything improper transpired during those thirty-five minutes. The trial judge applied the correct legal standard, considered the totality of the circumstances, and held that Holloway's statement was free and voluntary, and thus admissible. Holloway had a heavy burden to overcome, and he failed in that attempt. Blue v. State, 674 So.2d at 1184.