Opinion ID: 2499553
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: issue 1: suppression of statements

Text: Gilliland's first issue on appeal is that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress his statements to Fontanez, the first responding law enforcement officer at the scene. Gilliland makes two arguments based on separate legal theories. In one argument, he seeks to suppress his pre- Miranda statement to the officerhis affirmative response to the officer's question, Is that what happened? Gilliland argues he was in custody when the officer asked the question and therefore he had a right to receive his Miranda warnings before the officer began the interrogation. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, reh. denied 385 U.S. 890, 87 S.Ct. 11, 17 L.Ed.2d 121 (1966). In the second argument, Gilliland focuses on his post- Miranda statements to the officer. Gilliland argues his answers, in which he verified that he had oral sex with a 12 year old, should have been suppressed because he was under the influence of alcohol and, as a result, his waiver of Miranda rights was not voluntary.