Opinion ID: 1239150
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Motion to suppress defendant's August 16, 1984, statements to the police

Text: During the trial, defendant moved to suppress the evidence of statements he made during an interrogation by the police conducted on August 16. Out of the presence of the jury, the trial court held a hearing on defendant's motion to suppress the evidence, at which the following testimony was presented. Upon defendant's arrest on August 16, at approximately 6:45 p.m., Detectives St. John and Melleker attempted to interview him in an interrogation room at Parker Center in downtown Los Angeles. The conversation secretly was taped by the scientific investigation division (hereafter, SID), and was taped by an additional recording device inside a briefcase that Detective St. John brought to the interrogation room. The detectives informed defendant that they were part of the robbery-homicide division and wanted to speak to him about Shari Miller and Tracey Campbell. After they provided him with the advisements required by Miranda, defendant informed the detectives that he wished to have his attorney present during questioning. Detective St. John switched off the recording device in his briefcase, and defendant was escorted from the room to telephone his attorney. The detectives left the room and instructed SID to cease recording. At approximately 6:50 p.m., following several unsuccessful attempts to contact his attorney, defendant was escorted back to the interrogation room, where he was handcuffed to a chair and left alone. Detective Worthen, who earlier that day had informed Tracey's mother that Tracey's body had been discovered in the desert, and who recently had arrived at the squad room, was informed that defendant had invoked his constitutional rights. Several minutes later, Detective Worthen entered the interrogation room and had a brief conversation with defendant. Detective Worthen returned to the squad room and informed Detective St. John that defendant had called out to Detective Worthen and indicated that he now was willing to answer questions without the presence of his attorney. At approximately 7:25 p.m., Detective St. John advised SID to recommence taping, and the detectives, having repeated the advisements pursuant to Miranda and received a waiver of rights from defendant, began to question him. At times during the interview, defendant, who did not appear to be injured, laughed and engaged in friendly conversation with the detectives. The interview continued for approximately two hours until defendant requested an attorney and the questioning ceased. At the hearing, the parties presented two contrasting accounts of the conversation between Detective Worthen and defendant that preceded the interview. Detective Worthen testified that, as he was walking past the interrogation room, defendant said, Detective Worthen, can I talk to you? After Detective Worthen entered the room, defendant stated he did not understand what was going on. Detective Worthen informed him that, just as in the earlier session when Detective Worthen had questioned defendant about Tracey Campbell, Detectives St. John and Melleker now wanted to ask him about Shari Miller and some photographs, and about the last time that defendant had seen Tracey Campbell. Defendant said he understood and now would be willing to answer the questions of the detectives. This conversation with Detective Worthen continued for approximately one minute, following which Worthen left the interrogation room. Defendant testified initially that Detective Worthen entered the interrogation room prior to the time defendant was escorted outside to contact his attorney. During the course of his testimony, defendant indicated that after he was returned to the interrogation room and handcuffed to the chair, the door was closed and, within three minutes Detective Worthen, whom defendant knew from the interrogation following his previous arrest, entered the room and initiated a conversation with defendant. Detective Worthen informed defendant that he would find himself in great bodily injury if he did not cooperate with Detective St. John, that Detective Worthen had just returned from the desert where Tracey's body had been found, and that if defendant did not speak to Detective St. John, Worthen would take defendant to the desert and leave him in the same condition as Tracey. Following this testimony, the hearing was interrupted. When it was resumed five days later, defendant testified that the door to the interview room had been only partially closed. After Detective Worthen entered the room, in addition to making threatening comments, he had grabbed defendant's shirt with both hands and shaken him, and had punched him in the lower back, at which point defendant could hear his ribs popping. During cross-examination, defendant further testified that Detective Worthen had forced a gun down defendant's throat, injuring his teeth. Defendant testified that Detective Worthen's threat to hurt defendant was not made conditional on defendant's confession. [12] According to defendant, Detective Worthen left the room and Detectives St. John and Melleker returned, recommencing questioning. When defendant said nothing, Detective Worthen returned and remained near the door until defendant indicated he was willing to answer questions. Detective Worthen remained in the doorway for the first part of the interview. On more than one occasion, when defendant became evasive, Detective Worthen began to move inside the room. Defendant was in fear for his life when he decided to answer the questions, and answered them against his will during the entire two-hour interview. Defendant engaged in friendly conversation with the detectives in an attempt to pacify them. Several times during the course of the interview, defendant requested to speak to his attorney. Eventually, defendant terminated the interview, although he still felt himself to be in physical danger. Defendant further testified that during the interview, he was asked several questions concerning his alleged rape of Julianne P., for which he faced formal charges that were approaching trial. According to defendant, Attorney Mark Gottesman, who represented defendant in that case and whom defendant had retained in the present two cases, attempted to contact defendant at 10:45 that evening, but was informed that defendant was in transit. According to defendant, that evening, following completion of his booking, he asked to be examined by a physician, indicating to the jail guard that he had suffered injuries to his ribs and was having trouble breathing. The following day, defendant was examined by a physician who filed a report describing defendant's complaints. The physician's report indicated that defendant had stated that his lower ribs hurt and a rib had popped after he was hit in that area by Detective Worthen. At the conclusion of the hearing, the prosecution conceded that any of defendant's statements made during the interview pertaining to the Julianne P. case were inadmissible. The trial court agreed and ordered the references to that incident redacted from the tape and transcript to be presented to the jury. The trial court, while noting that the tape demonstrated that defendant had paused prior to assenting to talk to the detectives, determined that defendant's subsequent waiver of his right to have counsel present during the interview was valid and voluntary. The trial court based its determination upon the relative credibility of Detective Worthen and defendant, and upon the absence in the tape or transcript of any reference by defendant to the injuries that he allegedly had received prior to the interview.
(13a) Defendant contends that the statements were obtained in violation of his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. (14a) The standards enunciated in Miranda were designed to assure protection of the federal Constitution's Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination under `inherently coercive' circumstances. ( People v. Sims (1993) 5 Cal.4th 405, 440 [20 Cal. Rptr.2d 537, 853 P.2d 992].) Statements obtained by the police in violation of Miranda are inadmissible to establish guilt. ( Ibid. ) (15) [S]ubsequent to the adoption of article I, section 28, subdivision (d) of the California Constitution, we apply federal standards in reviewing a defendant's claim that his or her statements were elicited in violation of Miranda.  ( People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 129; People v. Sims, supra, 5 Cal.4th 405, 440.) (14b) Under the familiar standards of Miranda, `a suspect may not be subjected to custodial interrogation unless he or she knowingly and intelligently has waived the right to remain silent, to the presence of an attorney, and to appointed counsel in the event the suspect is indigent.' [Citation.] `Once having invoked these rights, the accused is not subject to further interrogation by the authorities until counsel has been made available to him, unless the accused himself initiates further communication, exchanges, or conversations with the police.' [Citations.] ( People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 128; see Edwards v. Arizona (1981) 451 U.S. 477, 484-485 [101 S.Ct. 1880, 1884-1885, 68 L.Ed.2d 378]; Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 436, 444-445, 473-474 [86 S.Ct. 1602, 1612-1613, 1627-1628]; see also McNeil v. Wisconsin (1991) 501 U.S. 171, 176-177 [111 S.Ct. 2204, 2207-2209, 115 L.Ed.2d 158]; Arizona v. Roberson (1988) 486 U.S. 675, 680-682 [108 S.Ct. 2093, 2097-2098, 100 L.Ed.2d 704].) If, subsequently, assuming there is no break in custody, the police initiate a meeting in the absence of counsel, the suspect's statements are presumed involuntary and are inadmissible as substantive evidence at trial, even if the suspect executes a waiver and the statements would be considered voluntary under traditional standards. [Citations.] ( People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 128.) (16) The initiation of further dialogue by the accused, however, does not in itself justify reinterrogation. ( Oregon v. Bradshaw (1983) 462 U.S. 1039, 1044 [103 S.Ct. 2830, 2834, 77 L.Ed.2d 405].) `[E]ven if a conversation taking place after the accused has expressed his desire to deal with the police only through counsel, is initiated by the accused, where reinterrogation follows, the burden remains upon the prosecution to show that subsequent events indicated a waiver of the Fifth Amendment right to have counsel present during the interrogation.' ( Ibid. ) ( People v. Sims, supra, 5 Cal.4th 405, 440.) Therefore, it is clear that a conversation may be resumed in the absence of counsel only if the accused himself initiates further communication, exchanges, or conversations with the police ( Edwards v. Arizona, supra, 451 U.S. 477, 484-485 [101 S.Ct. 1880, 1885]) and the circumstances indicate that the accused has made a knowing and intelligent waiver of the right to an attorney. ( Oregon v. Bradshaw (1983) 462 U.S. 1039, 1044-1045 [103 S.Ct. 2830, 2834-2835, 77 L.Ed.2d 405].) (17) The scope of our review of constitutional claims of this nature is well established. When the facts are disputed, we must accept the trial court's resolution of disputed facts and inferences, and its evaluations of credibility, if they are substantially supported. ( People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 128.) We independently must determine from the undisputed facts, and those properly found by the trial court, whether the challenged statements were illegally obtained. ( Ibid. ; People v. Johnson (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1, 25 [23 Cal. Rptr.2d 593, 859 P.2d 673]; People v. Mattson (1990) 50 Cal.3d 826, 857-858 [268 Cal. Rptr. 802, 789 P.2d 983]; People v. Boyer (1989) 48 Cal.3d 247, 263 [256 Cal. Rptr. 96, 768 P.2d 610].) (13b) In the present case, defendant's query as to what was going on would not in itself have been sufficient to establish his reinitiation of contact. ( Oregon v. Bradshaw, supra, 462 U.S. 1039, 1042 [103 S.Ct. 2830, 2833]; People v. Sims, supra, 5 Cal.4th 405, 440.) According to Detective Worthen, however, defendant went further and on his own initiative expressed his willingness to speak with the detectives. The record of the subsequent interview confirms that, at its commencement, defendant expressed a willingness to speak following readvisement of his rights pursuant to Miranda. Therefore, with respect to whether defendant's reinitiation of communication and knowing and voluntary waiver were established, the determination turns upon whether Detective Worthen's version or defendant's version of their meeting was the more credible one. The trial court's resolution of the disputed facts and inferences pertaining to the contact between the two witnesses, and that court's evaluation of their credibility, is substantially supported by the evidence adduced at the hearing. Detective Worthen's account was plausible and was confirmed in various respects by that of Detective St. John, who spoke both with Worthen and defendant prior to and following their encounter. By contrast, defendant's testimony was inconsistent in a number of particulars, including as to whether Detective Worthen approached him prior to or following defendant's attempts to contact his attorney, whether the door to the interrogation room was open or closed when Detective Worthen approached him, and whether Detective Worthen was present during the interview. Defendant also appeared to embellish his recollection of asserted instances of Detective Worthen's threats or violent conduct, after defendant had had an opportunity to reflect upon the circumstances of their encounter. Defendant, having mentioned only verbal threats during the initial portion of his testimony, five days later described being physically assaulted, and still later during cross-examination stated he had been attacked and injured with a gun. Belatedly, defendant also reported an earlier attack by Detective Worthen that he claimed had induced him to participate in the initial interview commencing on July 31. As described above, that interview lasted several hours on that date and seven to ten hours on the following date until defendant requested an attorney. Moreover, defendant's credibility was impaired by the tape-recorded interview itself. Although defendant testified that, having just been punched in the ribs and injured in the mouth with a gun, he was in fear during the entire interview, the tapes of that interview reveal that he laughed and had friendly conversation with his interviewers. Defendant testified that he requested an attorney as many as four times during the interview, but the tape and transcript reveal no such requests. Nor do the tapes and transcriptions of the previous interview suggest that any prior attack had occurred. In view of the testimony presented, the trial court's determinations that defendant had initiated the renewed questioning, and that his express waiver was knowing and voluntary, were supported by substantial evidence. Accordingly, we sustain the trial court's finding that defendant waived his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
(18) Defendant contends that the statements were obtained in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to an attorney under Massiah v. United States (1964) 377 U.S. 201, 205 [84 S.Ct. 1199, 1202-1203, 12 L.Ed.2d 246], which provides that, once the right to counsel has attached, a subsequent waiver during a police-initiated interview is ineffective. Because an accused has a Sixth Amendment right to counsel only with respect to formal charges brought, however, Massiah requires the suppression of only those incriminating statements made concerning such charges. ( People v. Sully (1991) 53 Cal.3d 1195, 1233-1234 [283 Cal. Rptr. 144, 812 P.2d 163]; People v. Hovey (1988) 44 Cal.3d 543, 561 [244 Cal. Rptr. 121, 749 P.2d 776]; see In re Wilson (1992) 3 Cal.4th 945, 950-951 [13 Cal. Rptr.2d 269, 838 P.2d 1222].) Even after an accused has counsel with regard to a particular charged offense, he or she may be questioned by police following Miranda advisements with respect to any uncharged offense. ( McNeil v. Wisconsin, supra, 501 U.S. 171, 175-177 [111 S.Ct. 2204, 2207-2209].) Incriminating statements pertaining to those uncharged offenses, as to which the Sixth Amendment right has not yet attached, are admissible at a subsequent trial of those offenses. ( Maine v. Moulton (1985) 474 U.S. 159, 180, fn. 16 [106 S.Ct. 477, 489, 88 L.Ed.2d 481]; People v. Sully, supra, 53 Cal.3d 1195, 1234.) (13c) Defendant contends that the statements he made without benefit of counsel, concerning the offenses for which he had not yet formally been charged (the murders of Shari Miller and Tracey Campbell), materially interfered with his right to representation with respect to the formally charged offense (the rape of Julianne P.). In addressing the issue, both defendant and the People implicitly or explicitly rely upon language in People v. Sully, supra, 53 Cal.3d 1195, which stated that such interference with the right to representation regarding the charged offense might occur where the charged and uncharged offenses are `so inextricably enmeshed that factually and conceptually it was virtually impossible to distinguish the events.' ( Id. at p. 1234.) The circumstances of the earlier rape and those of the present murders clearly do not meet those criteria. As our more recent decisions make clear, defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel had not yet attached in the present, uncharged murders, and the circumstance that defendant previously had been charged and incarcerated and counsel appointed in the wholly unrelated rape does not compel a contrary conclusion. ( People v. Webb (1993) 5 Cal.4th 494, 527 [24 Cal. Rptr.2d 779, 862 P.2d 779]; People v. Wader (1993) 5 Cal.4th 610, 635-636 [20 Cal. Rptr.2d 788, 854 P.2d 80]; People v. Clair (1992) 2 Cal.4th 629, 657-658 [7 Cal. Rptr.2d 564, 828 P.2d 705].) Moreover, even assuming that the trial court erred in admitting defendant's statements, and further assuming that, considered as admissions, these were subject to the same standard of review for prejudice applicable to confessions ( Arizona v. Fulminante (1991) 499 U.S. 279, 306-310 [111 S.Ct. 1246, 1262-1265, 113 L.Ed.2d 302] [federal constitutional trial error such as admission of involuntary confession subject to harmless error analysis of Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18 (87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705, 24 A.L.R.3d 1065)]; People v. Cahill (1993) 5 Cal.4th 478, 509-510 [20 Cal. Rptr.2d 582, 853 P.2d 1037] [California Constitution does not require stricter standard]; see People v. Sims, supra, 5 Cal.4th 405, 447), the admission of this evidence was not prejudicial. The substance of defendant's account simply confirmed the statements he had given at the interviews following his arrest on July 31. Although defendant informed the officers of a few new details of his contacts with Shari, such as that she had arranged (but subsequently failed) to meet defendant at the Meat Market bar on the evening of the same day she visited defendant at his apartment (in his account, occurring during the last part of June), the new information he provided was not itself incriminating. Although defendant provided a few additional details of his meeting with Tracey's family, and reported dropping off Tracey at a coffee shop on Venice Boulevard rather than on the corner as he previously had reported, defendant did not materially alter the substance of his previous account, and the information he provided was not inculpatory. Although the officers, by advising defendant that they could place defendant and Shari in the same desert location in which Tracey's body had been discovered, did elicit defendant's statement that I can't explain it to you, nonetheless, when one officer asked defendant directly whether he had killed Shari or Tracey, defendant responded No sir. There is no reasonable possibility that the verdict would have been more favorable to defendant had these statements not been admitted. ( Chapman v. California, supra, 386 U.S. 18, 34 [87 S.Ct. 824, 832-833].)