Opinion ID: 2211681
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: garner's statement

Text: After police spoke with Johnson, McCowen and other officers went through the neighborhood inquiring if anyone had information about the homicide. During this time, they encountered several youths who indicated that they had information. One of the youths told McCowen that a boy named Jeremy in an ESP program at school told him that he had beaten Leu and had pushed her down the steps. The youth stated that Jeremy had also previously asked him to help break into Leu's house. The other youths told police that they thought Jeremy's last name was Mason, that he lived directly north of Leu's house, and that on Saturday, March 28, 1998, they saw him with a gray telephone receiver. Following the conversation with the youths, the officers obtained information from the Omaha public schools that Garner lived with his grandmother, whose last name was Mason. The police also verified that Garner had previously resided in the house north of Leu's. Based on the information obtained about Garner, McCowen obtained a search warrant for Garner's home. The warrant was executed at approximately 1:30 a.m. on March 31, 1998. Upon arrival at the residence, police knocked on the door, and Garner answered. Garner then got his grandmother. Both Garner and his grandmother agreed that Garner could go to police headquarters to discuss the homicide. McCowen informed Garner's grandmother of where they would be and gave her a telephone number where they could be reached. McCowen could not remember if he told Garner's grandmother that he would bring Garner back to the house later, or if he invited her to accompany them to the headquarters. Garner was not handcuffed during the drive to police headquarters. At headquarters, McCowen advised Garner of his Miranda rights. Garner then agreed to talk to McCowen and another officer. The interview began at 2:16 a.m., concluded at 5:06 a.m., and was audiotaped. Garner denied any involvement in the homicide for approximately the first 1½ hours. Garner stated that he had been at Leu's house on Saturday to do chores for her and that she had paid him and had given him a little blue radio. As the interview progressed, the officers began to accuse Garner of lying and pointed out inconsistencies in his story. In particular, Garner told the officers that he learned about Leu's death Saturday night on the news. However, the police, and hence the news, were not aware of Leu's death until Sunday. The officers pointed these inconsistencies out to Garner, but he continued to maintain his innocence. Throughout the interview, the officers indicated to Garner that they believed he was responsible for Leu's death but that they did not think he intentionally set out to kill her. The officers also repeatedly employed a method of interrogation in which they told Garner how bad the situation would appear to others, followed by the suggestion that this was Garner's chance to explain what really happened. At one point in the interview, the following statements were made: McCowen: You know what it looks bad as? How it looks bad? Here's this 83-year-old white woman, living alone; she's helping people in the neighborhood. Garner: Yeah. McCowen: And then here's this young black man that killed her, trying to take her money. Um, it's gonna be nothing but sensational in the paper. Garner: Uh huh. McCowen: People are going to [be] calling that kid a monster. They're gonna be asking for the death penalty for him. But you know what the other part is? Probably they don't understand what happened. Later during the interview, McCowen stated the following: McCowen: [B]elieve me you're gonna want people to know what happened, 'cause they're gonna think so much bad shit about you, that you gonna, you gonna beg them to see what happened. Please don't think I'm this kind of person. 'Cause they'll be wanting to kill ya. They'll want to stick you in the electric chair and burn your butt forever for killing an 83-year-old white woman, when there may be more to it than that. After making this statement, McCowen and the other officer continued to talk to Garner for approximately 27 minutes. During that time, the officers appealed to Garner's conscience and continued to urge him to tell the truth and to take the opportunity to explain his side of the story. Following these additional statements, Garner confessed to committing the crime. McCowen testified that his reference to the electric chair was part of an interview technique in which the officer explains how the public is going to view a crime. McCowen stated that he did not threaten Garner with the death penalty. McCowen also testified that he did not actually believe that the death was an accident, but was downplaying the circumstances as a technique in trying to get Garner to tell the truth. During the interview, the officers did not raise their voices. Rather, the tapes indicate that the officers exhibited a calm demeanor throughout the interview. McCowen testified, and the record reflects, that during the interview, Garner never asked for his grandmother, a parent, or anyone else. McCowen also testified that Garner never indicated that he was sleepy or wanted to stop the interview. The district court made a finding of fact that Garner did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance and that there was no indication of mental confusion. McCowen provided testimony to this effect. At approximately 4 a.m., Garner admitted to committing the homicide, and a taped formal statement of his confession was made. Garner stated that after doing chores for Leu, she complained to him about Johnson, which made him nervous. Garner then stated that he went to the kitchen and got a pan and a knife and that he brought a dish towel to cover up fingerprints. Garner stated that he then hit Leu and pushed her down the stairs to the basement. Garner stated that he saw two canes at the bottom of the stairs and first hit Leu with one for a while, but it was not strong enough, so he hit her with the other one. Garner stated that he then started to clean up the blood with the dish towel and a bath towel. He next took a brick off of a shelf and repeatedly threw it at Leu. Garner then went to get a gas can, thinking that he would pour gasoline on Leu, but changed his mind and put the can back. Garner stated that he saw some cans of food and threw those on Leu instead. Following this, Garner stated that he cut the telephone cord, hit Leu with the cane several more times, and left. A wallet and other items identified as belonging to Leu were later found in a trash can behind Garner's residence. Before trial, Garner filed a motion to suppress his statement to the police. The district court overruled the motion. During trial, Garner's formal statement to police was played to the jury over his objection.