Opinion ID: 3134058
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: middleton’s pretrial motion to suppress his

Text: CONFESSION The defense filed a motion to suppress the defendant’s confession, claiming that Middleton was too intoxicated to waive his Miranda rights. The motion 5. The trial court held a Spencer hearing on August 24, 2012. See Spencer v. State, 133 So. 2d 729 (Fla. 1961). Neither the State nor the defense presented any additional evidence. - 16 - additionally alleged that Middleton does not possess the intellectual ability to comprehend his Miranda rights and that Middleton’s final interview was conducted after Middleton’s attorney provided the Sheriff’s Office with a form invoking Middleton’s constitutional right to remain silent. The hearing on the motion took place on April 10, 2012, and June 29, 2012.
During the hearing on the motion to suppress, Jenkins testified for the defense. He testified that he is disabled and was prescribed Oxycodone (Roxicodone) and Xanax, and that he had been selling or giving Middleton his prescription medications since 2007. On the day of the murder, he went to Middleton’s trailer to give him some drugs and to look at the television Middleton wanted to sell. He gave Middleton three Roxicodone pills. Middleton snorted two of the pills while Jenkins was there. The State called Britnell to testify at the suppression hearing. Consistent with his guilt phase testimony, Britnell recalled that he and Middleton each took one Xanax pill on the morning of the murder. He further recalled that in the early afternoon, the two shared $20 worth of methamphetamine, which Britnell described as “a little bit.” He indicated that immediately following the sale of the television, he drove Middleton to a Circle K to purchase cocaine. They each consumed “a line or two” of cocaine in the Circle K parking lot. Later, Captain - 17 - John Rhoden and Lieutenant Brad Stark approached them and asked them to come to the police station to give a statement. They drove to the station voluntarily. Captain John Rhoden testified that Middleton had no trouble standing or keeping his posture, did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, his speech was clear, and he did not appear to have any problems understanding what was being said to him. Lieutenant Stark testified that none of the men appeared to be off-balance. Nothing indicated that the defendant was under the influence of alcohol. On cross-examination, he stated that it would surprise him to hear that Middleton had done methamphetamine, cocaine and Xanax during that day. Detective Marty Faulkner testified regarding Middleton’s interviews. The first occurred on July 28, 2009, at 11:56 p.m., in his office, with another detective and Assistant State Attorney Ashley Albright present. He read the Miranda card verbatim to Middleton, who signed, dated, and time-stamped the card. Middleton agreed to speak with detectives, but seemed nervous. He stated that Middleton appeared to be coherent, and not under the influence of any drugs; Middleton was responsive to questions and his memory appeared to be fine. The interview lasted approximately one hour. Middleton made no admissions during this interview. Faulkner interviewed Middleton a second time, again in his office, in the early morning hours of July 29, 2009. Middleton made no admissions. The third - 18 - interview lasted three minutes, and at that time Middleton claimed that Fowler had committed the murder. Middleton was placed under arrest at the end of the third interview. When Faulkner returned to work, at approximately 11 a.m., Sergeant Coleman informed him that Middleton wanted to speak with him. Coleman testified and corroborated that Middleton made this request and that he relayed the request to Faulkner. This interview lasted for approximately twenty-three minutes before Middleton asked to go back to his cell. The officers then immediately concluded the interview and returned Middleton to his cell. Faulkner further testified that on July 30, he felt obligated to check on Middleton, based on Middleton’s state of mind during the interview conducted the previous day. When Faulkner arrived, Middleton was in segregation and standing at the gate of his cell. Middleton asked to speak to him, and Faulkner had Middleton escorted to his office, where the final interview transpired. During this final interview, after repeatedly being advised of his Miranda rights, Middleton confessed to murdering Christensen. On cross-examination, Faulkner acknowledged that he informed Middleton that he would have to waive his right to counsel to speak with him. Only after the final (approximately seventh) time Faulkner told Middleton what he would have to say in order to waive his rights, did Middleton in fact waive his rights. - 19 - Assistant Public Defender Stanley Glenn testified that he was initially appointed to represent Middleton. He stated that on the morning of July 30, 2009, he filed an invocation of rights form with the clerk’s office and that afternoon he personally delivered it to the Sheriff’s Office front desk, instructing them to give it to the lead detective investigating Christensen’s death. Glenn first met with Middleton the next day and reviewed the form with him. Middleton was very depressed at this time. Glenn was concerned that Middleton needed someone to talk to and may make incriminating statements. He repeatedly informed Middleton not to make any statements without him being present. On cross-examination, Glenn acknowledged that unbeknownst to him, on July 30, 2009, at 11:28 a.m., when he filed the invocation of rights form and delivered it to the Sheriff’s Office that afternoon, the defendant had already confessed at approximately 9:24 a.m.
Forensic Psychologist Dr. Gregory Landrum testified for the defense at the suppression hearing. He testified that he met with Middleton on two occasions in August 2009. He indicated that Middleton was competent to proceed and assist in his own defense. He determined that Middleton’s IQ was 72, which is in the borderline mental retardation range. He additionally determined that Middleton reads on a fifth-grade level. Dr. Landrum was not asked to do an evaluation regarding Miranda competency. - 20 - On cross examination, Dr. Landrum stated emphatically that Middleton is not mentally retarded. Dr. Landrum stated that it is possible that Middleton was faking when he was examined by Dr. Riordan, who determined that his IQ was 75, months after being examined by Dr. Barnard, who determined that it was an 83. According to Dr. Landrum, administering the same tests within a year may yield inaccurate results. Dr. James Barnard also testified for the defense. He prepared two reports, one was a psychological evaluation and the other examined Middleton’s competency to waive his Miranda rights. He determined that Middleton’s full scale IQ was 83. He additionally found that Middleton was not malingering. Dr. Barnard indicated that Middleton’s chronic use of drugs resulted in an increased tolerance for the substances and the need for more of the substances to get high. This factor and other factors indicate dependence on a substance versus abuse. He reported Middleton’s statement that drugs make him “go, go, go,” and render him less able to control his impulses, and that Middleton told him that before he went to jail he had not slept for two nights. Dr. Barnard opined that Middleton should have been placed in a private detox facility when he was arrested. Dr. Barnard determined that at the time of Middleton’s confession, he was likely withdrawing from substances and may have been under the effects of substances at least during the time of his initial interrogation. - 21 - Dr. Barnard administered an instrument entitled “Dr. Thomas Grisso’s Understanding and Appreciating Miranda Rights.” Dr. Barnard testified that Middleton’s total score was 13 out of 30, more than two standard deviations below the mean. He testified that, although Middleton could paraphrase portions of Miranda, he “showed a very significant weakness in terms of his ability to intelligently apply knowledge of Miranda, to novel situations.” Dr. Barnard stated that it was difficult to reconcile his findings during the testing with what he saw on the confession video. He explained that there is no correlation between having had Miranda warnings administered in the past and actually understanding them. He also stated that there are no validity scales for Grisso’s Miranda test. On cross-examination, Dr. Barnard stated that Middleton made general remarks indicating that he may have been malingering during the testing with Dr. Landrum, but he did not specifically mention whether he was referring to the IQ test. Dr. Barnard’s testing also indicated that Middleton may have exaggerated some of his answers to appear more maladjusted than he actually was on the date of the testing. Dr. Barnard diagnosed Middleton with anti-social personality disorder; he explained that one major tenet of this disorder is that the person has a tendency to be untruthful. Dr. Barnard further testified that, before the Grisso test was administered, Middleton stated he had been Mirandized at least five times. However, after the - 22 - Grisso test, Middleton claimed that he had never been read Miranda rights, despite his extensive criminal history. After the Grisso test, Middleton told Dr. Barnard that the confession tapes had been altered. Middleton also told the doctor that methamphetamines make him think better. Middleton made comments to Dr. Barnard indicating that the police in Okeechobee violated his rights, which Dr. Barnard opined indicates that he knew what his rights were. On redirect, Dr. Barnard stated that the conditions that Middleton was under at the time of the interrogation, plus the interrogation procedures themselves, made it more likely that he would acquiesce to the police. He also opined that Middleton did not fully comprehend his Miranda rights when he waived them. Dr. Michael Riordan testified for the defense. Dr. Riordan was ordered to conduct a neuropsychological evaluation on Middleton. Dr. Riordan prepared a written report, which he subsequently modified. He modified his original finding that Middleton had brain damage and in the subsequent report he indicated that Middleton suffers from a cognitive disorder. He explained that “the cognitive disorder was the more appropriate term [for] a neuropsychologist to report.” Dr. Riordan reviewed the reports prepared by Dr. Barnard. He agreed with Dr. Barnard’s finding that Middleton was incompetent to waive his Miranda rights at the time of his interrogation, based on his borderline intellectual functioning, his cognitive disorder, and his drug use which would have caused withdrawals at the - 23 - time of the interrogation. Dr. Riordan also found that Middleton had polysubstance dependence disorder. He indicated that Middleton was not malingering. Dr. Riordan did not have Middleton perform another Grisso test, and did not disagree with Dr. Barnard’s findings. Dr. Riordan did not diagnose an antisocial personality disorder. His report indicated that Middleton had a tendency to exaggerate his problems. Dr. Riordan had previously indicated in a February 11, 2012, letter to the defense that Middleton was not initially incompetent to waive his Miranda rights, but as the interrogation progressed, that he became incompetent to proceed. Dr. Riordan also wrote a letter to the defense in April 2012, indicating that Middleton’s withdrawals would have furthered his incompetence. However, Dr. Riordan did not review jail records to determine whether Middleton was suffering from withdrawal symptoms, and Middleton did not state that he was suffering from withdrawal symptoms during the interrogation. Instead, he told Dr. Riordan that the police harassed him and tampered with the confession tapes. Dr. Riordan was not aware that Middleton signed a Miranda waiver. Dr. Deborah Leporowski testified for the State. She testified that she reviewed Dr. Landrum’s report, along with the deposition reports and in-court testimony of Dr. Riordan. She also reviewed Dr. Barnard’s raw data and deposition, and she was present for his testimony. Additionally, she reviewed - 24 - Middleton’s videotaped confessions, witness statements, drug treatment records, Department of Corrections and jail records, and also interviewed Middleton at the county jail on May 10, 2012. She did not administer the WAIS test because it already had been administered three times. She testified that the discrepancy in the scores may be due to poor motivation or deliberately underperforming on the test with Dr. Riordan. Dr. Leporowski reviewed Dr. Riordan’s neuropsychological testing, his raw data, and his report, and she determined that Middleton performed in the average or above average range on most instruments. She opined that “[t]he only areas where he demonstrated anything really in an impaired range were instruments that I felt could be accounted for by his lack of education.” She observed that his scores varied on the memory tests, with delayed recall being in the impaired range, stating “[t]hose are essentially the only two areas where there’s anything that’s not perfectly intact in the overall neuropsychological functioning area.” Dr. Leporowski stated that she would not diagnose the defendant with brain damage or a cognitive disorder. She stated there was nothing in the neuropsychological testing that would indicate that Middleton had trouble comprehending the Miranda warnings. Additionally, she said Middleton was candid with her about his drug use on the day of the murder, and even told her that - 25 - he used another drug that day, OxyContin, which Britnell did not report. He did not have difficulty reporting the information in a logical order. In addition to not administering another WAIS-IV test, Dr. Leporowski did not administer another Grisso test. She explained that the shortcomings of the Grisso test are that it was developed for a particular jurisdiction in 1980 and that the language for which it tests has not been updated despite the administration of the warnings across jurisdictions. Middleton told Dr. Leporowski that he was threatened and that the confession tapes had been altered. She concluded that Middleton had the capacity to knowingly and intelligently waive his Miranda rights. Dr. Leporowski disagreed with Dr. Riordan’s testimony indicating that Middleton was suffering from withdrawals. She opined that withdrawals typically occur seventy-two hours after consuming drugs and alcohol. She explained that on his jail medical records, he is described as cool, cooperative, coherent, and not agitated. Dr. Leporowski spoke with the jail nurse who indicated that they never had to use detox protocols for Middleton and that he did not need any medical attention at all. She opined that this is indicative of his intermittent use, rather than his continuous use of the substances. Dr. Leporowski found that Middleton was malingering during her evaluations of him. - 26 - On cross-examination, Dr. Leporowski acknowledged that Middleton reported doing methamphetamine before lunch, followed by eighty milligrams of OxyContin, then Roxicodone that afternoon at his trailer, and Xanax and cocaine later that evening. He also indicated that he walked down to Brewskis and consumed a couple of beers and three lines of cocaine. The trial court denied the defense’s motion to suppress Middleton’s confession.