Opinion ID: 2625941
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background of statements

Text: ¶ 27 During Defendant's stay at Madison Street Jail following his May 17 arrest for assault on the police officers at the time of his arrest, he talked with L.C., another detainee in the same housing block. On May 23, 1997, Defendant was taken to the Arizona Department of Corrections, but was returned to the Madison Street Jail on July 12, 1997. On July 22, Defendant was released on his own recognizance. ¶ 28 Before Defendant was released on July 22, Phoenix Police Detective Daily interviewed him regarding Ted Lindberry's disappearance. Before commencing questioning, Detective Daily read Defendant his Miranda rights. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Defendant initially answered questions, but then stopped answering and invoked his right to remain silent. [5] ¶ 29 A week later, on July 29, 1997, Detective Daily interviewed L.C. as a follow-up to a call L.C. had made to the silent witness program from jail. The interview concerned incriminating statements Defendant had reportedly made regarding Ted Lindberry's death while Defendant and L.C. were incarcerated together in May 1997. L.C. was interviewed again on July 31 because of a faulty recording of the July 29 interview. Defendant was out of jail from July 22, 1997, through August of that year, but was arrested again on August 31 in connection with the aggravated assault charge and returned to Madison Street Jail. [6] Soon thereafter, L.C. again contacted Detective Daily, who interviewed him on September 29 and October 1, 1997 regarding additional statements Defendant had purportedly made. ¶ 30 At the suppression hearing, L.C. testified that he had been incarcerated with Defendant in May of 1997 and that Defendant had revealed information about a murder he had committed. L.C. contacted the police and asked Detective Daily to talk to the prosecutor on his case. The Detective agreed to do so. After learning additional information during Defendant's subsequent incarceration for the assault charge, L.C. called Detective Daily again. ¶ 31 L.C. testified that during the July 29 and 31 interviews he provided most of the information he had learned from Defendant, but after Defendant was re-arrested he learned specific details of how the victim was beaten, that a key broke off in Lindberry's door, and that Lindberry's credit card was used at a hotel. Some of L.C.'s later conversations with Defendant took place while both were allegedly drunk from home-made prison wine. L.C. stated that, while Defendant initiated the conversation, he encouraged it and did not act at the direction of the police, who had told him that he could not serve as a police agent. In November, 1997, the State rewarded L.C. for his information by dismissing an allegation of a prior conviction at sentencing in exchange for his testimony at Defendant's trial.