Opinion ID: 4216062
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: “Custody” Under Miranda

Text: ¶17 A person subjected to custodial interrogation by law enforcement must receive an advisement of rights under the Fifth Amendment before questioning. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966); see also People v. Gonzalez-Zamora, 251 P.3d 1070, 1074 (Colo. 2011). A suspect may waive his rights, but must do so voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently before the statement may be used against him in a criminal proceeding. See Miranda, 384 U.S. at 444; see also Sanchez v. People, 2014 CO 56, ¶ 11, 329 P.3d 253, 257. The voluntariness inquiry turns on the “absence of police overreaching,” not on the broader concept of “free choice.” Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 170 (1986) (“The sole concern of the Fifth Amendment, on which Miranda was based, is governmental coercion.”) (citation omitted). 6 ¶18 Miranda protections apply only when a suspect has been subjected to both custody and interrogation. Effland, 240 P.3d at 873. To determine if a person is in custody, we ask whether a reasonable person in the suspect’s position would have believed that his freedom of action had been curtailed to a degree associated with a formal arrest. People v. Matheny, 46 P.3d 453, 464 (Colo. 2002). This is an objective legal test and courts must look to the totality of the circumstances under which the questioning occurred. Minjarez, 81 P.3d at 353. Courts should consider the following non-exclusive list of factors to determine if a reasonable person would feel deprived of his freedom to the degree associated with formal arrest: (1) the time, place, and purpose of the encounter; (2) the persons present during the interrogation; (3) the words spoken by the officer to the defendant; (4) the officer’s tone of voice and general demeanor; (5) the length and mood of the interrogation; (6) whether any limitation of movement or other form of restraint was placed on the defendant during the interrogation; (7) the officer’s response to any questions asked by the defendant; (8) whether directions were given to the defendant during the interrogation; and (9) the defendant’s verbal or nonverbal response to such directions. Matheny, 46 P.3d at 465–66 (citation omitted).