Opinion ID: 1839890
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: suppression of pre-arrest and post-arrest statements

Text: Winkler next argues his pre-arrest statements in which he admitted he had hit something should have been suppressed because he was not given his Miranda warnings. The State contends Winkler's statements were not made in response to questioning, but were volunteered by Winkler. The fundamental requirement of Miranda is a warning to criminal defendants of their right to remain silent before making any statements to the State. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1612, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, 720 (1966); State v. Chihanski, 540 N.W.2d 621, 623 (N.D.1995). Statements made by a defendant without benefit of this warning are inadmissible as evidence in a prosecution of that defendant. Chihanski, 540 N.W.2d at 623. But the warnings are required only when a defendant is in custody and is being interrogated. Id. Custodial interrogation is questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way. Miranda, 384 U.S. at 444, 86 S.Ct. at 1612; State v. Pitman, 427 N.W.2d 337, 340 (N.D.1988). Winkler claims he was subject to custodial interrogation for fifteen minutes from the time he invited the officers into his home at 12:25 a.m. until his arrest at 12:40 a.m. During the fifteen minutes, Winkler states, without benefit of Miranda warnings, the officers questioned him in his kitchen and followed him around, including into his bedroom while he got dressed. But Winkler's statement of events misrepresents and omits significant facts indicated in the record. The officers did enter Winkler's at 12:25 a.m., but, while explaining the reason why they were there, Winkler interrupted them with his statements about knowing he had hit something. Immediately after those statements, at 12:31 a.m., six minutes after arriving, Officer Wolf arrested Winkler and informed him of his Miranda rights. Winkler had already been arrested when the officers followed him into his bedroom. True, Winkler was arrested again at 12:40 a.m., but this was a second arrest, for DUI, made after Winkler had dressed and been placed in a patrol car. Thus, there was only a six-minute period in which Winkler had not been informed of his Miranda rights. We examine this six-minute period for custodial interrogation. We acknowledge a reasonable person in Winkler's situation probably would not have felt free to leave the officers' presence, and therefore, at least for the purposes of our analysis, we may assume Winkler was in custody. State v. Murray, 510 N.W.2d 107, 110 (N.D.1994) (citing Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 442, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 3151, 82 L.Ed.2d 317, 336 (1984), in which the Court stated the only relevant inquiry [on the question whether a suspect was `in custody' at a particular time] is how a reasonable man in the suspect's position would have understood his situation.). But the element of interrogation is absent from Winkler's situation. The State contends Winkler volunteered the pre-arrest statements without interrogation. We agree. When the officers entered Winkler's home, they were not questioning Winkler, but were explaining their presence when Winkler interrupted them with his incriminating statements. Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 300-02, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 1689-90, 64 L.Ed.2d 297, 306-07 (1980) (defining interrogation). Miranda is not triggered by volunteered statements of any kind. Miranda, 384 U.S. at 478, 86 S.Ct. at 1630. There is sufficient competent evidence fairly capable of supporting the trial court's ruling that Winkler's statements were not in response to police interrogation. E.g., Murray, 510 N.W.2d at 110 (noting the standard for reviewing trial court's disposition on a motion to suppress); see, e.g., United States v. Makes Room, 49 F.3d 410, 414 (8th Cir.1995) (indicating review of motion to suppress is under clearly erroneous standard). Thus, we affirm the trial court's denial of Winkler's motion to suppress his prearrest incriminating statements because Winkler was not subject to custodial interrogation, and therefore, was not entitled to Miranda warnings. Winkler also claims his post-arrest, Mirandized statements should have been suppressed because they were coerced and therefore involuntary. Winkler's post-arrest statements were similar to his pre-arrest statements, except that he also wondered out loud, What the hell was he doing walking down the middle of the road. A confession is voluntary if it is the product of the defendant's free choice rather than the product of coercion. Murray, 510 N.W.2d at 111. Confessions are not voluntary when a defendant's will is overborne at the time the confession is given. Id. A court examines the circumstances surrounding the confession to determine voluntariness. Id. According to Winkler, coercive circumstances were present because he was awakened at an early morning hour by law enforcement officers who while executing a search warrant entered his home, held him in custody, and interrogated him while they followed him around his home. Absent Winkler's assertion of interrogation, which we already determined was not present, the remaining circumstances do not rise to the level of coercion. But see, e.g., State v. Taillon, 470 N.W.2d 226 (N.D.1991) (affirming suppression of coerced statements). The trial court implicitly ruled Winkler's post-arrest statements were not coerced and further ruled Winkler had been given sufficient notice of his right to remain silent. There is sufficient competent evidence fairly capable of supporting that ruling. We, therefore, affirm the trial court.