Opinion ID: 2234021
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Product of Threats, Coercion, or Inducements

Text: Bormann argues that the videotaped statement was inadmissible because it was the product of threats, coercion, or inducements. He claims his due process rights were violated when the detective mentioned the death penalty during the interrogation. After Bormann was given the Miranda warnings, he was asked to describe his activity that day. Bormann stated he had slept until 3:30 p.m. and then began watching football. Bormann said he started drinking during an earlier football game. He did not remember more than the first quarter of the second game, but said he became upset when the team he was a fan of was losing. He did not remember the reason he left his house. During the interview, Bormann continued to deny that he remembered any of his actions. Gradually, he recalled details of the day. He admitted that he fired the rifle while sitting in the driver's seat of his vehicle. Bormann stated he did not know why he left his house. The detective asked Bormann what his target was, because he wanted to make sure that Bormann did not go out looking for a specific person, which would be premeditated murder. Bormann was asked if he understood the meaning of premeditated murder. The detective stated, That means death penalty. Bormann did not respond. The interview continued for another 30 minutes, at which time Bormann admitted that he shot at a car in the drive-through lane of a fast-food restaurant. Bormann argues that the detective's comments about the death penalty made Bormann's statement involuntary. A statement of a suspect, to be admissible, must be shown by the State to have been given freely and voluntarily and not to have been the product of any promise or inducementdirect, indirect, or impliedno matter how slight. However, this rule is not to be applied on a strict, per se basis. Rather, determinations of voluntariness are based upon an assessment of all of the circumstances and factors surrounding the occurrence when the statement is made. State v. McPherson, 266 Neb. 734, 740-41, 668 N.W.2d 504, 511 (2003). The Due Process Clauses of the U.S. and Nebraska Constitutions preclude admissibility of an involuntary confession. State v. Garner, 260 Neb. 41, 614 N.W.2d 319 (2000), citing U.S. Const. amend. XIV and Neb. Const. art. I, § 3. The State has the burden to prove that a defendant's statement was voluntary and not coerced. State v. Garner, supra . In determining whether a Miranda waiver is knowingly and voluntarily made, a court applies a totality of the circumstances test. Factors to be considered include the suspect's age, education, intelligence, prior contact with authorities, and conduct. State v. Goodwin, 278 Neb. 945, 774 N.W.2d 733 (2009). In State v. Garner, 260 Neb. at 46, 614 N.W.2d at 325, a detective told the defendant, a 15-year-old who was suspected of killing an elderly woman, that people would `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.' The defendant then confessed to the murder. On appeal, the defendant contended that his confession was involuntary because it was the product of threats, coercion, and inducements of leniency. He argued that his age, the time of day, and the fact he had no attorney or parent present affected the voluntariness of his confession. We stated that the confession of an accused may be involuntary and inadmissible if obtained in exchange for a promise of leniency. However, mere advice or exhortation by the police that it would be better for the accused to tell the truth, when unaccompanied by either a threat or promise, does not make a subsequent confession involuntary. State v. Garner, 260 Neb. at 50, 614 N.W.2d at 327. In order to render a statement involuntary, any benefit offered to a defendant must be definite and must overbear his or her free will. Id. We concluded that because the detective did not refer to the death penalty in connection with an explicit threat or promise of leniency, the confession was not involuntary. Id. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that coercive police activity is a necessary predicate to the finding that a confession is not `voluntary' within the meaning of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 167, 107 S.Ct. 515, 93 L.Ed.2d 473 (1986). `[The] circumstances surrounding the statement and the characteristics of the individual defendant at the time of the statement are potentially material considerations ....' State v. Ray, 266 Neb. 659, 666, 668 N.W.2d 52, 57 (2003). In the case at bar, the detective's reference to the death penalty was not made as a threat or inducement. He was pointing out to Bormann the seriousness of the crime and differentiating premeditated murder from other grades of homicide. The videotape does not suggest that the detective's actions resulted in Bormann's will being overborne. The trial court's findings of historical fact are not clearly erroneous. They are fully supported by the record. Based upon our independent review of the totality of the circumstances, we conclude that the videotaped statement by Bormann was voluntary. The trial court did not err in admitting the videotape into evidence.