Opinion ID: 1907111
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Applicability of Elstad

Text: Davis argues that Elstad does not apply in this case because the police intentionally failed to advise him of his Miranda rights before the initial confession. Conceding that this factor standing alone is not dispositive, Davis contends that where combined with the fact that his confession was obtained during extended, custodial interrogation, Miranda's exclusionary rule should apply. Citing Justice Stevens' dissenting opinion in Elstad, he contends that the case implies that there are some circumstances which a subsequent waiver of Miranda will not cure. [7] Davis relies primarily on the Eighth Circuit's opinion in United States v. Carter, 884 F.2d 368 (8th Cir.1989). In Carter, the court upheld the suppression of the defendant's post- Miranda confession where it came almost directly on the heels of the first [unwarned confession]. Id. at 373. Postal inspectors interrogated Carter for approximately fifty-five minutes about the disappearance of Canadian money, and with Carter's consent, searched his wallet and found marked money and a check which the inspectors had placed in a mail tray. 884 F.2d at 369. The inspectors confronted Carter with these circumstances, and he in turn made incriminating statements. Id. Only then did the inspectors advise Carter of his rights under Miranda before he provided a written statement confessing his guilt. Id. In upholding the trial court's suppression order, the court concluded that the oral and written confessions were a part of one continuous process and that the Elstad rule did not permit this sort of end run around Miranda. Id. at 373. Davis contends that, like Carter, he was subjected to one continuous period of custodial interrogation during which he was not informed of his rights until he had confessed to the crime. Here, both detectives left Davis alone for a fifteen minute period after his initial statement before administering Miranda warnings, and his videotaped statement was made another eleven minutes thereafter. Thus, unlike Carter, supra, some twenty-six minutes elapsed between the end of Davis' initial statement and the subsequent one. [8] In Elstad, supra, the time separation between the initial unwarned statement and the subsequent one given after Miranda warnings was approximately one hour. The Elstad holding did not turn on the time frame between the two confessions. Rather, Elstad seems to eschew rigid rules based upon such a factor. In that regard, the Supreme Court stated: A handful of courts have, however, applied our precedents relating to confessions obtained under coercive circumstances to situations involving wholly voluntary admissions, requiring a passage of time or break in events before a second, fully warned statement can be deemed voluntary. Far from establishing a rigid rule, we direct courts to avoid one; there is no warrant for presuming coercive effect where the suspect's initial inculpatory statement, though technically in violation of Miranda, was voluntary. The relevant inquiry is whether, in fact, the second statement was also voluntarily made. As in any such inquiry, the finder of fact must examine the surrounding circumstances and the entire course of police conduct with respect to the suspect in evaluating the voluntariness of his statements. The fact that a suspect chooses to speak after being informed of his rights is, of course, highly probative. Elstad, 470 U.S. at 317-18, 105 S.Ct. 1285 (footnote omitted) (emphasis added). Thus, we are not persuaded by Carter, supra, to hold, particularly on the facts of this case, that what occurred here was one continuous interrogation requiring suppression of the statement obtained after Miranda warnings. [9] Further, the Supreme Court has stated that in circumstances involving the admissibility of a properly warned confession which follows an unwarned, but clearly voluntary admission, a break between the two is not essential. Id. at 310, 105 S.Ct. 1285. In these circumstances, a careful and thorough administration of Miranda warnings serves to cure the condition that rendered the unwarned statement inadmissible. The warning conveys the relevant information and thereafter the suspect's choice whether to exercise his privilege to remain silent should ordinarily be viewed as an act of free will. Elstad, 470 U.S. at 310-11, 105 S.Ct. 1285 (citing Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 486, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963)). While the police officer's intentional decision to forego Miranda warnings may be a factor in the totality of the circumstances to be considered by the court in assessing the voluntariness of the confessions, it is not the sole factor. See Bliss v. United States, 445 A.2d 625, 631 (D.C.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1117, 103 S.Ct. 756, 74 L.Ed.2d 972 (1983). Voluntariness, depends on the surrounding circumstances, including whether there were police tactics or methods offensive to due process that render the initial admission involuntary and undermine the suspect's will to invoke his rights once they are read to him. Elstad, supra, 470 U.S. at 317, 105 S.Ct. 1285. Here, the trial court considered the totality of the circumstances and applied Elstad properly to the facts as found from the evidence. Upon review of the record, we are satisfied that Davis' pre- Miranda statements were voluntary. Therefore, we find no error in the denial of the motion to suppress. We do not condone, however, the deliberate failure of the police to inform a criminal suspect promptly of his rights under Miranda. In addition to the obvious impropriety of such conduct, it proceeds at some risk to the legitimate interests of the government and the citizens it serves. There is no guarantee that the suspect will provide the second confession once the warnings are given, and the failure to warn may, in some cases, be the factor which tips the scales in favor of exclusion of the confession.