Opinion ID: 1405904
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: January 23 Confession Induced by Misrepresentation of Detectives Lund and Ropac.

Text: When Detectives Lund and Ropac approached Boyde on January 23 they first told him they thought the story he told Callow was not truthful. They asked if he was willing to talk with them again about the robbery-homicide and when he indicated he would, took a full Miranda waiver. Boyde then told his second story. He admitted he had been with Ellison and Big Mike at the 7-Eleven, that Big Mike had pulled the robbery and that he (Boyde) had driven the car from the store to the orange grove. But he claimed he did so under protest, denied assisting in the killing and denied any advance knowledge of Big Mike's intent to rob or kill. (11) Boyde claims that at the conclusion of this statement Lund told him it amounted to a full confession, that he believed Boyde had in fact been more deeply involved than he had admitted, and that any further statement could not result in any greater liability than he had already incurred. After this confrontation Boyde told his final version, which implicated him at least as an accomplice in the robbery and felony murder. Boyde contends this incriminating statement was induced by Lund's misrepresentation as to the legal effect of the prior statement, and that this deception amounts to psychological coercion which rendered the statement involuntary. (See People v. Hogan (1982) 31 Cal.3d 815, 840-841 [183 Cal. Rptr. 817, 647 P.2d 93].) Boyde's description of the encounter is factually inaccurate. The transcript of the interview shows that at the conclusion of the I was just along for the ride story, Lund stated: I'll tell you the problems I'm having, and, and I'm no lawyer, but I would think ... what bothers me is you, you got such great detail, you sure you weren't in the store? You sure you didn't walk in? Boyde repeated he had not gone in. Lund continued questioning whether Boyde might have been in the doorway of the store and whether he could have seen the money go into the bag or heard Big Mike saying it was a robbery without having been in the store. Finally, Lund stated: It doesn't make no difference whether you were sitting in the car the whole time or whether you were right in Big Mike's back pocket, you're, you're involved in this the same, if everything else is the truth.... While Lund made it clear he believed appellant was more deeply involved in the crimes than he was admitting, he did not tell Boyde that his prior statement amounted to a confession or that any further statement could not result in any greater liability. Lund's statements amounted to harsh questioning, but did not rise to the level of psychological coercion or misrepresentation of the legal consequences of appellant's prior statement.