Opinion ID: 1824793
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: did the trial court err in failing to grant porter's motion to suppress her un-mirandized statements made to the police?

Text: Statements made by a suspect while under custodial interrogation are inadmissible at trial where the suspect was not Mirandized, absent a knowing and intelligent waiver of his rights. Tolbert v. State, 511 So.2d 1368, 1374 (Miss. 1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1016, 108 S.Ct. 723, 98 L.Ed.2d 672 (1988). Certain situations are, however, excluded from the scope of Miranda. Id. at 1375. In a non-custodial setting where interrogation is investigatory in nature (general on-the-scene-investigation), Miranda warnings are not required in order that a defendant's statements be admissible. Nathan v. State, 552 So.2d 99, 103 (Miss. 1989). Even in this setting, statements must be freely and voluntarily given in order to be admissible. Nathan, 552 So.2d at 103. In determining whether a confession is freely and voluntarily given, the circuit judge sits as a fact finder. McCarty v. State, 554 So.2d 909, 911 (Miss. 1989). We will not reverse a fact finder unless he was manifestly wrong. Balfour v. State, 598 So.2d 731, 742 (Miss. 1992). The applicable standard for determining whether a confession is voluntary is whether, taking into consideration the totality of the circumstances, the statement is the product of the accused's free and rational choice. U.S. v. Rogers, 906 F.2d 189, 190 (5th Cir.1990). The State has the burden of proving all facts prerequisite to admissibility of the defendant's confession beyond a reasonable doubt. McCarty, 554 So.2d at 911; Davis v. State, 551 So.2d 165, 169 (Miss. 1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1074, 110 S.Ct. 1796, 108 L.Ed.2d 797 (1990). Porter made the statement at issue in the midst of a general on-the-scene-investigation. She says her statement was obtained through coercion. The prosecution contends that the officers on the scene could not have intended coercion as Porter was not a suspect at the time the statement was made. Corporal Ed Williams decided to talk to the occupants of the house to learn what they knew about the baby because he felt that somebody there knew something about the blood being around in that house. Both Williams and Speed testified that Debbie Porter was not a suspect at the time and the record contains several statements to the effect that there was no indication that she had just delivered a child. Porter herself admitted on the stand that she was not the object of the investigatory questions but that Williams was talking generally to everyone in the house in order to learn who the mother was. Although Porter claimed she only admitted being the baby's mother because Williams' remark scared her, she could have remained silent and sought medical treatment on her own. Instead, she voluntarily made the incriminating statement. No promises or threats were made to induce her statement. Williams' remark that the baby's mother could die without medical treatment was not a threat of police retaliation; instead, it was a reasonable assessment under the circumstances. Porter's statement was clearly obtained in a noncustodial setting where the interrogation was investigatory in nature. It was on this basis that the trial judge allowed Porter's statement to be admitted into evidence and it can not be said that he was manifestly wrong. Furthermore, Porter subsequently testified on her own behalf and reiterated the information contained in the statement at issue. She alleges in her brief that she would not have testified had it not been for the admission of the statement into evidence. However, she did not attempt to dispute what was said in the statement at issue nor did she claim that Williams intentionally coerced her to make the statement. She merely repeated that she had the baby, panicked, put it in a garbage bag and carried it outside, which is what she said in the statement to Williams. This assignment of error is without merit.