Opinion ID: 1826799
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: whether the circuit court judge erred in denying herring's motion to suppress his statement taken on june 1, 1990.

Text: Herring contends that the lower court erred in denying his pre-trial motion to suppress the statement taken from him after his arrest. He argues that it was involuntary. 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. Porter v. State, 616 So.2d 899, 907-08 (Miss. 1993) (citation omitted). Herring concedes that [i]n determining whether a confession is freely and voluntarily given the circuit court judge sits as a trier of fact, McCarty v. State, 554 So.2d 909, 911 (Miss. 1989), and this Court should not reverse him unless the circuit judge is manifestly wrong. Balfour v. State, 598 So.2d 731, 742 (Miss. 1992) (citations omitted). Herring contends that no one read him his rights and that he did not sign the Miranda waiver form. He stated that Bryan told him that he would do eighty to ninety years in prison unless he signed the papers (which he didn't sign). Herring does admit that he signed the statement, but not the Miranda waiver. Bryan took the stand and testified to the procedure the day of the arrest. He stated that Herring appeared to be awake, sober, alert, and paying attention. Bryan also stated that he was of the opinion that Herring fully understood what was going on. Bryan gave Herring the Miranda waiver form and read it to him and he appeared to understand it. At no time did Herring request that an adult be present or that they cease in questioning him. Bryan stated that he had no doubt that the statement was freely and voluntarily given. Waller testified to the same thing. His story was consistent with Bryan's. Herring also took the stand at the motion hearing and testified. He stated that he did not sign the waiver form and that he did not sign the statement voluntarily. The prosecutor brought out that Herring had been arrested numerous times before in the past seven years (he was 17 at the time of arrest) for everything from grand larceny to kidnaping to drug charges. Sadly enough, Herring was familiar with the procedures and could not say that he did not understand. The judge found that Herring's statement was voluntarily given. He did not believe that Herring did not know what was going on because Herring had been there too many times before. Moreover, the signatures of the papers signed by Herring all looked alike. The judge could not believe that one signature was Herring's and the other a forgery. Thus, the circuit court judge was not manifestly wrong in denying the motion to suppress because it was given freely and voluntarily. This assignment of error is without merit.