Opinion ID: 1454621
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Postarraignment Statement.

Text: Defendant was arraigned on the marijuana charges on the afternoon of September 16. He requested counsel at the arraignment and the matter was continued for two days. Between 7:30 and 8 p.m. that day, the sheriff's investigator learned that California authorities had not been able to locate the victim's body from the information supplied by defendant in the prearraignment statement. The investigator went alone to the jail and met with defendant in the library. He reminded defendant generally of his Miranda rights. Defendant helped him draw a map with specific landmarks of the area where defendant had left the victim's body. The map and defendant's postarraignment statement were admitted at trial over his objection. Defendant now claims that, coming after his arraignment and request for counsel on the marijuana charge, this evidence should have been suppressed on both Fifth and Sixth Amendment grounds. (27a) In support of his Fifth Amendment argument, defendant relies principally on Arizona v. Roberson (1988) 486 U.S. 675 [100 L.Ed.2d 704, 108 S.Ct. 2093], in which a burglary suspect arrested at the scene of a crime responded to a Miranda warning with a request for counsel. After remaining in custody for three days without appointment of counsel, he was contacted and questioned by a different officer about a different burglary. The Supreme Court upheld suppression of his incriminating statements to the officer, holding that under the Fifth Amendment such interrogation could occur only if the accused initiated it. Roberson is distinguishable. There the defendant clearly and unequivocally cut off all police interrogation, specifically requested counsel, and did nothing to initiate the interview with the officer. Here defendant initially invoked only his right to silence and not to counsel; initiated the police questioning about Van Zandt's murder himself; and then expressly waived his right to counsel in making the prearraignment statement, a full confession to that crime. (28) The prosecution has the burden of establishing, upon the whole record, a knowing and voluntary waiver of Miranda rights. Where, as here, there is no conflict in the evidence, we review the trial court's finding of waiver independently. ( People v. Duren (1973) 9 Cal.3d 218, 237-238 [107 Cal. Rptr. 157, 507 P.2d 1365].) (27b) In light of defendant's conduct, his request for counsel at the arraignment on the marijuana charge is not a clear expression of a desire that police interrogation on the murder charge cease until he had consulted with counsel. Because the officer was seeking merely to clarify defendant's earlier voluntary statement and reminded defendant of his Miranda rights, there was a continuing waiver of those rights extending to the postarraignment interview and statements and no Fifth Amendment violation. (See People v. Brockman (1969) 2 Cal. App.3d 1002, 1006 [83 Cal. Rptr. 70].) (29) Defendant's Sixth Amendment claim fares no better. In People v. Hovey (1988) 44 Cal.3d 543 [244 Cal. Rptr. 121, 749 P.2d 776], the defendant sought to suppress postarraignment statements he made to a fellow inmate, claiming that the inmate was a police agent whose conversation with him violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. We rejected his argument on the alternative ground that the information procured by the inmate related to an offense other than the offense with which the defendant had been charged. [7] Quoting Maine v. Moulton (1985) 474 U.S. 159, 180, footnote 16 [88 L.Ed.2d 481, 499, 106 S.Ct. 477], we observed: `Incriminating statements pertaining to other crimes, as to which the Sixth Amendment right has not yet attached, are, of course, admissible at a trial of those offenses.' (44 Cal.3d at p. 561.) The same rationale applies here. Defendant was arraigned and requested counsel in connection with a Nebraska marijuana charge that arose from a different incident and at a different time and place than the California murder and robbery charges. The latter charges were not pending at the time of the postarraignment interrogation and no attorney had been requested or appointed to represent defendant on those charges. The Sixth Amendment right to counsel arises from the fact that the suspect has been formally charged with a particular crime and thus is facing a state apparatus that has been geared up to prosecute him. ( Arizona v. Roberson, supra, 486 U.S. at p. 685 [100 L.Ed.2d at p. 716], italics added.) As a result: [ T ] he continuing investigation of uncharged offenses [ does ] not violate the ... Sixth Amendment right. ... ( Ibid. [100 L.Ed.2d at p. 716], italics added.) Because defendant had no Sixth Amendment right with respect to the uncharged crimes of robbery and murder, the use of his statement could not violate such a right. (See also In re Michael B. (1981) 125 Cal. App.3d 790, 795-798 [178 Cal. Rptr. 291], and cases cited therein; People v. Booker (1977) 69 Cal. App.3d 654, 663-665 [138 Cal. Rptr. 347].) Assuming error in the admission of the postarraignment statement, it was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Discovery of the body was not essential to the prosecution's case. ( People v. Ruiz (1988) 44 Cal.3d 589, 610-611 [244 Cal. Rptr. 200, 749 P.2d 854].) Defendant did not dispute that Van Zandt had been killed nor did he dispute the location of the body; he contended only that his companions had done the killing. Moreover, defendant had already indicated in his prearraignment statement the basic facts of the murder and the approximate location of the victim's body. In short, defendant had already convicted himself with his own voluntary statements, before the postarraignment interview. He was not prejudiced by the limited additional admissions he made there. ( People v. Nicholas (1980) 112 Cal. App.3d 249, 269-270 [169 Cal. Rptr. 497].)