Opinion ID: 2148857
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Clark's Motion to Suppress Statements to the Police

Text: Before Clark's trial began, he moved the district court to suppress the statements he made during his interviews with Frazer and Doran on July 26 and August 3. Clark argued that when he made the statements he was mentally incapacitated as a result of heroin withdrawal, and therefore, he did not knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waive his rights to remain silent and to have his lawyer present. He also argued that his statements were the product of coercion, and that the state violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel and our case law respectively by interviewing him without his lawyer present and without sufficient notice to his lawyer. The court conducted a pretrial hearing on Clark's motion and heard testimony from several witnesses. First July 26 Interview The first interview on July 26 took place at the LEC before Clark's arraignment and lasted for approximately 40 minutes. Clark was not yet represented by counsel. At the start of the interview, Frazer and Doran obtained a signed Miranda waiver form from Clark. Clark wrote his initials next to each of four points on the form, indicating that he understood his Miranda rights. Frazer said that although Clark appeared to be in a drug withdrawal state during this interview, he was completely appropriate and timely with his answers. Clark testified that before the first interview on July 26, Doran visited him in his cell for about 10 minutes and told him not to discuss with anyone his work as a confidential informant. Clark said that Doran also told him I'm your attorney. I can prove [sic] better than your attorney. Just do what I'm telling you to do. Clark stated that Doran also said he would take care of everything, which Clark interpreted as a promise to help [him] in some kind of way. Second July 26 Interview Frazer testified that at some point after the first interview ended but before Clark was arraigned, Clark told LEC staff that he wanted to speak with the officers after his arraignment. Frazer said that by the time he learned of Clark's request, he knew that a lawyer had been appointed to represent Clark and therefore, he had to follow certain procedures before conducting another interview. Frazer contacted Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Charles Balck for advice on how to proceed. Balck told Frazer that he would contact the public defender's office and get back to Frazer. Balck subsequently contacted Frazer before the arraignment hearing ended and told him that the officers could speak with Clark if Clark initiated contact because the public defender's office was aware of the situation. Balck testified that he could not remember speaking to Frazer on July 26 but that every time he learned about a request by Clark to speak with the police, he contacted, or attempted to contact someone at the public defender's office. Tom Handley, who was appointed Clark's public defender at Clark's arraignment hearing, testified that he spoke with Balck by telephone on the day of the arraignment or the next day. Handley said that during this conversation, he told Balck that it would be a better practice to not [have the officers] speak to Mr. Clark, just [to] avoid any [legal] problems down the road. Handley said that Balck might have told him on the day of the arraignment that the police planned to speak with Clark. Frazer and Doran next met with Clark after Clark's arraignment. The interview lasted approximately 50 minutes and began with the following exchange: Frazer: Do you remember this paper we went over with your rights on it earlier? Clark: Yeah. Frazer: And you asked us to talk to you this time, right? You want to talk to us? Clark: Yeah. Shortly thereafter, Frazer reviewed with Clark the Miranda waiver Clark signed earlier that day, ending with the following statements: Frazer: You have the right to talk to a lawyer and to have the lawyer with you during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer one will be appointed for you and you may remain silent until you have talked to a lawyer. You remember [these rights] from earlier when we talked? Clark: Yeah. I just talked to him. He's pissed off.    Frazer: Having these rights in mind are you willing to talk to us like you asked us downstairs Clark: Yeah    [b]ut right now my mind ain't right.    I gotta get some detox.    It's coming stronger and stronger, man. Frazer then asked if Clark wanted him to check on the nurse's whereabouts. Clark assented, and Frazer left the interview to request medical treatment for Clark. During Frazer's brief absence, Clark continued to volunteer information to Doran about Clark's involvement in Foster's case. When Frazer returned, he resumed questioning Clark. Toward the end of the interview, Frazer told Clark about evidence that contradicted or undermined Clark's account of the case. Clark then stated, Let me do this here. Let me get dried out. Call ya'll back. `Cause I ain't feeling it. After some brief conversation, Clark restated his desire to get dried out. Soon thereafter, the interview ended with Doran stating that Clark would have to contact the officers if he wanted to talk to them again because the officers could not initiate any further conversations. After the officers left the room, Clark yawned and lay down on the floor. When Frazer returned to the room a few minutes later and asked what Clark was doing, Clark said that he was stretching out and that his symptoms were worse than they were before. At Frazer's request, Clark stood up off the floor and seated himself in a wheelchair. Frazer assured Clark that a nurse would be available shortly, and he wheeled Clark out of the interview room. Clark testified at the pretrial hearing that on July 26, he was vomiting everywhere as a result of drug withdrawal, and that he asked to be brought back to his cell after the arraignment hearing. He said he did not ask to, nor did he want to, speak to the officers a second time that day. He said that he only waived his right to remain silent during the second interview in order to speak with Doran about their earlier conversation in Clark's cell. Events Leading up to August 3 Interview Frazer testified that the following day, July 27, he received voicemail messages from LEC staff indicating that Clark wished to speak with him and Doran. Frazer contacted Balck, who told him that Clark's lawyer needed to be contacted before any interviews. Balck instructed Frazer to inform Clark that (1) the state was having trouble reaching Clark's lawyer, Tom Handley; and (2) Clark should try telephoning Handley. Frazer testified that Balck told him the officers were not to interview Clark again until Handley received notice and called Frazer back. Frazer then visited Clark at the LEC, conveyed the above information, and confirmed that Clark had Handley's phone number. During this meeting, Clark asked Frazer if Frazer could tell [him] something off the record. Frazer declined to speak about the investigation and told Clark that he needed to contact his lawyer before he and the police could communicate. In the meantime, the public defender's office had decided to reassign Clark's case from Handley to another lawyer. Connie Iversen, a supervisor charged with reassigning Clark's case, testified that she learned late in the day on July 27 that Balck had telephoned to say that Clark wanted to speak with the police. Iversen had not yet reassigned the case when she learned of Balck's call. Because Iversen knew that the LEC would close for dinner service at 4 p.m., she went to the LEC to speak with Clark rather than sending another lawyer. Iversen said that she met with Clark for at least an hour and that when she left the meeting, Clark did not want to talk to the police. Iversen said that she left a message for Balck later in the evening on July 27, conveying Clark's position. Frazer testified that on Thursday, July 28, he again received notice that Clark wished to speak with him and Doran. Frazer then contacted Balck, who told him that Balck and Iversen had set a time for the officers to interview Clark. Later that dayapparently at the time Balck and Iversen had setFrazer and Doran arrived at the LEC. Frazer said that he never reached the room where Clark was waiting because Iversen confronted him in a lobby area near that room and told him that Clark would not be speaking with the officers that day. Frazer said that when he insisted on hearing that information directly from Clark, Iversen stepped in front of him, basically bump[ed] into [him], and told him that he could not go near her client. Frazer stated that the confrontation with Iversen continued in the same manner for a few minutes and did not end until he told Iversen that her conduct was unprofessional and walked away. Iversen gave a substantially different account of the incident with Frazer and the events leading up to that incident. Iversen said that she received a message from Balck late in the day on July 28, stating that Clark had again contacted the police in an effort to speak with them. Iversen said that she was told that Frazer planned to interview Clark at 6 p.m. that day. On receiving this information, she immediately went to the LEC to speak with Clark. Iversen found the LEC closed for dinner service, and while she waited for it to reopen, she went next door to the police station to tell Frazer that she would soon be meeting with Clark and that in all likelihood, Clark would not agree to talk to Frazer. Iversen said that she was unable to meet with Frazer, but a staff person at the police station telephoned Frazer on her behalf. After the telephone call ended, the staff person told Iversen that Frazer did not want to speak to her and that he was going to come down and talk to [Clark] regardless. Iversen then told the staff person to give Frazer a message that he could meet with Clark in her presence on the following morning, Friday July 29. Iversen testified that she next returned to the LEC, where she was admitted to speak with Clark at 5:30 p.m. She said that after she met with Clark, she encountered Frazer in an LEC hallway area and told him that Clark did not want to speak with him. She stated that Frazer was rude, angry, and loud, and that he invaded her personal space. She also said that Frazer asked her about the meeting she had suggested for Friday, July 29. Iversen then told Frazer that she did not think that meeting would happen because Clark had just told her that he no longer wanted to talk to the police based on her advice. Iversen said that after this conversation with Frazer, she either spoke with Balck or left him a message to convey that Clark did not want to speak to the police. The following day, Iversen assigned Clark's case to Richard Sarette and Iversen had no further involvement in the case. Frazer testified that on August 2, he heard from LEC staff that Clark wanted to speak with him and Doran. Frazer then contacted Balck and told him that the officers wanted to schedule a time through the public defender's office to interview Clark. Frazer told the court that during the whole day, on [August 2], [he and Balck] were in contact maybe two or three times, and [Balck] was basically [saying] I'm still trying to get this message through, we want to do this right, we're going to take the high road on this, I'll let you know, and that kind of progressed to the end of the day, on [August 2], and [Frazer] had not heard a definitive answer. But Mr. Balck relayed that Miss Iversen was very frustrated with her client wanting to continue to talk even after her advice, and that ultimately boiled over into a phone call when, [Frazer] believe[d], Mr. Balck was on his off time, away from the office, and he called [Frazer] and said, Well, we've waited this long, we're just going to have to wait until we get this thing ironed out. It isn't going to happen today, meaning [August 2], and it didn't. Meanwhile, Frazer continued to receive calls through August 3 that Clark wanted to speak with the police. Frazer said he again contacted Balck, who stated that he would be in contact again with the public defender's office and that he would be setting up a    definitive time when we would have this interview, because it was getting to the point where he was having a hard time getting an answer out of the public defender's office, and he basically told [Frazer] that he was going to pick a time and say we would be there, and their lawyer    could either be there or not at their choice. Frazer said that he later heard back from Balck that a notification had been made to the public defender's office and that they were aware of the [9 p.m. interview] time, and that regardless of whether Clark's lawyer was present, Frazer should proceed with the interview. It is not clear from Balck's testimony whether he made any efforts to contact the public defender's office on August 2. He said that shortly after 8:40 p.m. on August 3, he left a voicemail message for Iversen or Handley at the public defender's office, indicating that Clark had requested to speak to the police and that there would be contact with the police as a result of the defendant's contact. Balck said he also left a message with the after-hours answering service for the public defender's office and that LuNhia Yang, an on-call lawyer, subsequently contacted him at home. Balck testified that he received Yang's call at approximately 10:40 p.m., but Yang told the court that she talked to Balck sometime before sending an e-mail message to Iversen at 9:56 p.m. Balck said that he gave Yang the same information he had left in the voicemail message for Iversen or Handley. Balck testified that although he was unable to reach Iversen or Handley directly, he did not instruct Frazer to wait to interview Clark on August 3. He could not remember whether either Handley or Iversen ever told him that Clark did not wish to speak to police. August 3 Interview Starting at approximately 9 p.m. on August 3, Frazer and Doran conducted their third interview with Clark. The interview lasted approximately two hours and Clark's lawyer was not present. Frazer read Clark his Miranda rights at the beginning of the interview and obtained a signed waiver form. Shortly thereafter, the following exchange occurred: Frazer: Okay. Just so we're clear    I got a call from the Ramsey County [d]eputies that said you would like to talk to [Doran] and [me] again about the case. Is that true? Clark: Yeah. Frazer: And you know you have a lawyer assigned to this case for you, right? Clark: Yeah, yeah. Frazer: And you know that you can have him or her with you if you wanted them, right? Clark: Yeah. Frazer: And you've chosen to talk to us without them being here, right? Clark: Yeah. Frazer testified that Clark appeared to have completely moved beyond the withdrawal symptoms he complained of in the earlier interviews and that he appeared to be free of drugs and alcohol. Clark's testimony about the third interview differed from that given by the police officers. Specifically, Clark denied making a request to speak to the officers about the case in the days leading up to August 3. He also testified that he had smuggled heroin into the LEC and that he was high during the August 3 interview. Based on the testimony above, the district court denied Clark's motion to suppress the statements he made during the July 26 and August 3 interviews.