Opinion ID: 1184955
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Ninth Were the extrajudicial statements made by defendant to the St. Louis police, as he held them at gunpoint, a product of the accusatory stage?

Text: No. Some time after the St. Louis police arrived at Thomas' apartment, defendant entered the bathroom of the apartment. At the time, defendant was not under arrest, and the police did not know that he was wanted or had committed crimes in any other state. After awhile, Sergeant Goodman went to contact defendant in the bathroom. When he opened the door, he observed defendant sitting on the toilet fully clothed. Sergeant Goodman stood in the doorway. He had not drawn his revolver. Defendant's hands were crossed inside his armpits and were hidden from the sergeant's view. Sergeant Goodman asked defendant what he was doing, and defendant replied, Nothing. When the sergeant took a step toward defendant, defendant removed his right hand from underneath his coat and displayed a revolver in front of him. The sergeant did not reach for his own weapon. At the same time, defendant stated, Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to kill myself. Defendant placed the muzzle of the gun against his own chest and continued to talk to the sergeant. Defendant at first asked for a pencil and a piece of paper, apparently for the purpose of making a written statement. However, when the police placed these objects on the floor in front of him, he declined to pick them up, saying that he was not going to let go of the gun. At this point, Sergeant Goodman told defendant that he [Goodman] was going to move out of the bathroom. Defendant assented, and as the sergeant moved out, defendant began to speak. The police did not use any force, threat of force, or promises of immunity or reward to persuade defendant to talk. Nor was defendant's action in continuing to talk the result of any interrogation; defendant was not asked any questions, and he was not under arrest. Although Sergeant Goodman and the other uniformed officer were armed, as were the two plainclothes detectives who were present, none of them drew their weapons in defendant's presence until defendant had finished talking and had surrendered. Sergeant Goodman drew his weapon only after he had stepped into the bedroom outside of defendant's line of vision and had taken a position covering the entrance to the bathroom. It was after Sergeant Goodman had stepped into the bedroom that defendant made the incriminating statements. The record does not indicate whether or not defendant had been advised of his constitutional rights prior to the making of these statements. Defendant had a gun in his hand during the entire time he was making the statements. Defendant stated that before he killed himself, he wanted to give the police officers his correct name. He then gave his name, age, date of birth, place of birth, and former address. Immediately after giving this information, defendant said, Before I kill myself, I want to tell you about a few crimes. Defendant thereupon related that he had killed an elderly couple in San Diego and had robbed the man; had killed someone in Dallas with a knife; had beaten Thomas, slashed him with a knife, and attempted to suffocate him; and had been on his way to kill another person in Cleveland. Approximately an hour after defendant had completed making the above statements, during which time Thomas and the police officers were trying to persuade him not to commit suicide, defendant unloaded the two guns, placed them and a five-inch pocket knife on the floor, came out of the bathroom, and surrendered. [18a] Defendant's extrajudicial statements do not come within the exclusionary rules set forth in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S 436 [16 L.Ed.2d 694, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 10 A.L.R.3d 974], Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478 [12 L.Ed.2d 977, 84 S.Ct. 1758], and People v. Dorado, 62 Cal.2d 338 [42 Cal. Rptr. 169, 398 P.2d 361]. (See People v. Rollins, ante, p. 681 [56 Cal. Rptr. 293, 423 P.2d 221].) [19, 20] As stated by this court in the Dorado case: Only when the investigatory stage has become an accusatory one, that is, when it has begun to focus on a particular suspect, the suspect has been taken into police custody, and the police have carried out a process of interrogations that lends itself to eliciting incriminating statements, does the doctrine of Escobedo apply and the confession given without the required warning or other clear evidence of waiver become inadmissible evidence. Moreover, an important consideration in determining whether the accusatory stage had thus been reached must be a careful concern that there be no interference with the legitimate police investigation of an unsolved crime. (62 Cal.2d at p. 354.) [21] Likewise, in Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 436, 478, it is stated: Confessions remain a proper element in law enforcement. Any statement given freely and voluntarily without any compelling influences is, of course, admissible in evidence. The fundamental import of the privilege while an individual is in custody is not whether he is allowed to talk to the police without the benefit of warnings and counsel, but whether he can be interrogated. There is no requirement that police stop a person who enters a police station and states that he wishes to confess to a crime, or a person who calls the police to offer a confession or any other statement he desires to make. Volunteered statements of any kind are not barred by the Fifth Amendment and their admissibility is not affected by our holding today. By custodial interrogation, the Miranda opinion meant questioning after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way. (P. 444 of 384 U.S.) [18b] Defendant was not under arrest at the time he made his incriminating statements, nor can it be said that his freedom of action was inhibited as he held the officers at gunpoint. His statements were wholly volunteered; his narrative was not prompted by any questions. At the trial, defendant examined Sergeant Goodman on voir dire as to the circumstances attending the making of the statements, but defendant did not object to their admission into evidence. In fact, on cross-examination, defendant elicited additional portions of the statements which had not been brought out by the prosecuting attorney on direct examination. Under the circumstances, there was no error in the admission of defendant's extrajudicial statements.