Court Opinion

ID: 9514279
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:48:26.263027+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:15.804400
License: Public Domain

SABERS, Justice,
dissenting.
Darby’s confession should have been suppressed as involuntarily given in custody and without Miranda warnings.
[¶47] This case is strong evidence that history repeats itself. Law enforcement officers throughout this state continue to interrogate suspects in accusatorial, rather than investigative settings, without giving the suspect Miranda warnings. As I stated in State v. Dickey, 459 N.W.2d 445, 451 (S.D.1990) (Sabers, J., concurring specially):
I write specially to point out that almost all of the time, trouble, and effort expended in this appeal could have been avoided if law enforcement officers followed the simple admonition of Justice Morgan in Satter v. Solem, 434 N.W.2d 725, 727 (S.D.1989), (Satter II):
After all, it requires no great effort to take out the Miranda card, read the subject his rights, and ask the simple questions: Do you understand your rights and do you waive them?
[¶ 48] The majority beats itself about the head with rationalizations of investigatory or accusatory custody or noncustodial conversational or nonconversational deception or misrepresentation coercive or manipulative voluntary or involuntary.
[¶ 49] The fact of the matter is that there was only one suspect, and that was Darby. If he did not do it, no one did. If Darby did not sexually abuse these children, no one did and no crime would even have been committed. Therefore, there was only one suspect and he was in custody for interrogation without Miranda warnings. See State v. Kaiser, 504 N.W.2d 96, 103 (S.D.1993) (Sabers, J., concurring in part and concurring specially in part) (arguing Miranda warnings should have been administered when sole suspect was transported to station for questioning).
[¶ 50] Law enforcement officers know better. They and the justice system were burned in State v. Oltmanns, 519 N.W.2d 602 (S.D.1994), and if they maintain their present practice, they will be burned again.
[¶ 51] In Oltmanns, the law enforcement officers did almost everything necessary to obtain a conviction except step one. They got Oltmanns in the police station for interviews, fingerprinting, and a polygraph examination. They omitted one step, they failed to give Oltmanns his Miranda warnings. For *323that and other reasons, the trial court necessarily suppressed Oltmanns’ statements as involuntary. We affirmed on appeal and law enforcement, through its own doing, dropped the case and were appropriately publicly embarrassed.
[¶ 52] Maybe law enforcement feels more good than bad comes from failing to give Miranda warnings. Maybe they will persist in their present practice. If so, it won’t be long before the results necessarily required in Oltmanns will revisit them.
[¶ 53] I would reverse and remand for the trial court to instruct the officers to provide solo suspects the Miranda warnings required by the United States and South Dakota Constitutions.