Court Opinion

ID: 9669979
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 03:11:56.515138+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:01.457919
License: Public Domain

Robert W. Hansen, J.
(concurring). How can it be said the “basic rationale” of a particular decision requires its application to a situation where the precise language of the decision renders it inapplicable. The majority opinion states, “. . . True, Miranda itself points out that it is applicable ‘when an individual is taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom by the authorities ....’” (Miranda v. Arizona (1966), 384 U. S. 436, 478, 86 Sup. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694) (Emphasis supplied.) True enough, that is what Miranda states. So, does it not follow that the question of the admissibility of *498Miranda-less statements made by defendant to the police boils down to (1) whether the defendant was in police custody when he made them, or (2) whether he had been deprived of his freedom of action by the police at the time he made the statements? Two traffic citations were placed on defendant’s bed at the hospital, but he was not told that he was in any way under arrest or in custody. No guard was stationed at the hospital to prevent defendant’s leaving, and defendant makes no claim that he was advised that he was under arrest or in custody, or that he knew or understood such to be the situation. Nonetheless, the majority concludes that the defendant . . was as effectively bound to his bed as if he had been shackled to it. . . .” This is a reference, not to police presence or action, but to the injuries sustained in the accident involved. Such test makes the nature of injuries sustained determinative of whether a person is in police custody or “otherwise deprived of his freedom by the authorities.” So a person with a broken arm is not in custody because he can walk away. A person with a broken leg is in custody or “deprived of his freedom by the authorities” because he cannot walk away. Whatever may be said for this ambulatory versus nonambulatory approach, both the language and rationale of Miranda are accordioned to include it. Where the majority found harmless error, the writer would find no error, upholding the trial court’s determination that the defendant was not in custody or “otherwise deprived of his freedom by the authorities” at the time he made the statements to the law officers.
I am authorized to state that Mr. Justice CONNOR T. HANSEN joins in this concurring opinion.