Court Opinion

ID: 9742153
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:07:36.429298+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:28.861963
License: Public Domain

MEYER, Justice
(concurring).
I write separately to note my disagreement with the majority’s conclusion that Earl voluntarily waived his right to counsel and that therefore his videotaped statement was properly admitted. I believe the police engaged in improper interrogation of Earl before he revoked his right to counsel. This interrogation was in direct violation of the Miranda prohibition and rendered the statement constitutionally inadmissible. Nevertheless, I would conclude that the admission of the statement was harmless error and, therefore, I concur in the result.
In Rhode Island v. Innis, the United States Supreme Court stated that “the term ‘interrogation’ under Miranda refers not only to express questioning, but also to any words or actions on the part of the police (other than those normally attendant to arrest and custody) that the police should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from the suspect.” 446 U.S. 291, 301, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 64 L.Ed.2d 297 (1980) (footnotes omitted). The Court noted that its concern in Miranda was that the “interrogation environment” created by the interplay of interrogation and custody would “subjugate the individual to the will of his examiner” and undermine the privilege against compelled self-incrimination. Id. at 299, 100 S.Ct. 1682 (citing Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 457-58, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966)).
In Edwards v. Arizona, the Supreme Court held that once a suspect has invoked the right to counsel, the police are completely barred from further interrogation until counsel is provided. 451 U.S. 477, 484-85, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981). The Court noted that “[h]ad [the suspect] initiated the meeting [the next day], nothing in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments would prohibit the police from merely listening to his voluntary, volunteered statements and using them against him at trial.” Id. at 485, 101 S.Ct. 1880. In a footnote, the Court considered *725the probability that in such a meeting initiated by the suspect, the conversation would not be entirely one-sided and the police would likely engage in some sort of interrogation:
In that event, the question would be whether a valid waiver of the right to counsel and the right to silence had occurred, that is, whether the purported waiver was knowing and intelligent and found to be so under the totality of the circumstances, including the necessary fact that the accused, not the police, reopened the dialogue with the authorities.
Id. at 486 n. 9,101 S.Ct. 1880.
This court has stated that the Edwards analysis is concerned with whether the suspect invoked his or her right to counsel during a custodial interrogation, whether the suspect then initiated further discussions with police, and whether the suspect knowingly and intelligently waived the right invoked. State v. Munson, 594 N.W.2d 128, 138-39 (Minn.1999). This court has extended protections to suspects that are in addition to those described in Edwards, and it is these additional protections that the majority fails to address and that are dispositive for this case.
In Munson, we considered a situation where, after invocation of the right to counsel, police kept interacting with a suspect and the suspect revoked the right to counsel. 594 N.W.2d at 133. We stated that “the central question becomes whether the evidence in the record shows that the officers should have known that their conversation was reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from [the suspect] or to get [the suspect] to revoke his right to counsel.” Id. at 142 (emphasis added). In Munson, the suspect unequivocally invoked his right to counsel, upon which the interrogating officers did stop asking him questions, but began speaking to each other about federal drug charges and a “window of opportunity” to talk that was “closing quickly.” Id. at 133. When Munson questioned them about what they meant, the officers informed him repeatedly that they could not talk to him unless he revoked his right to a lawyer. Id. at 133-34. Eventually, Munson agreed to revoke his right and made a statement. Id. at 134. Our analysis focused on whether the police engaged in impermissible interrogation before Munson reinitiated the conversation by asking them a question, and hinged on whether the state sustained its burden of proving that the officers’ comments to each other consisted of “innocent banter.” Id. at 140-41. We noted the district court’s finding that the officers’ statements were “ ‘designed to [pique] Munson’s curiosity and ultimately to elicit from him a retraction of his * * * request to consult with an attorney.’ ” Id. at 142. We agreed, holding that the state did not meet its burden and that the district court erred in not suppressing Munson’s statements. Id. at 143.
In State v. Hannon, we cited the Edwards caution that “additional safeguards [are] necessary when an accused asks for counsel” and held that police must “limit their questions to ones designed to clarify the [suspect’s] desires regarding the presence of counsel.” 636 N.W.2d 796, 806 (Minn.2001) (citing Edwards, 451 U.S. at 484, 101 S.Ct. 1880). We held that the police’s comments amounted to improper interrogation when, immediately after Hannon invoked his right to counsel, the police told him, ‘Tour side of this story will never be known.” Id. at 805.
Munson and Hannon, read together, mandate that until a suspect revokes a previously invoked right to counsel, the police are forbidden to engage in words or conduct that they should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating re*726sponse from the suspect, or to get the suspect to revoke the right to counsel. Stated another way, what the police say or do after the suspect reinitiates contact is central to our analysis. Here, Earl asked the police point-blank how “this [was] going to help me out, talking to you guys without talking to an attorney.” The police appropriately responded that they could not advise Earl. Earl persisted in wanting to know whether talking to the police without an attorney would help him. The police responded by saying:
Well look at it this way. You know if you were a prosecutor or judge and jury and you had two individuals, one individual that says I made a terrible terrible mistake but I’m willing to accept the consequences and do the right thing, you have the other individual that says, “Go to hell.” “Prove it.” You know which one do you look more favorably on, it’s just kind of common sense.
The police then said they would not disclose what Earl’s girlfriend told them and “[t]he only way we can judge your truthfulness and. your honesty with us, is for you to tell us and that’s the important part, and that’s going to show your cooperation.” The police suggested that by talking to them without an attorney, Earl would be demonstrating “cooperation” and that his “cooperation” would be viewed favorably by the prosecutor, judge, and jury. As in Munson, this was not “innocent banter.” As in Munson, no direct threat or promise of favorable treatment was made, but the appeal to Earl’s “common sense” was a time-honored rhetorical device designed for the purpose of inducing him to revoke his right to counsel.1 As in Munson, it was designed to pique Earl’s interest and elicit a retraction of his request for counsel. Because the police used words intended to induce Earl to revoke his right to counsel, and Earl then immediately revoked his right to counsel, this inducement constituted a clear violation of Earl’s rights under Miranda.
Under these circumstances, where the police induce a suspect to revoke a previously invoked right to counsel, the appropriate remedy is to suppress the statement. See, e.g., Edwards, 451 U.S. at 487, 101 S.Ct. 1880. For this reason, I would hold that the district court erred in denying Earl’s motion to suppress his statement and would perform a harmless error analysis.
Criminal convictions will not be overturned if the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Staats, 658 N.W.2d 207, 215 (Minn.2003). To meet this standard, the verdict must be “surely unattributable” to the error. Id. To determine whether a verdict was surely unattributable to an error, this court must consider “the manner in which the evidence was presented, whether it was highly persuasive, whether it was used in closing argument, and whether it was effectively countered by the defendant.” State v. Al-Naseer, 690 N.W.2d 744, 748 (Minn.2005). In addition, this court must determine whether the evidence of guilt is strong enough to convict the defendant without the use of the statement. See id.
Earl argues that the state made repeated and effective use of the statement, painting Earl as a cold-blooded, remorseless killer. The state focuses on the other evidence of Earl’s guilt, claiming that it is overwhelming even without the statement. But as we stated in Al-Naseer, we must consider all of these factors.
*727The state’s theory of the case was that Earl went to Long Prairie with the intent to commit a burglary, and that given what he knew about Carpenter and the circumstances of previous burglaries the pair had committed, he should have anticipated the likelihood that death would occur. The majority of the videotaped statement, including Earl’s admissions that he went to Long Prairie to burglarize and that he knew Carpenter had killed others, was corroborated by Earl in his trial testimony. In those few instances where the state used the statement to impeach Earl’s testimony, the state was introducing an alternative theory of the case in which Earl was an active participant.2 The state referred to Earl’s statement briefly in its closing arguments, mentioning it only three times in the more than 30 transcript pages. In addition, Earl was given the opportunity to explain any discrepancies between the statement and his testimony.
The circumstantial evidence against Earl was overwhelming. Numerous friends and acquaintances testified about Earl’s activities and statements in the days before and after the Long Prairie killings. Earl’s own testimony placed him inside the Chromey residence after buying masks and gloves, stealing heavy flashlights, attempting to steal guns, buying and marking a map with the location around Long Prairie, and purchasing electrical tape. No physical evidence placed him inside the Chromey residence, but his vehicle contained a large quantity of physical evidence connected to the crime.
Between the evidence and testimony presented by the state and Earl’s own testimony, the evidence of guilt was strong enough to support guilty verdicts without Earl’s statement. Taking all of the factors of the Alr-Naseer test into consideration, any error committed by the district court in admitting Earl’s custodial statement was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
I would hold that the district court erred in denying Earl’s motion to suppress his statement, but because the error was harmless, I agree with the majority’s conclusion that Earl’s conviction should be upheld.

. The state does not argue that Earl's cooperation actually did result in more favorable treatment at trial, or that the police thought Earl's cooperation would result in more favorable treatment. Indeed, there is no legal authority for such a proposition.

. The state used the statement to impeach Earl’s testimony on whose idea it was to burn evidence at his uncle's northern Minnesota property and on whether he had hit any of the victims. In his statement, he said he hit Chromey; at trial, he clarified that he deflected the chair with which she came at him.