Court Opinion

ID: 9787274
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 00:14:09.691111+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:54.169837
License: Public Domain

Justice KIDWELL,
Dissenting.
Because the State failed to meet its burden of demonstrating that Doe knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waived his Miranda rights during the June 12, 1999, interview, I respectfully dissent.
As the majority points out, in order to determine whether a confession was voluntarily given this Court employs a totality of the circumstances test in light of the following factors: (1) whether Miranda warnings were given, (2) the youth of the accused, (3) the accused’s level of education or low intelligence, (4) the length of detention, (5) the repeated and prolonged nature of the questioning, and 6) deprivation of food or sleep. State v. Radford, 134 Idaho 187, 191, 998 P.2d 80, 84 (2000). Additionally, the State bears the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the test has been met. State v. Maxey, 125 Idaho 505, 513, 873 P.2d 150, 158 (1994); State v. Culbertson, 105 Idaho 128, 130, 666 P.2d 1139, 1141 (1983). In view of the totality of the circumstances surrounding Doe’s interrogation, the State failed to satisfy that burden of proof.
In this case, the reading of the Miranda form is a neutral factor. Throughout the discussion of Doe’s rights during the interrogation, the detective minimized the importance of the waiver document and its contents. The detective premised the entire waiver discussion with the comment, “I just need to read you this little piece of paper *528[waiver form]____” The detective worked to persuade Doe that he wasn’t involved in a confrontational interrogation, saying, “I’m the nice guy here, [Doe], I’m not, I’m not trying to make things worse or anything like that.” Almost immediately after reading the waiver form to Doe, the detective said:
We’re not so sure that he’s [the injured friend] going to make it, okay? ... this is serious kind of, this kind of stuff here and you’re going to have, you’re going to have to answer some questions. Because we’re going to have to ask you a few things about what happened, what was there, okay? If you want to talk to me, I just need to have you sign right here.
(Emphasis added). These comments arguably served to dilute any effectiveness that can be attributed to the reading of the form.
The State argues that the following exchange demonstrates that Doe not only understood his rights that early morning, but had knowledge of them prior to that day: The detective said, “I want to talk to you about a couple things that happened tonight____And I think you probably want to talk to me too. But before I do that, I just need to read you this little piece of paper____But I need to read it to you, okay?” Doe responded, indicating that the detective was going to “Read my rights.” This statement in no way demonstrates that Doe understood the substantive contents of the waiver form. I submit that virtually every twelve-year-old who watches television has a vague notion that upon interrogating a person, the police must “read their rights.”
Doe’s age — twelve—and his level of education — sixth grade — weigh against a finding of a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent waiver. The State argues, and the lower courts were convinced, that Doe was somehow more sophisticated with regard to the principles of criminal procedure than the average twelve-year-old, because he had previous contacts with law enforcement, having been “read his rights” earlier in the day of June 11. However, that event was a meeting between Doe and a juvenile probation officer, regarding an incident at school in which Doe was “yelling at teachers and stuff.” That encounter occurred in a non-confrontational setting, with Doe’s mother present, and during the daytime as opposed to the wee hours of the morning. During that encounter, the probation officer used a Miranda waiver form that was more simplified than the one later used by the detective, in order to be better understood by juveniles, and which contained a signature line for both the juvenile and a parent. The fact that Doe signed the probation officer’s waiver earlier in the day of June 11 does not demonstrate that he understood the nature or value of his rights when he signed the detective’s waiver early the next morning, or even that he understood his rights when he signed the probation officer’s form.
Additionally, when the interrogation began, Doe had been escorted from his friend’s residence by uniformed police officers, had spent nearly two hours in police custody, and had not been afforded the opportunity to see or converse with his parents. In fact, although his parents were eventually contacted, Doe knew when the interrogation began that his parents had not been contacted and thus were unaware that he was in police custody. In light of these facts, Doe’s relatively young age becomes an even more profound factor weighing against a finding of a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent waiver.
The State points out that Doe answered affirmatively to the following questions: “So, you, you’re familiar with these [rights on the waiver form],” “Do you understand those rights,” and “Do you want to talk to me about this?” However, Doe’s response to the latter was qualified: “Well, sort of. I don’t like talking about it because it hurts me.” None of these responses can be taken at face value, because this is the point in the analysis at which the sixth factor, regarding deprivation of food or sleep, comes into play. Doe said that he didn’t know what day it was, couldn’t recall the number of his street address, couldn’t recall the year of his birth, couldn’t recall his father’s work number, demonstrated confusion about his mother’s place of work, and demonstrated confusion about his father’s work schedule and the fact that the interrogation was taking place approximately ten hours after the time his father’s work day was over. Doe said that he *529was tired, because he had been awake since 9:00 or 9:30 the previous morning. He offered this information in response to an inquiry by the detective as to whether he was tired, which indicates that Doe actually displayed physical signs of being weary during the interrogation, signs that were perceived by the detective. However, the State argues, and the lower courts were convinced, that Doe seemed alert and lucid, yet “calm, collected, rational and unemotional” during the interview. It is not surprising that a child in Doe’s position might display these mixed characteristics, despite being exhausted, considering that he had recently experienced perhaps the most traumatic event of his life — discharging a firearm and wounding a close friend, whom Doe believed might be dying even as he spoke to the detective. The effects of adrenaline, shock, and exhaustion following a traumatic event can be profound.
Clearly, Doe was tired, confused, disoriented, and vulnerable. In sum, the combined effects of Doe’s youth, his very minimal experience with law enforcement, the physical and mental trauma of the day’s and night’s events, and the interrogation conducted inside a police facility without the presence of his parents caused Doe to be incapable of knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waiving his rights. Doe’s signature on the waiver form and his statement that he understood his rights cannot be taken at face value, given his diminished ability to comprehend the nature of the events that were transpiring. The State failed to demonstrate otherwise by a preponderance of the evidence.
When the record is unclear as to whether a defendant knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waived his rights, the burden of proof placed upon the state dictates a result that gives the benefit of the doubt to the defendant, especially when the defendant is a sixth-grade student who has been awake for approximately eighteen hours, has just been through an extremely traumatic ordeal, and who has been sequestered in a police department during the wee hours of the morning without the presence of his parents.
It would send an inappropriate message to law enforcement and would be misaligned with the fundamental constitutional concepts this society holds dear to lower the bar for responsible police conduct when juveniles are involved. On the record as it stands in this case, the statements made during the June 12, 1999, interview should have been suppressed.