Court Opinion

ID: 9634345
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 13:09:06.765669+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:09:00.977560
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent from the majority’s holding today that the Appellee’s inculpatory statements were not properly suppressed at trial. The salient holding of Miranda states:
The prosecution may not use statements, whether exculpatory or inculpatory, stemming from custodial interrogation of the defendant unless it demonstrates the use of procedural safeguards effective to secure the privilege against self-incrimination. By custodial interrogation we mean questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1612, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) (Emphasis added).
In Commonwealth v. Chacko, 500 Pa. 571, 459 A.2d 311 (1983), we held that the issue of custody for Miranda purposes is a subjective determination of whether a suspect reasonably believes that he is obligated to acquiesce to the inquiry. Furthermore, in Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 64 L.Ed.2d 297 (1980) the United States Supreme Court elaborated upon the type of interrogation which requires that Miranda warnings be given:
[T]he 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. The latter portion of this definition focuses primarily upon the perceptions of the suspect, rather than the intent of the police. This focus *565reflects the fact that the Miranda safeguards were designed to vest a suspect in custody with an added measure of protection against coercive police practices, without regard to objective proof of the underlying intent of the police. A practice that the police should know is reasonably likely to evoke an incriminating response from a suspect thus amounts to interrogation. But, since the police surely cannot be held accountable for the unforeseeable results of their words or actions, the definition of interrogation can extend only to words or actions on the part of police officers that they should have known were reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response.
446 U.S. at 301-302, 100 S.Ct. at 1689-1690 (Emphasis added).
It is undisputed that the Appellee’s superior, Lieutenant Puchalski, confronted the Appellee at the hospital, having been properly advised1 that an injury had occurred in the line of duty. Thus, according to department regulations, the questioning of the Appellee was mandated as standard procedure whenever a policeman discharges his firearm, resulting in injury or death (p. 58).
At the time that Lieutenant Puchalski appeared at the hospital, he inquired of the Appellee the circumstances surrounding the shooting of the deceased, knowing full well that an altercation had occurred between the Appellee and the victim. It is a reasonable assumption that the Appellee was expected to respond to any such inquiries, as he ultimately did. At the hospital and subsequently at staff *566headquarters, it was clear that the Appellee was the focal point of the investigation and was required under the departmental regulations to cooperate and assist with the departmental investigation. Therefore, given the coercive nature of the inquiry, the Appellee did not have the freedom of being non-responsive. [See Commonwealth v. McGrath, 504 Pa. —, 470 A.2d 487 (1983), in which we held that a military investigation presented such a coercive atmosphere that Miranda warnings were required.] Since the Appellee was in custody for Miranda purposes, it was incumbent upon the Appellee’s supervisor to give the required warnings prior to questioning the Appellee both at the hospital and subsequently at the staff inspector’s headquarters. Because the Appellee was not given the Miranda warnings, the statements were properly suppressed.
Accordingly, I dissent from the majority opinion of this date and would affirm the actions of the suppression court.

. Under police regulations, any time an injury or death occurs from the discharge of a policeman’s firearm, that officer shall immediately notify the police radio, who in turn shall notify the duty commander at the detective bureau, internal affairs bureau, homicide unit (if a death is involved), detective division of the occurrence, the district of the occurrence and the district or unit to which the officer is assigned. The regulation further states that the officer who fired the weapon will not make any statements except to personnel of the internal affairs bureau. Finally, it is the duty of the first supervisor at the scene to take the police officer involved directly to the internal affairs bureau.