Court Opinion

ID: 9548311
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:01:26.154412+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:18:47.377978
License: Public Domain

*281PANELLI, J.
I respectfully dissent.
I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that defendant’s taped statement should have been excluded on Fourth Amendment and Miranda (Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 [16 L.Ed.2d 694, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 10 A.L.R.3d 974]) grounds. In my view, the circumstances of the initial detention and the interrogation do not, as the majority state, add up to an illegal arrest. Whether an illegal detention has occurred must be determined by all the evidence pertaining to the alleged restraint, and the final determination must be made on the basis of the objective reasonableness of the defendant’s concern that he was being restrained without his consent. Protestations to the contrary, the majority first question the voluntariness of defendant’s consent to the interview and then focus almost exclusively on defendant’s state of mind during the interrogation as he countered the detective’s questioning, ignoring the consensual nature of his presence at the station house and ignoring the events subsequent to the interrogation which reinforce a conclusion that no illegal detention had occurred or was occurring. I am troubled and concerned that the subjective standard used by the majority portends a severe limitation, if not elimination, of the voluntary, noncustodial police station interview.
Here both a magistrate and trial judge reviewed the evidence concerning the interview, at the preliminary hearing and during the Penal Code section 1538.5 suppression hearing that preceded the first trial, and each rejected the defendant’s challenge to the incriminating statements. The hearing judge necessarily made a number of critical findings, assessed defendant’s credibility in significant areas, and drew inferences that support his ruling.
I recognize and acknowledge that the scope of review in this court is not simply whether there is substantial evidence in the record to support the trial court’s ruling that defendant’s statement was not the product of an illegal seizure. In the exercise of our independent judgment as to whether the detention violated the constitutional standard of reasonableness, however, we must accept the trial court’s resolution of disputed facts and its assessment of the credibility of witnesses. These are cardinal principles of appellate review. Furthermore, reasonable inferences deduced from the facts as found by the trial court are necessarily supported by substantial evidence, and a reviewing court is without power to substitute its deductions for those of the trial court. (See People v. James (1977) 19 Cal.3d 99, 107 [137 Cal.Rptr. 447, 501 P.2d 1135] [voluntariness of consent]; In re Eric J. (1979) 25 Cal.3d 522, 527 [159 Cal.Rptr. 317, 601 P.2d 549] [interrogation without Miranda warnings]; People v. Leyba (1981) 29 Cal.3d 591, 596-598 [174 Cal.Rptr. 867, 629 P.2d 961] [investigative detention]; People v. Lawler (1973) 9 Cal.3d 156, 160 [107 Cal.Rptr. 13, 507 P.2d 621] [pat-*282down search of sleeping bag]; People v. Duren (1973) 9 Cal.3d 218, 241-242 [107 Cal.Rptr. 157, 507 P.2d 1365] [waiver].)
In my view, defendant’s encounter with the police can be divided into three parts: (1) the initial approach and consent to the interview at the station house; (2) the interrogation; and (3) the period that followed the termination of the interview during which defendant incriminated himself.
First, we must accept the trial court’s finding that defendant consented to an interview at the police station and voluntarily subjected himself to interrogation. The manner and circumstances of the transport confirm that the police relied on that consent in transporting him to the station for questioning. Thus, the initial approach to defendant was by plainclothes officers in unmarked cars; defendant requested and was given permission to take his girlfriend with him to the station; she did not go with defendant but was told he would be gone about three hours, which included two hours of travel time; defendant was transported alone in the backseat; there was no cage between the front and rear passenger sections; defendant was not handcuffed or overtly restrained, and the doors of the vehicle were unlocked during transport. At the station, defendant was placed in a room used for noncustodial as well as custodial interrogation.
The interrogation presents a closer question. Conceding that the interrogation was aggressive and at times accusatory, the record is nevertheless devoid of evidence that defendant involuntarily remained in the room or involuntarily continued to respond to the interrogation. While his repeated question as to his status revealed some doubt on his part as to whether he was free to terminate the interrogation and return home, the fact remains that when defendant stated that he wanted an attorney and wanted to terminate the interview, the officers turned off the tape recorder and stopped their questioning. As noted above, I believe the majority has erred by focusing almost exclusively on the defendant’s state of mind during the interrogation and ignoring the subsequent events which reinforce the conclusion that no illegal detention had occurred.
Moreover, even assuming, arguendo, that defendant was illegally detained (that is, either physically deprived of his freedom or led to believe that he was so deprived) during the interrogation, it is clear that the incriminating statement was not obtained by exploitation of the illegality.
Thus, once questioning ceased, defendant gave his consent to search the El Monte residence. He was asked and agreed to have fingerprints taken for elimination purposes. During this time he was twice told, in response to inquiry, that he was not under arrest. Importantly, no questioning occurred *283during the 25 or 30 minutes it took to walk defendant over to the jail, fingerprint him, and return him to the station. Thereafter the officer reminded defendant that he could not be questioned further. The officer also made remarks which reasonably suggested that, while still under suspicion, defendant was no longer the sole focus of investigation and was about to be released. It was at this point, as the officer turned to leave the room to arrange transportation home for defendant, that defendant called him back and blurted out the incriminating statement concerning his involvement in the killings, “I did it.” The tape recording machine was then reactivated, and, following a waiver of his Miranda rights, defendant confessed.
The instant case was not defendant’s first encounter with the police. He had had prior experience with law enforcement officials in several incidents of arrest or detention. Whatever he may have feared concerning his status during the interrogation, he could not reasonably have believed, in the period following the cessation of the interrogation, that he was being, or would be detained.
In sum, the findings of the trial court and the inferences that can be drawn therefrom support the conclusion that the defendant’s statement was not the fruit of an illegal arrest. Measuring those facts and inferences against the constitutional standard of reasonableness, and exercising independent judgment thereon, I agree with the trial court that the confession is admissible.
Further, I do not agree with the majority that the defendant’s confession was obtained in contravention of Miranda. Even if it were decided that defendant was being subjected to custodial interrogation when he made his initial incriminating statement, “I did it,” the fact remains that he was given Miranda advisements before the interrogation commenced and the questioning stopped when he invoked his right to remain silent. The incriminating statement was clearly a spontaneous outburst which falls outside the proscriptions of Miranda. Thereafter defendant voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently rewaived his Miranda rights.
Kaufman, J., concurred.
Respondent’s petition for a rehearing was denied May 22, 1989, and the opinion was modified to read as printed above.