Commonwealth v. LeClair

6 Mass. L. Rptr. 561
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedApril 16, 1997
DocketNo. 952120
StatusPublished

This text of 6 Mass. L. Rptr. 561 (Commonwealth v. LeClair) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. LeClair, 6 Mass. L. Rptr. 561 (Mass. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

Welch, J.

The defendant Joseph LeClair moves to suppress two confessions that he gave to the Maine State Police and the Massachusetts State Police. The defendant claims that he did not knowingly and voluntarily waive his Miranda rights at the time of this custodial interrogation. In addition, the defendant claims that his statements were not voluntary. An extensive hearing was held on this motion that included the testimony of numerous witnesses.

One of the defendant’s primary arguments is that his Miranda waiver and statements were not voluntary because he believed he would be dead by the time of trial. This Court rejects this legal contention.

After evaluating the evidence presented and reviewing the law, I conclude that the defendant’s motion must be denied. Based on the totality of the circumstances, I find that the Commonwealth has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights. Furthermore, I find, again beyond a reasonable doubt, that his statements were voluntary.

FINDINGS OF FACT

In June of 1995, the defendant was living with his girlfriend, the victim Janice May, in Swampscott, Massachusetts. On June 2, 1995, the victim Janice May dropped the defendant off at a bar so that he could have some alcoholic beverages and watch a Boston Red Sox game. She went on to another drinking establishment where she told the defendant she was meeting some girlfriends. Arrangements were made for Ms. May to pick the defendant up later on that evening. The defendant was dropped off at the bar at approximately 7:00 p.m.. During the next seven hours (until closing time at 2:00 a.m.) the defendant consumed between 12 and 15 twelve ounce beers. This amount of alcoholic consumption over seven hours did not affect the defendant significantly. He believed he was still able to operate a motor vehicle (had he had one). As the defendant rather colorfully admitted to the police, he was “used to sucking down a case in a couple of hours.” Ms. May did not come and pick the defendant up as promised. Instead, the defendant obtained a ride to his home in Swampscott from a friend. The defendant then ingested two “short” lines of cocaine with his friend and drank a very small amount of wine (approximately 1 inch in a glass) with this friend. Again, the consumption of the cocaine and the very small amount of wine did not particularly affect the defendant’s mental abilities. Indeed, he stated the cocaine had no effect upon him whatsoever.

At approximately 4:30 a.m., Janice May still had not returned home and the defendant fell asleep. He was wakened at 7:00 a.m. when Janice May returned. A loud argument ensued. Accusations of infidelity were made by the defendant and the victim responded by informing the defendant that he was excessively controlling and that she did not love him. These statements made the defendant feel “rotten.” The argument ended when the defendant grabbed the victim by the throat while she laid in bed. He strangled her to death.

After killing the victim Janice May, the defendant wrote what might be termed a “suicide note” expressing his sorrow and asking for forgiveness. Thereafter, he obtained a firearm from the apartment, loaded the firearm, placed the gun in his mouth, and then lost his nerve. He took the gun from his mouth and fired the bullet into a wall of the apartment. The defendant decided he did not wish to take his own life until he said goodbye to his mother who lived in Maine. As the defendant explained: “I realized what I’d done. I couldn’t live so I took the gun and I was just going, say, tell my mother good-bye, I love her, I’m sony for what I did and I was going to shoot myself.” Thereupon he wrapped the firearm in a blanket and placed the loaded gun in his rented vehicle and began to drive from Swampscott, Massachusetts up to North Berwick, Maine. In Peabody, Massachusetts he filled his car up with gas. In New Hampshire he stopped at a McDonald’s Restaurant (at approximately 9 or 10 in the morning) and ate an Egg McMuffin and a soda. During this period of time he was suffering from a headache.

In the early afternoon (at approximately 1:00 or 2:00 p.m.), he arrived at this parents’ home. His mother was not present, she was at a craft fair at a local church, but his sister was at home. He informed [562]*562his sister that he had killed his girlfriend Janice May and that he was going to commit suicide because he wanted “to be with Janice” (the deceased). He then drove off to find his mother. The defendant drove toward the direction of the home of his brother (also a resident of Maine) in a nearby Town. The defendant’s sister immediately called the North Berwick Police. She informed the North Berwick Police that her brother had claimed to have killed a woman in Swampscott, Massachusetts and was threatening suicide.

Officer Stephen Peasley, a patrolman for the North Berwick Maine Police, received a communication from dispatch and proceeded directly to the home of the defendant’s parents. There he met the defendant’s sister, a Ms. Kelly Wood. Ms. Wood informed the officer that the defendant had just been at the address and informed her that he had killed his girlfriend and had threatened suicide. Ms. Wood provided the officer with certain grim details related by the defendant concerning the method of the victim’s death and identified her brother as Joseph LeClair. She stated that the defendant had wanted to say goodbye before committing suicide. She also described the vehicle in which he was driving.

During this period of time, the defendant apparently noticed his father driving on a nearby street. They talked briefly and arrangements were made to meet back at the family home on Sunset Avenue in North Berwick. Before or shortly after this encounter, the defendant again placed the gun in his mouth but did not pull the trigger because “I just couldn’t do it.”

Shortly thereafter, the South Berwick Police notified the North Berwick Police that they had located the defendant’s vehicle and was following it back to the location of the parents’ home in North Berwick. Upon arriving at the parent’s home on Sunset Avenue in North Berwick, the North Berwick Police (namely Officer Stephen Peasley) approached the defendant, handcuffed him and escorted him to the marked police cruiser. Officer Peasley was in full uniform at that time. The defendant later claimed (to a psychologist) that he was considering exiting his vehicle with the firearm that he brought with him from Swampscott, Massachusetts in the hopes that the North Berwick Police would then shoot him. The defendant did not do this, however, because he considered the presence of his young nephew (who apparently was at the parents’ home) and did not want his nephew to witness such an encounter. Thus, the defendant decided to be arrested peacefully and cooperate with the police.

Officer Peasley did not inform the defendant what he was being arrested for. As the defendant later related: “No they did not tell me what I was charged with. He says what happened [sic]. I said I want to confess I killed my fiancée.” On another occasion (when speaking to the Maine State Police) the defendant described the encounter in this way: “So I went back to my sister’s and a police car came in the other way and followed me and pulled up and I was just getting to tell my sister, call them and tell them I’m here. I just want to turn myself in.”

The arrest took place at approximately 2:30 p.m. on the afternoon of June 3, 1996. The defendant was placed handcuffed in the North Berwick Police cruiser.

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Bluebook (online)
6 Mass. L. Rptr. 561, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-leclair-masssuperct-1997.