Commonwealth v. Paz

459 A.2d 834, 313 Pa. Super. 250, 1983 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3046
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 6, 1983
DocketNo. 2744
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 459 A.2d 834 (Commonwealth v. Paz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Paz, 459 A.2d 834, 313 Pa. Super. 250, 1983 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3046 (Pa. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

HESTER, Judge:

Appellee, Nicholas Paz, was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, theft and criminal conspiracy on March 17, 1981. Following his arrest in Philadelphia and while detained by law enforcement officers, he was questioned concerning 66 unsolved burglaries. He confessed to 29 of these offenses; however, neither an attorney nor an “interested adult” was present at the time of the confession. Appellee was 16 years old when arrested.

Prior to trial, appellee filed an omnibus motion requesting, inter alia, the suppression of those statements elicited by detectives during his detention. The suppression motion was granted by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County on October 1, 1981 on grounds that the custodial interrogation violated the “interested adult” rule. Appellant/ Common wealth filed this appeal.

Despite widespread criticism and constant attack, it remains the law of this Commonwealth that a minor suspect be accorded the benefit of parental or “interested-adult” guidance before any of his incriminating statements issued while in police custody are admissible as evidence against [252]*252him. Commonwealth v. Chaney, 465 Pa. 407, 350 A.2d 829 (1975); Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90, 343 A.2d 669 (1975), cert. den., 424 U.S. 934, 96 S.Ct. 1147, 47 L.Ed.2d 341 (1976); Commonwealth v. Roane, 459 Pa. 389, 329 A.2d 286 (1974). Furthermore, the mere presence of the “interested adult” at the place of custody is not enough; the adult must be fully apprised of all rights belonging to the minor suspect before his presence and advice can be presumed capable of precluding undue police aggression and overreaching. Commonwealth v. Starkes, 461 Pa. 178, 335 A.2d 698 (1975). Quite simply, and perhaps unnecessarily, a per se constitutional rule, known as the McCutchen rule, prevents the prosecutorial use of the incriminating statements of a detained minor suspect unless an “informed, interested adult” is present immediately before and during the issuance of such statements.

In Commonwealth v. Stanton, 466 Pa. 143, 351 A.2d 663 (1976), Chief Justice Jones dissented and objected to the majority’s extraction of the aforementioned per se rule. Due to the McCutchen court’s thorough and detailed recitation of the facts, the Chief Justice believed the court was also concerned with the actual voluntariness of the confession. Furthermore, according to this Stanton dissent, the Starks court discussed all factors, not solely the presence of an interested adult, in considering the general admissibility of the minor’s confession. Finally, Chief Justice Jones viewed Roane’s refusal to admit the minor’s confession as the result of the absence of the suspect’s mother and the officer’s coercive and uncooperative behavior; therefore, he believed the Roane court utilized the “totality of circumstances” in determining voluntariness. Chief Justice Jones found it incredulous, indeed, that the per se rule renders a bright, experienced 17 year old incapable of waiving constitutional rights while an uncounselled mentally-retarded 18 year old could validly waive those same rights.

In Commonwealth v. Nelson, 488 Pa. 148, 411 A.2d 740 (1980), Justice Larsen dissented from the majority’s recognition of the “informed, interested adult” rule and preferred [253]*253to consider the individual factors of the particular case. For instance, he noted the defendant’s familiarity with the criminal justice system, his understanding of constitutional rights and his close proximity to 18 years of age. He recommended the following holding:

____where, as here, the defendant’s age, experience, and intelligence are such that the presence of an interested adult will not significantly contribute to his comprehension and understanding of the situation, he may make an effective waiver of his constitutional rights without first consulting an interested adult.

Id., 488 Pa. at 163, 411 A.2d at 747.

Appellant would have us employ here the dissenters’ approach in Stanton and Henderson to modify the per se rule, thereby permitting the admission of incriminating statements that are knowingly and voluntarily made in light of all the circumstances. We are disinclined to do so, for we are compelled to follow the majority opinion of our Supreme Court, however fragile we consider that opinion to be.

Appellant avers that two existing Pennsylvania Supreme Court decisions, Commonwealth v. Veltre, 492 Pa. 237, 424 A.2d 486 (1980) and Commonwealth v. Webster, 466 Pa. 314, 353 A.2d 372 (1975), have indeed modified the McCutcken rule, rendering it not applicable in every case where the suspect is of tender age. In Veltre, the minor defendant was tried before a jury and found guilty of two counts of first degree murder, rape and assault with intent to kill. While in police custody immediately after his arrest, and in the presence of his probation officer, the defendant related the implicative incidents of the crime and admitted to having no remorse. A plurality opinion, written by Justice Larsen and joined by Justices Flaherty and Kauffman, identified the per se position taken by Roane and its progeny as one “designed to insure that constitutional protections would not be lost as a result of the innocence and inexperience of youth being taken advantage of by overbearing interrogation.” Commonwealth v. Veltre, su[254]*254pra, 492 Pa. at 242, 424 A.2d at 488. The three justices held, however, that the defendant was not the type of inexperienced and naive youth thought by the Roane court to be in particular need of adult supervision. Instead, the plurality considered his prior criminal activity, his prior detention in a juvenile detention center, his refusal to speak until his probation officer arrived,1 and his near average intellect. In analyzing these specific factors, the plurality deemed the waiver voluntary and the confession properly admitted.

Justices Roberts and O’Brien dissented. They recognized the continued vitality and applicability of the MeCutchen rule. Regardless of a minor suspect’s particular intelligence, experience and comprehension of constitutional rights, his incriminating statements are not admissible unless issued pursuant to the advice of an “informed interested adult.”

Justice Nix, in a separate dissent, agreed that the “interested adult” rule may not apply where the minor is particularly well versed in the constitutional rights of criminal suspects; nevertheless, he did not definitively so hold since he deemed the confession inadmissible under the more flexible “totality of the circumstances” test. Appellant maintains that insofar as Justice Nix dissented on application of the facts only and hinted an agreement with the plurality’s qualification of the

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Related

Commonwealth v. Pritchett
467 A.2d 364 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)
Commonwealth v. Paz
466 A.2d 613 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
459 A.2d 834, 313 Pa. Super. 250, 1983 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3046, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-paz-pasuperct-1983.