Commonwealth v. Smith

71 Pa. D. & C.4th 311, 2004 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 110
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lackawanna County
DecidedOctober 7, 2004
Docketno. 97 CR 1101
StatusPublished

This text of 71 Pa. D. & C.4th 311 (Commonwealth v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lackawanna County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Smith, 71 Pa. D. & C.4th 311, 2004 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 110 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2004).

Opinion

MINORA, J,

I. INTRODUCTION

Currently before the court on a reversal and remand from the Superior Court of Pennsylvania is the issue of the voluntariness of defendant’s confession. On August 3, 2001, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania (no. 1357 MDA 2000) issued an order indicating that Miranda warnings were not applicable to the case at hand. However, the court further stated that:

[313]*313“This does not, however, end the analysis of whether appellee’s statement is admissible under Commonwealth v. Nester, [551 Pa. 157, 162,] 709 A.2d 879, 882 (1998). We must still examine the totality of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation to determine if his confession was voluntary. Because the trial court did not conduct this analysis and the record lacks sufficient information for our review, we remand to the suppression court for a determination of whether appellee voluntarily confessed.” (See Superior Court decision no. 1357 MDA 2000 at p. 5.)

Counsel for the parties met on April 5,2004, and agreed this issue could be decided on the evidentiary record and transcripts from the suppression hearings of September 20, 1999 and March 31, 2000.

The parties have submitted supplemental briefs and the remand directive is now ripe for disposition.1

II. SOLE ISSUE ON REMAND

A. Was the Confession of the Defendant Involuntary or Voluntary Such As To Require or Not Require Its Suppression?

III. DISCUSSION

A. The Standards for a Voluntary Confession

As indicated by the Superior Court, the controlling authority in determining whether a confession was vol[314]*314untary in the Child Protective Services setting such as this case is Commonwealth v. Nester, 551 Pa. 157, 709 A.2d 879 (1998).

As indicated in Nester, supra, when deciding a motion to suppress, the touchstone issue is whether the confession was voluntary. Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991); Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 81 S.Ct. 1860, 6 L.Ed.2d 1037 (1961).

Voluntariness is determined by the totality of the circumstances surrounding the confession. Fulminante, supra; Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973); Commonwealth v. Jones, 546 Pa. 161, 683 A.2d 1181 (1996).

The question of voluntariness is not whether the defendant would have confessed without interrogation, but whether the interrogation was so. manipulative or coercive that it deprived the defendant of his ability to make a free and unconstrained decision to confess. Miller v. Fenton, 796 F.2d 598 (3d Cir. 1986), cert. denied sub nom., Miller v. Neubert, 479 U.S. 989, 107 S.Ct. 585, 93 L.Ed.2d 587 (1986). The Commonwealth has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant confessed voluntarily. Commonwealth v. Watts, 319 Pa. Super. 179, 465 A.2d 1288 (1983), aff’d, 507 Pa. 193, 489 A.2d 747 (1985); Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 107 S.Ct. 515, 93 L.Ed.2d 473 (1986).

We must remember that the voluntariness standard derives from the right against self-incrimination guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the right to due process guaranteed by the [315]*315Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Minnesota v. Murphy, 465 U.S. 420, 104 S.Ct. 1136, 79 L.Ed.2d 409 (1984); Miller, supra.

As indicated by the Superior Court, their decision indicated that Miranda2 warnings were not required to be given the defendant Bruce Smith. (See page 4 of said decision filed at no. 1357 MDA 2000.)

However, although he was not in “custody” by a government official, the employees of the La Sa Quick facility where the defendant was situated had an obligation to report child abuse to law enforcement personnel. 23 Pa.C.S. §6311; 23 Pa.C.S. §6313; 55 Pa. Code §3490.55.

Therefore, we are directed and must still examine the totality of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation to determine if the confession was voluntary because even a non-custodial interrogation might possibly, in some situations, by virtue of some special circumstances, result in an involuntary confession. Beckwith v. United States, 425 U.S. 341, 347-48, 96 S.Ct. 1612, 1616-17, 48 L.Ed.2d 1 (1976).

Ultimately, when assessing voluntariness pursuant to the totality of the circumstances, a court should look at the following factors:

(1) the duration and means of the interrogation;

(2) the physical and psychological state of the accused;

(3) the conditions attendant to the detention;

(4) the attitude of the interrogation; and

[316]*316(5) any and all other factors that could drain a person’s ability to withstand suggestion and coercion. See Commonwealth v. Jones, supra; Commonwealth v. Nester, 551 Pa. 157, 162, 704 A.2d 879, 882 (1998); Commonwealth v. DeJesus, 567 Pa. 415, 430, 787 A.2d 394, 403 (2001); Commonwealth v. Paxton, 821 A.2d 594 (Pa. Super. 2003).

B. Analysis of the Nester Factors

By way of further background and keeping in mind the relevant time line regarding the incriminating statements at issue, the defendant was confined by court order for unrelated charges at the La Sa Quick facility for juveniles charged with sexual offenses. The first interview was conducted by Kenneth Dady, a La Sa Quick family therapist on March 15, 1997. This interview resulted from a call placed by the defendant’s mother (an interested adult normally contemplated as protecting the juveniles’ interest) informing La Sa Quick that the defendant has sexually abused his stepsister. During this interview, the defendant made the first of his incriminating statements. Mr.

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Related

Culombe v. Connecticut
367 U.S. 568 (Supreme Court, 1961)
Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Schneckloth v. Bustamonte
412 U.S. 218 (Supreme Court, 1973)
Beckwith v. United States
425 U.S. 341 (Supreme Court, 1976)
Minnesota v. Murphy
465 U.S. 420 (Supreme Court, 1984)
Colorado v. Connelly
479 U.S. 157 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Arizona v. Fulminante
499 U.S. 279 (Supreme Court, 1991)
Commonwealth v. Watts
465 A.2d 1288 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1984)
Ludington v. LaFreniere
1998 ME 17 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1998)
Commonwealth v. Jones
683 A.2d 1181 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1996)
Commonwealth v. Nester
709 A.2d 879 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
Commonwealth v. DeJesus
787 A.2d 394 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2001)
In the Interest of C.L.
714 A.2d 1074 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1998)
Commonwealth v. Paxton
821 A.2d 594 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2003)
Commonwealth v. Carter
855 A.2d 885 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2004)
Commonwealth v. Watts
489 A.2d 747 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1985)
Miller v. Neubert
479 U.S. 989 (Supreme Court, 1986)

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71 Pa. D. & C.4th 311, 2004 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 110, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-smith-pactcompllackaw-2004.