Davis v. State

468 A.2d 698, 56 Md. App. 694, 1983 Md. App. LEXIS 413
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedDecember 16, 1983
DocketNo. 293
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 468 A.2d 698 (Davis v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. State, 468 A.2d 698, 56 Md. App. 694, 1983 Md. App. LEXIS 413 (Md. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

MOYLAN, Judge.

The appellant, Dallas Henry Davis, Jr., was convicted by a Montgomery County jury, presided over by Judge William M. Cave, of armed robbery and related offenses. Upon this appeal, he raises one contention going to the merits of his convictions:

(1) That an incriminating statement was erroneously admitted in evidence.

He also raises two contentions challenging the imposition of an enhanced sentence as a fourth offender under Art. 27, § 643B(b):

(2) That he did not receive adequate notice that the State intended to proceed against him as a fourth offender; and
(3) That the evidence was not legally sufficient in several respects to sustain the finding that he was indeed a fourth offender.

The Admissibility of the Statement

The appellant gave an incriminating statement to the Montgomery County police. He does not claim that he was not given his fair warnings under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), or that his treatment was improper in any other respect, so as to make that statement itself directly involuntary. He seeks to establish rather a tenuous chain of cause and effect tracing back to his earlier arrest for a Charles County robbery by the State Police and his subsequent questioning at the hands of Prince George’s County police. Our holding that the incriminating statement to the Montgomery County authorities was properly admitted into evidence is, in the last analysis, the product of a practical and common-sense overview. We decline to follow the appellant through every [698]*698labyrinthine corridor of strained logic and hypertechnical argument. Some brief background is necessary.

The appellant “pulled” an armed robbery in Charles County during the early morning hours of January 26, 1982. He was observed in the getaway car moving from Charles County into Prince George’s County. He was ultimately caught after a' chase by the Maryland State Police. He abandoned the car in Prince George’s County and fled on foot for about ten minutes before being apprehended by the State Police. He was taken to the Maryland State Police barracks in Forrestville for processing. Before being returned to the Sheriff’s Department for Charles County, he was taken to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Robbery Division, in Prince George’s County. He was there questioned by a Sergeant Krouse of Prince George’s County with respect to any robberies which he had perpetrated in Prince George’s County. He gave a statement concerning a robbery in Prince George’s County. According to the appellant’s testimony, the following exchange occurred right after the appellant gave that statement relating to the specific Prince George’s County crime:

“He asked me something about Charles County and everything, he said, ‘Well, we know we’ve got you for that already, so it’s best for you to come clean on the rest of them, you know, just clear the books, and it might come easier for you in the long run.’
Q: And did you make a statement about a Montgomery County robbery?
A: I thought about it, and at the time he said, ‘Well, if you remember anything about something happening in Frederick, Anne Arundel, all the counties in the State of Maryland, it’d be helpful for you in the long run, why don’t you clear their books, too?’
So, I got to thinking about Rockville and I’m trying to remember did I commit a crime there, and I think I did make a statement, something about Montgomery County.”

[699]*699Taking off from that exchange, the appellant moves on to Hillard v. State, 286 Md. 145, 406 A.2d 415 (1979), and its holding that a statement will be deemed involuntary if “an accused is told, or it is implied, that making an inculpatory statement will be to his advantage.” Id. at 286 Md. 153, 406 A.2d 415. Although the appellant himself was the only source for his version of the interrogation session, he relies upon Streams v. State, 238 Md. 278, 208 A.2d 614 (1965), for the proposition that his testimony as to this inducement must be accepted as true if the State fails to rebut it specifically.

In terms of direct cause and effect, the issue as to this vague and ambiguous conversation is moot. Without laboring unduly over whether some general bromide to the effect that “it’s best for you to come clean on the rest of them, you know, just clear the books, and it might come easier for you in the long run” about possible happenings “in Frederick, Anne Arundel, all the counties in the State of Maryland” was the effective operative cause for some statement dealing with “something about Montgomery County,” it is enough for us to note that no such statement (if, indeed, one was ever made and whatever it dealt with) was ever offered in evidence in the Montgomery County armed robbery trial.

The appellant, however, pushes his strained syllogism one step further and urges upon us the holding of Edwards v. State, 194 Md. 387, 71 A.2d 487 (1950), to the effect that “[wjhere one confession is held to be involuntary and inadmissible a presumption exists that any subsequent confession was made by reason of the prior influence.” Id. at 194 Md. 400, 71 A.2d 487. The appellant is not arguing, therefore, that anything done by Sergeant Krouse in Prince George’s County directly contaminated the Montgomery County statement now in issue. He is arguing rather the two-step process generally referred to as “the fruit of the poisoned tree” doctrine. He urges upon us that the later Montgomery County statement is derivative evidence, an exploitation of the earlier and primary illegality.

[700]*700When dealing with a “fruit of the poisoned tree” argument, however, the burden of establishing the primary taint is upon the defendant. United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967); Smith and Samuels v. State, 6 Md.App. 59, 250 A.2d 285 (1969). The State is not required to come forth and show 1) attenuation, 2) independent source, or 3) inevitable discovery, unless and until the defendant has established to the satisfaction of the court the primary taint. We hold that he has not done so in this case.

The primary taint the appellant sought to establish was an improperly induced confession to the Montgomery County armed robbery now under review. The effect that would follow from that cause, if established, would be the futility of subsequently denying a crime that had once been admitted. The appellant, however, has failed to establish not that some general inducement to say something ever occurred but that an improperly induced confession to this specific armed robbery ever occurred. This, of course, is what distinguishes this case from Edwards v. State, supra. In Edwards,

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Related

Creighton v. State
520 A.2d 382 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1987)
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499 A.2d 503 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1985)

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Bluebook (online)
468 A.2d 698, 56 Md. App. 694, 1983 Md. App. LEXIS 413, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-state-mdctspecapp-1983.