Ex Parte Gospodareck

666 So. 2d 844, 1995 WL 372050
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedJune 23, 1995
Docket1921341
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 666 So. 2d 844 (Ex Parte Gospodareck) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex Parte Gospodareck, 666 So. 2d 844, 1995 WL 372050 (Ala. 1995).

Opinion

666 So.2d 844 (1995)

Ex parte Robert Paul GOSPODARECK.
(Re Robert Paul Gospodareck v. State of Alabama).

1921341.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

June 23, 1995.
Rehearing Denied July 28, 1995.

*845 William M. Dawson and Gayle H. Gear, Birmingham, for Petitioner.

Jeff Sessions, Atty. Gen., and Beth Slate Poe, Asst. Atty. Gen., for Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

We granted Robert Paul Gospodareck's petition for a writ of certiorari to review his contention that the trial court erred in denying his pre-trial motion to suppress his statement. He argues that the events surrounding his arrest invalidated his waiver of his right to remain silent and his right to counsel. See Gospodareck v. State, 666 So.2d 835 (Ala.Crim.App.1993), for a full statement of the facts.

Gospodareck was a former police officer and, at the time of his arrest, was a deputy sheriff. Gospodareck was read his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and he stated that he understood those rights. At no time did Gospodareck request to see or talk with a lawyer. At no time did Gospodareck request to make a telephone call. In Miranda, the United States Supreme Court recognized that custodial interrogations, by their very nature, place pressure upon an accused to speak where he might not otherwise do so. Because of this, Miranda requires law enforcement personnel to inform an accused, before questioning, that they intend to use any statement that he makes to obtain a conviction, that he has a right to remain silent, and that he has a right to consult a lawyer, if he so desires. 384 U.S. at 468-70, 86 S.Ct. at 1624-25. "If the individual indicates in any manner, at any time prior to or during questioning that he wishes to remain silent, [or if he] states that he wants an attorney, the interrogation must cease." 384 U.S. at 473-74, 86 S.Ct. at 1626-27. An accused can waive the right to remain silent or to consult with an attorney, provided that the waiver is knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made. 384 U.S. at 444, 86 S.Ct. at 1612. The test to determine whether a waiver was voluntary is the totality of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation, which includes the characteristics of the accused, the conditions of the interrogation, and the conduct of the law enforcement officials. The inquiry as to whether the waiver was knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made has two distinct dimensions:

"First, the relinquishment of the right must have been voluntary in the sense that it was the product of a free and deliberate choice rather than intimidation, coercion, or deception. Second, the waiver must have been made with a full awareness of both the nature of the right being abandoned and the consequences of the decision to abandon it. Only if the `totality of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation' reveal both an uncoerced choice and the requisite level of comprehension may a court properly conclude that the Miranda rights have been waived."

Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 421, 106 S.Ct. 1135, 1140, 89 L.Ed.2d 410 (1986).

Based on the above standard, we conclude that Gospodareck validly waived his right to remain silent and his right to the presence of counsel. Therefore, the voluntariness of Gospodareck's waiver is not at issue. Gospodareck comprehended the full panoply of rights set out in the Miranda warnings and the possible consequences of a decision to relinquish those rights. We agree with the following statement of the majority in Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. at 422, 106 S.Ct. at 1141:

"Events occurring outside of the presence of the suspect and entirely unknown to him surely can have no bearing on the capacity to comprehend and knowingly relinquish a constitutional right."

Thus, we follow the lead of the United States Supreme Court in interpreting the reach of that Court's Miranda rule:

"We are unwilling to modify Miranda in a manner that would so clearly undermine the decision's central `virtue of informing police and prosecutors with specificity ... what they may do in conducting [a] custodial interrogation, and of informing courts under what circumstances statements obtained *846 during such interrogation are not admissible.' Fare v. Michael C., [442 U.S. 707, 718, 99 S.Ct. 2560, 2568, 61 L.Ed.2d 197 (1979)]."

Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. at 426, 106 S.Ct. at 1143.

For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals, which held that the events surrounding Gospodareck's arrest did not invalidate his waiver of his right to remain silent and his right to counsel.

AFFIRMED.

MADDOX, ALMON, HOUSTON, INGRAM, and BUTTS, JJ., concur.

COOK, J., dissents.

COOK, Justice (dissenting).

I respectfully dissent. In affirming, the majority gives countenance to egregious behavior by law enforcement officials that violates the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Gospodareck was arrested on February 9, 1991, at 7:00 a.m., for the murder of Jerry Callahan. He was taken from his home to the Hoover jail after being informed of his rights. Gospodareck v. State, 666 So.2d 835, 839 (Ala.Crim.App.1993). By 9:00 a.m., Gail Gospodareck, the defendant's wife, who claims that she was not told that he would be taken to the Hoover jail, began making telephone calls in an attempt to locate her husband. Mrs. Gospodareck claims that her telephone calls to the jail were not returned by jail officials and that she was unable to ascertain his whereabouts.

In its opinion, the Court of Criminal Appeals stated:

"It is clear from the testimony and from the transcripts of the telephone records of the jail, that jail personnel were under the impression that they were not to disclose that the appellant was being held. The appellant's wife testified in the suppression hearing that she first contacted the jail around 9:00 a.m. She testified that she telephoned the jail several times and left messages but that none of her telephone calls were returned. She testified that during the course of some of these calls, she inquired of the person who answered the telephone about the appellant's whereabouts and specifically asked if he was in the jail. The person that spoke with her told her that he could not provide that information and that she would have to speak with one of the investigating officers. She went to the jail around 1:00 p.m., but she was not allowed to see the appellant. She said that at that time the police finally acknowledged that the appellant was being held but that they would not allow her to see him. At one point, she was informed that the appellant was not allowed any phone calls or visitors. She then contacted Gayle Gear, an attorney.
"Gear testified that she telephoned the Hoover jail and asked if the appellant was being held there. The person she spoke with told her that he did not have the authority to disclose that because he said he had to determine if he could tell her whether the appellant was being held there. When she telephoned again, this person explained that he had not been able to determine whether he could release that information. Gear informed Richard Storm, an attorney in her office, of the situation.

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