Harris v. State

678 P.2d 397, 1984 Alas. App. LEXIS 233
CourtCourt of Appeals of Alaska
DecidedFebruary 24, 1984
Docket6580
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 678 P.2d 397 (Harris v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Alaska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harris v. State, 678 P.2d 397, 1984 Alas. App. LEXIS 233 (Ala. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinions

[399]*399OPINION

Before BRYNER, C.J., COATS and SINGLETON, JJ.

COATS, Judge.

On the evening of December 11, 1980, Bob Mitchell, Malcolm Harris, and Richard Farmer drove to Clark Garvin’s home in Anchorage in order to buy cocaine. Since Garvin was not at home, Mitchell kicked in the door. Mitchell and Farmer returned to the car after a few minutes with about two pounds of marijuana, some cocaine, a set of scales, and $14,000 worth of traveler’s checks.

In order to cash the traveler’s checks, Harris obtained a birth certificate form which he completed in the name of Clark Garvin. He then obtained a State of Alaska identification card in the name of Clark Garvin. He forged Garvin’s name on the traveler’s checks. Mitchell and Harris then flew to Seattle, where Harris forged Gar-vin’s name to the checks. Mitchell and Harris cashed thousands of dollars worth of checks in Seattle. After returning to Anchorage, Harris’s brother cashed about $2,000 worth of the checks.

On November 4, 1981, a jury found Harris guilty of theft in the second degree and forgery in the second degree. Judge Ripley sentenced Harris to an aggregate term of eight years with five years suspended. Harris was also ordered to pay restitution in an amount not to exceed $7,000. Harris has appealed to this court raising several issues concerning his conviction and sentence. We affirm.

GRAND JURY COMPOSITION

Harris first contends that the grand jury which returned the indictment against him was improperly constituted and therefore the indictment should have been dismissed. Before trial, Harris’s counsel filed an affidavit in which he stated that he had been informed by court personnel that one grand juror resided 176 miles from the Anchorage courthouse and that two other grand jurors were from Palmer.1 Harris claims that at least one of the grand jurors and perhaps all three served in violation of Alaska Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(c)(1) which requires grand jurors to be “selected from the population within a fifty-mile radius of the place where the grand jury is convened....” We conclude that even if the three jurors were selected from beyond a fifty-mile radius of the Anchorage courthouse, this is not the sort of error which should lead to the dismissal of an indictment. There is no showing that there was any systematic exclusion of any class or group from the grand jury or that Harris was prejudiced in any conceivable way. Peterson v. State, 562 P.2d 1350, 1366 (Alaska 1977). See AS 9.20.040.

STATEMENTS

Harris next argues that the trial court erred in failing to suppress two inculpatory statements.

The Anchorage Statement

Harris was arrested in Anchorage on a fraud warrant and taken to the Anchorage police station where he was interviewed by Detective Starr Campbell of the Anchorage Police Department. Harris was interviewed for about one-half hour, but only the last seven minutes of the statement were recorded. Harris contends that he originally refused to talk to the police but that after the police made certain promises and threats he made an initial inculpatory statement. He claims that only then was he warned of his rights and made the tape recorded statement. Detective Campbell testified that before he asked Harris any questions, he read Harris his rights from a form and that Harris signed the form and acknowledged that he understood his rights. Detective Campbell testified that he told Harris he would inform the District Attorney of any cooperation. He also stated that he might have told Harris that the

[400]*400District Attorney would take Harris s cooperation “into consideration.” Detective Campbell also testified that he tells most of the suspects he interviews that those with no prior convictions usually get deferred prosecutions.

The Homer Interview

About one month after the Anchorage interview, Harris was arrested in Homer and was interviewed by Homer Police Chief Michael Daugherty. The arrest was on an unrelated misdemeanor charge. A major portion of this interview was videotaped. Harris claims that the statement which he made was the product of threats and coercion. Harris claims that he was threatened with a sexual assault charge and that Daugherty promised to help him if he confessed. The following are some critical statements which took place in the interview:

Q: (Daugherty) You have a problem with a felony sexual assault. That’s what it’s called.
A: (Harris) Am I being charged with it?
Q: (Daugherty) I don’t know if you’re going to be charged with it at this point or not. It’s got to be run by the D.A. There’s a good chance of it.
Q: Now, I’m willing to help you out, you know, I’ve been twenty-one myself, and just like I told you, I’m willing to help you out, but in order to do that you ’re going to have to come clean with me. You’re going to have to be square with me. You see, I’ve been in this business a long, long time, you know, you were in grade school when I first started in this business, so I’ve talked to lots of people, I’m very experienced at what I do, I know what I’m doing, you don’t, and right now you’re not telling me the truth.
A: About what?
Q: About the checks. The checks have been examined by experts — the traveler’s checks. ...
A: Uh-huh.
Q: [A]nd they have positively identified the signatures on those as your handwriting.
A: It’s not my handwriting.
Q: It has to be, the expert said it was yours. <y
A: I had signed a couple of those checks. I had signed a couple of those checks before they went into the bank, but Bob signed most of those checks.
Q: Well, how many did you sign? <©
A: I — I don’t even remember. Maybe a hundred of them. >
Q: You signed — you forged Clark Gar-vin’s name to a hundred of the checks is all? You’re sure that’s all? <3*
A: Yeah.
Q: Okay. How many did — did—did Bob Mitchell sign? ©*
A: The rest of them. My brother signed some of them when he cashed in on them.
Q: He also forged Garvin’s signature. <y
A: I don’t know — -I don’t know if my brother forged Clark Garvin’s signature. I think Bob had written them in and then put pay to the order. <1
Q: Scott, let me tell you something. It doesn’t make any difference if you signed one or a thousand, you know.

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Bluebook (online)
678 P.2d 397, 1984 Alas. App. LEXIS 233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harris-v-state-alaskactapp-1984.