McAdams v. State

137 So. 3d 401, 2014 WL 768796, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 2516
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedFebruary 26, 2014
DocketNo. 2D11-3158
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 137 So. 3d 401 (McAdams v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McAdams v. State, 137 So. 3d 401, 2014 WL 768796, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 2516 (Fla. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinions

KELLY, Judge. '

Michael McAdams was convicted of murdering his wife, Lynda McAdams, and her coworker and boyfriend, Ryan Andrews. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. In this appeal of his judgment and sentences, Mr. McAdams challenges the trial court’s denial of a motion to suppress his confession and evidence obtained as a result of the confession. He also challenges the trial court’s denial of a motion to suppress evidence seized from his wife’s residence. We conclude that the trial court did not err in denying the motions to suppress Mr. McAdams’ confession and the evidence found in Lynda Mc-Adams’ home; however, we must reverse the judgment and sentences because the trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress certain evidence obtained after Mr. McAdams confessed.

Lynda McAdams and Ryan Andrews were reported missing by their families. During the course of the missing persons’ investigation, a detective searching for Lynda McAdams entered her Pasco County home, and based on his observations, detectives from major crimes became involved in the investigation. The detectives contacted Mr. McAdams at his parents’ home in Hernando County and obtained his written consent to search his wife’s residence. Although Mr. McAdams no longer lived at the Pasco County home, detectives presumably sought his consent because he still co-owned the home with Mrs. McAdams.

Mr. McAdams moved to suppress the evidence seized during the search of his wife’s residence. The trial court denied the motion finding that the initial entry was justified by exigent circumstances and that the subsequent search was done with Mr. McAdams’ consent. Because we find no error in either the trial court’s factual findings or in its application of the law, we affirm without further comment the denial of the motion to suppress the evidence seized from Mrs. McAdams’ residence.

After the search of Mrs. McAdams’ residence, Hernando County detectives visited Mr. McAdams at his home and asked him if he would be willing to meet with the Pasco County detectives who were investigating his wife’s disappearance. He agreed and accompanied them to the Her-nando County Sheriffs Office to meet with the detectives from Pasco County. The entire interview, which lasted approximately two and a half hours, was- videotaped. During this interview, Mr. Mc-Adams confessed to killing his wife and Mr. Andrews. At that point the detectives advised Mr. McAdams of his Miranda1 rights, which he waived. He then led detectives to where he had buried the bodies of Mrs. McAdams and Mr. Andrews. He also showed them where he had left Mr. Andrews’ car, and he took them to where he had disposed of the gun he had used in the murders.

Unbeknownst to Mr. McAdams, while he was being interviewed an attorney hired by his parents had arrived at the sheriffs office.. The attorney asked that the interview be terminated and that he be allowed to speak with Mr. McAdams. The detectives conducting the interview declined both requests and continued with the interview without telling Mr. McAdams about the attorney. It was not until after Mr. McAdams had taken the detectives to the place where he had buried the bodies of his victims that the detectives told him about the attorney.

Mr. McAdams moved to suppress his confession as well as the evidence collected after he confessed. He argued that [404]*404throughout the time he was at the sheriffs office he had been in custody and that his confession was obtained in violation of Miranda. He also argued that the detectives’ refusal to advise him of his attorney’s presence and desire to speak with him violated the due process provisions of article 1, section 9 of the Florida Constitution. The trial court denied the motion after concluding that Mr. McAdams was not in custody at the time he confessed and that the detectives’ delay in advising him about the attorney was not misconduct that would amount to a due process violation.

Under Miranda, statements made to the police during a “custodial interrogation” must be suppressed if the police have not informed the suspect of his constitutional rights before the interrogation. State v. Pitts, 936 So.2d 1111, 1123 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006). As we explained in Pitts,

[i]n determining “whether a suspect is ‘in custody’ for purposes of receiving of Miranda protection, the ultimate inquiry is simply whether there is a ‘formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement’ of the degree associated with a formal arrest.” Whether a suspect has been subjected to such a restraint on freedom of movement depends on “how a reasonable [person] in the suspect’s position would have understood his situation.”

Id. (second alteration in original) (citation omitted). “Miranda custody determinations present mixed questions of law and fact, under which the reviewing court defers to the competent factual determinations of the trial court but analyzes de novo the application of the law to those facts.” Rigterink v. State, 2 So.3d 221, 246 (Fla.2009), vacated on other grounds, 559 U.S. 965, 130 S.Ct. 1235, 176 L.Ed.2d 175 (2010). “In this context, precedent remains a persistent guide but often plays less of a role because each custody determination depends upon the highly unique facts of the given case.” Id.

The trial court’s order details the facts developed at the suppression hearing, and it analyzes those facts using the test adopted by the Florida Supreme Court in Ramirez v. State, 739 So.2d 568 (Fla.1999). In Ramirez, the court looked at four factors to determine

whether a reasonable person in the suspect’s position would consider himself in custody: (1) the manner in which the police summon the suspect for questioning; (2) the purpose, place, and manner of the interrogation; (3) the extent to which the suspect is confronted with evidence of his or her guilt; (4) whether the suspect is informed that he or she is free to leave the place of questioning.

Id. at 574. As we noted in Pitts, “the four-factor test must be understood as simply pointing to components in the totality of circumstances surrounding an interrogation.” 936 So.2d at 1124; see also Rigter-ink, 2 So.3d at 246 (explaining that with respect to the objective reasonable person framework for analyzing custody, the test in Ramirez is a “subsidiary four-part channeling paradigm to organize and analyze the case-specific facts that are relevant to determining whether a reasonable person would have felt that he or she was not at liberty to terminate the interrogation and leave”). Pitts explains:

No factor on the Ramirez list of factors can be considered in isolation. The whole context must be considered. A factor that would militate strongly toward the conclusion that a suspect was in custody in one context might be viewed differently in a materially different factual context. The focus of the inquiry must remain on whether a reasonable person in the suspect’s posi[405]*405tion — given all the relevant circumstances — -would have understood himself to be in custody.

936 So.2d at 1124. The trial court went through each of the Ramirez factors and made the following findings:

I did take multiple opportunities to go over a lot of the information provided to me prior to today’s hearing.

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Related

Reginald Greenwich v. State
207 So. 3d 258 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2016)

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Bluebook (online)
137 So. 3d 401, 2014 WL 768796, 2014 Fla. App. LEXIS 2516, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcadams-v-state-fladistctapp-2014.