McClinnahan v. United States

454 A.2d 1340, 1982 D.C. App. LEXIS 517
District of Columbia Court of Appeals·Decided December 30, 1982·No. 81-709·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinions

KERN, Associate Judge:

The trial court sitting without a jury found appellant guilty of felony murder while armed, of premeditated murder while armed, and of other related offenses arising out of his fatally stabbing the victim during an attempted robbery in her apartment at 1401 Fairmont St., N.W.1

The prosecution evidence consisted of an identification on the scene minutes after the crime by an eyewitness who was visiting the decedent in her apartment at the time appellant entered it and demanded money; an observation of appellant running from the apartment building by one of the police officers responding to the scene at the call of the eyewitness (who had managed to escape from the apartment of the deceased prior to the murder); the fact that the blood on appellant’s clothing at the time of his arrest matched the blood of the murdered victim; and, a confession by appellant a few hours after his arrest during which time he first had confessed to murdering two other women one year earlier in a double homicide unrelated to the instant case.

Appellant’s primary contention on appeal is that his confession to this murder was improperly admitted at trial. He argues this is so because — prior to making his confession — he had invoked his Miranda2 right to remain silent and the police had thereafter failed to honor that right in violation of Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U.S. 96, 96 S.Ct. 321, 46 L.Ed.2d 313 (1975). Thus, he urges that the confession was the product of coercive in-station interrogation proscribed by the Supreme Court in Miranda.

I.

A determination of appellant’s contention necessarily rests upon the post-arrest facts in the instant case. The record reflects that appellant was captured in the early afternoon of a November day in 1979, after a brief chase, running from the victim’s apartment building and was returned by police to the scene for a so-called “show-up” before the surviving eyewitness. She identified him as the man who had entered the victim’s apartment and demanded money [1342]*1342from the two of them — both elderly women. Appellant was advised of his Miranda rights and transported to the office of the Homicide Squad at police headquarters. Some 45 minutes had elapsed between his apprehension and his arrival at the station. (Record at 31, 35.) The arresting officer, who had read the Miranda warnings in full to appellant, reported to the Homicide Squad the fact of his silence, viz., that: “He [appellant] would not say anything, not even his name.”

One Homicide detective knew appellant’s name as a result of interviewing appellant in the course of an investigation one year earlier. Detective Warren Donald of the Homicide Squad had then considered appellant McClinnahan the prime suspect in the murders of Helen Lyons and Balese Bur-sette on September 22, 1978. (Record at 62.) Appellant, in October 1978, came to police headquarters, was advised of his rights and gave an exculpatory statement to Detective Donald concerning the September 1978 double homicide. (Record at 78.) For reasons not clear in this record appellant was not arrested for those murders, but Detective Donald stated to appellant then that he “was pretty sure” that appellant had committed them. Appellant, before leaving police headquarters, laughed and told the detective that he had “been around a long time” and had learned two things: “[F]irst, if you’re going to do something, do it alone. And second, don’t tell no one you did it, not even your mother.” Detective Donald told appellant: “I will be seeing you”, as appellant left. (Record at 80.)

Detective Donald was hence able to identify appellant on the day of his arrest in November 1979. Appellant was left alone in the so-called interview room until Detective Charles Shuler arrived from the scene of the homicide at 2:30 p.m. He advised appellant of his Miranda rights and he, too, was met with silence on the part of appellant. Specifically, the detective testified at the hearing on the motion to suppress (Record at 131) that appellant “for a good period of time, gave no reaction whatsoever. He just sat there and looked directly ahead. His eyes wide open staring straight ahead. And after a period of time, my trying to get his attention, asking him if he understood his rights, he turned very slowly to me, looked directly at me, said very clearly that he knew what his rights were and that he understood them.”

The following colloquy occurred in the transcript of the direct examination of the detective at the suppression hearing (Record at 131-32):

Q. Sir, what happened after he looked at you at that point?
A. Well, I observed his clothing and the blood on his hands and left the room and called for a mobile crime technician and—
Q. Do you know approximately what time that you called for the mobile crime technician?
A. Approximately 30 minutes after I entered the room, I guess.
Q. And do you know what happened to Mr. McClinnahan, what time did the mobile crime lab technician arrive? How long did it take him to get there?
A. He arrived about 30 minutes after I called him. During that time period Mr. McClinnahan just sat in the room with the door closed, alone.
Q. What were you doing during that time?
A. I was talking with the other witnesses in the case and overseeing generally the investigation that was proceeding.

The detective testified (Record at 133) that it took “45 minutes to an hour” for the “mobile crime lab ... man” to complete his procedures. Then, he returned to the interview room “and talked with Mr. McClinna-han .... I talked with him for about 45 minutes and he stared directly ahead during the entire period and said nothing.” At no time, according to the witness, did appellant ever say or otherwise indicate that he did not want to answer questions or that he did want an attorney. (Record at 133-34.) Detective Shuler testified that he “was mainly outlining the case that we had against him, trying to show him it was a very strong case.” When asked if appellant ever ques[1343]*1343tioned him about anything, the detective replied (Record at 134): “He never said anything, sir, except that he understood his rights in the beginning.” On cross-examination, Detective Shuler reviewed again the sequence of events and admitted that after 45 minutes of silence by appellant he “abandoned” his attempts and asked Detective Donald to go in and speak to him. (Record at 137.)3

Detective Donald, when he entered the room at 5 p.m., had been told (Record at 81) that appellant understood his rights “but he just stared as if no one was talking to him.” What then transpired is reflected in the transcript of Detective Donald’s testimony at the suppression hearing (Record at 63) as follows:

Q. What happened then?

A. I told Mr. McClinnahan that he would not beat the ease, that it was a strong case against him and that I was not going to try to sit back there and try to trick him into talking because I knew he was a smart man and I would be wasting my time if I attempted to trick him.

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McClinnahan v. United States, 454 A.2d 1340, 1982 D.C. App. LEXIS 517 (D.C. 1982).

454 A.2d 1340 (McClinnahan v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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McClinnahan v. United States
454 A.2d 1340 (District of Columbia Court of Appeals, 1982)