Mesa v. State

673 So. 2d 51, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 2303, 1996 WL 106388
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 13, 1996
DocketNo. 94-1475
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 673 So. 2d 51 (Mesa 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
Mesa v. State, 673 So. 2d 51, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 2303, 1996 WL 106388 (Fla. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The defendant, Manuel Mesa, appeals from his convictions and sentences. We affirm.

In April 1993, Manuel Mesa, the defendant below, and two others, Roberto Tapia and Rolando Carado, were taken into custody by the Hialeah Police Department in connection with the robbery and murder of an elderly man. After being advised of his Miranda rights, the defendant invoked his right to counsel and requested an opportunity to speak with his attorney before answering any further questions. The defendant was placed in a holding cell. Meanwhile, the police contacted the defendant’s brother, a police informant, and advised him that the defendant had requested counsel. The informant was allowed to speak to the defendant, and shortly thereafter, the defendant confessed and gave a formal statement.1

About ten minutes later, while the defendant was being transported to a holding cell by the same detective who had taken his formal statement, the defendant asked to speak with his “partner,” Tapia. While the detective completed some paperwork, he allowed the defendant and Tapia to see each other. They sat at a table within earshot of the detective. Tapia told the defendant that he thought that he had “messed up.” The defendant replied, “Don’t worry about it. I helped out. I confessed. I said everything that I need to say and [the detective] is going to help us out, and we are going to get through this.” The defendant reassured Ta-pia by telling him that .the police were going to go after the “main guys” who committed the crimes and that the police would help [53]*53them if they cooperated completely by disclosing all the information they had regarding the crimes.

At the conclusion of the defendant’s conversation with Tapia and at the defendant’s urging, the detective reassured him that if he cooperated completely, he would help him. Then, the detective took the defendant downstairs for processing. While in the elevator, the defendant again asked for assurances that the police were going to get the “main guys.” The detective asked the defendant whether one of the “main guys” was present during the commission of the crimes, and the defendant confirmed that one of them had been there. Next, while the defendant was waiting to be processed, the detective told the defendant that he would have to give some more fingerprints and explained that had the defendant’s fingerprints not been on the victim’s phone, the police would never have made a case against him. The defendant responded by saying that he had been “stupid” to touch the telephone. The detective then asked him why he had touched the phone, and he answered that he had moved it while searching the apartment.2

Subsequently, the defendant, together with two co-defendants, Tapia and Carrido, were charged by a three-count indictment with first-degree murder, armed burglary of a dwelling, and armed robbery. In January 1994, Carrido entered a plea of guilty to reduced charges. On February 14th, the defendant’s joint trial with Tapia began, and shortly thereafter, a mistrial was declared. Four days later, Tapia entered a plea of guilty to the charges contained in the indictment and was sentenced to a lengthy term of imprisonment.

Before the defendant’s second trial began, he filed a motion to suppress the formal statement that he had given to the police after speaking with his brother, the informant. The motion alleged that the informant was working in concert with the police in an attempt to elicit a confession from the defendant and that such acts were in violation of his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment right against self-incrimination and right to counsel. At the hearing on this matter, the State conceded that the manner used to obtain the defendant’s confession was improper, and the trial court granted the motion to suppress.

Shortly thereafter, the defendant filed another motion to suppress certain statements. The motion alleged that the statements that the defendant had made to Tapia that were overheard by the detective, and that the statements that the defendant had made directly to the detective while he was being transported to processing were obtained in violation of his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment right to counsel. The trial court denied the defendant’s motion. The trial proceeded, and the defendant was found guilty as charged. This appeal follows.

The defendant raises several points on appeal. We find that only two merit discussion. First, the defendant contends that the trial court erred by denying his second motion to suppress. We disagree.

In order to properly address this issue, we must first examine the law that controls the denial of the first motion to suppress. In Jones v. State, 497 So.2d 1268 (Fla. 3d DCA 1986), review denied, 506 So.2d 1043 (Fla.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 823, 108 S.Ct. 87, 98 L.Ed.2d 48 (1987), this court reviewed the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and its progeny, Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 64 L.Ed.2d 297 (1980) and Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981). The Jones court explained as follows:

[T]he prohibition against compelled self-incrimination requires police to advise ar-restees of their rights to remain silent and to obtain or be furnished counsel.... [W]hen an accused indicates that he wishes to consult with counsel, interrogation must cease until an attorney is present.
... Recognizing that a defendant may choose to waive his rights and respond to [54]*54police interrogation, the [.Edwards ] Court established safeguards to insure that post-Miranda waivers are voluntary. The [Edwards ] Court provided that the state may not prove a waiver merely by introducing a defendant’s response to police-initiated interrogation; instead, the state must demonstrate that the defendant abandoned an earlier request for counsel and resumed or initiated communication with police of his own volition.

Jones, 497 So.2d at 1270 (citations omitted). The Jones court continued:

Miranda procedural safeguards apply to custodial interrogation whether it appears as direct questioning or in the form of its functional equivalent. The term “interrogation” under Miranda “refers not only to express questions, but also to any words or actions on the part of the police ... that the police should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from the suspect.”

Jones, 497 So.2d at 1270 (quoting Innis, 446 U.S. at 301, 100 S.Ct. at 1689-90) (citations omitted) (omission in original).

In the instant case, when the defendant invoked his right to counsel, interrogation should have ceased until an attorney was present. Miranda, 384 U.S. at 474, 86 S.Ct. at 1627-28; Jones, 497 So.2d at 1270.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. M.R.
100 So. 3d 272 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
673 So. 2d 51, 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 2303, 1996 WL 106388, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mesa-v-state-fladistctapp-1996.