People v. Hart

47 V.I. 407, 2006 V.I. LEXIS 6
CourtSuperior Court of The Virgin Islands
DecidedMay 10, 2006
DocketCriminal No. F286/2005
StatusPublished

This text of 47 V.I. 407 (People v. Hart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of The Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Hart, 47 V.I. 407, 2006 V.I. LEXIS 6 (visuper 2006).

Opinion

SWAN, Judge

MEMORANDUM OPINION

(May 10, 2006)

Before the Court is Defendant’s joint motion to suppress physical evidence, to suppress Defendant’s statements made to the police during interrogation and to suppress the pretrial identification of Defendant. For the reasons enumerated below, Defendant’s joint motion to suppress is DENIED.

[409]*409FACTS

Defendant is charged in a nineteen count information with several crimes, including two counts of first degree murder, two counts of felony murder, and four counts of first degree assault.

Essentially, from the paucity of information elicited from testimony and from documents presented at the suppression hearing, the operative facts are that the victims, Leon Roberts and Trustan Charlier, (“Decedents”) two residents of New York, were on St. Thomas to attend a wedding. On the night of June 15th, 2005, both individuals were returning to their rooms at the Windward Passage Hotel (Holiday Inn) located on Veterans Drive. On the route to the Hotel, the Decedents arrived at a bus stop on Veterans Drive, which is located across the street from the Arturo Watlington Post Office at the entrance of Frenchtown. At that juncture, they encountered the Defendant and his younger brother, A.H., a minor. A dialogue ensued between the party of the Decedents and the party of Defendant and his brother. Defendant and his brother demanded money from the Decedents. When the Decedents refused to surrender their money, both were immediately shot and died the same night. The People (“Government”) asserts [sic] that Defendant and his brother are the persons who discharged the firearms, which caused the Decedents’ demise.

Approximately two weeks later, Defendant was taken into custody by the police and transported to the police station. While at the police station, Defendant was advised of his Constitutional Rights. He signed a July 1st, 2005 “warning as to rights” form, which is a waiver of his Fifth Amendment Right. Thereafter, Defendant proceeded to give a written statement to police concerning his whereabouts between the night of June 14th, 2005 and the early morning hours of June 15th, 2005. It is this written statement that Defendant seeks to suppress.

The Government asserts that it has an eyewitness to the killing, who had an unobstructed view of the entire shooting incident from its inception to the time of Defendant’s hurried departure from the crime scene. The witness, however, is alleged to be a homeless person and a professed drug addict.

The same eyewitness asserts that he knows the Defendant, because he had previously purchased drugs from Defendant. Additionally, the eyewitness stated that he saw Defendant earlier on the night of the [410]*410shooting in Simmonds Alley, an area of lower Kronprindsens Gade, notoriously known as a place where drugs are sold. The eyewitness also stated that he saw Defendant and his brother in the general area of Frenchtown immediately prior to the shooting. The eyewitness further asserts that he is very certain of Defendant’s identity, having previously seen Defendant at a local bar establishment commonly known as the “Fireman’s Bar.”

The same eyewitness stated to police what either Defendant or his brother said to the Decedents as they approached the Decedents, and what either Defendant or his brother said to the Decedents while simultaneously demanding the Decedents’ money. The eyewitness also described how Defendant had an altercation with one of the Decedents and further detailed how the Decedents were shot. The Defendant likewise seeks to suppress the eyewitness’s pretrial identification of him, as one of the Decedents’ assailants.

DISCUSSION

No physical evidence was retrieved from Defendant’s person or possession. Therefore, there is no evidence to suppress. Two issues remain. First, whether prior to being interrogated by police, Defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily signed a written waiver, waiving his Fifth Amendment Constitutional Right. Second, whether the government’s eyewitness made a non-suggestive and reliable out of court identification of Defendant.

After Defendant was taken to the police station, he was tendered a “warning as to rights” form, which he read and signed. A police officer asked Defendant if he understood what he read, and Defendant answered in the affirmative. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 26 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966) requires that before questioning a suspect in custody, law enforcement officials must inform the suspect of the Miranda warnings. The Miranda Warnings encompass the suspect’s right to remain silent, his right to consult with a lawyer prior to making a statement, and if the suspect cannot afford to retain a lawyer, that one will be appointed to represent him at no cost to the suspect. The suspect must also be informed that he has a right to have his lawyer present during questioning and when he makes a statement and that anything he says can subsequently be used against him in court. Interestingly, the Miranda warnings are only required when a suspect is both in custody [411]*411and subjected to state interrogation. Illinois v. Perkins, 496 U.S. 292, 297, 110 S. Ct. 2394, 110 L. Ed. 2d 243 (1990). By custody is meant the deprivation of “freedom of action in any significant way.” 384 U.S. at 444. Custody means formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement of the degree associated with formal arrest. California v. Beheler, 463 U.S. 1121, 1125, 103 S. Ct. 3517, 77 L. Ed. 2d 1275 (1983).

In determining whether an individual is in custody for purposes of the Miranda Warnings, the ultimate inquiry is whether there is a formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement of the degree associated with a formal arrest. Reinert v. Larkins, 379 F.3d 76, 86 (3d Cir. 2004). See also United States v. Czichray, 378 F.3d 822, 826 (8th Cir. 2004). Once a formal arrest occurred and the police endeavored to interrogate or question the Defendant concerning the crimes in this case, his right to receive the Miranda Warnings vested. United States v. Ali, 68 F.3d 1468, 1472 (2d Cir. 1995), United States v. Teemer, 394 F.3d 59, 66 (1st Cir. 2005), cert. denied 125 S. Ct. 1964 (2005).

Additionally, the Fifth Amendment right to counsel can only be invoked while a suspect is in custody. Similarily, in United States v. LaGrone, 43 F.3d 332 (7th Cir. 1994), the Court opined that Defendants cannot invoke their Miranda rights outside the context of custodial interrogation.

The Court finds that Defendant was in custody while he was at the police station. Defendant did not voluntarily enter the police station. To the contrary, after being arrested, Defendant was escorted by police officers to a police vehicle and transported to the police station. Certainly, Defendant was not voluntarily in the police vehicle. While in the police vehicle, the police officers exercised total dominion and control over him.

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Bluebook (online)
47 V.I. 407, 2006 V.I. LEXIS 6, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-hart-visuper-2006.