People v. Hoffman

518 N.W.2d 817, 205 Mich. App. 1
Michigan Court of Appeals·Decided May 2, 1994·No. Docket 120228·Published·Cited by 50 cases

Opinion

Corrigan, J.

Following an initial police investigation in 1984 and an intensive police and grand jury investigation four years later, on November 3, 1988, the Ingham County grand juror indicted defendant and codefendant Luciano Lino 1 on one count of open murder in the February 25, 1984, stabbing death of Douglas Perry in Lansing. After a preliminary examination, both defendants were bound over for trial as charged. Defendant and codefendant Lino were then tried before separate juries *4 and convicted of second-degree murder in 1989, following a three-week trial.

I. ADMISSION OF GRAND JURY TESTIMONY

A. MIRANDA WARNINGS

Although defendant has raised eleven issues on appeal, only one is jurisprudentially significant. Defendant, a state prison inmate incarcerated on unrelated charges, contends that a target 2 who is subpoenaed to testify before a grand juror must be advised of Miranda warnings (Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436; 86 S Ct 1602; 16 L Ed 2d 694 [1966]) before he may be questioned. The subpoena to defendant recited various rights, including a right to appointed counsel. Before commencing questioning, the prosecutor gave defendant explicit Mi randa-style warnings, but never orally advised defendant that counsel would be appointed if defendant was indigent. Defendant orally acknowledged receipt of the written advice of rights and stated that he understood those rights.

It is undisputed that the prosecutor advised defendant before he testified:

Q. Mr. Hoffman, you have been served with a subpoena to be here today?
A. Yes sir, I have it right here.
Q. Do you have it with you? Here, do you want me to help you with that?
The Grand Juror: Just put it in front of him.
Q. Did you have an opportunity to read the bottom of that subpoena about your rights?
A. Yes, sir.
*5 Q. Do you understand your rights?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Would you like (sic) have an attorney with you here when you testify today?
A. Is that right?
Q. Yes, sir.
A. No, sir.
Q. You sure about that?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. If there comes a time when you feel you need an attorney, will you tell me that?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. I am going to ask you a series of questions about the Doug Perry murder. You are the focus.
A. I understand that.
Q. Of our investigation: you have the right to an attorney here with you?
A. Yes, sir, I know that.
Q. I would encourage you to have one, if you want one.
A. I have no involvement in this case. I don’t see where I need to have — and where I need — where I have need for an attorney.
Q. Well, anything that you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
A. I realize that.
Q. You have the right under the Fifth Amendment not to answer the questions that I will put to you.[ 3 ]
A. I know all of this.

Defendant then admitted certain facts, which the prosecutor sought to introduce against him in redacted form at trial. Defense counsel objected to the prosecutor’s failure to give defendant the Mi *6 randa warnings, specifically oral advice of the right to appointed counsel. Without deciding precisely which rights were implicated, the trial court found that defendant had been sufficiently apprised of his rights to allow admission of the statement.

Because defendant has advanced no argument in reliance on the Michigan constitution or statutes, we confine our analysis to what the United States Constitution dictates. Overlooking nearly three decades of case law interpreting Miranda, defendant relies only on Miranda v Arizona, supra, and Escobedo v Illinois, 378 US 478; 84 S Ct 1758; 12 L Ed 2d 977 (1964), for the duty to administer Miranda warnings in the grand jury. Defendant has not posed the more difficult question whether some form of constitutionally sufficient Miranda-type warnings is required. We conclude that the federal constitution does not require the administration of Miranda warnings, including the right of appointed counsel, before questioning of a target of a grand jury inquiry. Assuming in the alternative that some type of Miranda warnings is necessary, we conclude that the written and oral warnings, together with defendant’s oral acknowledgment that he understood his rights, sufficed to permit admission of defendant’s subsequent statements.

Miranda requires that before custodial interrogation, an individual must be apprised of (1) the right to remain silent, and (2) the accompanying explanation that anything said can and will be used against him in court, (3) the right to consult with an attorney and to have one present during interrogation, and (4) the right to appointed counsel before questioning, if he cannot afford counsel.

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People v. Hoffman, 518 N.W.2d 817, 205 Mich. App. 1 (Mich. Ct. App. 1994).

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