People v. McIntyre

2014 CO 39, 325 P.3d 583
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedMay 27, 2014
DocketSupreme Court Case No. 13SA235
StatusPublished
Cited by187 cases

This text of 2014 CO 39 (People v. McIntyre) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. McIntyre, 2014 CO 39, 325 P.3d 583 (Colo. 2014).

Opinion

JUSTICE BOATRIGHT

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

€ 1 In this interlocutory appeal pursuant to C.A.R. 4.1, the People seek review of the trial court's order suppressing inculpatory statements of the Defendant-Appellee, Jay Car-wile MelIntyre. The trial court found that Mcelntyre did not make the statements voluntarily. We hold that, when considering the totality of the cireumstances, the police did not improperly coerce Melntyre into making the statements but that he instead spoke voluntarily. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court's suppression order and remand the [585]*585matter to the trial court for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. Facts and Procedural History

12 In 2012, Meclntyre's niece, J.M., accused him of sexually assaulting her on two separate occasions in 2007, when she was 10 years old. Specifically, J.M. alleged that Mclntyre sat behind her while helping her with her homework and placed his hands on her stomach, then moved his hands up to her breasts and massaged her breasts through her clothing. J.M. further alleged that, some time later, Melntyre touched her posterior, ran his hand down between her legs, and rubbed her vagina over her clothes.

T3 After the police contacted him, Meln-tyre appeared for a scheduled interview with Detective Otto at the El Paso County Sheriff s Department. At the outset of the interview, Detective Otto read Melntyre Miranda warnings and informed him that he could stop answering her questions at any time; she then showed him that the door was unlocked. Detective Otto proceeded to speak with Mclntyre for roughly 44 minutes. Her tone was cordial throughout, and Melntyre appeared lucid and alert, He repeatedly stated that he was "flabbergasted" by J.M.'s allegations and that he remembered no such incidents. He specifically indicated that it was unlikely that he would have helped J.M. with her homework because he is dyslexic and reads at a fourth-grade level. He acknowledged, however, that he was using both marijuana and "speed" (methamphetamine) virtually every day at the time of the alleged misconduct and that the drugs could have damaged his memory. At the conclusion of the interview, Detective Otto asked if Meln-tyre would be willing to take a lie detector test,1 and Meclntyre agreed without hesitation.

{4 One week later, Melntyre returned to the sheriffs department to take the lie detector test, which was to be administered by Deputy Porter. Prior to administering the test, Deputy Porter spoke with Melntyre for roughly 25 minutes. As with Detective Otto, Deputy Porter's tone was conversational, and Mclntyre exhibited no signs of distress. Deputy Porter showed Melntyre that the door was unlocked, told him that he was free to leave at any time, and read him Miranda warnings. He also stated that "the results of the exam can't be used in court unless you want them to be." Melntyre then initialed and signed a consent form for the test.

5 Deputy Porter next told MelIntyre that before beginning the test, he wanted to consult with him in order to properly formulate the questions. To illustrate this process, he relayed an anecdote regarding a lie detector test that he had conducted with a college student accused of dealing drugs. When Deputy Porter asked the student, "Have you ever distributed narcotics?" the student said "no" and failed the test. Deputy Porter then spoke with the student, who admitted that he had bought marijuana and given it to his friends but asserted that he "never made a dime." Deputy Porter then rephrased the question to, "Have you ever distributed nar-coties for a profit?" and the student said "no" and passed. As a result of the revised question, the police did not prosecute the student because they determined that, although he used marijuana recreationally, he was not a "drug dealer" in the criminal sense.

T6 Turning to the particulars of Mclntyre's case, Deputy Porter emphasized the importance of crafting appropriate questions regarding Melntyre's alleged sexual miseon-duct. Deputy Porter first posed a hypothetical in which the police had accused a father of molesting his 18-month-old daughter. He explained that if he asked the father, "Have you ever touched your daughter's vagina?" he would likely be compelled to answer "yes," meaning a superior question would be, "Have you touched your daughter's vagina for sexual gratification?" Deputy Porter then asked Melntyre, "Is there any part of this exam that will show that you touched your niece's breasts or vagina for sexual gratification?" MelIntyre responded, "I do not believe so. I don't recall doing any of this." Melntyre again confirmed that he was [586]*586using marijuana and methamphetamine at the time.

17 Deputy Porter then said to MelIntyre, "Here's my concern. These exams are extremely expensive.... You're not gonna have to pay for that, unless, eventually if they determine that your niece is telling the truth, they'll come after you for all the legal fees and all that stuff." Shortly thereafter, Deputy Porter reiterated this concern, saying, "I don't want you to go down the rabbit hole of me turning this machine on, incurring the cost of what I charge this department for this exam."

8 Deputy Porter and Melntyre then discussed the goals of the sheriff's department in sexual assault cases. Deputy Porter stated, "In today's world ... when we have somebody ... especially if they were the victim of an addiction ... our goal is often rehabilitation." After confirming that Mecln-tyre had a spotless criminal background, Deputy Porter repeated, "Our goal isn't to destroy a life. Our goal isn't to ruin a life." Deputy Porter then qualified his legal authority over Melntyre's case, stating, "I can make no legal promises or anything like that, but I know Detective Otto.... She's a good person, and she's all about ... trying to get people the help they need."

19 Deputy Porter then asked Melntyre if he knew how the subconscious worked. Meclntyre answered, "Kind of, That's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking it might be subconscious. I might remember it." Deputy Porter suggested that Melntyre had suppressed his memory of the incidents, stating, "I think that you have a memory of something that you're embarrassed about, but it seems to me like you're the kind of person that would be willing to get some help." Melntyre responded, "That's what I want. If I did do it, I want some help."

10 Continuing in a cordial tone, Deputy Porter said, "This conversation's between us. I'm not the detective working your case." He then encouraged Melntyre to reveal what he remembered:

Before this [test] starts, tell me what you think you remember, 'cause I think you do. Don't bullshit me.... I honestly think that, with a guy like you with a clean record, I can give [Detective Otto] a call.... You'll walk out of here, I'll talk to [Detective Otto], you guys'll probably make another appointment, you can come in and sit down and talk with her.... But tell me what you think you remember, 'cause I can see in your eyes that there's some shit floating around there that you haven't told [Detective Otto], and you're seared.

Melntyre then confessed to the allegations in part, stating, "When I first came in, I didn't remember anything. And now that I've been dwelling on it ...

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2014 CO 39, 325 P.3d 583, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-mcintyre-colo-2014.