People v. Smith

716 P.2d 1115, 1986 Colo. LEXIS 543
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedApril 21, 1986
DocketNo. 85SA225
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 716 P.2d 1115 (People v. Smith) 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. Smith, 716 P.2d 1115, 1986 Colo. LEXIS 543 (Colo. 1986).

Opinions

ERICKSON, Justice.

The defendant, Sheila Marie Smith, was charged with first-degree murder, section 18-3-102(1)(a), 8 C.R.S. (1978), and a crime of violence, section 16-11-309, 8 C.R.S. (1985 Supp.). The information alleged that the defendant murdered Kermit Neil (Joey) Reasoner with a knife on or before September 23, 1984 at a bar in Arvada, Colorado. This interlocutory appeal by the prosecution followed the entry of an order suppressing two statements made by the defendant after her arrest. We reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.

The issue on appeal is whether the statements made by the defendant in this case were voluntary based upon an examination of the record and the totality of the circumstances. People v. Raffaelli, 647 P.2d 230 (Colo.1982). There is no question that the defendant was properly advised of her rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). The sole question relates to the voluntariness of the two statements that the defendant made while she was in custody. We are bound by the trial court’s factual findings if those findings are supported by adequate evidence in the record. People v. Freeman, 668 P.2d 1371 (Colo.1983). In this case, contrary to the trial court’s findings, the evidence is sufficient to support a finding that the two statements in issue were voluntarily made by the defendant.

Shortly before midnight on September 22,1984, the Arvada police were dispatched to the Arvada Tavern Bar in response to a report of a stabbing. It is undisputed that the defendant and Joey Reasoner (victim) had argued earlier in the evening, and that the defendant had been threatened by the victim with a broken beer bottle. The defendant, in response, took a knife from her purse and held it in her hand while she was at the bar. Soon thereafter the defendant left the bar, followed by the victim. Eyewitness testimony established that the defendant stabbed the victim as he exited the bar, and that he fell back through the door into the bar bleeding profusely. He subse[1117]*1117quently died due to massive loss of blood resulting from two stab wounds in the heart.

The first police officer to arrive at the bar observed the defendant leaving the scene in her car. When a bar patron advised the officer that the defendant was the assailant, the officer gave chase and stopped the defendant a short distance from the bar. The knife used by the defendant in the attack was found on the floor of her car. The officer placed the defendant under arrest and advised her of her Miranda rights. She was then taken to the Arvada Police Department. At the police station, the officer removed her handcuffs and placed her in a holding cell. While in the cell, the defendant expressed both sorrow and anger but made no statement to the arresting officer. Detective James Yanderohe talked to the defendant shortly after 1:00 a.m. During this conversation, the defendant stated: “I just had to do it. He’s been bothering me so much. I'm going to jail, ain’t I.” The detective replied that she was in jail and that he would talk to her after she was photographed and booked.

Approximately twenty minutes later, the defendant was taken to an interview room where she asked about the condition of the victim. Detective Vanderohe responded that he had received word that the victim had “expired at the hospital.” The detective testified that the defendant became upset and said: “Oh, Joey, I didn’t want to hurt him. He just kept — he pulled the knife on me and I took it away and I stabbed him. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I just [blank] him to stay away from me.” At that point the detective attempted to advise the defendant of her Miranda rights and to obtain a written waiver, but the defendant became defiant. The interview ended when the defendant said that she was not going to sign anything.

The defendant was then taken downstairs to obtain additional information relating to her booking and was again defiant and uncooperative. She asked to make a telephone call to her husband, and Detective Yanderohe took the defendant to the patrol sergeant’s room. He then dialed the number that she had given him and handed her the telephone. The detective remained in the room during the defendant’s conversation with her husband, which occurred at approximately 2:55 a.m. The detective heard the defendant say: “I killed somebody, killed Joey, stabbed him. He pulled a knife and I fought back. He tried to hit me again. He pulled a knife and I took it away from him and stuck it into him.” Detective Vanderohe testified that he remained in the room with the defendant while she was talking to her husband because she was a suspect in custody and because of security concerns relating to possible weapons in the room.

II.

The trial court found that the statement made by the defendant in the interview room was precipitated by the defendant’s inquiry about the victim, and that the defendant was emotionally upset at the time she made the statement. According to the trial judge, the effect on “the normal person” of learning that the victim had died would be so traumatic as to overbear the person’s will. The defendant’s emotional trauma, coupled with her earlier and later refusal to make a formal statement, led the trial court to conclude that the statement was involuntary. The court ruled that the statement would not be admissible in the prosecution’s case-in-chief but reserved judgment on the use of the statement for rebuttal purposes.

Regarding the telephone statement, the trial court found that Detective Vanderohe, after handing the defendant the telephone, remained in the room taking notes at a distance no further than six feet from the defendant. The court found that the defendant spoke in a normal voice during the telephone conversation, and that she would have known that Detective Vanderohe could hear her had she turned around so that she could see him. However, the court noted that the defendant had twice indicated her desire not to make a formal [1118]*1118statement, and that there was no sign in the room stating that telephone conversations were monitored. Concluding that the defendant would not have made the incriminating statement if she had been aware of Detective Vanderohe’s presence, the trial court held that the statement was involuntary. In so ruling, the court apparently believed that the defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in her telephone conversation. Therefore, the trial court suppressed the telephone statement for use in the prosecution’s case-in-chief but again reserved ruling on the use of the statement for rebuttal purposes.

III.

A voluntary statement by a defendant is admissible in the prosecution’s case-in-chief. Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 12 L.Ed.2d 908 (1964); People v. Fordyce, 200 Colo. 153, 612 P.2d 1131 (1980). We have declared that “voluntary” means that the statement was not extracted by threats or violence, promises, or undue influence. People v. Freeman, 668 P.2d 1371 (Colo.1983).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
716 P.2d 1115, 1986 Colo. LEXIS 543, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-smith-colo-1986.