Shiflet v. State

732 S.W.2d 622, 1985 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1718
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 9, 1985
Docket812-82
StatusPublished
Cited by264 cases

This text of 732 S.W.2d 622 (Shiflet v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shiflet v. State, 732 S.W.2d 622, 1985 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1718 (Tex. 1985).

Opinions

OPINION ON APPELLANT’S PETITION FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW

TEAGUE, Judge.

Max Shiflet, appellant, was convicted by a jury for committing the offense of murder of Diana Kaiser. The trial judge assessed appellant’s punishment at life imprisonment in the Department of Corrections. The Corpus Christi Court of Appeals áffirmed. See Shiflet v. State, 653 S.W.2d 830 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1982). We granted appellant’s petition for discretionary review in order to make the determination whether the court of appeals correctly held that at the time that appellant, who was then a deputy sheriff for Wharton County, made an oral admission against interest, which was later reduced to writing, he was not then in the custody of Carl Weathers, a Texas Ranger, and Earl Winebrenner, the Chief Deputy for the Wharton County Sheriff’s Department.1 Because we find that the court of appeals reached the right result, that the appellant’s oral admission against interest was admissible evidence, because when he made the admission he was not in custody, we will affirm its judgment.

This Court’s predecessor, the Court of Appeals, established long ago the general rule that oral confessions of guilt, or oral admissions against interest, made by one in custody are inadmissible evidence because they are so liable to be misunderstood, so easily fabricated, and so hard to be contradicted. See Gay v. State, 2 Tex.App. 127 (1877), and Riley v. State, 4 Tex.App. 538 (1878).

Today, except in the most limited of circumstances, and unless made in compliance with the provisions of Art. 38.22, V.A. C.C.P., oral confessions of guilt, or oral admissions against interest, made by a suspect who is in custody, are not admissible evidence. Also see Butler v. State, 493 S.W.2d 190 (Tex.Cr.App.1973).

However, if the person who makes an oral confession of guilt, or an oral admission against interest, is not in custody, a different rule applies.

Art. 38.22, Section 5, V.A.C.C.P., provides in pertinent part: “Nothing in this article precludes the admission of a statement made by the accused ... that does not stem from custodial interrogation ...” Thus, an oral admission against interest or an oral confession of guilt, which does not stem from custodial interrogation, and is given freely, voluntarily and without compulsion or persuasion, is admissible evidence against the accused. Also see Art. 38.21, V.A.C.C.P.

Therefore, the first question that we must decide is whether the oral admission against interest that appellant made to Weathers and Winebrenner was the product of custodial interrogation.

[624]*624In Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), the United States Supreme Court stated: “By custodial interrogation, we mean questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.” 384 U.S., at 444. In a footnote, the Court indicated that the concept of “custodial interrogation” was what it had in mind in its decision of Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977 (1964), when it set restrictions on questioning out of the presence of counsel after the investigation of the police had “focused” on the suspect. However, “focus” does not necessarily amount to “custody.” Beckwith v. United States, 425 U.S. 341, 96 S.Ct. 1612, 48 L.Ed.2d 1 (1976); Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492, 97 S.Ct. 711, 50 L.Ed.2d 714 (1977).

From the above, two concepts, the custody concept and the focus concept, have evolved. The distinction between the two concepts is an important one, because it embodies the difference between an objective and a subjective standard for determining when the requirements of the Fifth Amendment and Art. 1, Section 9, Texas Constitution, are triggered. If the focus concept is used, then, in making the determination whether the suspect is in custody, the inquiry must be directed solely to the thoughts of the police officer — his intentions in questioning the suspect, whether he believed he had probable cause to act, and the point in time at which such probable cause developed. If the custody concept is used, then the inquiry shifts to the suspect and what he could reasonably perceive — whether a reasonable person would believe that his freedom was being deprived in a significant way. This requires reference to all of the circumstances of the interrogation to make an objective determination whether custody can reasonably be inferred. However, one commentator, see Ringel, Searches & Seizures, Arrests and Confessions (2nd Edition 1985 revision), has pointed out that in the absence of objective facts to indicate that the suspect’s view of the situation was reasonable, no court has yet accepted the subjective view of the suspect as determinative of the issue of custody. In Beckwith v. United States, supra, the Supreme Court rejected the use of focus as a concept distinct from custody. Notwithstanding this Court’s decision of Stone v. State, 583 S.W.2d 410 (Tex.Cr.App.1979), this Court does not appear to have completely jettisoned the concept of focus in making the determination whether the suspect was in custody, McCrory v. State, 643 S.W.2d 725 (Tex.Cr.App.1983), nor does it appear that the Supreme Court has jettisoned the concept of focus in making that determination. Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983).

Therefore, in making the determination whether the appellant was in custody when he made his oral admission to Weathers and Winebrenner, we will use both concepts. Cf. McCrory v. State, supra.

If we find that at the time appellant made his oral admission to the officers he was not in custody, and also find that his oral admission was given freely, voluntarily and without compulsion or persuasion, then we will hold that it was .admissible, and not inadmissible, evidence.

Briefly, the facts that led to the appellant making his oral admission are as follows: In the early morning hours of January 6, 1977, Donald Branson, a truck driver, saw a Chevrolet “Luv” pickup truck, that he knew that Kaiser, the deceased, had driven in the past, parked on the side of Highway 59 just north of the town of Hungerford, which is located south of the City of Wharton. Branson also saw parked behind the pickup truck a white four door sedan vehicle, with red lights on its top, insignia on the door, and several antennaes located thereon, which vehicle he identified as a “County Mounty's” vehicle. Another truck driver testified that shortly before this he had been conversing with Kaiser over his CB radio. He also saw the “County Mounty’s” vehicle. However, the truck drivers did not notice any persons in or around either of the parked vehicles. Soon thereafter, Kaiser was reported missing. Her pickup truck was found at another location.

[625]

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Bluebook (online)
732 S.W.2d 622, 1985 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 1718, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shiflet-v-state-texcrimapp-1985.