Slwooko v. State

139 P.3d 593, 2006 Alas. App. LEXIS 114, 2006 WL 2036557
CourtCourt of Appeals of Alaska
DecidedJuly 21, 2006
DocketA-8747
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 139 P.3d 593 (Slwooko v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Alaska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Slwooko v. State, 139 P.3d 593, 2006 Alas. App. LEXIS 114, 2006 WL 2036557 (Ala. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinions

OPINION

MANNHEIMER, Judge.

Bernice Slwooko appeals her conviction for second-degree murder. At Slwooko’s trial, the State introduced evidence of Slwooko’s self-incriminatory statements to the police. In this appeal, Slwooko argues that her statements should have been suppressed; Slwooko contends that the police obtained the statements in violation of her rights under Miranda v. Arizona.1

In our previous decision in this case, Slwooko v. State, Alaska Memorandum Opinion No. 5003, 2005 WL 2093690 (August 31, 2005), we remanded this case to the superior court for additional findings on two questions: (1) was Slwooko in custody for Miranda purposes when she made the self-incriminatory statements? and, if so, (2) did Slwooko waive her rights before making the statements?

We have now received the superior court’s findings, and the parties have filed supplemental memoranda in response to those findings.

The superior court concluded that Slwooko was not in custody when she arrived at the police station and began to speak to the police. However, the superior court concluded that the interview became custodial when the police officers continued to interview Slwooko even after she stated that she did not wish to answer the officers’ questions.

For the reasons explained in this opinion, we agree with the superior court’s first conclusion (that Slwooko was not in custody when the interview commenced), but we disagree with the superior court’s second conclusion (that the interview became custodial after Slwooko stated that she did not wish to answer questions). Instead, we conclude that the interview remained non-eustodial until after Slwooko confessed and described her participation in the homicide.

Slwooko also claims that, during her trial, the prosecutor violated Alaska Evidence Rule 613 by introducing evidence of a defense witness’s prior inconsistent statements without first confronting the witness with those statements and giving him a chance to deny or explain the prior statements. This claim is baseless; the record shows that the prosecutor complied with Evidence Rule 613.

For these reasons, we affirm Slwooko’s conviction.

Underlying facts

Here is a summary of the facts, taken from our previous opinion:

[595]*595Bernice Slwooko and Jacob Anagick met in Nome in early August, 2002, and they became romantically involved. Slwooko and Anagick stayed, off and on, with the victim, Jimmy Jack.

On the mid-morning of August 18, 2002, Anagick walked into the Nome police station and reported that he had murdered Jack. Anagick told the police that he and Jack started fighting and that the altercation escalated until, ultimately, Anagick killed Jack by striking him in the head with an axe.

Officer Jens Noet placed Anagick under arrest and then left for Jack’s residence. When no one answered his knock, Noet pried open the door and found Jack dead on the living room floor. An axe was leaning against the kitchen table. Noet examined the axe handle and concluded that someone had wiped the handle after the homicide— because the handle was covered in blood up to a certain point and then was completely clean.

Noet returned to the police station to interview Anagick more fully. Anagick reiterated that he had killed Jack by striking him “two or three times” with the axe. When Officer Noet asked Anagick if anyone else had been in the house at the time, Anagick stated that “he was all alone with Jimmy”, and that “nobody else was there”. Then Anagick made a statement that Noet thought was strange: Anagick declared, “If you check the axe for fingerprints, [mine] ... will be the only fingerprints ... on the axe.” This volunteered information about the absence of anyone else’s fingerprints struck Officer Noet as “an odd statement to make.”

A little later that same day, a woman named Pauline Brown telephoned the police to tell them about an encounter she had had with Bernice Slwooko. Brown told the police that she had encountered Slwooko earlier that day and that, during their conversation, Slwooko told Brown that she had murdered Jimmy Jack the night before. Slwooko also told Brown that she had needed to change out of her clothes and her shoes, and to “get rid of them”, because they were bloody.

Armed with this new information, Nome Police Officer Daniel Bennett re-interviewed

Anagick about the homicide. Anagick again recounted how he had fought with Jack and how he had struck him in the head several times with the axe. Bennett then asked Anagick if he had spoken to anyone about the homicide. When Anagick declared that he had told no one, Bennett remarked that “Bernice Slwooko seems to know quite a bit about this”. Bennett then asked Anagick if Slwooko had been present during the homicide. Anagick first said “no”. Then he said “yes”. Then Anagick whispered, “What the hell is she doing?”

After hearing Anagick’s responses, Bennett decided to speak with Pauline Brown. Brown confirmed her earlier report about her conversation with Slwooko, in which Slwooko confessed her involvement in the homicide.

The police began looking for Slwooko. Sometime after 4:30 p.m., Bennett spotted a crying woman in the company of two men in front of the Polar Arms Motel. Bennett approached this woman and discovered that she was Bernice Slwooko. According to Bennett, Slwooko was very distraught and drunk. Slwooko told Bennett, “I need to talk to you.”

When Bennett asked Slwooko if she was willing to get into his patrol car and accompany him to the station, Slwooko agreed. Bennett also asked the two men to join them. The men got into the back of the patrol car, while Slwooko took the front passenger seat. Slwooko got into the patrol car unassisted, and she was not restrained in any way.

When they arrived at the police station, Slwooko was initially hesitant to go into the building, and Bennett had to encourage Slwooko to come in and talk to him:

Officer Bennett: [0]nee we got to the police station, ... there was a little bit of hesitation for her to go inside the police department, and I encouraged her. I said, “It’s real important [and] we need to talk.” And I said, “Please, Bernice, come and talk to me.” And [then] she walked in[to] the police station.

Under cross-examination, Bennett admitted that he may have placed his hand on Slwooko’s arm or back to guide her into the building. Bennett testified that this entire [596]*596episode of hesitation lasted about ten seconds.

Once inside the station, Bennett led Slwooko to the back office which was normally used by the chief of police, and which was also used as an interview room. According to Bennett, Slwooko never expressed any unwillingness to go into this interview room.

In the meantime, Officer Noet briefly questioned Slwooko’s two male companions and then told them that they could go. Noet then joined Bennett in the interview room with Slwooko. During the ensuing interview, Slwooko made the self-incriminatory statements that are the subject of this appeal.

Details of the interview

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Slwooko v. State
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Bluebook (online)
139 P.3d 593, 2006 Alas. App. LEXIS 114, 2006 WL 2036557, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/slwooko-v-state-alaskactapp-2006.