State of Arizona v. David James Yonkman

297 P.3d 902, 231 Ariz. 496, 2013 WL 1338344, 2013 Ariz. LEXIS 101
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedApril 4, 2013
DocketCR-12-0238-PR
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 297 P.3d 902 (State of Arizona v. David James Yonkman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Arizona v. David James Yonkman, 297 P.3d 902, 231 Ariz. 496, 2013 WL 1338344, 2013 Ariz. LEXIS 101 (Ark. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

BERCH, Chief Justice.

¶ 1 This ease addresses whether a police officer’s response to a phone call placed by a suspect’s wife reinitiates an interrogation for purposes of Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981). We conclude that it does not. When the suspect later contacted police and arranged an interview, the suspect reinitiated the interrogation.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2 On March 27, 2010, David James Yonkman’s wife, Kelly, called police and reported that Yonkman had sexually molested her daughter. A police officer went to Yonkman’s residence, but Yonkman was not there. When he returned, the officer read Yonkman his Miranda rights. After Yonkman requested counsel, the officer ceased questioning and departed.

¶ 3 A few days later, Kelly called Detective Rivera to say that her daughter had recanted. Rivera told Kelly that Yonkman could come in and take a polygraph “if he wanted to” so that Rivera could close the investigation. Rivera did not ask her to relay the message, but a few hours later Yonkman called Rivera and scheduled a meeting for April 1 at the police station. During this call, Rivera told Yonkman that he could come to the station if he wanted to, but he would not be under arrest, could leave at any time, and his prior Miranda warnings would remain in effect.

¶ 4 Yonkman arrived at the police station approximately forty minutes early for the April 1 interview. Although the door to the interview room locked automatically, Rivera reminded Yonkman that he was not under arrest and was free to leave. During the interview, Yonkman asked what would happen if he requested an attorney; Rivera responded that they would wait to do the interview until he obtained one. Rivera read Yonkman his Miranda rights, and Yonkman consented to questioning. Yonkman confessed after approximately thirty minutes, and officers arrested him at the conclusion of the interview.

¶ 5 Yonkman moved to suppress the confession based on Edwards, the involuntariness of his confession, and the involuntariness of his Miranda waiver. After an evidentiary hearing, the superior court ruled the confession admissible, finding that Yonkman had reinitiated contact with Rivera and that Yonkman’s interview statements were voluntary. A jury found Yonkman guilty of one count of sexual abuse and one count of sexual conduct with a minor.

¶ 6 The court of appeals reversed Yonkman’s convictions and ordered a new trial, finding Yonkman’s confession inadmissible because Rivera had “induce[d]” Yonkman’s contact with police and the subsequent interrogation in violation of Edwards. State v. Yonkman, 229 Ariz. 291, 295 ¶ 14, 298 ¶ 28, 274 P.3d 1225, 1229, 1233 (App.2012).

¶ 7 We granted the State’s petition for review because this case presents a recurring issue of statewide importance. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Article 6, Section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. § 12-120.24.

*498 II. DISCUSSION

A. Reinitiation of Contact

¶ 8 Once a suspect invokes his Miranda right to counsel, police may not subject him to custodial interrogation without counsel for fourteen days following his release from custody “unless the accused himself initiates further communication, exchanges, or conversations with the police.” Maryland v. Shatzer, 559 U.S. 98, 130 S.Ct. 1213, 1219, 1223, 175 L.Ed.2d 1045 (2010) (quoting Edwards, 451 U.S. at 485, 101 S.Ct. 1880). The Edwards rule limiting police re-initiation of questioning following the invocation of rights is designed “to prevent police from badgering a defendant into waiving his previously asserted Miranda rights.” Michigan v. Harvey, 494 U.S. 344, 350, 110 S.Ct. 1176, 108 L.Ed.2d 293 (1990). It creates a presumption of involuntariness of any resulting waiver that occurs in response to “further police-initiated custodial interrogation even if [the defendant] has been advised of his rights.” Shatzer, 130 S.Ct. at 1219-20 (quoting Edwards, 451 U.S. at 484, 101 S.Ct. 1880). But, “[w]hen a defendant is not in custody, he is in control, and need only shut his door or walk away to avoid police badgering.” Montejo v. Louisiana, 556 U.S. 778, 795, 129 S.Ct. 2079, 173 L.Ed.2d 955 (2009). Such noncustodial or “noninterrogative interactions with the State do not involve the ‘inherently compelling pressures’ that one might reasonably fear could lead to involuntary waivers.” Id. (citation omitted) (quoting Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 467, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966)).

¶ 9 We assume, without deciding, that Yonkman effectively invoked his Miranda right to counsel when first questioned near his residence on March 27, 2010, and that he was in custody then and during the April 1, 2010 interview at the police station. Cf. Shatzer, 130 S.Ct. at 1223 (“In every case involving Edwards, the courts must determine whether the suspect was in custody when he requested counsel and when he later made the statements he seeks to suppress.”). Because Yonkman’s confession occurred within fourteen days of -his initial invocation of his right to counsel, its admissibility turns on whether Yonkman or the police reinitiated the contact, whether Yonkman knowingly and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights, and whether the confession itself was voluntarily given. See id. at 1219-22. We review a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress for abuse of discretion. State v. Manuel, 229 Ariz. 1, 4 ¶ 11, 270 P.3d 828, 831 (2011).

¶ 10 A suspect may reinitiate questioning after terminating it by reopening a dialog with officers about the investigation. See Edwards, 451 U.S. at 485-86 & n. 9, 101 S.Ct. 1880. The United States Supreme Court has not addressed whether police can reinitiate interrogation through contact with third parties. Authority from other jurisdictions is also sparse, but we are not aware of any court that has found an Edwards violation in circumstances like those presented here.

¶ 11 In assessing whether a suspect “initiate[d] a discussion with police through the communication of a third party,” the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit found no distinction between direct communications and those from others, concluding that “what is important is [that] the impetus for discussion comes from the suspect himself.” Van Hook v.

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Bluebook (online)
297 P.3d 902, 231 Ariz. 496, 2013 WL 1338344, 2013 Ariz. LEXIS 101, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-arizona-v-david-james-yonkman-ariz-2013.