State of Minnesota v. Justin Thadeus Amick

Court of Appeals of Minnesota·Decided February 23, 2015·No. A13-2312·Unpublished

Opinion

This opinion will be unpublished and may not be cited except as provided by Minn. Stat. § 480A.08, subd. 3 (2014).

STATE OF MINNESOTA

IN COURT OF APPEALS

A13-2312

State of Minnesota,

Respondent,

vs.

Justin Thadeus Amick,

Appellant.

Filed February 23, 2015

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded Schellhas, Judge

Dakota County District Court File No. 19HA-CR-12-986

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and

James C. Backstrom, Dakota County Attorney, Heather D. Pipenhagen, Stacy St. George, Assistant County Attorneys, Hastings, Minnesota (for respondent)

Cathryn Middlebrook, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Stan Keillor, Special Assistant State Public Defender, St. Paul, Minnesota (for appellant)

Considered and decided by Smith, Presiding Judge; Schellhas, Judge; and Hooten, Judge.

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

SCHELLHAS, Judge Appellant challenges his conviction of first-degree assault and the imposition of consecutive sentences for first-degree assault and possession of a firearm by an ineligible person. We affirm appellant’s conviction, reverse his sentence, and remand.

FACTS

In the early morning hours of March 18, 2012, appellant Justin Thadeus Amick drove with M.S. to D.W.’s home in Inver Grove Heights, where Amick and M.S. drank a couple of beers. After an hour or two, they left D.W.’s home in Amick’s car. Amick drove around and then stopped on the side of the road. While the car was stopped, M.S. saw lights, heard two gunshots, and saw a gun in Amick’s hand. According to M.S., Amick then drove away very fast while screaming and letting go of the wheel, saying, “What have I done? What have I done?” Amick also asked M.S. to call his son’s mother and drove to his own mother’s West St. Paul home. Amick and M.S. entered the home and Amick yelled to his mother, “I messed up bad. This time I messed up bad.” Amick left the home, and M.S. asked Amick’s mother to call the police.

On March 18, 2012, Inver Grove Heights police officers Joseph Robertson and Eric Bohrer were on duty, patrolling in separate squad cars. At approximately 4:44 a.m., dispatch notified the officers that a complainant had reported hearing five gunshots near his Inver Grove Heights home. Each officer drove to the reported area without activating his squad car’s lights or siren. Near the reported area, the officers saw a car parked on the side of the road and stopped their squad cars on the opposite side of the road, facing the

parked car. The officers saw a male, later identified as Amick, in the driver’s seat of the parked car; a female, later identified as M.S., in the passenger seat of the car; and another male, later identified as the complainant, G.S., on foot near the car. Officer Robertson thought that the driver of the parked car resembled S.A., Amick’s brother.

Officer Robertson exited his squad car, moved to a position about 10 to 15 feet away from the driver of the parked car, and gave two or three verbal commands to the car’s occupants to show their hands. Officer Bohrer also exited his squad car and moved to a position about 25 to 30 feet behind Officer Robertson. Officer Robertson saw the driver of the parked car make furtive movements; noticed that the driver’s hand was outside of the car’s window; and “briefly saw the muzzle of a handgun, . . . heard the gun fire, . . . [and] saw the muzzle flash.” After the muzzle flash dissipated, Officer Robertson again saw the muzzle of the gun and observed that the muzzle was “aimed directly” at him both before and after the gun fired. Officer Bohrer heard the driver yell, “F-ck you,” and saw an “arm come out and . . . a muzzle flash and it was pointed directly at Officer Robertson.” After the muzzle flash, Officer Bohrer saw a black gun in the driver’s hand. While the officers moved to take cover behind Officer Robertson’s squad car, Officer Bohrer heard a second gunshot.

The officers drew their guns, aimed them at the driver of the parked car, and Officer Robertson again saw that the driver was pointing the gun at him. Officer Bohrer ordered the driver to drop the gun; heard the driver yell, “Fine”; and saw the driver throw the gun, which hit the hood of Officer Robertson’s squad car. The driver then put the car in reverse and backed up at a high rate of speed. Officer Robertson secured the gun that

the driver had thrown and radioed dispatch. Officer Robertson reported that “officers had been shot at,” provided a description of the suspect car, and stated that S.A. was a possible suspect.

West St. Paul on-duty police officer Elyse Wood received information from dispatch about the shooting, including that S.A. was a possible suspect. Dispatch asked Officer Wood to respond to a West St. Paul home from which several 911 hang-up calls had been received. Dispatch told Officer Wood that the name Amick had popped up when the calls were received. Upon arrival at the home, Officer Wood immediately recognized S.A. outside the home. He was with M.S. Officer Wood also saw the suspect car. S.A. said that Amick “was inside and was going crazy.” A canine officer and several other officers arrived at the home, and Amick’s mother and a juvenile exited the home. Police officers apprehended Amick behind the home in some woods and found five shell casings inside the suspect car.

Respondent State of Minnesota charged Amick with two counts of attempted first-

degree murder (peace officer) under Minn. Stat. §§ 609.17, subd. 1, .185(a)(4) (2010); two counts of attempted second-degree murder (intentional) under Minn. Stat. §§ 609.17, subd. 1, .19, subd. 1(1) (2010); two counts of first-degree assault (deadly force against peace officer) under Minn. Stat. § 609.221, subd. 2(a) (2010); two counts of second- degree assault (dangerous weapon) under Minn. Stat. §§ 609.02, subd. 10(1) or (2), .222, subd. 1 (2010); and possession of a firearm by an ineligible person under Minn. Stat. § 624.713, subd. 1(2) (2010). A jury found Amick guilty of one count of first-degree assault (deadly force against peace officer), one count of second-degree assault

(dangerous weapon), and possession of a firearm by an ineligible person. The district court sentenced Amick to 146 months’ imprisonment for first-degree assault and a consecutive 60-month sentence for possession of a firearm by an ineligible person.

This appeal follows.

DECISION

Admissibility of statement to police Amick argues that the district court erred by refusing to suppress a video-recorded and transcribed statement that he gave on March 19, 2012, to Sergeant Richard Schroeder and Detective David Sjogren of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office, asserting that he invoked his right to counsel before giving the statement. The district court found that Amick was advised of his Miranda rights, understood them, and knowingly and intelligently waived his rights, implicitly concluding that Amick failed to invoke his right to counsel before giving the statement.

“If a criminal suspect faces custodial interrogation, the suspect must be informed that the suspect has a right to remain silent and has a right to speak with an attorney.” State v. Anderson, 789 N.W.2d 227, 233 (Minn. 2010) (citing Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 467–73, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 1624–27 (1966)).

It is a violation of the U.S. Constitution for investigators to continue a custodial interrogation after a suspect has unambiguously requested the assistance of counsel. To invoke the right to counsel a suspect must do more than make reference to an attorney. A suspect’s request for counsel is unequivocal if a reasonable police officer, in the circumstances, would understand the statement to be a request for an attorney.

....

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State of Minnesota v. Justin Thadeus Amick, (Mich. Ct. App. 2015).

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