State v. Alewine

474 S.W.2d 848, 1971 Mo. LEXIS 827
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedDecember 13, 1971
Docket56094
StatusPublished
Cited by61 cases

This text of 474 S.W.2d 848 (State v. Alewine) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Alewine, 474 S.W.2d 848, 1971 Mo. LEXIS 827 (Mo. 1971).

Opinion

BARDGETT, Judge.

Thomas Arthur Alewine was found guilty by a jury of burglary in the second degree and stealing. Sections 560.070 and 560.110, *850 RSMo 1969, V.A.M.S. The jury stated their inability to assess punishment and the court sentenced defendant to two years on the burglary and two years on the stealing to run concurrently. Defendant appeals.

Defendant does not question the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the conviction.

Defendant’s point I involves the failure of the magistrate court to appoint a lawyer for defendant at the preliminary hearing; points II and III concern the actions of the court in overruling defendant’s motion to suppress testimony of certain deputy sheriffs as to an alleged oral confession of defendant on the grounds that defendant did not waive the rights of which he had been advised; and point IV concerns the court’s instruction as to the oral confession.

On Sunday, November 16, 1969, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Pyle discovered two containers with money belonging to their two sons were missing from their home. The containers held $155 in bills and six silver dollars. Defendant was arrested December 3, 1969, at 12:45 p. m. and taken to the Greene County sheriff’s office where he was questioned by four deputy sheriffs and, according to the officers, defendant gave an oral statement admitting that he went into the Pyle home through an unlocked door, found about $155 in a bedroom and stole it.

The court held an evidentiary hearing on defendant’s motion to suppress the testimony of the deputy sheriffs as to the oral confession and ruled that the statements given to the officers were given voluntarily after defendant was fully advised of his rights under the Miranda case; that defendant of his own free will waived all such rights and agreed to give an oral statement without any attorney being present; that the statement was not procured by coercion, threats, fear, or promise of leniency; that defendant did not request counsel, and overruled the motion to suppress. The court further stated that it would, if defendant so requested, instruct the jury in writing as to the voluntariness of the confession and as to the duties of informing defendant of his rights, and the waiver of rights including waiver of right of counsel at the interrogation. Other evi-dentiary matters will be set forth under the appropriate point infra.

Defendant’s first point is that the court erred in overruling his motion to dismiss the information because he was not afforded counsel at the preliminary hearing in violation of his rights under the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. In support of his position defendant places principal reliance on Coleman v. Alabama, 399 U.S. 1, 90 S.Ct. 1999, 26 L.Ed.2d 387, decided June 22, 1970, and also cites United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149, and Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, which also pertain to the right to counsel.

The preliminary hearing in this case took place on December 17, 1969, prior to Coleman v. Alabama, supra. We have held that Coleman v. Alabama will not be applied retroactively in Missouri in the absence of a showing of prejudice. State v. Chapman, Mo., 465 S.W.2d 472, State v. Lahmann, Mo., 460 S.W.2d 559, State v. Caffey, Mo., 457 S.W.2d 657, and State v. Ussery, Mo., 452 S.W.2d 146.

S.Ct.Rule 23.03, V.A.M.R., pertaining to right to counsel at preliminary hearing is now in effect. It was not in effect at the time this hearing was held. Defendant urges that we should reconsider prior holdings to the contrary and now hold that the preliminary hearing in Missouri is a “critical stage” of the proceedings and apply Coleman v. Alabama retroactively. We adhere to our previous holdings. The point is overruled.

We will consider points II and III together. Point II charges error in overruling defendant’s pretrial motion to suppress the testimony of the deputy sheriffs as to the oral confession, and point III alleges error during the trial in the court’s *851 action in overruling defendant’s objection to the trial testimony of the deputies concerning the confession. In both points defendant claims his rights under the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were violated.

The issue hinges on the question of whether the trial court erred in ruling that defendant did, prior to the giving of the oral confession, waive his right to remain silent and his right to an attorney.

Defendant cites Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, and Carnley v. Cochran, 369 U.S. 506, 82 S.Ct. 884, 8 L.Ed.2d 70, in support of his position and particularly the statement appearing in Miranda, 86 S.Ct. loc. cit. 1628, taken from Carnley v. Cochran, supra, that, presuming waiver from a silent record is impermissible, the record must show that accused was offered counsel but intelligently and understandingly rejected the offer. Anything less is not waiver. This court has so held. State v. McGee, Mo., 447 S.W.2d 270, 275.

However, with respect to waiver, an express statement that the individual does not want a lawyer or that he waives his right to remain silent is not required. What the prosecution must show is that the defendant was effectively advised of his rights and he then intelligently and understandingly declined to exercise them. State v. Hughes, Mo., 460 S.W.2d 600, 603.

Here, there is no question about whether defendant was advised of his rights. Admittedly, they were read to him, he read them, and he signed the document acknowledging receipt of the advice. Additionally, and significantly, there is no question about whether defendant, after being advised of his rights, understood the nature of the advice. On the motion to suppress defendant testified on direct examination, in part:

“Q. Did you understand what the people in the Sheriff’s Department told you, that you had a right to remain silent and that you didn’t have to talk to them?
A. Yes.
Q. You understood that from reading this document and from what they told you ?
A. Yes.
Q. And did you also understand from what they told you that you had the right to have the advice of an attorney and that you had a right to talk to an attorney and to have counsel ?
A. Yes.”

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Bluebook (online)
474 S.W.2d 848, 1971 Mo. LEXIS 827, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-alewine-mo-1971.