State v. Benoit

490 A.2d 295, 126 N.H. 6, 1985 N.H. LEXIS 240
CourtSupreme Court of New Hampshire
DecidedFebruary 6, 1985
DocketNo. 83-027
StatusPublished
Cited by70 cases

This text of 490 A.2d 295 (State v. Benoit) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Benoit, 490 A.2d 295, 126 N.H. 6, 1985 N.H. LEXIS 240 (N.H. 1985).

Opinions

Douglas, J.

The principal question raised in this appeal is whether the superior court erred in its determination that the fifteen-year-old defendant, Philip Benoit, had voluntarily, knowingly [9]*9and intelligently waived his privilege against self-incrimination before making an incriminating statement to the police. In addition, we are asked to determine whether the superior court erred in ruling that defense counsel’s questioning of a State’s witness concerning her inability to identify the defendant on the day of the alleged offense would “open the door” to inquiry into a previously excluded line-up identification. We reverse and remand.

I. Facts

On May 27, 1982, a loaded .44 magnum revolver and a .22 caliber revolver were stolen from under the front seat of Paul Gagnon’s truck, which was parked on Thorndike Street in Concord. One day later, an armed robbery occurred at the Food Basket Store, also located in Concord. The defendant became the principal suspect in the two crimes.

On the evening of May 28, the defendant was at a party in Pitts-field. Sometime that night, the Pittsfield police arrived at the party to arrest the defendant, but he managed to elude them and escape. Approximately one hour later, the police went to the apartment of Tammie Recce in Epsom, after being notified that Philip had taken refuge there. When the police confronted the defendant at the Recce apartment, Philip ran through the apartment, crashed through a glass door, escaped onto the roof, and jumped to the ground some fifteen or twenty feet below. He then wrestled with the arresting officer.

At the time of the arrest, Philip was bleeding profusely. He was taken to Concord Hospital by a rescue squad, where he was treated for lacerations of his hands and head that resulted from his crash into the glass door. Sometime later, he was transferred to the Concord police station, where he remained overnight.

Officer Cross of the Concord police testified that, at approximately 9:00 a.m. the following morning, he went to the child’s cell with the purpose of obtaining a statement. Just he and Philip were present at the meeting. The officer informed the defendant that he wished to discuss the armed robbery of the prior day. The officer testified that Philip agreed to talk, so they moved to an interview room.

Officer Cross testified that once in the interview room, he reminded Philip of his rights, as required under both the State and Federal Constitutions, by reading one sentence at a time from the Concord Police Department’s standard form used for adults. See State v. Nash, 119 N.H. 728, 730-31, 407 A.2d 365, 367 (1979); Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444-45 (1966). The officer testified that he made no attempt to explain any of the rights, but [10]*10merely asked the child if he understood them, to which Philip replied “yes.” During the one-hour interrogation, the defendant made a statement in which he incriminated himself in the armed robbery and the theft of the firearms.

At the time of the interrogation, the child had been in police custody for approximately nine hours. During that time, the police had made no effort to contact his parents, a lawyer, or any adult interested in his welfare. The officer further testified that he did not discuss with the defendant any of the possible legal consequences of a confession to, or a conviction for, the felony of armed robbery.

Philip was fifteen years old, and had spent much of his life in various foster homes, group homes, and residential treatment facilities under the authority of the State. Although he is of average intelligence, he has completed only an eighth-grade education, which puts him approximately two years behind his peers.

Marsha Flynn, the Chief Probation Officer at the Concord District Court, testified that she had had contact with Philip in regard to his life-long family neglect situation, as well as to six prior delinquency proceedings. She testified that, although he had been read his Miranda rights on numerous occasions, on each such occasion he was in court in the presence of a judge and represented by counsel.

The unrebutted testimony of Dr. Durand, a psychiatrist, was that Philip may have sufficient intelligence to understand the substance of the privilege against self-incrimination. Dr. Durand was certain, however, that Philip does not have the capacity to exercise the informed and independent judgment required in order to knowingly and intelligently relinquish that right.

Dr. Durand’s opinion was partly based on his belief that Philip is impulsive, lacks common sense, and exercises poor judgment in the day-to-day management of his conduct. More important to the doctor’s determination, however, was his belief that although Philip may have known that judicial proceedings could result in incarceration, his frame of reference was limited to incarceration in State programs which he had known all his life, such as the Youth Development Center (YDC). In effect, the doctor was certain that Philip would have' recalled the immediate consequences of his prior situations and would not have understood the consequences of being certified as an adult and possibly being sentenced to the State prison. Thus, the doctor concluded that Philip would not be in a position to exercise informed and independent judgment in waiving his constitutional rights.

On June 30, 1982, the child was certified to stand trial as an adult, pursuant to RSA 169-B:24 (Supp. 1983) by order of the Concord Dis[11]*11trict Court (Robbins, J.). He subsequently was indicted for the felonies of armed robbery, RSA 636:1,11(a), and theft, RSA 637:3,1.

Prior to trial, Philip moved to suppress the incriminating statement made by him in response to police questioning. Based upon the above-described facts, he argued that the totality of the circumstances did not show a voluntary, knowing and intelligent waiver of his privilege against self-incrimination as well as of his right to counsel, and that his statement should be excluded because it was obtained in the absence of an adult who was interested in his welfare.

After a hearing, the Superior Court (DiClerico, J.) denied the motion to suppress. The court declined to rule that a juvenile could not waive his rights without the advice of counsel and held that it would continue to use the totality of the circumstances test in determining whether a juvenile has made a voluntary, knowing and intelligent waiver. The court then concluded that the State had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Philip had voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently waived his privilege against self-incrimination and his right to counsel.

After a jury trial in Superior Court (DiClerico, J.), Philip was convicted of theft of a firearm and armed robbery. He has been sentenced to the New Hampshire State Prison for four to ten years for armed robbery and one to three years for theft, to be served concurrently. This appeal followed.

II. Treatment of Juveniles Under New Hampshire Law

This State long has recognized the common-sense fact that a child does not possess the discretion and experience of an adult, Porter v. Wilson, 106 N.H. 270, 271, 209 A.2d 730

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
490 A.2d 295, 126 N.H. 6, 1985 N.H. LEXIS 240, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-benoit-nh-1985.