State v. Bozung

2011 UT 2, 245 P.3d 739
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 7, 2011
Docket20080480
StatusPublished

This text of 2011 UT 2 (State v. Bozung) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bozung, 2011 UT 2, 245 P.3d 739 (Utah 2011).

Opinion

245 P.3d 739 (2011)
2011 UT 2

STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellant,
v.
Gareth BOZUNG, Defendant and Appellee.

No. 20080480.

Supreme Court of Utah.

January 7, 2011.

*740 Mark L. Shurtleff, Att'y Gen., Karen A. Klucznik, Asst. Att'y Gen., Salt Lake City, for plaintiff.

Thomas H. Means, Margaret P. Lindsay, Douglas J. Thompson, Provo, for defendant.

DURHAM, Chief Justice:

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1 The State has appealed the dismissal of this case, challenging two pretrial rulings: the district court's grant of a motion to suppress the Defendant's confession because of an inadequate Miranda warning, and the denial of a motion to reopen the suppression issue to permit additional evidence. We hold that the district court erred when it relied on rule 24 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure to deny the State's pretrial motion for a new hearing on the Defendant's Motion to Suppress. We clarify that rule 24 applies to posttrial motions for a new trial[1] and does not apply to pretrial evidentiary rulings. We hold that the district court had discretion to grant the State's motion, and therefore reverse its holding that it did not. Because we reverse on the rule 24 question, we do not reach the issue of whether the Defendant was adequately informed of and waived his Miranda rights, and therefore express no opinion as to whether, on remand, the district court should find that the Defendant understood his Miranda rights. If the district court allows a rehearing of the suppression issue, the new evidence presented by the State will presumably change the totality of the circumstances to be evaluated.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 On March 9, 2007, Joshua Ruzicka was found dead from a drug overdose. The Defendant, Gareth Bozung, found Mr. Ruzicka and called police to report the death. Police from the Highland/Alpine Police Department spoke with Mr. Bozung at the scene but did not arrest him. In the weeks that followed, investigators were unable to locate Mr. Bozung to discuss the events leading up to Mr. Ruzicka's death. But on May 1, 2007, Lehi City police officers arrested Mr. Bozung on unrelated drug charges. It is asserted that the arresting officers advised Mr. Bozung of his Miranda rights at the time of his arrest.

¶ 3 While in custody of the Lehi Police Department, Mr. Bozung was interviewed by Detective Jacob Moosman of the Highland/Alpine Police Department about the events surrounding Mr. Ruzicka's death. According to the district court, "[t]he entire interview was visually and audibly recorded." The district court found that when Mr. Bozung entered the room for the interview, "he appeared distraught and concerned about unrelated family matters." Detective Moosman spoke briefly with Mr. Bozung about these matters and then said that it was necessary to review Mr. Bozung's Miranda rights before the pair spoke about Mr. Ruzicka's drug overdose. He explained that Mr. Bozung had a right to remain silent; Mr. Bozung responded that he understood that right. Detective Moosman then handed Mr. Bozung *741 a waiver of rights form and asked him to place his initials next to the sentence, "You have the right to remain silent." Mr. Bozung took the form and said "I can just read it, [a Lehi Police officer] just read me my rights." According to the district court, Mr. Bozung continued to talk about "matters unrelated to ... [his] constitutional rights" as he looked over and initialed the form.[2]

¶ 4 During the subsequent interview, Mr. Bozung confessed that he sold heroin to Mr. Ruzicka on the night of his death. He also completed a witness statement form on which he wrote his version of the events of the day of Mr. Ruzicka's death. Mr. Bozung later moved to suppress his oral and written statements, asserting that he had not been adequately advised of his right against self-incrimination or his right to the assistance of counsel prior to questioning. In an oral ruling, the district court granted Mr. Bozung's motion to suppress. In its subsequent written ruling, the district court explained that it was not persuaded that Mr. Bozung had been adequately advised of his Miranda rights before or during the interview with Detective Moosman, or that he had knowingly waived these rights.

¶ 5 Two days after the district court's oral ruling, but before final judgment was entered in this case, the State moved to reopen the suppression motion in order to present evidence from the Lehi police officers who arrested Mr. Bozung prior to his interview with Detective Moosman. The district court denied the motion. In doing so, the court relied upon rule 24 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure and held that it had no discretion to reopen the suppression hearing absent newly discovered evidence. The State filed a motion to dismiss, which the district court granted. The State then appealed to this Court from the order of dismissal.[3]

¶ 6 We have jurisdiction under Utah Code section 78A-3-102(3)(i) (Supp.2010).

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 7 The issue of whether rule 24 precluded rehearing presents "`a question of law that we review for correctness.'" State v. Rodrigues, 2009 UT 62, ¶ 11, 218 P.3d 610 (quoting Brown v. Glover, 2000 UT 89, ¶ 15, 16 P.3d 540).[4]

ANALYSIS

¶ 8 The district court erred when it relied on rule 24 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure to deny the State's pretrial motion to reopen the Defendant's motion to suppress. The court's error is understandable in view of some of the case law on this question, and we take this opportunity to clarify that rule 24 applies to posttrial motions for new trials.[5] District courts have discretion to determine whether to grant pretrial motions to rehear an evidentiary matter, and should generally use this discretion liberally to allow the whole case to be presented. Determinations regarding rehearings must be made in light of the totality of the circumstances, and should include consideration of multiple factors that will be discussed later in this opinion. The factors discussed are not exclusive, however, and others may be relevant to the exercise of the district court's discretion.

*742 I. RULE 24 APPLIES TO POSTTRIAL MOTIONS (OR BY ANALOGY TO SOME SITUATIONS WHERE A TRIAL IS PRECLUDED) AND IS NOT APPLICABLE TO PRETRIAL MOTIONS TO REHEAR EVIDENTIARY MATTERS

¶ 9 Rule 24 states that "[t]he court may, upon motion of a party or upon its own initiative, grant a new trial in the interest of justice if there is any error or impropriety which had a substantial adverse effect upon the rights of a party." Utah R.Crim. P. 24(a) (emphasis added). By its plain language, rule 24 applies to posttrial motions for a new trial. Its intended application is also clear both from its sequential position in the rules (it comes after the rules dealing with judgment and sentencing) and from the fact that the time for filing is tied to entry of sentence, which is always a posttrial event.

¶ 10 Reliance on the rule by analogy may be appropriate in some circumstances where a ruling has occurred prior to trial that necessarily precludes trial. A pretrial evidentiary ruling, however, does not preclude trial in and of itself, and rule 24 is therefore irrelevant (regardless of whether such a ruling may convince one party to drop a case). For example, the court of appeals has applied rule 24 in the context of a final dismissal of charges after a preliminary hearing, holding that a request to reconsider that ruling had to comply with rule 24's timing requirements. State v.

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Bluebook (online)
2011 UT 2, 245 P.3d 739, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bozung-utah-2011.