State v. Coburn

315 N.W.2d 742, 1982 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 1313
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedFebruary 17, 1982
Docket63551
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 315 N.W.2d 742 (State v. Coburn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Coburn, 315 N.W.2d 742, 1982 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 1313 (iowa 1982).

Opinions

LeGRAND, Justice.

Defendant was tried to a jury on the charge of having committed sexual abuse in the first degree upon the person of a ten-year-old girl in violation of section 709.2, Code Supp.1977. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the penitentiary. He appeals, and we affirm the trial court.

Defendant, forty-two years old at the time of the crime, was living with the victim’s mother. Both of them had serious drinking problems. On the night in question, defendant was home alone with the victim while her mother was drinking heavily at a local tavern. The events leading up to the crime, which we find it unnecessary to detail, occurred during this period. Suffice it to say, defendant showed the young girl some “dirty pictures”, had her undress, and forced her to perform acts of sexual intercourse and sodomy.

Defendant raises the following issues as grounds for reversal:

1) Error in the admission of evidence.
2) Error in holding there was substantial evidence that the victim suffered serious injury.
3) Denial of a fair trial because of the “overwhelming likelihood” that the State designedly overheard conferences between defendant and his attorney.
4) Denial of defendant’s motion to depose certain State’s witnesses.
5) Error in selection of the jury.

[745]*745I. Evidentiary Rulings.

a) Inculpatory Statements Made in New Mexico.

Defendant was apprehended in New Mexico. He waived extradition, and two Sioux City policemen went to New Mexico to return him to Iowa for prosecution. One of the officers, Russell White, Jr., interviewed defendant in the Alamogordo sheriff’s office. Defendant objected to the use of the information obtained in this interview, but we find no error in its admission.

Before talking with defendant, White gave him the Miranda warnings. Defendant then signed a written waiver, which is here set out:

WAIVER OF RIGHTS
I have read the above Warning Statement advising me of my legal and Constitutional Rights and I understand what my Rights are. I have been given the opportunity to use a telephone to call an attorney or a member of my own family. I am willing to answer questions and make a Statement. I do this voluntarily and of my own free will. I understand and know what I am doing. I do not want to call or consult with a lawyer and I do not want a lawyer to be present to advise me of my rights and with whom I can consult. No promises of immunity or other promises of any kind have been made to me and no physical force or pressure of any kind has been used against me to cause me to make a Statement.

The burden of proof is on the State, which must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant “had a full knowledge of his constitutional rights and knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily relinquished them.... ” State v. Jump, 269 N.W.2d 417, 424 (Iowa 1978). The test of voluntariness is whether the defendant’s will was overborne by the police officers. State v. Hartman, 281 N.W.2d 639, 644 (App.1979) and cases cited. In resolving this question, we consider the totality of the circumstances. Id.; State v. Jump, 269 N.W.2d at 426; State v. Swanson, 228 N.W.2d 101, 105 (Iowa 1975). Some of the factors to be taken into account are age, intelligence, education, awareness of the alleged crime, and apparent ability to understand his constitutional rights and the consequences of waiving them.

At the time of the interview, Coburn was forty-two yéars old. He had obtained a general equivalent (high school) diploma in military service and had received an honorable discharge after a total of ten years in the army. Since his discharge, defendant had worked as an electrician, a bartender, and a meat packer. While in jail in New Mexico, he was neither mistreated nor isolated; he was provided counsel for extradition discussions; and the questioning by Officer White was not prolonged.

There is nothing in the record to suggest defendant was unfairly imposed upon by Officer White or that he did not fully understand the rights he was forfeiting by signing the Waiver of Rights.

b) Inculpatory Statement During Airplane Flight.

Defendant also challenges the use of the statement he made during the airplane flight from New Mexico to Iowa. Defendant said he “didn’t sleep very well” because of what he did and that he wanted Officer White to know he “never meant to hurt that little girl.” Without deciding if the Miranda warnings originally given would apply to this statement, we hold it was admissible as a volunteered statement not made in response to interrogation. The evidence shows there was no attempt to question defendant at any time during the flight. On the contrary, Officer White discouraged any conversation concerning the crime. See State v. Beatty, 305 N.W.2d 496, 499 (Iowa 1981); State v. Matlock, 289 N.W.2d 625, 627-28 (Iowa 1980).

Defendant attempts to bring this case within Rhode Island v. Innis, 456 U.S. 291, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 64 L.Ed.2d 297 (1981) and Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387, 97 S.Ct. [746]*7461232, 51 L.Ed.2d 424 (1977), to convince us the inculpatory statement was the result of “subtle compulsion” which was the “functional equivalent” of interrogation. The significant circumstances of those cases are entirely lacking here. Unlike Innis and Williams, there was no request for an attorney by this defendant until after the statements had been made. Neither was there anything here akin to the “Christian burial” speech in Williams.

The statement made on the flight back to Iowa did not result from “subtle compulsion,” as defendant claims, and there was no error in admitting it.

c) Admission of Photographs.

Defendant argues the admission of photographs was error because they were “grisly and gruesome” and served only to inflame the jury without any probative value as a balancing factor. The trial court allowed them to come in, ruling they were “probative of the matter of serious injury” which “outweighs the potential prejudice.”

Of course, the photographs were grisly and gruesome, but this does not render them inadmissible. State v. Seehan, 258 N.W.2d 374, 378 (Iowa 1977). The admission or rejection of photographs is determined by their relevancy. State v. Fuhrmann, 257 N.W.2d 619, 624 (Iowa 1977). The relevancy test was easily met by the testimony of Dr. Boggs, the State’s expert, who said that the photographs were a “fair and accurate depiction” of the victim’s condition and that they were necessary to aid him in explaining and illustrating the nature and extent of the injury. Furthermore we agree that the probative value of the pictures on the issue of serious injury outweighed any possible prejudice.

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State v. Coburn
315 N.W.2d 742 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1982)

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Bluebook (online)
315 N.W.2d 742, 1982 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 1313, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-coburn-iowa-1982.