State v. Cody

323 N.W.2d 863, 1982 S.D. LEXIS 372
South Dakota Supreme Court·Decided August 25, 1982·No. 13257·Published·Cited by 26 cases

Opinion

HENDERSON, Justice.

ACTION

This case originally stems from a jury verdict which found William R. Cody, a/k/a William Weeks, guilty of premeditated murder. Judgment was accordingly entered and a life sentence imposed. Cody thereafter appealed to this Court which reversed the conviction and remanded the case for a new trial due to a violation of Cody’s right to cdunsel. State v. Cody, 293 N.W.2d 440 (S.D.1980). Cody subsequently *865 filed a motion to suppress certain evidence and statements allegedly collected in violation of his constitutional rights; said motion was denied. A second jury trial thereupon resulted in a guilty verdict of premeditated murder. This appeal ensued.

FACTS

The facts pertinent to this appeal, as set forth in State v. Cody (hereinafter referred to as Cody I), 293 N.W.2d at 442, are as follows:

On February 28,1978, Cody was arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada, on an unlawful flight warrant issued by a Pennington County Magistrate on a charge of embezzlement and grand larceny. On that same day, a preliminary information and arrest warrant were filed in Tripp County charging Cody with the murder of Edmund Brown, a Winner, South Dakota businessman. Cody was incarcerated in the Clark County jail in Las Vegas that afternoon; he was later taken into the interrogation room and interrogated first by Assistant District Attorney Steve Carson and Detective David Hanson, both of Las Vegas. From approximately 5:00 p. m. to 9:30 p. m., Cody was then interrogated by Marc Tobias, an attorney representing the Division of Criminal Investigation for the State of South Dakota.
During this four-hour interrogation by Tobias, which was tape recorded and later transcribed, Cody was never afforded counsel, although several requests for counsel were made by Cody. During the later stages of the interview, however, Tobias apparently contacted a Las Vegas attorney, Howard Miller, at Cody’s request. Tobias informed Cody that Miller would not come to the jail that evening unless Cody paid Miller a $1,000 retainer. Cody was unable to retain Miller. Shortly after the interview was concluded, To-bias then telephoned John Hughes, an attorney in Sturgis, South Dakota, at Cody’s request. According to Cody, he talked to Hughes for approximately three minutes. 1 There is a conflict as to whether Tobias was privy to this conversation or what matters were discussed. * * * [Sjhortly after talking to Hughes, Detective Santongue obtained from Cody a signed consent to search his room at the Aladdin Hotel, which he had earlier refused. The search resulted in uncovering incriminating evidence against him.

Cody was given his Miranda warnings at the outset of the aforementioned February 28th interview.

ISSUES

I.
Did the trial court err in ruling that Cody’s constitutional rights were not violated when he consented to a search of his room? We hold that it did not.
II.
Was Cody denied due process due to the State’s failure to produce certain alleged exculpatory evidentiary items? We hold that he was not.
III.
Is SDCL 16-13-42 unconstitutional as vi-olative of due process? We hold that it is not.
IV.
Was Cody denied due process by the fact that his illegally obtained statements could have been admitted into evidence by the State for impeachment purposes if Cody had testified contrary to these statements? We hold that he was not.
V.
Was there sufficient evidence presented at trial to support the verdict of guilty? We hold that there was.

*866 DECISION

I.

Cody contends that the trial court erred when it denied his motion to suppress certain incriminating articles which were found in his Las Vegas hotel room. Authorities entered the room pursuant to Cody’s written consent. Cody was apprised of his constitutional rights and the consent form was read to him several times before he consented to the search. Prior to relinquishing his consent, however, Cody mentioned that there was something in his room which he felt would incriminate him. When asked what it was, he responded, “narcotics.” After he was assured that no criminal charges would be brought against him with respect to any narcotics taken from his room pursuant to the search, Cody signed the consent form.

This Court held in Cody I that Cody’s consent to search had been given freely and voluntarily. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973); State v. Kissner, 252 N.W.2d 330 (S.D.1977). Here, however, Cody contends that his Fifth Amendment rights were violated when, subsequent to Miranda warnings and the advice of counsel, authorities requested his consent to search. The marrow of Cody’s position is that a request for consent to search is the legal equivalent of an interrogation since both procedures are designed to obtain evidence from a defendant and, accordingly, such a request cannot constitutionally occur without first affording the accused access to counsel.

In Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 300-301, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 1689, 64 L.Ed.2d 297, 307-308 (1980), the United States Supreme Court held:

. . . Miranda safeguards, come into play whenever a person in custody is subjected to either express questioning or its functional equivalent. That is to say, the term ‘interrogation’ under Miranda refers not only to express questioning, but also to any words or actions on the part of the police (other than those normally attendant to arrest and custody) that the police should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response5 from the suspect.

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State v. Cody, 323 N.W.2d 863, 1982 S.D. LEXIS 372 (S.D. 1982).

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