State v. Collins

632 P.2d 68, 30 Wash. App. 1
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided September 29, 1981·No. 3751-7-III·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

Munson, J.

— Defendant Kenneth Collins appeals his conviction of second degree murder. He alleges: (1) the court erred in admitting a handgun on the basis of a consensual search; (2) his Miranda rights were violated by subsequent statements of the police at the time the handgun was sought; (3) a statement given some 18 hours after his arrest was inadmissible; (4) the court erred in failing to give instructions on second degree manslaughter and self-defense; (5) there was insufficient evidence to support the verdict; and (6) cumulative error.

On September 1, 1979, at about 12:40 a.m., Collins turned to a man seated next to him in a tavern, and shot the man six times with a .38 caliber revolver. As the victim fell to the floor, Collins walked out the door. The victim died.

The police were called and three patrons identified Collins as sitting next to the victim; one saw the shooting and another identified Collins as having walked from the tavern with a gun in hand.

The investigating detective, Terry Thomas, knew Collins socially and knew he lived in a rooming house in Walla Walla. Thomas and another officer went to Collins' apartment and knocked on the door. Detective Thomas drew his gun and when Collins answered, arrested him, 1 handcuffed *4 him, and gave him his Miranda warnings. Collins was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, his appearance was disheveled, he was partially shaved, his eyes were watery, and there was an odor of alcohol on his breath, but his speech appeared to be balanced. His mannerism was calm and he appeared to be physically coordinated. The officers informed him he was charged with assault. Collins told the officers he did not wish to make any statement, whereupon Detective Thomas said it would be very helpful to the police if they had the gun that was used in the shooting. Collins volunteered to get it and without apparent difficulty, while his hands were handcuffed behind his back, he led the officers down a narrow stairway into his landlady's apartment. There, Collins asked the landlady to go back into her bedroom and, closing the bedroom door, directed the officers to a linen closet in the bathroom where they found a Colt Cobra .38 caliber pistol. The gun contained six spent shell casings.

Collins was taken to jail, where he slept, with one short interruption, for over 18 hours. In the early evening, he was brought to an interrogation room where he was again given his Miranda rights by Detective Thomas. Collins affirmed his understanding of those rights. When asked if he would discuss the matter with Detective Thomas, he responded he was "always willing to talk" to Detective Thomas. Collins went on to tell Detective Thomas he had been ripped off twice in the last 2 weeks. Collins said the bartender at another tavern had given him $100, in five $20 bills, which he had been keeping for Collins; and in the tavern where the shooting occurred, Collins was drinking coffee and had the money on the bar. While his recollection was hazy, he believed the man sitting next to him made a grab for the *5 money, as well as his wallet, and he thought he had seen the flash of a knife in the victim's possession. Collins told Detective Thomas he could remember the noise of shooting and the fire, but not the shooting itself. He then remembered going home and putting the gun in the bathroom linen closet.

We shall discuss the assignments of error as they occurred chronologically during the pretrial and trial proceedings.

Admissibility of the handgun and Collins' statement.

The trial court admitted the handgun on the basis that it was the result of a consensual search. The United States Supreme Court has distinguished between the standards to review the rights protected under the Fourth Amendment and those protected under the Fifth Amendment. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 36 L. Ed. 2d 854, 93 S. Ct. 2041 (1973); cf. State v. Murray, 86 Wn.2d 165, 543 P.2d 332 (1975) (distinguishing between the standards where the Fourth and Sixth Amendments of the federal constitution are involved). This distinction is based upon the premise that the Fourth Amendment serves: "different constitutional values — values reflecting the concern of our society for the right of each individual to be let alone", Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, supra at 242, while Fifth Amendment rights serve to protect a fair criminal trial and are an adjunct to the ascertainment of the truth. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, supra at 241.

We perceive Detective Thomas' request for the gun was improper under the Fifth Amendment, not the Fourth. In State v. Dennis, 16 Wn. App. 417, 558 P.2d 297 (1976), 2 an *6 officer, while awaiting the return of another officer with a corrected search warrant, had information that narcotics were in the defendant's residence and were located in a refrigerator. Circumstances occurred which made the officer believe that the narcotics might be disposed of before the other officer returned. He went to the apartment door, knocked, was admitted and advising the occupants of his purpose, secured the premises awaiting the other officer's return. 3 While there, he advised the defendant he knew of the narcotics sale, knew the narcotics were in the refrigerator, and suggested the defendant produce the drugs voluntarily rather than going to the trouble of a search. The defendant ultimately went to the refrigerator, removed the narcotics and placed them on the table before the officer, whereupon the defendant was arrested. The court noted that "This act served more graphically than words to convey the incriminating fact that he knew of the presence and precise location within his home of the contraband substance. " State v. Dennis, supra at 423. Here the delivery by Collins of a pistol containing six spent casings, from a location that without Collins' help might not have been otherwise discovered, spoke more graphically than any statement Collins might have made regarding his participation in the shooting.

A review of cases which have been decided subsequent to the suppression hearing and the trial is informative.

Since Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 10 A.L.R.3d 974 (1966), law enforcement officers about to conduct custodial interrogations have been required to give specified warnings and to "follow certain specified procedures during the course of any subsequent interrogation", Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U.S. 96, 100, *7 46 L. Ed. 2d 313, 96 S. Ct. 321, 324 (1975). 4

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State v. Collins, 632 P.2d 68, 30 Wash. App. 1 (Wash. Ct. App. 1981).

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