State v. Coyle

567 A.2d 870, 1989 Del. Super. LEXIS 446
CourtSuperior Court of Delaware
DecidedSeptember 29, 1989
StatusPublished

This text of 567 A.2d 870 (State v. Coyle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Coyle, 567 A.2d 870, 1989 Del. Super. LEXIS 446 (Del. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

HERLIHY, Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the motion of defendant Kevin Coyle [defendant] to suppress several statements he gave to law enforcement authorities. Defendant is charged with manslaughter (11 Del. C. § 632) arising out of a motor vehicle accident at Second and Adams Streets in the City of Wilmington on August 2, 1988 in which Brenda Walker [Walker] died.

I

Most of the facts developed at the suppression hearing are not in dispute. Patrolman Richard Wisher [Wisher] of the Wilmington Police Department responded to the scene of the accident at approximately 12:23 a.m. on August 2, 1988. He observed two vehicles, one was a Honda which still contained Walker laying seriously injured across the front seat and the other was a Bronco which the defendant was standing near.

Wisher asked the defendant if he had been driving the Bronco to which he replied “yes”. He asked the defendant for his license, registration and insurance. The defendant produced papers for the first [872]*872two requests but said he had no insurance. Wisher noticed an odor of alcohol on the defendant’s breath. During this initial conversation, Wisher also noted the defendant was a little unsteady on his feet and had a very slight speech slur. Wisher testified that at the end of this first interview, he was considering an arrest for driving under the influence. At no time during this initial conversation did Wisher advise defendant of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). At the conclusion of the first conversation, Wisher advised the defendant to remain by his vehicle. He did not issue a citation for failure to have insurance.

Fifteen minutes later, Wisher returned to the defendant who was still standing by his Bronco. In this intervening time, he learned that Walker's injuries were more serious than originally thought, possibly a fatality. Upon returning to the defendant, Wisher asked him how the accident happened, to which the defendant responded. Wisher also asked the defendant if he had been drinking and he said he had several beers. This admission was the only new information Wisher had at the second interview on the issue of defendant’s drinking. Wisher then placed him under arrest for driving under the influence, handcuffed him, read him his Miranda rights for the first time and placed him in a police car.

Patrolman Wayne Brown [Brown], a fatal accident investigator, arrived at the accident scene around 1:00 a.m. He saw the defendant handcuffed in the back of a police car. He was identified as the driver of the striking vehicle in a serious accident. Curiously, Brown did not discuss the situation with Wisher and did not learn or determine that the defendant was under arrest.

Brown made certain physical observations of the defendant and concluded he was too intoxicated to be driving. He explained to the defendant who he was, that there was a serious accident and then advised him of his Miranda rights. Brown asked the defendant if he had been drinking and was told he had had six beers. Brown placed the defendant under detention for further investigation, i.e., coordination and breathalyzer tests.

Brown and the defendant left the accident scene for the police station around 1:30 a.m. After coordination tests, two breathalyzer tests were administered, the last being at 2:54 a.m. Following that test, Brown asked the defendant the standard series of questions on the Alcohol Influence Report form. Brown arrested him for driving under the influence, returned the defendant to a cell and then returned to the accident scene for about two and one-half hours.

Brown learned around 4:00 a.m. that Walker had died. The investigation at the scene involved checking problems with the skid marks; examining the vehicles and gathering evidence. There was a concern about the impact on the evidence gathering due to the resumption of traffic flow through the scene.

Brown returned to the police station around 5:30-5:40 a.m. He contacted Deputy Attorney General Keith A. Trostle [Tros-tle] around 6:00 a.m. and around 6:30 a.m. he went to the defendant’s cell and took him to an interview room. Brown stated the defendant said little but that he asked what was going to happen to him and possible penalties.

Brown advised the defendant of Walker’s death. He advised him again of his Miranda rights. The atmosphere appeared cordial. After advising him of his rights, Brown asked six questions but before he asked the seventh, Brown testified that the defendant “told me that he didn’t want to answer any further questions, that he wanted to speak to an attorney.” Brown ended the interview.

The defendant was returned to his cell. No attorney was called and the Public Defender’s Office was not contacted. Defendant was not afforded an opportunity to contact a lawyer. Brown returned to the accident scene, apparently for several hours, in part to see it in daylight.

At 4:30-5:00 a.m. Brown believed he had enough information to arrest the defendant for vehicular homicide. He was, however, told by his supervisor to wait before mak[873]*873ing that arrest. He testified that the decision of what to charge and when was not his.

Municipal Court opened for business at 9:00 a.m. on August 2 and normally someone arrested for driving under the influence would have been taken to that Court at 9:00 a.m. This defendant was not. Brown had returned to the police station before 9:00 a.m. No paperwork was ever prepared memorializing the arrest for driving under the influence.

Attorney General Charles M. Oberly, III, contacted Deputy Attorney General Stephen M. Walther [Walther] around 9:30-10:00 a.m. requesting him to become involved in the investigation. Walther and Trostle met with several Wilmington police officers regarding the case but Brown was not one of them. The prosecutors were informed of some of what the investigation had determined and that the defendant had invoked his Miranda rights after being advised of them.

Walther indicated to the police that they must be aware of Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981) problems and not initiate any further conversations with the defendant, which advice was not passed onto Brown. Brown met with Trostle around noon after spending several hours at the police station writing reports and speaking with his supervisor.

At the noon meeting, Trostle requested the police to take the defendant to a hospital for a blood test, if the defendant consented. Brown and Patrolman Stewart [Stewart] went to the defendant in his cell and obtained the defendant’s consent. The three of them left for the hospital at 12:30 p.m. and on the way, Brown explained that the Attorney General’s Office requested a blood sample be taken.

At this point, the first significant divergence in the testimony appears. At the hospital, while waiting for the phlebotomist, Brown and Stewart (who did not testify at the hearing) discussed taking measurements and other investigative steps they could do differently in other investigations but in the context of this investigation. Brown testified that the defendant “suddenly initiated a conversation” with him which he took to be the defendant’s effort to begin explaining his version of the accident.

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Bluebook (online)
567 A.2d 870, 1989 Del. Super. LEXIS 446, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-coyle-delsuperct-1989.