State v. Dotson

747 So. 2d 686, 98 La.App. 3 Cir. 926, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 3282, 1999 WL 1066875
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 24, 1999
DocketNo. K98-926
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 747 So. 2d 686 (State v. Dotson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Dotson, 747 So. 2d 686, 98 La.App. 3 Cir. 926, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 3282, 1999 WL 1066875 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

I WOODARD, Judge.

Ms. Deirdre Dotson, the Applicant, is charged with the second degree murder of Mr. Albert Dotson, a violation of La.R.S. 14:30.1. She filed a motion to suppress a statement that she gave to Detective Ram-bi Cormier from the Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF) of the Lake Charles Police Department (LCPD). After a suppression hearing held on April 8, 1998, the trial court denied her motion on May 21, 1998. Ms. Dotson sought a writ of certiorari with this court. In our ruling issued on September 29, 1998, we granted the writ, in part, and denied it, in part. Both she and the State filed writs to the Louisiana Supreme Court which remanded the case for briefing, argument, and opinion. After reconsideration, we grant Ms. Dotson’s writ and reverse the trial court’s decision.

| .FACTS

At some time between 11:00 p.m. and midnight on July 11-12, 1997, Officer William Kettler of the LCPD, followed shortly thereafter by Corporal Phillip Robertson, responded to a shooting at Ms. Dotson’s residence. The officers were responding [688]*688to a 911 call which she had made. Upon arriving, they discovered Mr. Albert Dotson, of no relation, near death, lying face down on the floor. It was later learned, through Ms. Dotson, that Mr. Dotson had gained access to her home through deceptive means, identifying himself as someone else when she asked who was at the door before opening it and, then, forcing his way in, after which he began choking her and threatening to kill her that night.

When Officer Kettler arrived, he asked Ms. Dotson what had happened. After she explained, he Mirandized her. Corporal Robertson transported her to the LCPD for questioning, and Detective Rambi Cor-mier, from the LCPD’s VCTF, was called in to investigate. At Ms. Dotson’s request, Corporal Robertson called Officer Donald Shillow of the LCPD, a friend of hers well known to the other officers. He briefed Officer Shillow on what had happened and that Ms. Dotson wanted to talk to him. Officer Shillow arrived at the LCPD shortly after the call and was permitted to meet with her where she was being held in the Detective Division. As a result of their conversation, they agreed that she needed representation and that he should call Mr. Ron Ware, a defense attorney known to both of them, on her behalf. He did so, immediately, at the station, and Mr. Ware told him that he would be right there. Ms. Dotson testified that Officer Shillow related this information to her, and Mr. Ware asserted that when he did get to see Ms. Dotson, she immediately told him, “I was looking for you.”

Wflien Detective Cormier arrived at the LCPD around 1:00 a.m., he was told that Ms. Dotson had shot and killed the victim and that she had been informed of her Miranda rights. He went to the Detective Division and asked her if she would talk to him at the VCTF. When she agreed, he stated that he, again, advised her of her rights. Then, they walked through the LCPD’s back steps, where he recalled exchanging a few words with Officer Shillow before driving her to the VCTF.

At 1:35 a.m., in the presence of Officer Lucky Delouche and Assistant District Attorney Wayne Frey, Detective Cormier began a videotaped interview with Ms. Dotson.

_J¿_Mr. Ware arrived there at some time after the interview started. He saw Ms. Dotson’s parents who, he said, also requested, within five minutes of his arrival, that he represent their daughter. Then, he spoke to Mr. Frey and told him that he was there to see his client, Deirdre Dotson. Mr. Frey refused to let him see her until they had completed the interview. At trial, Mr. Frey explained:

I indicated to him [Ware] that Ms. Dotson had said that she did not want an attorney, and that I had no one in the Violent Task Force Offices that was requesting an attorney and I refused to allow his admission.... “You are not telling me that you are representing her. She has said she doesn’t have an attorney and does not want an attorney.”

The officers proceeded with the interview without asking Ms. Dotson if she had requested Mr. Ware’s presence and without informing her that he was there.

Ms. Dotson was subsequently charged with second degree murder, a violation of La.R.S. 14:30.1. On May 21, 1998, after a suppression hearing held on April 8, 1998, the trial court denied her motion to suppress the statement that she gave at the VCTF. She filed a writ with this court, and on September 29, 1998, we ruled as follows:

WRIT DENIED IN PART; WRIT GRANTED AND MADE PEREMPTORY IN PART: We uphold the trial court’s ruling as to the portion of the Defendant’s statement, including the videotaped version, made before the interrogating officers were aware that an attorney was present and had requested to speak to the Defendant. However, we find the portion of the statement given after this point should have been suppressed because the officers failed to [689]*689inform the Defendant that counsel was available and had requested to speak with her. See State v. Matthews, 408 So.2d 1274 (La.1982), appeal after remand, 450 So.2d 644 (La.1984) and State v. Serrato, 424 So.2d 214 (La.1982). Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s ruling as to this portion of the statement, including the videotaped version, and remand this case for further proceedings consistent herewith.

Both the Defendant and the State filed writs to the Louisiana Supreme Court which remanded the case for briefing, argument, and opinion. State v. Dotson, 98-2630 (La.7/2/99); 745 So.2d 626 and 98-2764 (La.7/2/99); 745 So.2d 627.

[¿ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR
The trial court erred in:
1. Finding that Ms. Dotson did not invoke her right to counsel.
2. Finding that Lake Charles Police Officer Donald Shillow’s knowledge of her invocation of her right to counsel was not imputable to his fellow law enforcement officers.
3. Holding that it was proper for the police to continue to question her after her attorney had arrived and demanded to see her, and in withholding that information from her.
4. Refusing to suppress her videotaped statement, which statement was obtained in violation of her constitutionally protected rights.

LAW

Invocation op the Right to Counsel

Ms. Dotson urges that she invoked her right to counsel when she asked Officer Shillow to contact Mr. Ware on her behalf and that she felt no need to request an attorney, again, when the officers read her rights because she had already done so and knew that Mr. Ware was on his way, as Officer Shillow had so informed her. On the other hand, the State argues that because she did not ask one of the other officers with whom she came into contact, she never requested an attorney and that she intelligently and voluntarily waived her right to one.

The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution sets forth an individual’s right to assistance of counsel in a criminal investigation. This Sixth Amendment right does not attach until adversarial criminal proceedings are initiated, Davis v. U.S., 512 U.S. 452, 114 S.Ct. 2350, 129 L.Ed.2d 362 (1994), which means that, under this Amendment, the suspect of a criminal investigation has no constitutional right to be assisted by counsel. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
747 So. 2d 686, 98 La.App. 3 Cir. 926, 1999 La. App. LEXIS 3282, 1999 WL 1066875, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dotson-lactapp-1999.