State v. Finonen

356 P.3d 656, 272 Or. App. 589, 2015 Ore. App. LEXIS 951
Court of Appeals of Oregon·Decided July 29, 2015·No. 111135003; A151989·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

HADLOCK, J.

Under Article I, section 12, of the Oregon Constitution, law enforcement officers must “inform a person subjected to custodial interrogation that he or she has a right to remain silent and to consult with counsel and that any statements that the person makes may be used against the person in a criminal prosecution.” State v. Vondehn, 348 Or 462, 474, 236 P3d 691 (2010).1 An exclusionary rule applies when an officer does not meet that obligation:

“If the police conduct a custodial interrogation without first obtaining a knowing and voluntary waiver of the suspect’s rights, then they violate the suspect’s Article I, section 12, rights. To give effect to those constitutional rights, the state is precluded from using, in a criminal prosecution, statements made in response to the interrogation.”

Id.; see also State v. Delong, 357 Or 365, 372, 350 P3d 433 (2015) (discussing Vondehn). That exclusionary rule is not limited to precluding the state from using statements unlawfully obtained from a defendant during the state’s case-in-chief. Rather, the exclusionary rule also bars the state from impeaching a defendant on cross-examination with statements that the defendant made during custodial interrogation, after law enforcement officers delivered Miranda warnings but then ignored the defendant’s request for counsel. State v. Isom, 306 Or 587, 594, 761 P2d 524 (1988). This case presents the question expressly left open in Isom: whether a defendant’s uncounseled statements are inadmissible for impeachment purposes, when the defendant made those statements during custodial interrogation and “no warnings were given and no request for a lawyer was ever made.” Id.2 [592] For the reasons set out below, we hold that such statements are inadmissible for impeachment purposes. Accordingly, we reverse and remand.3

The facts leading up to defendant’s conviction on assault charges are not in dispute. Defendant immigrated to the United States from Micronesia in 2007. English is not his native language. A language expert who assessed defendant testified that his ability to understand and communicate in English is “at a very basic level.”

Defendant and his roommate, A, had a drunken argument at a friend’s apartment that escalated into a physical altercation. The altercation ended with A suffering a serious slash wound to the chest and abdomen. Other than defendant and A, no witnesses saw how the wound was inflicted, and, as we explain in more detail below, the two men told different stories about it.

After the altercation ended, A’s brother-in-law, Ludwig, came out of the apartment and discovered A lying on the ground. He went back inside and asked someone to call for an ambulance, then came back outside and saw defendant. Ludwig grabbed defendant by the jacket and asked him what had happened. Defendant slipped out of his jacket and fled. He was stopped by a police officer a few blocks away. After the officer patted him down, defendant sat on the sidewalk while the officer awaited instructions. A few minutes later, defendant looked at the officer and said, “I fucked up,” and then, “Fucking pissed me off.” The officer eventually took defendant to the police station.

[593] Defendant was interviewed at the police station by Detectives Dran and Sharp. At the outset, Dran read defendant’s Miranda rights to him from a printed sheet. He then asked defendant if he understood his rights. Defendant responded, “Yes, no, maybe so.” Dran asked again if he understood, and defendant said, “Yes, no, everything, yes, no, everything, yes, no, everything.” Dran told defendant that he was “not in the mood to play silly, stupid games.” Defendant protested that he was not stupid. Dran said, “I did not call you stupid. Listen. Listen. I don’t want to play silly games. I asked you a simple question, do you understand your rights. The answer is, yes, I understand; or no, I don’t understand. Okay?” Defendant responded incoherently.

Sharp asked defendant whether he had been drinking, and an exchange ensued about how much alcohol defendant had consumed and whether he was still drunk. Dran then attempted to explain the seriousness of the situation to defendant and began reading the Miranda warnings again. Before he finished, defendant, who thought that Dran was the officer who had arrested him and to whom he had made several statements, interjected and said that everything that he had said earlier was true. Dran said that he had not been the arresting officer and then returned to the issue of defendant’s rights: “So, uhm, do you want me to read these rights to you again, or do you—do you understand your rights that I read to you?” Defendant mumbled, “Yeah, I understand (inaudible).” Dran asked again: “You understand these rights I read to you? You understand this stuff?” Defendant nodded.

Dran then began asking about the incident with A. Defendant said that A had “pissed [him] off” and that he had punched A and then run away. He said that, after he had been arrested, he told the arresting officer, “Somebody fucking piss me off, I punch you, I’m taking off.” Later, Dran asked defendant why he had run away after punching A. Defendant told Dran, “I’m nervous for the cops. He told me, Tuck you!’ I told [him], ‘You, fuck you, you fucking wait, the fucking cops is coming for you.’” Dran concluded the interview shortly thereafter. At some point during the interview, defendant made a “punching motion” to demonstrate to the officers how he had hit A.

[594] Defendant was charged with one count of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree assault. While he was in jail awaiting trial, defendant had several telephone conversations with a friend, Hutchinson. In one conversation, defendant told Hutchinson that he had hurt A because A talked too much.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State v. Finonen, 356 P.3d 656, 272 Or. App. 589, 2015 Ore. App. LEXIS 951 (Or. Ct. App. 2015).

356 P.3d 656 (State v. Finonen) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Moran
341 Or. App. 309 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)
State v. Tschida
338 Or. App. 486 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2025)
State v. Taylor
438 P.3d 419 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2019)
State v. Harryman
371 P.3d 1213 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2016)