State v. Fortner

387 S.E.2d 812, 182 W. Va. 345, 1989 W. Va. LEXIS 253
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 14, 1989
Docket18941
StatusPublished
Cited by92 cases

This text of 387 S.E.2d 812 (State v. Fortner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Fortner, 387 S.E.2d 812, 182 W. Va. 345, 1989 W. Va. LEXIS 253 (W. Va. 1989).

Opinion

MILLER, Justice:

This is an appeal by the defendant below, Winston C. Fortner, Jr., from his conviction in the Circuit Court of Cabell County of the crimes of abduction with intent to defile, kidnapping, sexual assault in the second degree, and sexual abuse in the first degree. The defendant contends (1) that his inculpatory statement should have been suppressed; (2) that the State withheld exculpatory evidence; (3) that there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions as an accomplice; (4) that the multiple convictions violate double jeopardy principles; and (5) that his sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. We find no error warranting reversal of the convictions, and we affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

The State’s evidence shows that the defendant spent the evening of July 2, 1985, in Raleigh County in the company of his cousin, Randy Fortner, and three acquaintances, Joseph Michael Redden and brothers Samuel and Richard Ellison. At approximately 10:00 p.m., after having visited several bars, the five men were driving around Beckley when they spotted a twenty-three-year-old woman using an outdoor pay phone at an abandoned convenience store. Richard Ellison grabbed the woman, told her he had a gun, and forced her into the car. Samuel Ellison then drove the group three or four miles to a wooded area at the end of a dirt road. Over the next two hours, the five men forced the woman to engage in multiple acts of sexual intercourse.

Despite her pleas to be released, the woman was then forced back into the car and driven around Beckley while her assailants discussed what to do with her. Eventually, the group drove to a tavern in Daniels, where Richard Ellison led the woman over a nearby hill to a creek bank, sexually assaulted her, and attempted to choke her. After about an hour, however, the woman *351 managed to convince Ellison to take her home. When they arrived at her apartment between 3:00 and 3:30 a.m. and found her husband waiting, Ellison fled.

In the following days, all five men were arrested. A Raleigh County grand jury subsequently returned an indictment charging the defendant with ten counts of second-degree sexual assault, ten counts of first-degree sexual abuse, two counts of conspiracy, and one count each of kidnapping and abduction with intent to defile. Due to adverse publicity in Raleigh County, a change of venue was granted, and trial commenced in the Circuit Court of Cabell County on October 21, 1986.

At trial, the defendant admitted engaging in two separate acts of intercourse with the victim in the wooded area, but asserted that he had participated only because he feared what his companions might do or say if he intervened on her behalf or refused to go along. The defendant denied having encouraged or assisted the others in committing offenses against the victim. This testimony was directly contradicted by the victim, who testified that the defendant actively participated in all aspects of her ordeal.

On October 23, 1986, the jury found the defendant guilty of all charges except conspiracy. The circuit court denied the defendant’s motion for a new trial and imposed consecutive and concurrent sentences approximating a term of not less than thirty-six nor more than eighty-five years in prison. This appeal ensued.

I

The defendant first contends that the trial court erred in failing to suppress an incriminating statement he gave the police prior to his arrest. The defendant asserts that he was not taken before a magistrate without undue delay as required by W.Va. Code, 62-1-5, and Rule 5(a) of the West Virginia Rules of Criminal Procedure 1 and that the statement was therefore inadmissible.

We have recognized that delay in presenting an accused to a magistrate after arrest may render a confession obtained in the interim inadmissible at trial. State v. Dyer, 177 W.Va. 567, 355 S.E.2d 356 (1987); State v. Wyant, 174 W.Va. 567, 328 S.E.2d 174 (1985); State v. Persinger, 169 W.Va. 121, 286 S.E.2d 261 (1982). We have consistently held, however, that such a delay is merely one factor to be considered in evaluating the voluntariness of the confession in light of the totality of the circumstances. State v. Moss, 180 W.Va. 280, 376 S.E.2d 569 (1988); State v. Persinger, supra; State v. Mason, 162 W.Va. 297, 249 S.E.2d 793 (1978). As we stated in Syllabus Point 1 of State v. Guthrie, 173 W.Va. 290, 315 S.E.2d 397 (1984):

“ ‘The delay in taking a defendant to a magistrate may be a critical factor [in the totality of circumstances making a confession involuntary and hence inadmissible] where it appears that the primary purpose of the delay was to obtain a confession from the defendant.’ Syllabus Point 6, State v. Persinger, [169] W.Va. [121], 286 S.E.2d 261 (1982), as amended.”

The testimony at trial 2 indicated that the defendant is related to the wife of a Beckley police detective. On July 4, 1985, while attending a picnic at the detective’s home, the defendant approached the detective and stated that he wished to go to Beckley to talk to the police. The detective drove the defendant to the Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department, where, after having *352 been advised of his Miranda rights, 3 the defendant gave a statement implicating himself in the crimes against the victim. A transcript of the tape-recorded statement was prepared by the police and signed by the defendant, who was then placed under arrest and transported to the Beckley Police Department for processing. He was then taken before a magistrate where formal warrants for his arrest on abduction and sexual assault charges were issued.

We cannot say that these facts demonstrate a violation of the prompt presentment rule so as to render the defendant’s statement inadmissible at trial. By their terms, W.Va.Code, 62-1-5, and W.Va. R.Crim.P. 5(a) specify that the prompt presentment rule does not come into play until the police arrest or have probable cause to arrest the accused. As we stated in Syllabus Point 2 of State v. Humphrey, 177 W.Va. 264, 351 S.E.2d 613 (1986):

“Our prompt presentment rule contained in W.Va.Code, 62-1-5, and Rule 5(a) of the West Virginia Rules of Criminal Procedure, is triggered when an accused is placed under arrest. Furthermore, once a defendant is in police custody with sufficient probable cause to warrant an arrest, the prompt presentment rule is also triggered.”

Here, it appears that the defendant voluntarily initiated contact with the police and requested an opportunity to make a statement. There is no evidence in the record before this Court to indicate that the police had probable cause to arrest the defendant or even considered him a suspect until he made the incriminating statement.

Moreover, we have also recognized that “[o]ne of the primary purposes of a prompt presentment statute is to ensure that the police do not use the delay to extract a confession from a defendant through prolonged interrogation.” State v. Hutcheson, 177 W.Va.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
387 S.E.2d 812, 182 W. Va. 345, 1989 W. Va. LEXIS 253, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-fortner-wva-1989.