State v. Gibson

322 P.3d 389, 299 Kan. 207
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedApril 18, 2014
DocketNo. 106,646
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 322 P.3d 389 (State v. Gibson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Gibson, 322 P.3d 389, 299 Kan. 207 (kan 2014).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Biles, J.:

Kelvin H. Gibson, Jr., appeals his first-degree murder and aggravated robbery convictions, raising two issues related to the district court’s determination that inculpatory statements he made to police were voluntary. First, he contends the court failed to make necessary factfindings when concluding the statements [209]*209were voluntary; and, alternatively, the record is insufficient to support that conclusion. Second, he argues structural error occurred when he was not allowed to testify in support of his motion to reconsider. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

Gibson was convicted in the October 6, 2008, killing of Phillip Martin, who was found dead on his kitchen floor from multiple gunshot wounds in what appeared to be a drug-related crime. See State v. Harris, 297 Kan. 1076, 306 P.3d 282 (2013) (affirming convictions of Katron Harris involving the same killing).

While investigating, police learned Martin had sold drugs from his home and that Gibson may have been involved with Martin’s drug transactions. Officers located Gibson, who was 17 years old at the time. He gave detectives two statements in which he implicated himself in the killings. He was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated robbeiy.

Before trial, the State moved for a determination as to the admissibility of Gibson’s inculpatory statements to police. The district court conducted an evidentiary hearing at which Gibson had the opportunity to challenge tire voluntariness of those statements. See State v. Bogguess, 293 Kan. 743, 751, 268 P.3d 481 (2012) (State has burden to prove defendant’s statement was voluntary; truthfulness not at issue); accord Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 376, 84 S. Ct. 1774, 12 L. Ed. 2d 908 (1964).

At the outset of the hearing, the district court asked if Gibson intended to call any witnesses. His attorney responded in the negative. The State called only one witness, William Michael, a police detective. We draw the facts relating to Gibson’s two statements primarily from Michael’s testimony, except as indicated.

The October 12, 2008, interview

The detectives located Gibson on October 12,2008, at his home. Gibson was in the backyard. He was not a suspect at this time. The detectives identified themselves and told Gibson they were investigating Martin’s killing. They asked Gibson if he would accompany them to their office to discuss his association with Martin. The [210]*210detectives knew they would have had no choice but to leave if Gibson said he did not wish to talk with them, but Gibson agreed to go.

Before they left for the station, Gibson said he was at Martin’s house during the shooting. Michael testified that this statement still did not make Gibson a suspect but did make him “a very good witness.” Gibson was not under arrest, was not placed in handcuffs, and the detectives did not consider him to be in custody. They went to the station in the detectives’ vehicle. Michael could not recall Gibson asking whether he could contact his parents.

The detectives placed Gibson in an interview room at about 4 p.m. and began the interview at approximately 4:30 or 5 p.m. The only people in the room were Gibson and the two detectives. Gibson was not initially advised of his Miranda rights because he was only a possible witness, not a suspect. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, reh. denied 385 U.S. 890 (1966).

During the interview, Gibson admitted taking part in the shooting. He told the detectives two other individuals—“Tyree” and “D’Andre”—entered Martin’s house, shot Martin, and told Gibson to shoot Martin or they would kill him too. At that point, the detectives stopped the questioning and administered the Miranda rights to Gibson. They did this by giving Gibson an “advice of rights” form that had the Miranda warnings printed on it. The detectives had Gibson read the form out loud to make sure he was a competent reader. Gibson read the Miranda rights, and Michael read them back to him. Michael circled the word “coercion” and explained to Gibson that it meant “force.” Michael told him the detectives did not want to force him to say anything that he did not understand or without knowing what he was doing. Gibson signed the form, which was admitted as evidence at the Jackson v. Denno hearing.

Michael testified Gibson’s demeanor did not change after he was Mirandized. He described Gibson as cooperative and very polite during questioning. Gibson did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, did not slur his speech, and responded appropriately to questions. On cross-examination, Michael said [211]*211Gibson did not say he was on any lands of drugs—a point Gibson later disputed, but not at the hearing.

Michael could not recall Gibson’s age at the time of the interview, although the detective’s notes reflected that he knew Gibson was 17. He also did not recall asking Gibson about his education level. But Michael testified that nothing indicated to him that Gibson was too young to understand what was happening.

The detectives later took a recorded video statement from Gibson at approximately 7:45 p.m., some 3½ hours after arriving at the police station. A transcript from that recorded statement was admitted at the hearing. That transcript was not included with the record on appeal, but the video is part of the record. It reflects that, during this interview, Gibson told the detectives he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol but had smoked marijuana hours before the officers made contact with him at his home. Gibson also acknowledged that prior to the making of the recorded statement, he had examined computerized mug shots with the officers in an effort to identify Tyree or D’Andre and had taken bréales to smoke cigarettes.

During the entire encounter, Gibson did not ask to stop, did not ask for an attorney, and did not revoke his Miranda waiver. Michael testified he would have let Gibson call his parents any time during the “witness” portion of the interview, but only “in a timely fashion” during the custodial portion. Michal also testified neither detective raised his or her voice to Gibson. No physical threats, verbal threats, or promises were made. Michael did admit, though, that he might have told Gibson not to “bullshit” him.

The October 14, 2008, interview

After the first interview, the detectives investigated the individuals Gibson identified as Tyree and D’Andre. Tyree did not appear to be a suspect, and the detectives could not locate D’Andre. To follow up, the detectives went to the juvenile detention center where Gibson was being held. They Mirandized Gibson again, and Gibson signed another waiver form after the detectives went over it again with him. That form was also admitted as an exhibit at the hearing. The detectives did not make physical or verbal threats. [212]*212Gibson did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Michael testified the questioning was not confrontational.

The video recording made during this interview was 37 minutes long.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
322 P.3d 389, 299 Kan. 207, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gibson-kan-2014.