State v. Jones

582 P.2d 645, 119 Ariz. 555, 1978 Ariz. App. LEXIS 558
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMay 3, 1978
Docket2 CA-CR 1228
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 582 P.2d 645 (State v. Jones) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Jones, 582 P.2d 645, 119 Ariz. 555, 1978 Ariz. App. LEXIS 558 (Ark. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

OPINION

HOWARD, Judge.

On September 2, 1976, Barbara Blakely’s van was stolen from a parking lot. Ten days later appellant was stopped for a traffic violation while driving the van in Phoenix, Arizona. A registration check was run on the vehicle which led to appellant’s arrest. After appellant was advised of his rights at the scene, he refused to answer any questions because he had “. fallen for it before . . .” and he requested an attorney. The arresting officer failed to honor appellant’s invocation of his rights and confronted appellant with a purse which he found in the van. This purse contained identification showing its owner to be Barbara Blakely. Appellant told the officer that the purse belonged to his girlfriend.

Appellant was taken to the police station. On the way upstairs to the detective section he volunteered that he expected to do a lot of time in prison. He was taken to a Sgt. Bender. Bender ran a records check on appellant with revealed an extensive criminal record. He began questioning appellant about this record and a conversation ensued between them concerning it. The arresting officer later joined in this conversation during which appellant volunteered information about the present offense which led Bender to inquire of the arresting officer whether appellant had been informed of his rights. Bender was told that appellant had been informed and declined to make any statement. Bender then told appellant he need not continue the conversation but appellant said he did not care and went on to make statements concerning his possession of the van.

Appellant was kept in custody for four days and then released, no charges having been filed. On October 5, 1976, appellant was arrested in California on a fugitive warrant for the theft of the van. Extradition proceedings culminated in his return to Arizona on February 1, 1977. His initial appearance was on February 2, 1977, at which time the public defender was appointed to represent him. On February 9, 1977, Det. Spivey, who was on that day scheduled to appear before the grand jury, went to see appellant at the Pima County Jail. Prior to going there, the officer had read the report made by the Phoenix police.

Spivey introduced himself to appellant. He told appellant that he wanted to get acquainted with him a little bit because he had to make a grand jury appearance and, never having had the occasion to meet him, wanted to be able to associate the name with the face. Spivey told him he wanted to “rap” with him for a while and find out where he came from. Spivey and appellant talked about his background, his ex-wife and children and future sociological counseling. They also talked about his past record and his drinking problem. Spivey then advised appellant of his “Miranda ” rights. After appellant indicated that he understood those rights, Spivey told him that the questions he asked him and any answers appellant gave would be presented to the grand jury and also that the information given by appellant would be used in any subsequent court proceeding. Appellant asked Spivey the purpose of the grand jury and was told that it would decide whether or not he should stand trial for his involvement in this incident. Spivey also *557 told him that the only information he had available was what he had read in the police report and that he would like a more balanced version of what had happened. Appellant then gave him his version of the incident which was presented by Spivey to the grand jury and later introduced into evidence, over objection, at the trial.

The trial court granted appellant’s motion to suppress all statements made to the police in Phoenix, except for the statement about going to prison. Appellant contends that the court erred in not suppressing his statements to Spivey for two reasons: (1) He should not have been interrogated without the presence of his court-appointed counsel, and (2) the “Miranda” warnings and his waiver of rights thereunder should have taken place prior to the commencement of any conversation.

The law is quite clear in Arizona that a confession is not made involuntary by the mere fact that it was made outside the presence of the defendant’s attorney. State ex rel. Berger v. Superior Court, 105 Ariz. 553, 468 P.2d 580 (1970); State v. Richmond, 23 Ariz.App. 342, 533 P.2d 553 (1975). 1 While in these latter two cases the defendant was the one who initiated the contact with the officers who took his statement, such distinction does not change the rule, which has been applied by the Ninth Circuit in cases where the initial contact was made by the law enforcement officers instead of the defendant. See, United States v. Zamora-Yescas, 460 F.2d 1272 (9th Cir. 1972); Coughlan v. United States, 391 F.2d 371 (9th Cir. 1968). We are therefore left with the question of whether the technique employed by Spivey complied with the requirements of “Miranda ”.

In order to admit into evidence appellant’s statement to Spivey, it was incumbent upon the state to show that it was the result of an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege. Brewer v. Williams, supra; Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938). Citing the case of People v. Honeycutt, 20 Cal.3d 150, 141 Cal.Rptr. 698, 570 P.2d 1050 (1977), appellant contends that failure to read him his “Miranda ” rights and secure a waiver thereof prior to speaking to him in the first instance, rendered his statements to Spivey inadmissible. The state contends that as long as appellant made no incriminating or exculpatory statements prior to the time the warning was given, “Miranda ” was not violated and the waiver of his rights satisfied federal constitutional requirements.

In Honeycutt, the California Supreme Court noted that “Miranda” nowhere expressly disapproves the conversation-warning-interrogation sequence. It then condemned that procedure and held that the statement made by the defendant was inadmissible. However, the facts in Honeycutt are significantly different.

In Honeycutt the police secured a decision from the defendant to talk about the crime at the end of the conversation phase and prior to giving him his “Miranda" warnings. That did not happen here. We must therefore focus upon appellant’s alleged waiver. If it were satisfactorily shown to the trial court that his waiver was the result of the failure to give the “Miranda ” warning at the inception of the conversation, then appellant would present a different situation for us to consider. At the motion to suppress, appellant did not claim that the friendly conversation engaged in prior to the “Miranda”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
582 P.2d 645, 119 Ariz. 555, 1978 Ariz. App. LEXIS 558, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jones-arizctapp-1978.