State v. Martinez

657 N.W.2d 600, 2003 Minn. App. LEXIS 252, 2003 WL 894549
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedMarch 4, 2003
DocketC2-02-333
StatusPublished

This text of 657 N.W.2d 600 (State v. Martinez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Martinez, 657 N.W.2d 600, 2003 Minn. App. LEXIS 252, 2003 WL 894549 (Mich. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

STONEBURNER, Judge.

Appellant Lauro Balleza Martinez challenges his conviction of first-degree controlled-substance crime in violation of Minn.Stat. § 152.021, subds. 1(1) and (3)(a) (2000). Martinez argues that the district court abused its discretion by denying his pre-trial request to impeach a police officer with an untrue statement that the officer made in the course of interrogating Martinez, even though Martinez had successfully moved to suppress his statements made during the interrogation as involuntary. Martinez also argues that he did not properly waive his right to a jury trial. Because the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying use of the untrue *602 statement to impeach the officer, and because Martinez waived his right to a jury trial on the record, we affirm.

FACTS

Appellant Lauro Balleza Martinez was charged with a first-degree controlled-substance crime, in violation of Minn.Stat. § 152.021, subds. 1(1) and (3)(a), for selling 13 grams of cocaine in a “controlled buy.” While interrogating Martinez, a police officer misrepresented the number of controlled buys that the police had made from Martinez. The officer intentionally used the misrepresentation as a tactic to gain Martinez’s cooperation in a larger investigation.

The district court granted Martinez’s motion to suppress statements he made during the interrogation. The district court found that, although no single police statement was overly coercive, the interrogation improperly pressured Martinez by threatening incarceration or suggesting favorable treatment in exchange for cooperation.

Martinez then moved for permission to impeach the officer with his false statement and for an order barring the state from attempting to rehabilitate the officer by introducing any part of the suppressed interrogation. The district court denied the motion, concluding that the officer’s statement was probably not indicative of a general character for truthfulness and that the prejudice resulting from such use of the statement, out of context, outweighed its probative value.

Martinez agreed to submit his case to the district court on stipulated facts, under Minn. R.Crim. P. 26.01, subd. 3. The district court found Martinez guilty, and he was sentenced. This appeal followed.

ISSUES

I. Is an untrue statement used by a police officer as a tactic during an interrogation probative of the officer’s truthfulness or untruthfulness such that it could be used to impeach the officer’s credibility?

II. Did the district court abuse its discretion by determining that use of a police officer’s untrue statement to impeach his trial testimony would be overly prejudicial when the prosecution was precluded from introducing evidence of the context of the statement?

III. Did Martinez knowingly waive his right to a jury trial?

ANALYSIS

I.

District courts are afforded broad discretion in evidentiary rulings. State v. Aubid, 591 N.W.2d 472, 478 (Minn.1999). Absent a clear abuse of discretion, a district court’s evidentiary rulings will not be disturbed on appeal. State v. Bjork, 610 N.W.2d 632, 636 (Minn.2000).

A witness’s credibility may be attacked by specific instances of conduct if they are probative of the witness’s character for truthfulness or untruthfulness. Minn. R. Evid. 608(b). Martinez characterizes the officer’s untrue statement as “a legitimate piece of impeachment evidence.” But the district court noted that the officer’s untrue statement is not necessarily legitimate impeachment evidence. We agree.

Use of false statements by police officers during interrogations of suspects has been widely discussed, particularly in the context of how such deceit affects the volun-tariness of a suspect’s statement. See State v. Thaggard, 527 N.W.2d 804, 808-9 *603 (Minn.1995) (quoting at length the Commentary to § 14.04 of the Model Code of Pre-Arraignment Procedure (1975)). The supreme court has consistently held that use of trickery and deceit as a police tactic does not necessarily make the suspect’s response involuntary. Id. at 810 (declining to adopt a per se rule of exclusion, but cautioning police that they proceed at their own risk when they use deception); State v. Moorman, 505 N.W.2d 593, 600 (Minn.1993) (holding that officer’s false statement to suspect during interrogation did not make confession involuntary where interrogating officers used no threats or intimidation, defendant had experience in criminal-justice system, and defendant was of sufficient age and intelligence to understand situation in which he found himself); State v. Williams, 535 N.W.2d 277, 287 (Minn.1995) (stating that trustworthiness of confession should not always be discounted because investigative officers might have made discursive or imprecise statements to defendant); Frazier v. Cupp, 394 U.S. 731, 739, 89 S.Ct. 1420, 1425, 22 L.Ed.2d 684 (1969) (holding that police misrepresentation to suspect during interrogation did not render confession involuntary).

Despite the risk that use of deceptive statements will result in exclusion of a statement, there is no authority suggesting that use of deception as a tactic implicates an officer’s credibility under oath. We conclude that use of a deceptive statement as an interrogation technique is generally not relevant to a determination of an officer’s character for truthfulness. The district court did not abuse its discretion in this case by denying Martinez’s request to impeach the officer with the untrue statement on the basis that the statement was not probative of the officer’s truthfulness.

II.

The district court also reasoned that, even if the statement is probative of the officer’s truthfulness, admitting the officer’s statement out of context would result in unfair prejudice to the state that would outweigh any probative value. The state was precluded from introducing context evidence because involuntary statements cannot be used for any purpose at trial. Mincey v. Arizona, 437 U.S. 385, 401-2, 98 S.Ct. 2408, 2418, 57 L.Ed.2d 290 (1978); State v. Sutherlin, 396 N.W.2d 238, 243 (Minn.1986) (holding that state may not use coerced statement even for impeachment). Therefore, the district court denied Martinez the use of the untrue statement to impeach the officer’s character because its prejudicial effect outweighed its probative value.

Martinez argues that holding his use of the officer’s untrue statement “hostage” to the introduction of related suppressed statements amounts to the

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Related

Frazier v. Cupp
394 U.S. 731 (Supreme Court, 1969)
Mincey v. Arizona
437 U.S. 385 (Supreme Court, 1978)
State v. Thaggard
527 N.W.2d 804 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1995)
State v. Aubid
591 N.W.2d 472 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1999)
State v. Bjork
610 N.W.2d 632 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2000)
State v. Williams
535 N.W.2d 277 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1995)
State v. Sutherlin
396 N.W.2d 238 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1986)
State v. Moorman
505 N.W.2d 593 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1993)
State v. Sandmoen
390 N.W.2d 419 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
657 N.W.2d 600, 2003 Minn. App. LEXIS 252, 2003 WL 894549, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-martinez-minnctapp-2003.