State v. Schneider

483 S.W.3d 495, 2016 Mo. App. LEXIS 247, 2016 WL 1091896
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 15, 2016
DocketNo. ED 102582
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 483 S.W.3d 495 (State v. Schneider) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Schneider, 483 S.W.3d 495, 2016 Mo. App. LEXIS 247, 2016 WL 1091896 (Mo. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

KURT S. ODENWALD, Judge

Introduction

Appellant Raymond Schneider (“Schneider”) appeals from the judgment of the trial court, following a jury trial, convicting him on seven counts of possession of child pornography under Section 573.037.1 Schneider raises two points on appeal. First, Schneider claims the trial court erred in denying Schneider’s motion to suppress his confession because police extracted the confession in a custodial interrogation without advising Schneider of his Miranda2 rights. Second, Schneider claims the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence that police officers found thousands of uncharged files containing child pornography in Schneider’s various computers and hard drives.

Because Schneider whs not in the custody of police officers when he made his confession, advising Schneider of his Miranda rights was not required and the trial court did not err in denying Schneider’s motion to suppress. Because evidence of additional child-pornography files found on Schneider’s computers and hard drives ■was relevant to prove an absence of mistake, the trial court committed no error in admitting this evidence. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.-of the-trial court.

Factual and Procedural History

1. Underlying Questioning and Confession

Schneider received a call on his cell phone from Detective Michael Coyne (“Det. Coyne”) while he, was out, shopping. Det. Coyne informed Schneider that police were executing a search warrant at Schneider’s home. Det. Coyne told Schneider that he could come home for more information. Det. Coyne testified he did not order Schneider to come home. Schneider finished shopping, retrieved his car, picked up his son, and returned home.

About an hour later, Schneider arrived home with his son in the car. A marked police van and several unmarked cars sat outside Schneider’s home. Lieutenant Mateja (“Lt. Mateja”) spoke with Schneider in the front yard. Lt. Mateja told Schneider that he was mot under arrest and was free to leave, but he could go inside to speak with Det. Coyne if he wanted. Schneider left his son in the car and went inside to speak with Det. Coyne.

Schneider and Det. Coyne sat down at the kitchen table, with Schneider sitting between Det. Coyne and the "front door of the home. Lt. Mateja, four other armed officers, and one civilian crime scene technician moved about the home collecting evidence. Lt. Mateja occasionally stopped in the kitchen to participate in the interview. Schneider retained his car keys and cell phone, and was not physically re[498]*498strained, Det. Coyne placed an audio recorder on the kitchen table and began to interview Schneider. Det. Coyne did not advise Schneider of his Miranda rights.

The interview lasted approximately one hour arid'fifteen niinutes. • Det. Coyne first asked Schneider about his computers. Schneider ‘told Det. Coyne that ‘his’computers contained torrent programs, which Schneider used to download files from the internet. Schneider stated that he used the torrent programs to download television shows and movies to watch- with his son, and to download adult pornography. Det. Coyne asked if Schneider had ever seen his son watching-pornography, and Schneider said he had not.' Schneider explained that his son had high-functioning autism, and that his son was “extremely computer-sawy.”

During the interview, Lt. Mateja came into the kitchen and informed Schneider that officers found child pornography on hard drives in Schneider’s bedroom. Lt. Mateja stated, “I mean there’s a lot [of child pornography], and I can’t see how your son could do that without you knowing about it at all ... But the problem is everything’s pointing to you at this point.” Lt. Mateja told Schneider that police wanted to get these child-pornography files out of circulation. Schneider stated, “I understand that completely. And you’re right. It — I’m the one that’s downloaded. I’m the one that has seen it. I been getting rid of it.” Schneider later said the cable company was stopping his internet access because he had been downloading child pornography, which Schneider called a “Godsend” because he would lose access to child pornography and could move forward with his life.

Later in the interview, Lt. Mateja asked Schneider whether he wanted to make a written statement. Schneider responded, “I understand what you’re saying. But I think you also understand that I feel like I’m in a rock — between a rock and a hard place ..,.. And so I don’t know what to do. Without some kind of, you know, counsel. I don’t know what to do.” The questioning continued for another twenty minutes about other topics not related to the written statement. When Det. Coyne asked about Schneider making a written statement again, Schneider stated, “I had [sic ] need to have counsel.” At this point, Det. Coyne placed Schneider under arrest, informed Schneider that his -son’s mother had picked up his son, and read Schneider his- Miranda rights.

II. Pretrial Procedure

The State charged Schneider with seven counts of possession of child pornography. Counts 1-3 alleged.possession of still images of child pornography, and Counts 4-7 alleged possession of moving images of child pornography.

Defense counsel filed a pretrial motion to suppress the statements Schneider made during his interview with Det. Coyne and Lt- Mateja because the statements were made, before Schneider was advised of his Miranda rights. At the hearing conducted on the motion to suppress, the trial court heard evidence from Lt. Mateja, Det. Coyne, and Schneider. The trial court issued a written order, denying Schneider’s motion to suppress. The trial court concluded that considering the totality of the circumstances, Schneider was not restrained or under formal arrest at the time of the questioning. Thus, the trial court found Miranda warnings were not necessary before , police questioned Schneider.

In a separate pretrial hearing, the State informed the trial court, “in addition to the charged items of child pornography that were found on the defendant’s hard drives and on this USB bracelet, that both those [499]*499sources ... contained additional [child] pornography.”, The State indicated it was not going to show the uncharged child pornography to the jury, but that a detective was planning to testify to the number of uncharged images and videos containing child pornography that police found in Schneider’s home. The State argued this behavior was- relevant to. show that Schneider did not download the charged images and videos accidentally. The State also maintained that evidence relating to the uncharged images and videos was relevant to provide the jury a clearer picture of Schneider’s behavior and his motive, which was “sexual gratification by watching these images of children being sexually abused.” Defense counsel argued that, evidence of the uncharged images and videos was inadmissible as uncharged bad acts. The trial court overruled Schneider’s objections and stated that it would allow evidence of the. number of uncharged pieces of child pornography found in Schneider’s computers.

Defense counsel filed a written motion in limine to, inter alia, exclude all evidence of uncharged child pornography from being introduced at trial. On the morning of trial, the trial court again heard argument on the uncharged child pornography.

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Bluebook (online)
483 S.W.3d 495, 2016 Mo. App. LEXIS 247, 2016 WL 1091896, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-schneider-moctapp-2016.