State v. Stanley

754 So. 2d 869, 2000 WL 369803
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 12, 2000
Docket1D98-3881
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 754 So. 2d 869 (State v. Stanley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Stanley, 754 So. 2d 869, 2000 WL 369803 (Fla. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

754 So.2d 869 (2000)

STATE of Florida, Appellant,
v.
Sarah Lakesha STANLEY, Appellee.

No. 1D98-3881.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

April 12, 2000.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General; Edward C. Hill, Jr., Assistant Attorney General; James W. Rogers, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellant.

J. Craig Williams and Shelley L. Thibodeau, Jacksonville, for Appellee.

BENTON, J.

The state appeals a written, pre-trial order granting the motion to suppress statements Sarah Lakesha Stanley gave while in custody in response to questions law enforcement officers asked in her lawyer's *870 absence despite his request to be present. Concluding the statements in question were obtained in violation of her right to counsel under article I, section 16 of the Florida Constitution, we affirm.

We have jurisdiction. Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.140(c)(1)(B) authorizes appeals from pretrial orders suppressing admissions. See Art. V, § 4(b)(1), Fla. Const. (declaring interlocutory orders reviewable by district courts of appeal "to the extent provided by rules adopted by the supreme court"). Section 924.07(1)(l), Florida Statutes (Supp.1998), also provides that the state may take an appeal from an "order ... suppressing evidence ... in limine...." But the "`Constitution does not authorize the legislature to provide for interlocutory review.'" State v. Smith, 260 So.2d 489, 491 (Fla.1972) (quoting State v. Smith, 254 So.2d 402, 404 (Fla. 1st DCA 1971)) ("`Any statute purporting to grant interlocutory appeals is clearly a declaration of legislative policy and no more ... unless [by rule] the Supreme Court of Florida adopts such statute as its own....'").

Learning that a warrant had issued for her arrest, Ms. Stanley consulted an attorney, James Williams, who agreed to represent her, informed her of various constitutional rights she had, and advised her not to speak to anyone about the attempted murder of which she was suspected, unless he was present. Then, as arranged by Mr. Williams, Ms. Stanley went with his receptionist and an intern to the Police Memorial Building and turned herself in. The receptionist advised jail personnel that Ms. Stanley was represented by counsel and that she was not to be questioned unless Mr. Williams was present.

When Mr. Williams, who was seeking to obtain a reduction of Ms. Stanley's bond, learned that a detective had taken her to an interview room, he called the Jacksonville Sheriffs office, spoke to Detective Gilbreath, and reiterated his request that Ms. Stanley not be questioned in his absence.[1] This request was relayed to Detective Nelson, but Detective Nelson decided not to honor the request, and went forward with interrogation.

Eventually, Ms. Stanley filed a motion to suppress statements she made to Detective Nelson, asserting that she had been questioned in violation of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution and sections 9 and 16 of article I of the Florida Constitution. In its order granting Ms. Stanley's motion to suppress, the trial court set out findings of fact and conclusions of law:

1. The facts in issue are not subject to material dispute as to the critical issue pertaining to the motion.
2. Defendant, through her attorney, was surrendered to the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office based on a two year old warrant for her arrest. Arrangements had been made by her attorney for her to surrender, which she did on February 20, 1998, at the Police Memorial Building.
3. Defendant's attorney had advised the officers that defendant was not to be interviewed without his presence. Notwithstanding this request, defendant was taken to the homicide office by Detective Nelson, even though he was *871 aware that defendant was represented by an attorney who had asked that she not be questioned, the detective proceeded to ask the defendant questions concerning the charge for which she had been arrested.
4. Defendant personally advised the detective that she was represented by an attorney and that she had been told not to speak to the police. However, after the detective advised defendant of her Miranda rights, defendant proceeded to make the statements which are the subject of this motion. There is no dispute that it was the detective who initiated the interview.
5. When Mr. Williams, Stanley's attorney, was advised by his assistan[ts] that defendant had been taken to be interviewed by detectives, he immediately called Detective Gilbreath and once again reiterated the conditions of the surrender, i.e. defendant was not to be interviewed without the attorney being present.
Defendant submits that under her Fifth and Six[th] Amendment rights provided under the U.S. Constitution and her similar state constitutional rights, the statements made by her should be suppressed. Under the facts as summarized above, the court concurs.
Under the self-incrimination clause of the Federal and State Constitutions, if a suspect indicates in any manner that she does not want to be interrogated, then the questioning must not begin. The U.S. Supreme [C]ourt has ruled that once a defendant invokes his right to the presence of an attorney, the defendant is not subject to further interrogation until counsel is available, unless the defendant initiates the conversations with the police. If the police proceed to interrogate a defendant after an invocation of the right to counsel, any waiver of the defendant's right to counsel for police "initiated interrogation" is invalid.

(Citations omitted.) The trial court's findings of fact come to us clothed with a presumption of correctness. See Shapiro v. State, 390 So.2d 344, 346 (Fla.1980); State v. Nova, 361 So.2d 411, 412 (Fla. 1978); State v. Setzler, 667 So.2d 343, 346 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995) (holding that, on review of an order on a motion to suppress, the trial court's findings of fact bind an appeals court, unless the findings are clearly erroneous).

Given the trial court's findings and conclusions and the record on which they are based, we need not tarry long over the state's first two contentions, viz., that Ms. Stanley was not in custody when she made the statements and that Detective Nelson did not initiate the interview. The trial court's legal analysis assumes custodial interrogation or "questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his [or her] freedom of action in any significant way." Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). See Stansbury v. California, 511 U.S. 318, 322, 114 S.Ct. 1526, 128 L.Ed.2d 293 (1994); California v. Beheler, 463 U.S. 1121, 1123, 103 S.Ct. 3517, 77 L.Ed.2d 1275 (1983). See also Setzler, 667 So.2d at 346 (holding reviewing court bound by fact findings "even if only implicit"). The record shows that an arrest warrant was outstanding when Ms. Stanley was led to the interview room and that Detective Nelson began the interview, recounting for Ms. Stanley information he had about the case. At the evidentiary hearing below, moreover, the state conceded that Ms. Stanley was subjected to custodial interrogation.

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Bluebook (online)
754 So. 2d 869, 2000 WL 369803, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-stanley-fladistctapp-2000.