State v. Strain

779 P.2d 221, 112 Utah Adv. Rep. 7, 1989 Utah LEXIS 76, 1989 WL 92225
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 5, 1989
Docket860531
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 779 P.2d 221 (State v. Strain) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Strain, 779 P.2d 221, 112 Utah Adv. Rep. 7, 1989 Utah LEXIS 76, 1989 WL 92225 (Utah 1989).

Opinions

HOWE, Associate Chief Justice:

Defendant Charles Nicholas Strain appeals his jury conviction of second degree murder, a first degree felony. Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-203 (1978, Supp.1988).

Defendant was arrested on February 20, 1986, in Scottsdale, Arizona, on a fugitive warrant issued in the state of Idaho. Upon arrest, Arizona detective Thomas Hill allegedly advised him of his Miranda rights. Four hours later, Detective Peter Bell of the Utah County, Utah, Sheriff’s office questioned him about the shooting death of defendant’s sixteen-year-old stepdaughter, Deanna, whose decomposed body had been found some five years earlier in Spanish Fork Canyon, Utah. Throughout this initial three-hour .interview, defendant maintained his innocence with respect to that death. The following morning, Detective Bell resumed his questioning. This session was followed by another interrogation that evening by Detective Bell and also by Utah County Deputy Sheriff Scott Carter. The interrogation culminated in defendant's signing a statement, admitting the killing. He was subsequently charged with second degree murder.

Prior to trial, defendant filed a motion to suppress his confession. The motion cited inadequacies in the Miranda warning, as well as threats and promises made to him by Detective Bell which allegedly rendered his confession involuntary. This motion was granted by the trial court in view of inadequacies which it found in the Miranda warning given by Detective Bell. Subsequently, further evidence concerning defendant’s arrest was discovered which prompted the trial court to reopen the hear[223]*223ing wherein Arizona Detective Hill testified that he did recite the Miranda warning to defendant upon his arrest on the Idaho charges. In response, the trial court vacated its order suppressing defendant’s statements. At trial, defendant again objected to the admission of his confession into evidence on the grounds that the Miranda warning given by Detective Hill was inadequate and that the confession was coerced. The trial court overruled both objections and admitted the confession. In so doing, the court did not specifically address the voluntariness challenge which focused on the threats and promises made to defendant. Defendant was found guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to a prison term of five years to life.

I.

Defendant maintains that the trial court erred in failing to suppress his confession because the Miranda warning by Detective Hill was defective. The Miranda warning originated out of the landmark United States Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). That case outlined those basic rights of which the accused must be adequately informed before any of his statements made to law enforcement officers may be used as evidence against him.

He must be warned prior to any questioning that he has the right to remain silent, that anything he says can be used against him in a court of law, that he has the right to the presence of an attorney, and that if he cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for him prior to any questioning if he so desires. Opportunity to exercise these rights must be afforded to him throughout the interrogation.

Miranda, 384 U.S. at 479, 86 S.Ct. at 1630, 16 L.Ed.2d at 726.

While Miranda is recognized as obligating police to follow certain procedures in their dealings with an accused, the decision did not prescribe that law enforcement officers adhere to a verbatim recitation of the words of the opinion. Miranda, however, did hold that “in the absence of a fully effective equivalent,” statements made by a defendant could not be used as evidence against him. Miranda, 384 U.S. at 476, 86 S.Ct. at 1629, 16 L.Ed.2d at 725. Since Miranda, the United States Supreme Court has reaffirmed its intention of not extending the “rigidity” of that case to “the precise formulation of the warnings given a criminal defendant.” California v. Prysock, 453 U.S. 355, 359, 101 S.Ct. 2806, 2807, 2809, 69 L.Ed.2d 696, 701 (1981) (per curiam).. With this in mind, we examine the Miranda warning given to defendant upon his arrest.

Detective Hill testified at the reopened pretrial hearing on defendant’s motion for suppression of his confession that he gave defendant the following Miranda warning:

I said you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to the presence of an attorney to assist you prior to questioning to be with you during questioning if you so desire. If you cannot afford an attorney, you have the right to have an attorney appointed for you by the court at a later date. Do you understand these rights?

(Emphasis added.)

Defendant argues that this warning implied that an attorney would not be available for him at the initial interview. He asserts that a Miranda warning must inform the accused that an attorney will be available immediately at the time of any interrogation. These conclusions are unwarranted. While the warning did inform defendant about the immediate unavailability of court-appointed counsel for him, we do not believe it carried any implication that he was required to submit to an interview with law enforcement officers without the presence of appointed counsel if he could not afford one. Furthermore, Miranda does not suggest that a suspect must be told he has the right to the immediate appointment of counsel:

If the individual cannot obtain an attorney and he indicates that he wants one before speaking to police, they must respect his decision to remain silent.
This does not mean, as some have suggested, that each police station must [224]*224have a “station house lawyer” present at all times to advise prisoners. It does mean, however, that if police propose to interrogate a person they must make known to him that he is entitled to a lawyer and that if he cannot afford one, a lawyer will be provided for him prior to any interrogation.

Miranda, 384 U.S. at 474, 86 S.Ct. at 1628, 16 L.Ed.2d at 724; see also Poyner v. Commonwealth, 229 Va. 401, 409-10, 329 S.E.2d 815, 822-23, cert. denied, 474 U.S. 865, 106 S.Ct. 189, 88 L.Ed.2d 158 (1985).

Detective Hill’s warning did not violate these principles. Defendant was informed of his right to counsel before and during any police interrogation. He was also informed of his right to remain silent. But the immediate right to counsel which defendant envisions is not within the scope of the Miranda decision. Once the accused requests court-appointed counsel, it is treated as a wish to remain silent, and the police cannot proceed to interrogate him until such counsel has been obtained or until defendant initiates the interview.

One additional point is helpful. In California v. Prysock, instances were examined where courts have held particular Miranda

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Bluebook (online)
779 P.2d 221, 112 Utah Adv. Rep. 7, 1989 Utah LEXIS 76, 1989 WL 92225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-strain-utah-1989.