Storey v. State

830 N.E.2d 1011, 2005 Ind. App. LEXIS 1270, 2005 WL 1669465
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 19, 2005
Docket20A03-0410-CR-465
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 830 N.E.2d 1011 (Storey v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Storey v. State, 830 N.E.2d 1011, 2005 Ind. App. LEXIS 1270, 2005 WL 1669465 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION

MAY, Judge.

Robert D. Storey appeals his convictions of possession of methamphetamine in excess of three grams with intent to deliver, a Class A felony, 1 and manufacture of methamphetamine in excess of three grams, also a Class A felony 2 Storey raises one issue, which we restate as whether the trial court erred in admitting into evidence his written confession.

We reverse and remand. 3

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 21, 2008, Glen Graber's wife told him something was going on in the corn *1014 field near his workshop in Elkhart County. Graber and his son went to the field to determine what was happening. About two to four rows into the field, Graber found an air tank and two sets of footprints that ran between the rows of corn. Graber's friend, Duane Yoder, came along in a vehicle. The three men followed a woman in a maroon car whom Graber had previously seen drop off one or more individuals who walked into the field. Graber and Yoder recorded the license plate number and Graber alerted authorities.

Graber, his son, and Yoder went back to the cornfield and contacted Eugene Moser, who owned the cornfield. As the men discussed what had happened, Storey walked out of the cornfield wearing a sweatshirt, stocking cap, and gloves on a "real warm" day. (Tr. at 54.) Storey told them he had been looking for a lost dog. Storey walked away in the direction of a nearby railroad track. One of the men followed Storey, and Storey ran and hid in a patch of bushes.

Shortly thereafter, Elkhart County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Reaves arrived and told Storey to come out from his hiding place. After Storey did not respond, Deputy Reaves "got on [his] PA" (id. at 116), and said that he was going to come in the bushes with a canine if Storey did not come out with his hands up. Deputy Reaves then "barked like a dog" and Sto-rey emerged. (Id.) Deputy Reaves handcuffed Storey, placed him in his police car, and read him his Miranda rights. 4 Storey immediately asked for an attorney.

Deputy Reaves drove back to the cornfield with Storey handcuffed in the back of his car. In the field, Deputy Reaves found a jar containing "a [sic] orange sludge like substance" (id at 120) and a coffee filter containing "a erystal like substance." (Id.) The deputy called the crime lab to collect and examine the evidence in the field. Soon thereafter, Joseph Caron was arrested when another officer found him walking on a nearby road.

While driving Storey to the police station, Deputy Reaves told Storey what he had found in the cornfield, During the approximately twenty-five minute car ride, Deputy Reaves did not ask Storey any questions. However, Deputy Reaves continued talking "out loud," (Suppression Hearing Tr. at 37), telling Storey that he was going to arrest anyone having anything to do with the methamphetamine operation, including the driver of the car that had dropped Storey and Caron off at the cornfield. Deputy Reaves knew the driver was Storey's wife. Deputy Reaves told Storey that Caron had been arrested near the cornfield and Caron stated he was "just along with [Storey] helping out." (Id. at 39-40.) Storey responded by blaming Caron and then asked to speak with "somebody" because "[he] couldn't talk to [Deputy Reaves]." (Id. at 41.)

Deputy Reaves contacted Detective Richard Drinkwine before arriving at the station. Detective Drinkwine read Storey his Miranda rights and Storey signed a waiver of his rights. During Detective Drinkwine's questioning, Storey confessed to cooking methamphetamine in the cornfield. The detective prepared a written statement. Storey initialed the written confession statement and eventually signed the bottom of the statement, confessing to purchasing materials for manufacturing methamphetamine and to possessing methamphetamine.

*1015 Storey was charged with Class A felony possession of methamphetamine and Class A felony methamphetamine manufacture. Prior to his trial, Storey filed a motion to suppress his written statement to police. The trial court denied his motion after an evidentiary hearing. A jury found Storey guilty of both counts. He was sentenced to forty-five years for each conviction, with the sentences to be served concurrently.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

Confession

When a defendant challenges the admission of his confession, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the confession was given voluntarily. Jackson v. State, 735 N.E.2d 1146, 1153 (Ind.2000). On review, we look to the totality of the circumstances surrounding the waiver of rights and confession. Id. We foeus on whether the waiver or confession was free, voluntary, and not induced by violence, threats, promises, or other improper influences. Id. When considering on appeal the admissibility of a confession, we will uphold the trial court's decision if there is substantial evidence of probative value to support it. Id. We do not reweigh the evidence, and we consider any conflicting evidence most favorably to the trial court's ruling. Taylor v. State, 689 N.E.2d 699, 702 (Ind.1997).

Storey argues the trial court erred by admitting his statement into evidence because it was taken by coercive means and not voluntarily given. Storey asserts his statement was obtained in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), because after his arrest he asserted his Fifth Amendment right to counsel but Deputy Reaves did not end the interrogation.

Rights under Miranda apply only to custodial interrogation. Albrecht v. State, 737 N.E.2d 719, 727 (Ind.2000). When Storey confessed, he was in custody; he had been arrested and read his Mirando rights. Thus, the first element of a Miranda violation is fulfilled. See White v. State, 772 N.E.2d 408, 412 (Ind.2002); see also Pasco v. State, 563 N.E.2d 587, 593 (Ind.1990) (A defendant is in custody if he is formally arrested or is subjected to restraints on his freedom such that a reasonable person in his position would believe he is not free to leave.).

Storey likens his situation to that in Alford v. State, 699 N.E.2d 247 (Ind.1998). Alford argued his statement was obtained in violation of Miranda, and he challenged the admissibility of the statement at a hearing on his motion to suppress. Our supreme court stated:

At the hearing on the motion to suppress, [the interrogating officer] testified that Alford was arrested at his home and brought to the "Investigator's Office" in the police station where he was read his Miranda rights and signed a rights waiver form.

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Bluebook (online)
830 N.E.2d 1011, 2005 Ind. App. LEXIS 1270, 2005 WL 1669465, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/storey-v-state-indctapp-2005.