United States v. Delarosa

67 M.J. 318, 2009 CAAF LEXIS 377, 2009 WL 1258514
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces
DecidedMay 6, 2009
Docket08-0390/NA
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 67 M.J. 318 (United States v. Delarosa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Delarosa, 67 M.J. 318, 2009 CAAF LEXIS 377, 2009 WL 1258514 (Ark. 2009).

Opinions

Chief Judge EFFRON

delivered the opinion of the Court.

A general court-martial composed of officer and enlisted members convicted Appellant, contrary to his pleas, of aggravated assault on his infant son, in violation of Article 128, Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), 10 U.S.C. § 928 (2000). The sentence adjudged by the court-martial and approved by the convening authority included a bad-conduct discharge, confinement for three months, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and reduction to pay grade E-1. The United States Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed. United States v. Delarosa, No. NMCCA 200602335, 2008 CCA LEXIS 4, at *20, 2008 WL 142115 at *7 (N.M.Ct.Crim.App. Jan. 10, 2008) (unpublished).

The present appeal concerns the ruling of the military judge denying Appellant’s motion to suppress his confession to local civilian law enforcement officers.1 For the reasons set forth below, we agree that the military judge properly denied the suppression motion, and we affirm Appellant’s conviction.2

[320]*320I. BACKGROUND

A. SELF-INCRIMINATION RIGHTS WARNINGS FOR PERSONS IN CUSTODY

Prior to initiating interrogation, law enforcement officials must provide rights warnings to a person in custody. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 445, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966); United States v. Tempia, 16 C.M.A 629, 637, 37 C.M.R. 249, 257 (1967); U.S. Const, amend V. Military officials and civilians acting on their behalf are required to provide rights warnings prior to interrogating a member of the armed forces if that servicemember is a suspect, irrespective of custody. Article 31(b), UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. 831(b) (2000); Military Rule of Evidence (M.R.E.) 305(b)(1), 305(c). The present appeal involves only the former requirement — rights warnings under Miranda for persons in custody.

When Miranda warnings are required, the person must be advised of the right to remain silent, that any statement made by the person can be used against that person in a court of law, that the person has the right to consult with counsel and have counsel present during questioning, and that counsel will be appointed if the person cannot afford a lawyer. 384 U.S. at 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602. If a suspect provides an ambiguous statement regarding invocation of rights after Miranda warnings have been given, law enforcement officials are not obligated to cease interrogation. See Davis v. United States, 512 U.S. 452, 461-62, 114 S.Ct. 2350, 129 L.Ed.2d 362 (1994); Medina v. Singletary, 59 F.3d 1095, 1101 (11th Cir.1995); cf. United States v. Acosta, 363 F.3d 1141, 1152 (11th Cir.2004) (applying Davis when the appellant told the police that he would make a statement but refused to sign a rights waiver form). If ai suspect’s statement is ambiguous, law enforcement officials may attempt to clarify the issue of rights invocation, but they are not required to do so. Davis, 512 U.S. at 461, 114 S.Ct. 2350 (noting that although “it will often be good police practice for the interviewing officers to clarify” an ambiguous response, the Supreme Court “decline[d] to adopt a rule requiring officers to ask clarifying questions”). See, e.g., United States v. Brown, 287 F.3d 965, 972-73 (10th Cir.2002) (applying Davis to ambiguous initial waiver); United States v. Muhammad, 120 F.3d 688, 698 (7th Cir.1997) (same). But see United States v. Rodriguez, 518 F.3d 1072, 1079-80 (9th Cir.2008) (viewing Davis as applicable only in a post-waiver context, and requiring an “interrogating officer to clarify any ambiguity before beginning general interrogation”). They may continue questioning unless the suspect unambiguously invokes his rights, regardless of whether law enforcement officials have endeavored to clarify any ambiguity. Davis, 512 U.S. at 461-62, 114 S.Ct. 2350.

If the suspect unambiguously invokes his or her rights under Miranda, law enforcement officials may not conduct any further questioning of the suspect about the offense unless they do so in a manner demonstrating that they have “scrupulously honored” the suspect’s invocation of rights. Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U.S. 96, 104, 96 S.Ct. 321, 46 L.Ed.2d 313 (1975); cf. Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 484-85, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981) (holding that a suspect who invokes the right to counsel could not be subjected to further interrogation until counsel has been made available to him, unless the suspect himself reinitiated further communication with the police).

In the present appeal, the parties do not dispute that Appellant received the appropriate warnings under Miranda. In that context, the issues on appeal concern whether Appellant unambiguously invoked his Miranda rights; and, if so, whether the law enforcement officials scrupulously honored those rights before conducting any further interrogation.

B. THE SUPPRESSION MOTION

1. Procedural setting

Appellant lived in an off-base apartment in Norfolk, Virginia, with his wife and five-month-old son. On the evening of January 20, 2004, paramedics came to the apartment in response to an emergency call from Appellant’s wife. They found Appellant perform[321]*321ing CPR on his son, who was unconscious and not breathing. An ambulance brought the child to a civilian hospital in a condition of full cardiac arrest. The initial medical diagnosis indicated that the son was a victim of child abuse in the form of shaken baby syndrome. Early in the morning on January 21, the son was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit. On January 22, after doctors determined that the condition was irreversible, the child was removed from life support and was declared legally dead. Following an autopsy conducted by civilian medical officials on January 23, the Norfolk medical examiner issued a report describing the cause of death as an acute head injury.

Later that day, civilian law enforcement officials in Norfolk opened a homicide investigation, which was conducted primarily by Detectives Bynum and Mayer of the Norfolk Police Department. During the investigation, Appellant made the incriminating statements at issue in the present appeal. See infra Part I.B.2. Subsequently, Appellant was charged with murder under state law, and the case was referred for trial before the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court of the City of Norfolk, Criminal Division.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 M.J. 318, 2009 CAAF LEXIS 377, 2009 WL 1258514, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-delarosa-armfor-2009.