Ballard v. State
| Decision Date | 12 July 2011 |
| Docket Number | 2010.,Sept. Term,No. 73,73 |
| Citation | 420 Md. 480,24 A.3d 96 |
| Parties | Warren Lee BALLARDv.STATE of Maryland. |
| Court | Maryland Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Peter F. Rose, Assistant Public Defender (Paul B. DeWolfe, Public Defender, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Petitioner.Diane E. Keller, Asst. Atty. Gen. (Douglas F. Gansler, Atty. Gen. of Maryland, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Respondent.Argued before BELL, C.J., HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, GREENE, MURPHY, ADKINS and BARBERA, JJ.BARBERA, J.
The present case calls upon us to explore the contours of the right to counsel during custodial interrogation, which the Supreme Court recognized in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 479, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). It is undisputed that Petitioner Warren Lee Ballard received proper Miranda warnings and validly waived his Miranda rights before interrogation began. The question we must answer is whether, mid-way through the interrogation, Petitioner unequivocally invoked his right to counsel when he uttered the words, “You mind if I not say no more and just talk to an attorney about this.” For the reasons that follow, we hold that those words constituted an unequivocal invocation of the right to counsel. Therefore, pursuant to Miranda and its progeny, the interrogating detective was required at that moment to cease all questioning. Rather than do so, the detective continued the interrogation and elicited statements from Petitioner that he was entitled to have suppressed as the product of the Miranda-violative interrogation.
Petitioner was tried on an agreed statement of facts.1 The agreed-upon facts disclose that, on December 13, 2007, at approximately 10:30 p.m., in Salisbury, Maryland, James Miller contacted authorities upon finding the body of his sister, Shirley Smith, in the apartment they shared. Dr. Pamela Southall, Assistant Medical Examiner, performed an autopsy on December 14, 2007, and discovered Ms. Smith had a broken hyoid bone in her neck. Based on that finding, Dr. Southall determined that the manner of death was homicide by asphyxia, the signs of which were consistent with strangulation. After learning of Dr. Southall's findings, police began a criminal investigation into Ms. Smith's death.
On December 27, 2007, the police found Petitioner in possession of the SIM card 2 associated with Ms. Smith's cellular phone account, and took him into custody. Four days later, Detective Kaiser conducted a videotaped interrogation of Petitioner, during which he made several incriminating statements.
Petitioner was indicted on charges of first degree murder and related offenses. He filed a motion to suppress a portion of what he disclosed during that interrogation. Petitioner, through counsel, acknowledged at the outset of the hearing on the motion that he was “Mirandized” and waived the Miranda rights. The interrogating officer, Detective Kaiser, did not testify but an excerpt of the videotaped confession was played for the court and a transcript of the excerpt portion was entered into evidence. The parties agreed that the transcribed excerpt, with some handwritten corrections on it, accurately reflected the content of the portion of the interrogation played for the court. 3
The first page of the transcript excerpt, which is numbered page 27, begins with the following:
[Petitioner]: I wasn't upset, she wasn't upset, nobody was upset.
Det. Kaiser: So what, so then you're telling me that it was a mistake of what happened.
[Petitioner]: I'm saying when I left ...
Det. Kaiser: Let's back up, OK?
[Petitioner]: No one was hurt, no one was injured when I left.
Det. Kaiser: Let's go back up. Explain to me why this happened. Because I need an explanation from you. I know what the evidence is telling me. I already know that. DNA collected from various parts of her body matches DNA from your body. OK? Matching up somewhat of what we just talked about, but there's still a missing point here. And a missing factor in this whole thing right now. OK? And we need to sit here and work this out because what I don't want to happen is, you know, let's not read the evidence. I think there's a really important explanation as to why this occurred. We know what happened, we need to know why. Was it rough sex? That got out of hand? She have a weapon? Did she come at you with a weapon? Those are key factors to this Warren. You need to understand that.
[Petitioner]: I know.
Det. Kaiser: Very very important key factors.
[Petitioner]: Oh man.
Det. Kaiser: The only way for [you,] Warren to deal with this is to let it out, explain your side of the story so that you can sleep at night. And you can have a clear head, that's it. Tell me what happened.
[Petitioner]: You mind if I not say no more and just talk to an attorney about this.
Det. Kaiser: What benefit is that going to have?
[Petitioner]: I'd feel more comfortable with one.
Det. Kaiser: Well, you understand that by doing that, OK, it kind of cuts our ties off somewhat, OK, and um you don't have to say a word. I'm going to explain something to you here. You know, your opportunity to explain why this happened is going to be out the door. OK? And I think that, and I'm telling you right now, OK and it came out of my mouth, that the explanation of why this happened is a very very important aspect of this investigation. OK? But in order for us to talk and you to tell me that, OK, now that you just said what you just said, is going to throw it all away. I want you to keep that in mind. This is your opportunity. There's not going to be another opportunity. I'm willing to work with you here. All right? So, before we go any further, you had just made mention a couple of minutes ago that you wanted an attorney, that's what you told me, OK, so that stops me. OK. And if you feel like you want to say any more, which I think it's probably in your best interest to, OK, we're going to go back over some of your rights, OK, that you have. But that's your option. Now, what I want to know is, do you want to explain to me and give me an explanation as to what happened that night?
[Petitioner]: Let me use the bathroom and I'll tell you.
Det. Kaiser: Huh? Hold on, hold on, don't say a word. What do you want to do? Do you want an attorney present with you right now?
[Petitioner]: I'll talk to you when I use the bathroom, alright. I don't need no attorney.
Det. Kaiser: You don't want an attorney?
[Petitioner]: Mm mm.
Det. Kaiser: Do you understand and know what you're doing right now?
[Petitioner]: Hanging myself.
Det. Kaiser: No no no no, do you understand and know what you're doing at this point in time?
[Petitioner]: I guess, I don't know.
Det. Kaiser: Well it's yes or no. Do you understand and know what you're doing? Let me just reiterate this form to you. OK?
(Emphasis added.)
At that point, Detective Kaiser reissued the Miranda warnings and Petitioner indicated that he understood his rights. He was then permitted to use the restroom. When Petitioner returned, Detective Kaiser reconfirmed that Petitioner understood the rights explained to him and “wanted to get this off [his] chest.”
The transcribed excerpt of the interrogation that was admitted at the suppression hearing does not disclose much of what Petitioner said during the remainder of the interrogation. The complete transcript of the interrogation admitted at trial discloses that Petitioner made a series of statements to Detective Kaiser admitting that he and Ms. Smith had an altercation, he “did a choke hold on her,” he “may have hit her in the mouth,” and she ended up “laying on the bed” but was still breathing when he ran out of the apartment. At Detective Kaiser's suggestion, Petitioner wrote a letter of apology stating that he was “sorry that this could have happened,” it was “an accident on [his] behalf,” he “never knew that this was so serious,” and he “still can't believe that it happened.”
Petitioner argued at the suppression hearing that, by uttering the words, “You mind if I not say no more and just talk to an attorney about this,” he unequivocally and unambiguously invoked his rights to counsel and to silence. He focused his argument, though, on the invocation of the right to counsel and argued that, under Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981), Detective Kaiser was required to cease all questioning as soon as Petitioner uttered those words.
The court denied the motion. The court agreed with the State that Petitioner's statement was an ambiguous and equivocal statement that did not sufficiently invoke Petitioner's right to counsel and, consequently, his subsequent statements to Detective Kaiser were not the product of an Edwards violation.
Petitioner filed a motion to reconsider the suppression ruling. The court heard argument on the motion and again denied the motion to suppress, explaining in detail its reasons for that ruling. Among other things, the court said:
Now, I had previously concluded that it was not clear and unambiguous, that it was, rather, equivocal and ambiguous, and I think in this regard also, I should make clear it's not the words alone but rather the context of the words and in this particular case, it's not only the typed word on a piece of paper, but I also heard [Petitioner]'s interview with Detective Kaiser, so I also have the opportunity to consider his inflection, of the tone and things of that sort, and I concluded at the earlier hearing that it was an ambiguous assertion of right to counsel, and I believe I still feel that way.
At the subsequent trial on an agreed statement of facts, the court found Petitioner guilty of second degree murder and lesser charges.4
On appeal to the Court of Special Appeals, Petitioner challenged the denial of the motion to suppress. The Court of Special Appeals, in an unreported opinion, affirmed the judgments of conviction, agreeing with the trial court that Petitioner's statement, “You mind if I not say no more and just talk to an attorney...
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