Hart v. Attorney General of State of Florida

• Decision Date: 05 March 2003
• Docket Number: No. 01-15571.,01-15571.
• Citation: 323 F.3d 884
• Parties: Robert Arthur HART, Petitioner-Appellant, v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, Secretary for the Department of Corrections, Respondents-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

323 F.3d 884

Robert Arthur HART, Petitioner-Appellant, v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, Secretary for the Department of Corrections, Respondents-Appellees.

No. 01-15571.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

March 5, 2003.

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Lisa Walsh, Miami, FL, for Petitioner-Appellant.

Paulette R. Taylor, Miami, FL, for Respondents-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Before TJOFLAT and KRAVITCH, Circuit Judges, and VINSON,^* District Judge.

TJOFLAT, Circuit Judge:

I.

A.

On July 20, 1994, Robert Hart, the appellant; James Leonard, III; Jyri Quinland; Nelson Vargas; and Jason Monte-Perini were indicted by a Dade County, Florida, grand jury following the July 3, 1994 armed robbery of Elite Photography Studio ("Elite") — a private club in North Miami Beach where customers paid to watch and photograph models in various states of undress — which led to the deaths of Todd Klein and Yohanna Fleites, Elite's manager and one of its models, respectively. Each defendant was charged with two counts of first degree murder, armed robbery, burglary with assault or battery therein while armed, and unlawful possession of a firearm while engaged in a criminal offense. The defendants were also charged with the armed kidnaping of Aneschka Culmer, another model at Elite, who was the only witness and survivor of the armed robbery.¹

The defendants were tried separately in the Dade County Circuit Court.² Following a jury trial in November 1997,³ Hart was convicted on all counts.⁴ Hart's conviction was based primarily on a taped statement given to police in which he confessed to participating in the robbery, and physical evidence which discredited the portion of Hart's statement in which he denied killing Klein and Fleites. The only other evidence presented by the prosecution which linked Hart to these crimes was Hart's fingerprint which had been found on the outside of the door to Elite. Culmer, the only eyewitness, was not available to testify at Hart's trial, and Hart's co-conspirators were not called as witnesses. Prior to trial, Hart moved to suppress his statements because they were not given voluntarily as required by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). The circuit court conducted an evidentiary hearing on Hart's motion to suppress.⁵

The suppression hearing revealed that the Metro-Dade police learned of Hart's involvement in the robbery at Elite after talking to Culmer. Culmer provided them with a description of each of the five participants, names she overheard, and a description of the truck they were driving. She also told the officers that one of the participants, whom the others referred to as "Rolex," said that his wife used to work as a model at Elite. Acting on this information, the police found an employment application in Elite's files which was filled out by a woman who listed "Rolex" as her last name. Detectives matched the address on this employment application to the residence of Leonard. The police connected Hart to Leonard because they had recently been arrested together for stealing Hart's grandparents' credit cards. Culmer identified Leonard and Hart as participants in the robbery and homicides from photographic lineups.

B.

Hart was the first suspect to be brought in for questioning. Detective Hill testified that he was chosen to bring Hart in for questioning on July 4 because he already knew Hart from his investigation of the credit card case. Hill called Hart's grandparents' house, where Hart lived,⁶ to confirm that he was home, and explained to Hart's grandmother that he wanted to bring Hart to the police station to talk about the credit card case, which was still pending. He then drove to the grandparents' house and asked Hart to accompany him to the police station to talk about the credit card case, which Hart agreed to do. Hill did not tell Hart or his grandparents about the homicide investigation.

Hill testified that, after arriving at the police station, he and Hart discussed the credit card case for five to ten minutes. Hill told Hart that he had to stay out of trouble because Hill was going to talk to the state attorney about getting Hart into a diversion program or probation in lieu of jail time for the credit card theft. As he was leaving the room, Hill told Hart that Detective Mauer wanted to speak to him about another case, but he did not tell Hart what the nature of the other case was. Hill did not tell Hart that he was free to leave.

Detective Mauer also knew Hart from a previous investigation (a sexual abuse case in which Hart was the victim). Mauer testified that before asking Hart any questions, he had Hart sign a Miranda rights waiver form. Mauer testified that he explained to Hart one by one each right listed on the form: (1) that he had the right to remain silent; (2) that anything he said could be introduced into evidence against him in court; (3) that he had the right to have an attorney to represent him at any time during questioning; and (4) that if he wanted an attorney but could not afford one, one would be provided without charge. After Mauer explained each right, Hart put his initials next to "yes" to indicate that he understood the right. Mauer then directed Hart's attention to a question on the form asking whether he was willing to answer questions at this time without the presence of an attorney; he explained that Hart could put his initials next to "yes" if he was willing to answer questions, and Hart did so. Mauer then asked Hart to sign at the bottom of the form beside a statement indicating that he signed the form of his own free will without any threats or promises having been made to him. Mauer brought Sergeant Perez into the interview room to witness Hart's signature on the waiver form.

Mauer testified that after Hart signed the Miranda rights waiver form, he told Hart that he was investigating a homicide that occurred at a photo place, and he wanted to find out what Hart knew about it. Hart said that he knew nothing about it. Mauer then told Hart that a witness had identified him from a photographic lineup. Hart then asked to speak to Jodi Schuster, a detective whom Hart knew because she worked with juveniles and gangs in his neighborhood. Mauer testified that Hart did not ask to speak to a lawyer⁷ or to his grandparents.⁸ After Hart requested to speak to Schuster, Mauer stopped questioning him and left the interview room to arrange for Schuster to come to the police station to talk to Hart.

Schuster testified that when she arrived, Hart told her that he asked to speak to her because he thought of her as a friend. He told her that he thought she would tell him the truth, and she told him that she had never lied to him in the past, and she would not lie to him now. In fact, she did lie to him about there being a video camera at Elite that had recorded the robbery and the killings. She testified that her purpose in lying about the video camera was to ensure that Hart told her the truth.

Hart asked her if he was in big trouble, and she answered that he was in "the biggest trouble [he] could ever be in."⁹ Hart asked what could happen to him, and she told him that he could be given the death penalty if he were tried as an adult, which she believed was very likely. Hart asked Schuster whether she would get an attorney if she were in his shoes, and she told him that she could not answer that question, that he had to make his own decision. She told him to think about what he wanted to do and left the room for approximately five minutes to give him time to think about it.

Schuster testified that when she came back to the room, Hart said, "Let's get started." Hart then asked her what the pros and cons of having an attorney were in her opinion. She said that in her opinion the pros of having an attorney were "He'll protect your rights. He'll tell you what to answer, what not to answer, and he'll be here for you." She told him the con in her opinion was "I'm going to want to ask you questions and he's going to tell you you can't answer me."

Schuster did not re-Mirandize Hart. She testified that she did not indicate to Hart that she would keep what he said to her confidential. She told him that whatever he told her she was obligated to repeat to the prosecutor, the judge, his attorney, and anyone else involved in the investigation who asked. She testified that she did not use the word "cooperate" and never told Hart that giving a statement would help his present situation, but she also testified that she told him "honesty wouldn't hurt him." She did not tell Hart that he was free to leave because she did not believe he was.

Schuster testified that after she told Hart her opinion of the pros and cons of having a lawyer, Hart again said, "Let's get started." Hart then gave an incriminating statement to Schuster. He repeated this statement a few minutes later with both Schuster and Mauer in the room. This second statement was recorded. At Hart's trial, Schuster testified to the contents of Hart's initial statement (which she called a "pre-interview"), and the taped statement was played for the jury.

C.

In his taped statement, Hart said that it was Leonard's idea to go to Elite on July 3, 1994 to watch models undress. Leonard told Hart to get his grandmother's credit cards so they could pay for this activity. When they arrived at Elite, Todd Klein told them that Elite did not accept their credit cards. Leonard told Klein they would go to an ATM to get money and come back. Hart said that after they left Elite, Leonard suggested that they go back and rob the place. Hart, Quinland, and Vargas were opposed to this idea at first, but Leonard convinced them to do it. Hart said that he was supposed to stay in the truck while the others went in, but when they arrived at Elite, Leonard made everyone go inside.

The group had two firearms....