Coomer v. Yukins

Decision Date22 July 2008
Docket NumberNo. 06-1235.,06-1235.
Citation533 F.3d 477
PartiesAnitra COOMER, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Joan YUKINS, Warden, Respondent-Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Mark A. Satawa, Law Offices, Southfield, Michigan, for Appellant. Brad H. Beaver, Office of the Michigan Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee.

ON BRIEF:

Mark A. Satawa, Stuart G. Friedman, Law Offices, Southfield, Michigan, for Appellant. Brian O. Neill, Office of the Michigan Attorney General, Lansing, Michigan, for Appellee.

Before: GIBBONS and SUTTON, Circuit Judges; ACKERMAN, Senior District Judge.*

OPINION

HAROLD A. ACKERMAN, Senior District Judge.

Petitioner-Appellant Anitra Coomer, a Michigan state prisoner, appeals the dismissal of her petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Coomer challenges the District Court's determination that two of her confessions to murder were not obtained in violation of Miranda. For the following reasons, we affirm the District Court's denial of habeas relief.

I.
A. Kidnaping, Murder, and Police Investigation

On May 16, 1996, Dr. Deborah Iverson, opthamologist and mother of two, was kidnapped and murdered in her car after she left her psychiatrist's office in Birmingham, Michigan. Iverson's vehicle was found the next day, parked in a rural area of Macomb County. Inside was Iverson's body. An autopsy revealed that she had been strangled to death, and further investigation revealed that two of Iverson's checks had been cashed at two banks on the morning of her disappearance. Over seven months later, on December 30, 1996, police officers received a tip that Anitra Coomer and McConnell Adams were behind the crime.

The evidence at trial established the following circumstances of the case. Coomer and Adams lived together with their two-year-old son in an apartment in Clawson, Michigan. On May 16, 1996, their rent was overdue and they owed $480 to their day-care provider. At 9:30 a.m., Coomer and Adams dropped their son off with their provider and proceeded to Birmingham, a town about twenty miles outside of Detroit. Meanwhile, Iverson left her psychiatrist's office at 9:45 a.m., but never returned home. Nearly thirty-six hours later, the police found Iverson's Toyota Land Cruiser on the side of a highway.

Inside the car, the police found Iverson lying face down on the floor of the back seat. They found blood on the right side of her face and a line mark on her neck. Her jacket was missing a large square piece and some spots on it were faded. Iverson was clutching in her hand a picture of one of her sons. The medical examiner performed an autopsy the next day and later testified that Iverson had been dead for at least twenty-four hours at the time that her remains were discovered. The cause of death was ligature strangulation, which involved the use of some kind of noose around her neck, such as a belt. The medical examiner also testified that the ligature pattern indicated that there might have been a struggle, that the strangulation was not quick, and that it might have been agonizing.

Police did not discover any new leads until December 30, 1996. The day prior, Coomer telephoned her friend Mark Dawson, telling him that Adams had beaten her. At the time, Coomer was at the home of another friend, Anita Krawczyk. Dawson went to Krawczyk's home that afternoon, and Coomer told him about the Iverson murder. Coomer told Dawson that she and Adams had originally planned to rob Iverson, but after cashing two checks, Adams strangled Iverson with Coomer's belt. Coomer and Adams then sprayed Iverson's body and the inside of the car with bleach. Coomer told Dawson that she had not reported Adams's assault because he was holding the murder over her. Dawson later testified that Krawczyk later called the police to report the assault. When the police arrived, Coomer told them that Adams had beaten her and left in a stolen truck.

As Coomer and Krawczyk were driving to the police station to report the domestic assault, Coomer told her that she was worried about being arrested for the Iverson murder, and that she and Adams had agreed that if they were ever caught, he would take all the blame so that she could remain free to raise their son. Shortly thereafter, Adams was arrested for domestic assault.

On December 30, 1996, Dawson's attorney contacted the sheriff's department with information that Coomer was involved in the Iverson murder. Dawson later met with two officers from the sheriff's department and told them what Coomer had told him. Police officers left for Coomer's apartment later that night.

B. Police Arrive at Coomer's Apartment

The facts surrounding Coomer's confessions at her apartment were explored in considerable detail during an evidentiary hearing conducted by the Michigan trial court. The court summarized the testimony as follows:

The evidence here showed that approximately nine to eleven officers were at the scene of Defendant Coomer's apartment on December 30, 1996 at about 11:45 p.m. Defendant Coomer testified that two marked cars were parked in a manner that she could observe them blocking her vehicle, while all other witnesses testified that no police vehicles were parked in a manner that Defendant Coomer could observe them out any of her apartment windows.

Defendant Coomer [testified that] she had never had any prior experience with police officers and had had a friend over one to one and a half hours earlier in the evening with whom she used alcohol and marijuana. The evidence is not clear as to w[h]ether she was told that she was under arrest. Sergeant Kucyk indicated that she had been told that she was not. Defendant indicated that no one told her whether she was or not. Defendant Coomer was 20 years of age, had graduated from high school and had a 4.0 grade point average.

There was extensive testimony offered by the People to establish where each officer stood, what role each officer played and where each officer parked. The testimony given by numerous officers ... was consistent as to overall locations and roles with minor variations as to the exact location of a fellow officer's vehicle or position.

Defendant testified that when she opened her door, she saw at least three uniformed officers at her door, while two plain clothes officers stepped from behind a wall. Defendant further testified that three officers entered her apartment while two remained outside her door on Detective Kucyk's instruction. The People elicited consistent testimony from the officers that placed only three officers at her door with only two plain officers — two plain clothes officers entering the apartment. Coomer testified [that] one police officer came inside only momentarily and left within minutes; thereafter leaving only Kucyk and [Sergeant] Sanborn inside the apartment when [Coomer's first confession] was made.

Defendant testified that an officer accompanied her through the apartment while she searched for cigarettes during her confession. The officers testified this did not occur and Defendant had had the opportunity to walk throughout her apartment freely at all times. Finally, Defendant testified that she felt that she was in custody the moment she saw Sergeant Kucyk at her door because she had seen him on the news and knew him to be the lead detective in the Iverson homicide investigation.

The evidence further showed that Defendant Coomer invited the officers into her apartment upon their request [by intercom] and shortly commenced telling them her version of what she knew about Deborah Iverson. While she ... was not advised of her rights until about four hours later, . . . there was no physical or mental abuse of any nature exercised by the police. While Defendant testified that she had used alcohol and marijuana earlier, at least one to one and one-half hours had passed since consumption and there was no apparent signs of intoxication[;][n]or was Defendant in ill health or deprived of sleep.

When asked by the Court if she felt coerced in any way, Defendant replied "no." In fact, she gave her verbal statements to officers while weeping, suggesting remorse but clearly without any signs of threats or coercion appearing from the testimony on the record.

(JA at 177-78.) In addition, Patrolman Hannah of the Clawson Police Department, who first called Coomer on her intercom before proceeding to her apartment, had previous contact with Coomer on matters related to domestic assault. Kucyk testified that he told Coomer, when in her apartment, that he and Sanborn were present to talk with her, that she was not under arrest, and importantly, that if she asked them to leave, they would go. Kucyk also stated that he told Coomer several times during their discussion that she was not under arrest.

C. Coomer's Confessions

Once the officers were in the apartment, Coomer asked them to be quiet because her two-year old son was asleep and offered them refreshments. They all sat at the kitchen table, and Kucyk indicated that he wanted to speak about Iverson. Kucyk testified that, at that point, Coomer became shaken, concerned, and hysterical. Coomer asked if she could get her cigarettes from her bedroom, which she did, and proceeded to tell the officers "the whole story." (JA at 136.) Coomer then confessed her involvement in the Iverson murder. Few questions were asked of her; most of her oral statements were offered in a continuous narrative over the next thirty minutes. Coomer testified that while she cried at various points during her statements, she had otherwise calmed down once she began to speak. She also conceded at trial that the oral statement was voluntary, and not compelled or coerced.

After giving this oral statement, Coomer prepared a written statement for the police. This written statement was later excluded by the state trial court and is not the subject of this appeal. After writing down her statement, Sergeant Kucyk asked if...

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