State v. Trangucci

Decision Date30 January 1990
Docket NumberNo. 10925,10925
Citation1990 NMCA 9,110 N.M. 385,796 P.2d 606
PartiesSTATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Anthony TRANGUCCI, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtCourt of Appeals of New Mexico
OPINION

ALARID, Judge.

Defendant, Anthony Trangucci, appeals his convictions for aggravated battery (with firearm enhancement), aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (with firearm enhancement), and tampering with evidence.

On appeal, defendant contends that: 1) denial of his motion to suppress was error; 2) denial of his request to call an additional witness after defense counsel rested was error; and 3) he was denied effective assistance of counsel at trial by his counsel's refusal to call the additional witness. We determine that the district court correctly interpreted the public safety exception to the Miranda warnings and that the court's application of this exception was supported by substantial evidence. We therefore hold that denial of defendant's motion to suppress was not error. The transcript does not reveal a request to call an additional witness at the end of the defendant's case-in-chief. We therefore find no error based upon defendant's second claim. We also reject defendant's final claim because he failed to allege any of the factors necessary to a showing of ineffective assistance of counsel.

FACTS

The charges arise from an incident which occurred on the evening of November 22, 1987, when, at approximately 9:00 p.m., defendant forced entry into the apartment of James Abell. After Abell refused to comply with defendant's demands for money, defendant pulled a gun and shot a wall. When defendant's repeated demands for money were unsuccessful, he shot Abell in the face and ran from the scene.

Early the next morning, the police learned defendant was at a particular motel and went there to arrest him. The officers surrounded defendant's room, announced their presence, and gained access to the room with a motel passkey.

The officers entered the room with their sidearms drawn. They observed a man lying on one of the beds with his back towards the door; they did not immediately spot defendant. Shortly, the officers spotted defendant hiding underneath a dresser table with his hands hidden underneath his chest. Defendant was ordered to bring his hands into view and come out from underneath the dresser. Defendant brought his hands into view and then said he was stuck underneath the dresser. The officers lifted the dresser and then pulled or lifted defendant out from underneath it. As the officers were lifting defendant to his feet, Officer Overman conducted a quick pat down search of defendant's front area and asked, "Where is the gun?" Defendant was not yet handcuffed. Defendant immediately replied that the officer was not going to find the gun because he had ditched it. Defendant was then given his Miranda warnings before further questioning.

DISCUSSION

Whether the trial court committed error in refusing to suppress defendant's statement regarding the gun.

Officer Overman's question and defendant's response were the subject of a motion to suppress which the trial court denied on the basis of the public safety exception to the warnings required pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). The public safety exception was established in New York v. Quarles, 467 U.S. 649, 104 S.Ct. 2626, 81 L.Ed.2d 550 (1984).

Defendant argues that the public safety exception, as explained in Quarles, was based upon the existence of three factual elements: immediate pursuit by police officers, arrest in a public place, and the possibility that the public or an accomplice might find and use a gun. We disagree and do not read Quarles so narrowly. See United States v. Padilla, 819 F.2d 952 (10th Cir.1987); United States v. Brady, 819 F.2d 884 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1068, 108 S.Ct. 1032, 98 L.Ed.2d 996 (1988); United States v. Eaton, 676 F.Supp. 362 (D.Me., 1988).

In Quarles, the court reasoned that although defendant was in police custody when he made his statements and the facts came within the ambit of custodial interrogation governed by Miranda, there was, nevertheless, a "public safety" exception to the requirement that Miranda warnings be given before a suspect's answers are admissible. Furthermore, whatever the motivation of individual officers in such a situation, the Court did not believe the doctrinal underpinnings of Miranda required that it be applied in all its rigor to a situation in which police officers ask questions reasonably prompted by a concern for public safety.

The standard for application of the public safety exception to Miranda warnings is therefore a reasonable determination of an objective, immediate threat to the safety of the public. There is no indication that the Supreme Court intended this exception to be limited to cases in which there is immediate pursuit, arrest in a public place, and possibility that an accomplice or member of the public might find the gun, as defendant argues. Although the first and last of these factors may aid in determining the reasonableness of the perceived threat to public safety, they are not exclusive.

We note defendant's argument that the public safety exception applies only when the safety of the general public is at risk. Defendant argues that footnote 8 to the Quarles opinion supports the proposition that an objective, immediate threat to the safety of the police alone is not sufficient to invoke the Quarles public safety exception. We disagree. In footnote 8, the Court distinguished its holding from that in Orozco v. Texas, 394 U.S. 324, 89 S.Ct. 1095, 22 L.Ed.2d 311 (1969). In Orozco, the police entered the sleeping quarters of the defendant and questioned him concerning, among other things, whether he owned a gun. The court in that case held that all statements about the gun should be suppressed. The Quarles Court distinguished that case because the police questioning was clearly investigatory and "did not * * * relate to an objectively reasonable need to protect the police or the public from any immediate danger associated with the weapon." Id. 467 U.S. at 659, fn. 8, 104 S.Ct. at 2633, fn. 8. Thus, the distinction in footnote 8 centers upon the reason for the questioning, not the fact that the interrogation was done in the defendant's sleeping quarters, where the only safety risk was to the police.

One of the pivotal paragraphs of the Quarles opinion reads: "We think police officers can and will distinguish almost instinctively between questions necessary to secure their own safety or the safety of the public * * *." Id. at 658-59, 104 S.Ct. [110 N.M. 388] at 2633 (emphasis...

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4 cases
  • State v. Widmer
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of New Mexico
    • March 5, 2018
    ...circumscribed by the exigency which justifies it." Id . at 658, 104 S.Ct. 2626.{24} In State v. Trangucci , 1990-NMCA-009, ¶¶ 6-13, 110 N.M. 385, 796 P.2d 606, this Court applied Quarles . In Trangucci , the defendant forced himself into the victim's apartment, and after the victim refused ......
  • State v. Widmer
    • United States
    • New Mexico Supreme Court
    • March 19, 2020
    ...premised." State v. Jacobs , 2000-NMSC-026, ¶ 34, 129 N.M. 448, 10 P.3d 127 ; accord State v. Trangucci , 1990-NMCA-009, ¶ 13, 110 N.M. 385, 796 P.2d 606. This Court reviews the application of the law de novo but views the evidence in the light most favorable to the state. State v. Ochoa , ......
  • State v. Widmer
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of New Mexico
    • September 15, 2020
    ...premised." State v. Jacobs , 2000-NMSC-026, ¶ 34, 129 N.M. 448, 10 P.3d 127 ; accord State v. Trangucci , 1990-NMCA-009, ¶ 13, 110 N.M. 385, 796 P.2d 606. We review the application of law to the facts de novo but view the facts in the light most favorable to the State, as the prevailing par......
  • State v. Dirickson
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of New Mexico
    • April 28, 2023
    ...un-Mirandized suspect arrested in his bedroom about the location of his gun implicated the public safety exception. 1990-NMCA-009, ¶ 10, 796 P.2d 606. The suspect arrested in a bedroom for a violent felony committed with a gun the previous night. Id. ¶¶ 3-5. When the police pulled the defen......

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