Chao v. State

• Decision Date: 07 January 1992
• Parties: Vicky CHAO, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee. . Submitted:
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Delaware

Page 1351

604 A.2d 1351

Vicky CHAO, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee.

Supreme Court of Delaware.

Submitted: Jan. 7, 1992.

Decided: Jan. 29, 1992.

Upon appeal from Superior Court. AFFIRMED.

Joseph A. Hurley, Wilmington, for appellant.

Gary A. Myers, Deputy Atty. Gen., Dept. of Justice, Georgetown, for appellee.

Before CHRISTIE, C.J., HORSEY, MOORE, WALSH, and HOLLAND, JJ.

CHRISTIE, Chief Justice:

Following a jury trial in the Superior Court, in and for New Castle County, the defendant/appellant, Vicky Chao ("Chao"), was convicted of six counts of murder in the first degree, 11 Del.C. §§ 636(a)(1), 636(a)(2); one count of attempted murder in the first degree, 11 Del.C. § 531; one count of arson in the first degree, 11 Del.C. § 803(2); one count of burglary in the first degree, 11 Del.C. § 826; two counts of conspiracy in the first degree, 11 Del.C. § 513; and one count of conspiracy in the second degree, 11 Del.C. § 512. On May 25, 1990 the Superior Court sentenced Chao to seven consecutive terms of life imprisonment to be served without benefit of probation or parole or any other reduction, 11 Del.C. § 4209, and fifteen years' imprisonment.

In this appeal Chao raises five issues arguing that her convictions should be reversed. First, she contends that the trial court abused its discretion when it failed to grant her motion to suppress four separate statements she made during questioning on March 10, 1989. Appellant specifically alleges that her Fifth Amendment rights were violated because she was not given Miranda warnings prior to what she characterized as custodial interrogation. Second, appellant contends that the trial court's failure to instruct the jury as to the lesser included offenses of intentional murder and felony murder constitutes reversible error. Third, appellant contends that the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing her to six life terms on the basis of convictions of both intentional murder, 11 Del.C. § 636(a)(1), and felony murder, 11 Del.C. § 636(a)(2) for each of three victims. Fourth, appellant contends that the trial court committed plain error in failing sua sponte to appoint an interpreter for the appellant at the suppression hearing, a critical phase of the trial. Finally, appellant also contends that there was insufficient evidence to establish her guilt of intentional murder and felony murder beyond a reasonable doubt.

We have reviewed each of Chao's contentions and find them to be without merit. Therefore, the judgment of Superior Court, which resulted in Chao's convictions and sentences, is affirmed.

Facts

In the early morning hours of March 9, 1988 three members of William Chen's ("Chen") family were killed in a fire that was deliberately set at his Claymont home. It appears that sometime after 4 a.m. Chen and his wife were sleeping in their second floor bedroom when they were awakened by a loud noise and smoke. According to his testimony, upon waking, Chen went downstairs to investigate what was happening whereupon he saw the stooped-over figure of a female intruder amidst the first floor smoke. In an attempt to summon help and to rid his home of the smoke, Chen opened the front door. Upon doing so, however, flames flashed through the house quickly engulfing it and forcing Chen outside. Fire fighters later found the burned remains of his wife, mother, and daughter in the upstairs bedrooms.

Within an hour after the fire was reported, deputy state fire marshals began to arrive at the scene and an investigation ensued. According to expert testimony offered at trial, the investigation revealed that gasoline had been poured in three separate areas of the house: (i) in the garage below Chen's bedroom, (ii) around a back door, and (iii) throughout the first floor living area including the foyer, the living room, the dining room, and the stairs leading to the second floor. The evidence further showed that a very intense, fast-burning fire was started in each of the three areas and that the rear entrance was the principal ignition point. As a result, the investigators concluded that the entire first floor was instantaneously engulfed by a "fireball". Moreover, given the strategic placement of the gasoline, investigators also concluded that the fires had been specifically set so as to deny the occupants of the house a route of escape.

Pursuant to a joint investigation by the Delaware Attorney General's Office, New Castle County Police, and the Fire Marshal's Office which had already begun, investigators interviewed Chen on three separate occasions on the day of the conflagration. During the interview Chen revealed that he had been involved in a turbulent relationship with a woman from New York City. Identifying the woman as Vicky Chao, he further advised the investigators of various problems he had been having with her. Specifically, Chen recounted an incident in which Chao had him arrested for assaulting her approximately one month prior to the fire. Moreover, Chen also indicated that as early as nine days before the fire, Chao had been to his Claymont home causing a disturbance. In particular, he claimed that she became embroiled in an argument with both his wife and mother and that she threatened to cause "big trouble" if he didn't "throw his family away" and marry her instead.

William Chen immigrated to the United States with his mother in 1978 from the People's Republic of China. Although he and his mother first settled in Delaware, Chen moved to New York City the following year to attend college. It was there that he met Vicky Chao in 1979 and became involved in a romantic relationship with her. Although they never actually lived together, Chen eventually gave Chao the keys to his apartment and the two grew close, often spending a great amount of time together. In fact, at one point in their relationship Chao provided Chen with four thousand dollars enabling him to open his own business. Then, in 1985, their relationship was dramatically transformed when Chen traveled to China to marry his now deceased wife, Jing Hong. Upon returning from China with his wife, the couple settled in the Claymont home which was consumed in the March 9th fire.

Armed with the information obtained in their interviews with Chen and considering him to be a suspect, investigators immediately traveled to New York City to question Chao. The Delaware contingent, consisting of two detectives, a State fire marshal, and a deputy attorney general, arrived at New York's 115th Precinct in the early morning hours of March 10. Four New York City police officers joined the team from Delaware, and the contingent went to Chao's apartment at about 1:45 a.m.¹ Identifying themselves as investigating an incident, one of the detectives asked Chao if she would accompany them back to the station to answer some questions. Chao agreed to accompany the officers. Then she got dressed and they drove her to the 115th Precinct. Chao was not handcuffed nor was she arrested or told that she was under arrest. On the contrary, she was simply assisting the investigators in their effort to solve a serious crime which had been apparently committed by an individual she knew.

Upon arriving at the station house, Chao and the Delaware investigators went into a large assembly room at approximately 2:30 a.m. An officer then explained to Chao that they were there investigating an arson-murder in Delaware and that they wished to ask her some questions about the incident. A female New York City police officer was present at the time and told Chao that she did not have to speak to the Delaware law enforcement personnel and that she was free to leave. Chao, however, chose to stay. The investigators then spoke with Chao for one hour and fifteen minutes. Approximately 45 minutes into this period a New York desk sergeant entered the room, and Chao was again told that she was not under arrest and that she was free to leave. Nevertheless, Chao responded that she wished to stay. In fact, on several occasions throughout the interview, different law enforcement personnel repeatedly told Chao that she was free to go. She, however, consistently chose not to exercise that right.

As the interview progressed, the deputy attorney general who sat in on the questioning eventually came to the conclusion that Chao had information concerning the fire but was hesitant to reveal it. To make some headway, the lawyer asked the officers to leave the room so that he could talk to Chao "one-to-one." This occurred at about 3:30 a.m. After the others left, he explained to Chao that this was only an investigation and that if she had done nothing wrong, she would have nothing to fear in talking to him. During this time Chao freely moved about the large assembly room and repeatedly asked "will he ever get out." Ultimately, Chao agreed to tell the investigators what she knew. The other officers subsequently returned whereupon Chao gave a tape-recorded statement. The police did not preface any of their questioning with Miranda warnings.

In her statement, Chao implicated an individual named Liu as the arsonist. According to her testimony, she and Chen were mutual acquaintances of Liu. More importantly, however, she explained to investigators that Liu wanted to kill Chen and that he forced her to accompany him to Delaware the previous night in his yellow taxicab. She further stated that while traveling to Delaware Liu stopped and filled a plastic container with gasoline. She then claimed that when they arrived at Chen's home she was terrified and waited in the taxi after Liu exited it because he had threatened her. Chao further stated that when Liu eventually returned to the taxi, his hand was bleeding and he exclaimed that he had set fire to the house.

Eager to further the investigation, and follow up on the information Chao provided, the Delaware authorities promptly ended their questioning of her and...