Com. v. Cote

• Decision Date: 01 June 1982
• Citation: 435 N.E.2d 1047,386 Mass. 354
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. Joseph M. COTE, Jr.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

Page 1047

435 N.E.2d 1047

386 Mass. 354

COMMONWEALTH v. Joseph M. COTE, Jr.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Berkshire.

Argued February 2, 1982.

Decided June 1, 1982.

Francis X. Spina, Asst. Dist. Atty., for the Commonwealth.

Edward J. Spence, III, Pittsfield, for defendant.

Before HENNESSEY, C. J., and WILKINS, LIACOS, ABRAMS and O'CONNOR, JJ.

ABRAMS, Justice.

The Commonwealth appeals from a Superior Court judge's order suppressing some physical evidence and all statements made by Joseph M. Cote, Jr., because of pre-arraignment delay of approximately four hours. Relying on Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387, 97 S.Ct. 1232, 51 L.Ed.2d 424 (1977), and Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201, 84 S.Ct. 1199, 12 L.Ed.2d 246 (1964), the motion judge ruled that the statements and the physical evidence were inadmissible because of a violation of the defendant's right to counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

We summarize the facts found by the judge. On January 13, 1981, at approximately 2:25 A.M., the North Adams police arrested the defendant for operating a motor vehicle without a license and for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The officers took the defendant to the North Adams police station where he was searched. They found a plastic bag containing jewelry, bills, coins, and silver. At approximately 2:35 A.M., the defendant was advised of his statutory right to use a telephone to communicate with family, friends, or an attorney and to arrange for bail. G.L. c. 276, § 33A. Thereafter, the defendant was placed in a cell. The defendant appeared normal. ¹

At 8 A.M., on January 13, Captain Bush of the North Adams police came on duty. He checked police records and telephoned the Adams and Williamstown police departments to determine whether any of the items taken from the defendant had been reported as stolen. The Williamstown police wanted to view the property and dispatched an officer, who arrived at the North Adams police station at approximately 9:15 A.M. The officer viewed the jewelry and called an individual whom the officer believed to be the owner of the items. The individual arrived and identified the jewelry as his.

Commencing at 9 A.M., the Northern Berkshire District Court was in session in Adams. Captain Bush telephoned the court and told someone that there would be a delay in bringing the defendant for arraignment because the police "were still investigating the property that had been found in (the defendant's) possession." He arranged to have the defendant arraigned during the afternoon session, which commenced at 1 P.M.

After breakfast, at approximately 10 A.M., the defendant was brought before Captain Bush, the Williamstown officer, and a third officer (probably from North Adams). One officer read the defendant the Miranda warnings. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1964). At that time, the defendant did not sign the Miranda card, but said he understood the warnings. The judge found that the defendant appeared normal and did, in fact, understand his rights. The police then questioned the defendant, who made a statement. The defendant told the officers that he had other goods stolen from the owner ² of the items in the plastic bag, and that these other goods were in the apartment of a friend, Scott Martin. It is not clear whether the defendant's statement was limited to that one housebreak. ³ The judge found that the defendant consented to an officer's going to the apartment to obtain these items. ⁴ At approximately noon, the Williamstown officer went to the apartment where Martin handed the officer some stolen goods and a weapon, all of which were under the mattress of a cot used by the defendant.

At approximately 12:30 P.M., another officer took the defendant to the Northern Berkshire District Court (Adams) for arraignment at 1 P.M. on the charges of receiving stolen property, ⁵ using a motor vehicle without authority, and driving without a license. The judge found that Attorney Richard was appointed for the sole purpose of bail, and was present at the arraignment proceeding. At some point during the proceedings, Attorney Spence, who was not present at the arraignment, was appointed trial counsel. No letter was sent to Mr. Spence to inform him of his appointment, and no date of appointment appears in the record. The defendant did not make bail and the North Adams officer brought the defendant back to the North Adams police station.

At 3:20 P.M., an officer of the Adams police department arrived at the police station and read the defendant the Miranda warnings. The judge found that the defendant understood the warnings. The defendant made a statement.

At 5:30 or 6 P.M., two officers of the North Adams police department met with the defendant. One of the officers read the Miranda warnings to the defendant. The defendant signed a card, indicating that he understood the warnings. The officers asked the defendant who his attorney was. The defendant stated that it was Attorney Richard. One of the officers called Attorney Richard, who told the officer that he only represented the defendant for the purpose of bail, and if the defendant wanted to talk to the police, he should "go ahead and talk." The defendant gave the officers a statement. The judge found that the defendant had not been mistreated, and that he understood the Miranda warnings.

After having dinner, the defendant returned to his cell at approximately 7 P.M. At 7:30 P.M., the defendant "yelled out" that he wanted to speak with the Williamstown police. A Williamstown officer returned to the station, and he read the Miranda warnings to the defendant. The defendant made another statement. Later, the defendant "hollered" that he wanted to "clear up" some matters involving the Adams "breaks." An Adams officer returned to the station, and he read the Miranda warnings to the defendant. The defendant made another statement.

The next morning, January 14, 1981, the North Adams police took the defendant to a house of correction. A Cheshire police officer, who had read a newspaper story concerning the defendant, believed that the defendant might be involved in some Cheshire "breaks." The officer went to the house of correction where the defendant was being held in lieu of bail. The officer asked the defendant if he had an attorney. The defendant told the officer that he did not have an attorney, and that he did not want to talk to anyone. The officer left. The next day, the defendant told a guard that he wanted to speak to the Cheshire officer. The officer returned and read the defendant the Miranda warnings. The defendant signed a card stating that he understood his rights, and gave a statement to the officer.

In the late evening of January 15, 1981, or the early morning of January 16, 1981, the defendant asked a guard to telephone Attorney Spence. On January 16, 1981, Attorney Spence learned for the first time that he had been appointed as counsel for the defendant.

Before trial, the defendant filed a motion to suppress all statements made while in custody, and to suppress the evidence seized from Scott Martin's apartment. The defendant alleged violations of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and arts. 12 and 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. Relying exclusively on Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387, 97 S.Ct. 1232, 51 L.Ed.2d 424 (1977), and Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201, 207, 84 S.Ct. 1199, 1203, 12 L.Ed.2d 246 (1964), the judge ruled that as a matter of Federal law the defendant was entitled to counsel at the time he should have been arraigned (9 A.M.), and that the police should not have interrogated the defendant in the absence of counsel because of the delay in arraignment. The judge also ruled that all post-arraignment statements, made in the absence of counsel, should be suppressed. Finally, the judge ruled that the defendant could not waive his right to counsel without first consulting with counsel. The judge determined that there were no violations of the Fourth ⁶ and Fifth Amendments. The judge's factual findings on these issues were solely focused on whether Miranda warnings were given and whether the defendant understood them.

The Commonwealth filed a notice of appeal with a request for leave to apply for interlocutory appellate review. See Mass.R.Crim.P. 15(b)(2), 378 Mass. 883 (1979). A single justice of this court issued an interim order asking the motion judge to amplify his rulings in light of the intervening Supreme Court decision of Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981). The single justice also suggested that the judge include a discussion of his rulings on the defendant's Fourth Amendment claims. The motion judge filed some additional findings and rulings, ⁷ and the single justice granted the Commonwealth's request for interlocutory appeal, and reported the matter to this court.

The defendant contends that if the police had arraigned him promptly, he would have been assigned counsel at approximately 9 A.M. He asserts that the police subverted his right to counsel by delaying his arraignment. He, therefore, concludes that the failure promptly to arraign him supports the judge's ruling that all statements, whether pre-arraignment or post-arraignment, must be suppressed as a matter of Federal constitutional law.

In essence, the judge determined that the delay in arraignment was equivalent to extraordinary police manipulation such as that condemned in Brewer and Massiah. The facts found by the judge do not support such a sweeping conclusion. ⁸ In Brewer the police interrogated the defendant after arraignment, despite the defendant's express and implicit assertions of his right to counsel. In addition, a police officer's remarks...