Com. v. Guyton

• Decision Date: 07 August 1989
• Citation: 541 N.E.2d 1006,405 Mass. 497
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH v. Raji W. GUYTON.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

Page 1006

541 N.E.2d 1006

405 Mass. 497

COMMONWEALTH v. Raji W. GUYTON.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Worcester.

Argued April 5, 1989.

Decided Aug. 7, 1989.

John J. Bonistalli, Boston, for defendant.

Claudia R. Sullivan, Sp. Asst. Dist. Atty., for the Com.

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

O'CONNOR, Justice.

Following a trial by jury, the defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree and larceny. This is an appeal from those convictions. The defendant argues that the trial judge erroneously denied his motion to suppress statements he gave to the police as well as physical evidence seized pursuant to search warrants obtained on the basis of those statements. He also asserts that the judge erroneously admitted evidence of his prior misconduct, and that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel. Lastly, he requests that we exercise our extraordinary power under G.L. c. 278, § 33E (1988 ed.), to order a new trial on the murder indictment or reduce the verdict to a lesser degree of guilt. We conclude that the motion to suppress should have been allowed and that a new trial is required on that ground. Thus, we need not reach the ineffective assistance of counsel claim, nor need we engage in a c. 278, § 33E, review. Because it is reasonably likely that the question concerning the admissibility of so-called "prior misconduct" evidence will arise again, we discuss that subject briefly at the end of our opinion.

Stanley Cymbura was a newspaper vendor and he delivered newspapers inside the building at 50 Franklin Street in Worcester. He generally wore a jacket in order to conceal the thousands of dollars that he kept on his person. The juvenile defendant and his sister lived in an apartment at 50 Franklin Street. Between 3 A.M. and 4:30 A.M. on March 3, 1985, the sister discovered Cymbura's body in an elevator in the building. The police first believed that Cymbura had died of a heart attack, but learned on the following day that asphyxiation was the cause of his death. After police investigation, the defendant was charged with responsibility for Cymbura's death.

In connection with his suppression motion, the defendant contends that the Commonwealth failed to sustain its burden of showing that he waived his right to remain silent guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The judge found the following facts after an evidentiary hearing on the motion. On the date of the incident, the defendant was sixteen years old and his sister, Leya-Anne Guyton, was seventeen. The police visited the Guyton apartment that day and, after learning that the defendant was out, left a telephone number for him to call when he returned. Later that day, the defendant called the police, agreed to meet officers in front of 50 Franklin Street, and then did so. The defendant voluntarily accompanied the officers to his apartment which he and Leya-Anne shared with their mother, two younger siblings, and Leya-Anne's infant daughter. The defendant's mother had gone to California and had left Leya-Anne in charge of the apartment and with general responsibility to supervise the defendant. The defendant's father lived in Boston.

According to the judge's findings, an officer gave the defendant the warnings required by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), in the presence of Leya-Anne. Leya-Anne said that she understood the warnings. The defendant also said he understood them; that he had heard them all before. A detective told the defendant that a witness had seen the defendant counting large sums of money, and that it would "help [the defendant] out a great deal" if the money were recovered. The defendant immediately led the officers to a bag and a box containing a large sum of money.

The officers then told Leya-Anne that they were taking the defendant to the police station. They asked her if she would accompany the defendant, and she said she was unable to do so. On the way out of the building, the defendant told the police he had found the money. The defendant's statement was taken at the station. Before the statement was taken, however, an officer telephoned Leya-Anne "and placed [the defendant] on another line to overhear the conversation." The officer explained to Leya-Anne that she wished to interrogate the defendant and the officer read the Miranda warnings to Leya-Anne within the defendant's hearing. Leya-Anne said she understood the defendant's rights and that she did not object to the officer's interrogating the defendant. The defendant then signed the Miranda card and gave his statement.

The judge also found that the defendant was in police custody from the time he met the officers at 50 Franklin Street on the day of the incident, that the defendant and Leya-Anne understood the defendant's rights under Miranda, that the defendant's statements at 50 Franklin Street and at the police station were given by him voluntarily, and that Leya-Anne had consented to the questioning of the defendant by the police. In addition, the judge found that the defendant "prior to March 3, 1985 had extensive contact with the police and juvenile authorities and was well aware of his Miranda rights." The judge denied the motion to suppress, ruling as follows: "[T]he defendant received the rights he was required to be given under the provisions of Miranda v. Arizona and in accordance with the interested adult rule. See Commonwealth v. A Juvenile, ... 389 Mass. 128 (1983)."

The defendant's statements to the police, which he unsuccessfully sought to have suppressed, including the defendant's nonverbal admission made by his retrieving the money and giving it to the police in the apartment, were admitted in evidence at trial as was physical evidence obtained as a result of those statements. It is undisputed that the police obtained a warrant to search the defendant and his apartment on the basis of an application that recited portions of the defendant's statement at the police station and that disclosed the large sum of money at his apartment. Pursuant to the warrant, the police seized the defendant's sneakers and took fingernail scrapings from the defendant. At the trial, the Commonwealth introduced evidence of blood on the sneakers and on the defendant's fingernails.

Whenever a criminal defendant's out-of-court statements are offered in evidence against him, the prosecution has a heavy burden to demonstrate that the defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his privilege against self-incrimination and his right to retained or appointed counsel. Miranda, supra 384 U.S. at 475, 86 S.Ct. at 1628. Commonwealth v. Cain, 361 Mass. 224, 228, 279 N.E.2d 706 (1972). When the defendant is a juvenile, "courts proceed with 'special caution.' " Id., quoting In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 45, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 1453, 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967). We have recently described at length the special sensitivity with which we and other courts approach the question whether a juvenile will be deemed to have waived his Miranda rights. We quote extensively from our opinion in Commonwealth v. A Juvenile, 389 Mass. 128, 131-134, 449 N.E.2d 654 (1983): "Recent studies have confirmed [the] need for caution in evaluating a juvenile's waiver of his Fifth Amendment rights. These studies suggest that most juveniles do not understand the significance and protecting function of these rights even when they are read the standard Miranda warnings.... Recognizing this inherent problem, a growing number of State courts and Legislatures have followed the spirit of [In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967) ] and mandated that before an admission can be obtained from a juvenile he must be advised of his rights through a reading of the Miranda warnings and be given the opportunity to consult with an adult who is informed of and understands these rights.... By adopting these standards courts and Legislatures have recognized the need for establishing an ascertainable basis for determining that a knowing and intelligent waiver has preceded the interrogation of a juvenile. These added protections are consistent with our legal system's traditional policy which affords minors a unique and protected status. The law presumes different levels of responsibility for juveniles and adults and, realizing that juveniles frequently lack the capacity to appreciate the consequences of their actions, seeks to protect them from the possible consequences of their immaturity. Moreover, by providing the juvenile with the opportunity for meaningful consultation with an informed adult, these procedures prevent the warnings from becoming merely a ritualistic recitation wherein the effect of actual comprehension by the juvenile is ignored. Commonwealth v. Smith, 472 Pa. 492, 497, 372 A.2d 797 (1977).

"...

"In those jurisdictions which have adopted the 'interested adult' rule, the courts have generally held that to demonstrate a knowing and intelligent waiver by a juvenile the State must first prove that the juvenile and his parent, or if a parent is not available, someone in loco parentis, were fully advised of the juvenile's right against self-incrimination through administration of the standard Miranda warnings. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Smith, supra. We conclude that, for the Commonwealth successfully to demonstrate a knowing and intelligent waiver by a juvenile, in most cases it should show that a parent or an interested adult was present, understood the warnings, and had the opportunity to explain his rights to the juvenile so that the juvenile understands the significance of waiver of these rights. For the purpose of obtaining the waiver, in the case of juveniles who are under the age of fourteen, we conclude that no waiver can be effective without this added protection. This procedure reflects our assumption that an informed parent, or person standing...