Commonwealth v. DiStefano

• Decision Date: 16 August 2001
• Citation: 782 A.2d 574
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Christopher DISTEFANO, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

782 A.2d 574

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Christopher DISTEFANO, Appellant.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued March 15, 2001.

Filed August 16, 2001.

Reargument Denied October 17, 2001.

Gerard M. Karam, Scranton, for appellant.

Eugene M. Talerico, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., Scranton, for Commonwealth, appellee.

Before: CAVANAUGH, HUDOCK and HESTER, JJ.

CAVANAUGH, J.

¶ 1 Christopher DiStefano appeals from the judgment of sentence of from fifteen to forty years incarceration imposed after he was convicted, non-jury, of third-degree murder.¹ We vacate the judgment of sentence. ¶ 2 Prior to a lengthy trial, appellant filed a motion to suppress his confession which was denied. Appellant's chief contention on appeal is that the court erred in denying his motion to suppress.

The standard when this court reviews a suppression motion is that we must first determine whether the factual findings are supported by the record, and then determine whether the inferences and legal conclusions drawn from those findings are reasonable. Commonwealth v. Hall, 549 Pa. 269, 701 A.2d 190 (1997). We may consider the evidence of the witnesses offered by the prosecution, as verdict winner, and only so much of the defense evidence that remains uncontradicted when read in the context of the record as a whole. Id. at 197. We are bound by facts supported by the record and may reverse only if the legal conclusions reached by the court below were erroneous. Id.

Commonwealth v. Luv, 557 Pa. 570, 735 A.2d 87, 90 (1999).

¶ 3 The pertinent facts are that the nude body of Christine Burgerhoff, a twenty-four year old prostitute, was found in the parking lot of Allied Food Corporation on Keyser Avenue in Scranton at approximately 11:00 a.m. on April 6, 1996. Subsequent investigation led the authorities to believe she had been killed by ligature strangulation late on the night of April 5th at her place of employment, The Reflex Center, a house of prostitution masquerading as a massage parlor.

¶ 4 Appellant was a former high-school boyfriend of the victim. He was interviewed by police three times regarding his relationship with her. The third interview, conducted in the Dunmore barracks, began at 7:00 p.m. on April 10th and concluded with appellant's signing a written confession to the murder at 6:00 a.m. on April 11th. Appellant was not advised of his Miranda rights until after the confession had been attained and he had been formally arrested. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).

¶ 5 Appellant was in a 15' x 15' room in the exclusive company of police officers during the entirety of the eleven hour interrogation which resulted in his confession, except for bathroom breaks and three brief breaks in the questioning during which appellant was left unattended. Appellant's car keys were taken away from him for the purposes of conducting a consensual search of his vehicle and were not returned.

¶ 6 During the interrogation, appellant was asked to provide a speculative theory of the circumstances of the homicide. He surmised that the victim was visited by a former lover at her place of employment who became enraged and killed her when she rejected his romantic advances. When asked what concerns the hypothetical third person killer might have, appellant replied that the killer would be worried about being treated fairly and about receiving psychological help. The interrogating officer, Trooper Joseph Pacifico, answered these concerns with assurances that the hypothetical killer would be treated fairly under the law and would receive mental health services. Appellant asked the trooper to put the assurances in writing. The trooper asked appellant "What should I write?" The following note was prepared at the appellant's direction, appellant dictating and the trooper writing:

We understand you're not a murderer—that it was a crime of passion—that you have a lot of pain, grief and remorse inside. That we intend to give you the necessary treatment to relieve your pain, grief and remorse.

TPR Joseph G. Pacifico [signature]

¶ 7 Appellant then asked Trooper Pacifico to write "We do not intend to prosecute you." The trooper's report of the interview reveals that he declined the suggestion, telling appellant that:

I could not promise HIM (DISTEFANO) that because eventually HE would be arrested and the Court could then order treatment to help him.

¶ 8 Detective Carlson joined Trooper Pacifico in the interrogation room at approximately 1:00 a.m. and the interrogation subsequently became accusatory and confrontational as they told appellant that they believed "the guy in his [hypothetical] scenario was him." At approximately 3:00 a.m. appellant asked if he could leave and return to continue the questioning the next day and was told "no" and that "you know, listen you're here now, you know. Why don't we just talk about this, get this all wrapped up. Something to that effect." The questioning continued and the interrogation report reveals that approximately one hour later:

Det. CARLSON and I asked DISTEFANO what he was worried about or afraid of that he couldn't tell us the truth. DISTEFANO said he wanted to finish his semester at college and wanted to get his teaching certificate. He said if he was arrested he wouldn't be able to finish his school semester. He also said that if he were convicted of a crime like this he would never get his teaching certificate. We discussed his concerns about school and told him he would eventually be able to finish his schooling and get his teaching certificate.

¶ 9 At approximately 4:00 a.m., appellant agreed to "tell the truth" and a written statement of confession was taken in the presence of three officers. The statement included a narrative of the events as told by appellant followed by police questions and appellant's answers thereto. At 6:07 a.m., appellant was formally placed under arrest and given his rights under Miranda.

¶ 10 The suppression court reasoned that appellant was not in custody during the interrogation so that no Miranda rights attached until after formal arrest. The suppression court also determined that the statement was voluntary and that the police made no promises to appellant designed to induce him to confess. We disagree with both findings.

¶ 11 In Miranda, the United States Supreme Court held that a confession given during custodial interrogation is presumptively involuntary, unless the accused is first advised of his right against self-incrimination. Id.,384 U.S. 436,86 S.Ct. 1602,16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Miranda warnings are not required where the interrogation is not custodial. Commonwealth v. Nester, 551 Pa. 157, 709 A.2d 879, 882 n. 4 (1998) (citations omitted). "A person is in custody for the purposes of a custodial interrogation when he is physically deprived of his freedom in any significant way or is placed in a situation in which he reasonably believes that his freedom of action or movement is restricted by the interrogation." Id. (citation omitted). Police detentions become custodial when under the totality of the circumstances the conditions and/or duration of the detention become so coercive as to become the functional equivalent of arrest. Commonwealth v. Busch, 713 A.2d 97, 100 (Pa.Super.1998) (citing Commonwealth v. Ellis, 379 Pa.Super. 337, 549 A.2d 1323 (1988)).

Among the factors the court utilizes in determining, under the totality of the circumstances, whether the detention became so coercive as to constitute the functional equivalent of arrest are: the basis for the detention; the location; whether the suspect was transported against his will; how far, and why; whether restraints were used; the show, threat or use of force; and the methods of investigation used to confirm or dispel suspicions.

Busch, 713 A.2d at 101 (quoting Commonwealth v. Peters, 434 Pa.Super. 268, 642 A.2d 1126, 1130 (1994) (en banc)).

¶ 12 The suppression court found that appellant was not subjected to a custodial interrogation for the following reasons: 1) at one point during the interrogation, after the tone of the interview had turned accusatory and confrontational, one of the officers told appellant that if he was not going to tell the truth, he might as well leave; 2) appellant was twice told that he was not under arrest; 3) appellant came to the barracks voluntarily; 4) appellant was not hand-cuffed or isolated in a holding area; 5) appellant was given beverages and bathroom breaks; 6) the door to the interview room was closed but not locked; and 7) appellant did not himself believe he was in custody because at one point he asked if he could leave.

¶ 13 We find that the court's determination was error based on a consideration of the totality of the circumstances as follows: The subject interrogation was admittedly designed to elicit an incriminating response. The detention occurred in the police barracks. Appellant was detained for eleven hours overnight. The only persons appellant saw during that time were police officers. The interview turned confrontational and accusatory five hours before its conclusion with the police telling appellant that they believed he was the perpetrator and that they did not believe his denials. The crime under investigation was murder. Appellant's vehicle keys were taken from him and were not returned. At approximately 3:00 a.m., appellant expressed a desire to leave and was told "no. You know, you're here. If you're going to tell us, tell us." Accordingly, we find that the police action physically and psychologically deprived appellant's freedom of movement and choice in a significant way and constituted a custodial interrogation.

¶ 14 With respect to the suppression court's rationale for concluding that the interrogation was non-custodial, it is clear that an interrogation may be custodial in nature even where the accused has been advised he is not under arrest during questioning and where he voluntarily...