Goodwin v. Com.

• Decision Date: 07 October 1986
• Docket Number: No. 0412-85,0412-85
• Parties: June Allen GOODWIN v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.
• Court: Virginia Court of Appeals

Page 161

349 S.E.2d 161

3 Va.App. 249

June Allen GOODWIN v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.

No. 0412-85.

Court of Appeals of Virginia.

Oct. 7, 1986.

J. Barrett Jones, Lynchburg, for appellant.

John H. McLees, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen. (William G. Broaddus, Atty. Gen., on brief), for appellee.

Present: BARROW, DUFF and MOON, JJ.

MOON, Judge.

June Allen Goodwin appeals his conviction in a jury trial in the Circuit Court for the City of Charlottesville for attempted rape. The sole issue on this appeal is whether Goodwin, a twenty-eight year old mildly retarded person, knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights before confessing to the crime.

Goodwin was arrested on the evening of September 21, 1984, following an allegation by Pearl Marie Rush that he attempted to rape her. At trial, Rush testified that after she left work around 4:00 p.m. on September 21, she and Carol Binion walked to Binion's house, which took approximately one hour, so that Rush could baby-sit Binion's two children. Goodwin came over to Binion's house after the two women had arrived. Goodwin talked to the two women for awhile and Binion later went jogging while Rush remained to watch the children. Goodwin then left on his bicycle after he and Rush agreed that he would return with some beer. He returned on his bicycle a short time later with a six-pack and both Goodwin and Rush sat outside on the porch and drank some of the beer.

Rush then testified that, because it began to get dark, she told Goodwin to leave so she could put the children to bed. She then entered the house and locked the door, but one of the children let Goodwin into the house when he knocked on the door. Rush stated that Goodwin asked for some water and she repeated her request for him to leave. However, he then pulled a knife from his pocket and demanded that she lay down on the kitchen floor, which she did. He then began beating her, grabbed her arm, and told her to go into the bedroom. When they got to the bedroom, Rush pushed Goodwin to the floor and she ran out of the house with the children. Goodwin then left but was arrested when he returned to Binion's house later that night.

Sergeant Pleasants read the Miranda warnings to Goodwin at the police station before Goodwin confessed to the attempted rape. His confession, in pertinent part, read:

I saw a black girl today on Altavista Ave. She told me I could bring some beer and marijuana to her house tonight. I got a pint of vodka but I couldn't find no marijuana. I took some beer and some vodka to her house on Altavista Ave. ... We drank it and I told the girl how about some sex. I tried to wrestle with the girl. She saw my penis in the living room.... My zipper is down because I showed her my penis. While we were wrestling we fell on the floor. She was yelling NO--NO and was fighting me off. She beat me off of her. If I could have held her I would have screwed her. I am not drunk now. I make this statement freely.

At a suppression hearing before trial, Goodwin claimed that his mental retardation and his alleged extreme intoxication at the time of the confession rendered him unable to understand his rights or to make a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of those rights. He asserts that the trial court erred in admitting the confession and that we must make an independent determination of this issue. We agree that the question of voluntariness is a legal question requiring an independent review on appeal, but we also conclude that Goodwin knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights and confessed to the crime.

The prosecution bears the burden of proving that the defendant knowingly and intelligently waived the constitutional privilege against self-incrimination and the right to counsel. "[T]he prosecution may not use statements, whether exculpatory or inculpatory, stemming from custodial interrogation of the defendant unless it demonstrates the use of procedural safeguards effective to secure the privilege against self-incrimination." Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1612, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Although the defendant may waive these rights, it must be shown that "the waiver is made voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently." Id. If a confession is not " 'the product of a rational intellect and a free will,' the confession is inadmissible because coerced." Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 307, 83 S.Ct. 745, 754, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963) (quoting Blackburn v. Alabama, 361 U.S. 199, 208, 80 S.Ct. 274, 208, 4 L.Ed.2d 242 (1960)); see Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 225, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 2046, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973).

In considering the standard of review in this case, we are confronted with two separate questions: (1) the standard of review of a trial court's finding of the voluntariness of a confession; and (2) the standard of review concerning the finding of the validity of a waiver of Miranda rights.

On the issue of voluntariness of a confession, the Supreme Court of Virginia has held that it is a question of fact as to which the trial court's finding will be upheld unless plainly wrong or without evidence to support it. Boggs v. Commonwealth, 229 Va. 501, 512, 331 S.E.2d 407, 416 (1985); Rodgers v. Commonwealth, 227 Va. 605, 608-09, 318 S.E.2d 298, 300 (1984). However, the United States Supreme Court recently held that the issue of the voluntariness of a confession is a legal question requiring independent review by an appellate court, based upon the entire record. Miller v. Fenton, 474 U.S. 104, 106 S.Ct. 445, 451, 88 L.Ed.2d 405 (1985); Beckwith v. United States, 425 U.S. 341, 348, 96 S.Ct. 1612, 1617, 48 L.Ed.2d 1 (1976) (citing Davis v. North Carolina, 384 U.S. 737, 741-742, 86 S.Ct. 1761, 1764-1765, 16 L.Ed.2d 895 (1976)).

The Commonwealth concedes in its brief that this court is "constrained to apply the analysis of the United States Supreme Court on the voluntariness issue." However, it also contends that the United States Supreme Court has not extended the "independent determination" standard to findings of the validity of waivers of Miranda rights. The Commonwealth submits that this issue is one of fact and we agree. See Miller, 474 U.S. at ----, 106 S.Ct. at 449 n. 3; Acres v. Commonwealth, 216 Va. 40, 46, 216 S.E.2d 28, 32 (1975); accord Patterson v. Cuyler, 729 F.2d 925, 930-32 (3d Cir.1984).

We must determine whether, in light of the totality of the circumstances, including not only the details of the interrogation, but also the characteristics of the accused, the statement was the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice by its maker, or whether the maker's will was overcome and his capacity for self-determination critically impaired. See Wyrick v. Fields, 459 U.S. 42, 49, 103 S.Ct. 394, 397, 74 L.Ed.2d 214 (1982) (per curiam); Schneckloth, 412 U.S. at 225-26, 93 S.Ct. at 2046-47; Washington v. Commonwealth, 228 Va. 535, 547-48, 323 S.E.2d 577, 586 (1984); Rodgers, 227 Va. at 609, 318 S.E.2d at 300. The mental retardation of the accused is one factor to consider in making this determination. Reck v. Pate, 367 U.S. 433, 442, 81 S.Ct. 1541, 1547, 6 L.Ed.2d 948 (1961); Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 625, 633, 81 S.Ct. 1860, 1891, 1895, 6 L.Ed.2d 1037 (1961); Annot., 8 A.L.R.4th 16, 21 (1981).

[T]he retarded person may be abnormally susceptible to coercion and pressure ..., [may] make a false confession out of a desire to please someone perceived to be an authority figure ..., [may] not understand, and may be incapable of understanding, the ramifications of a confession, and his right not to confess.

Ellis & Luckasson, Mentally Retarded Criminal Defendants, 53 Geo.Wash.L.Rev. 414, 446 (1985).

I.

We must first determine if Goodwin made a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of the Miranda rights. Goodwin contends that his mental retardation and extreme intoxication at the time of his confession rendered him incapable of understanding his rights under the fifth and sixth amendments, thus preventing a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of his rights.

Regarding his retardation as affecting his capacity to intelligently waive his rights, Goodwin relies upon the testimony of Lucille Michie, a retired school psychologist who examined Goodwin in 1970, when he was fourteen years old, approximately fourteen years prior to the confession. She testified that Goodwin's I.Q. at that time was about 56, placing him in the educable mentally retarded range. She had not examined Goodwin since then. She did state that the test given Goodwin at that time to assess his mental ability was educationally and socioeconomically biased, possibly affecting the results because Goodwin is black and from a low socioeconomic background. Michie felt that Goodwin's I.Q. may have even gone down because of further school separation or emotional difficulty subsequent to the examination. However, it was brought out at trial that, although Goodwin received social promotion, he did attend school with the Department of Corrections while in its custody. Goodwin's reading level was most recently tested at a first grade level, which Michie said indicated that he only recognized words rather than comprehending them. Goodwin testified that he could not read handwriting and could not read any part of the alleged statement he made, other than the printed portions.

Michie expressed the opinion that several of the Miranda warnings were stated in terms too abstract or complex for easy comprehension by a mentally retarded person and that Goodwin could only understand them if they were explained very concretely. She also did not believe that Goodwin would have used such terms as "marijuana" or "penis," nor would he have used complex sentences such as those contained in his confession. She did admit that Goodwin had the intellectual capacity to learn, especially the language of the street. She stated that he could have understood the...