Hannon v. State
| Citation | 2004 WY 8,84 P.3d 320 |
| Decision Date | 11 February 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-277.,02-277. |
| Parties | Alvin HANNON, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming |
Representing Appellant: Ken Koski, State Public Defender, PDP; Donna D. Domonkos, Appellate Counsel; Diane E. Courselle, Director DAP; Anna M. Reeves, Intern DAP Kristin M. Siegel, Intern; and Jeff Stanbury, Intern DAP.
Representing Appellee: Patrick J. Crank, Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; and Daniel M. Fetsco, Assistant Attorney General.
Before HILL, C.J., and GOLDEN, LEHMAN, KITE, and VOIGT, JJ.
[¶ 1] Alvin Ray Hannon was convicted of two counts each of second and third degree sexual assault and one count of attempted third degree sexual assault. On appeal, he claims the district court erred in limiting his cross-examination of the victim, denying his motion to suppress statements he made to law enforcement, and excluding expert testimony concerning his mental state. We hold that reversible error occurred when the trial court prohibited defense counsel from cross-examining the victim about the fact that he did not report the alleged sexual assault by Mr. Hannon until three months later, when he was brought in for questioning about his own alleged sexual improprieties with another boy. We further hold that reversible error occurred when the trial court prohibited the defense expert from testifying concerning her psychological evaluation of Mr. Hannon, the results of the evaluation and her conclusions. We find no error in the district court's denial of the motion to suppress Mr. Hannon's statements to law enforcement.
[¶ 2] Mr. Hannon raises the following issues:
[¶ 3] On October 9, 2001, during an interview concerning allegations that he was involved in inappropriate sexual conduct with another boy, thirteen-year-old TB told Campbell County Sheriff's Deputy Duane Peyrot that Mr. Hannon had sexually assaulted him while staying at his home that summer. Based upon information obtained from TB's mother that Mr. Hannon was from the Rapid City, South Dakota, area, Deputy Peyrot contacted the Rapid City Police Department. Later that day, Deputy Peyrot received a telephone call from Deputy Brian Mueller of the Rapid City, Pennington County, sexual assault task force who confirmed that Mr. Hannon lived in the Rapid City area and offered to conduct a video-taped interview of Mr. Hannon.
[¶ 4] On October 12, 2001, Deputy Mueller interviewed Mr. Hannon. During the interview, Mr. Hannon made incriminating statements about the alleged sexual assault of TB. Deputy Mueller advised the Campbell County Sheriff's Office about the interview, which then issued a felony information charging Mr. Hannon with two counts of third-degree sexual assault, one count of attempted third-degree sexual assault, and two counts of second-degree sexual assault or attempted second-degree sexual assault. The information also alleged that Mr. Hannon was a habitual criminal, making any sentence he received on the counts charged subject to enhancement under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-10-201 (LexisNexis 2003).
[¶ 5] Mr. Hannon initially entered a plea of not guilty to the charges. Later, however, he added a plea of not guilty by reason of mental illness or deficiency. The trial court ordered Mr. Hannon to be evaluated at the Wyoming State Hospital. Psychologists concluded that "[a]lthough Mr. Hannon is cognitively slow, and may even meet criteria for borderline intellectual functioning or mild mental retardation," he was not suffering from a mental deficiency at the time of the alleged offense making him unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or conform his conduct to the requirements of law as required by Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-11-304(a) (LexisNexis 2003).1
[¶ 6] Mr. Hannon requested a second evaluation, which was performed by Dr. Jane Wells. A confidential report of her findings was filed with the trial court on April 15, 2002. On May 8, 2002, the prosecution moved to strike her evaluation and report and to exclude her testimony, contending she did not comply with the court's order by rendering an opinion as to whether at the time of the alleged criminal conduct Mr. Hannon lacked substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or conform his conduct to the requirements of law. Instead, the state asserted, Dr. Wells rendered an opinion on Mr. Hannon's competency to confess during the interview with Deputy Mueller. The state requested a competency hearing pursuant to Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-11-303(f) (LexisNexis 2003).2 Additionally, the state filed a motion in limine for an order prohibiting the defense from referring to Dr. Wells' evaluation and opinions about whether Mr. Hannon's statements during the interview were voluntary.
[¶ 7] After the competency hearing on June 3, 2002, the trial court found that Mr. Hannon was competent and fit to proceed with the trial. At a subsequent hearing on July 10, 2002, the trial court heard testimony from Dr. Wells in relation to the state's motion to strike her evaluation and exclude her testimony on the issue of whether Mr. Hannon's statements to Deputy Mueller were voluntary. The trial court granted the motion and entered an order excluding Dr. Wells' testimony.
[¶ 8] Prior to trial, Mr. Hannon filed a motion to suppress the statements he made during the interview with Deputy Mueller. Mr. Hannon contended, first, that Mr. Mueller impermissibly continued questioning him after he requested to speak to an attorney and, second, his statements were not voluntary under the totality of the circumstances given his low cognitive functioning and resulting susceptibility to leading and deceptive questioning by authority figures. After a hearing, the trial court denied the motion and the prosecution presented evidence of the interview at trial, including the videotape.
[¶ 9] Also prior to trial, the state filed a motion in limine for an order prohibiting the defense from making any reference during the trial to TB's alleged inappropriate sexual conduct with another child or the juvenile proceedings resulting from those allegations. Mr. Hannon objected on the ground that granting the motion would deprive him of his right to confront the witnesses against him. Mr. Hannon argued he had the right to cross-examine TB concerning the allegations in order to show TB's motivation to lie as a way of shifting blame from his own conduct. After a hearing on the motion, the trial court granted the state's motion and prohibited the defense from making any reference to the allegations against TB. [¶ 10] Trial was held July 15 through July 17, 2002, and Mr. Hannon was convicted on all five counts. He chose to forego the habitual offender trial and pleaded guilty to being a habitual offender. With enhancements under the habitual criminal statute, he received two life sentences on the second-degree sexual assault convictions and three sentences of ten to fifteen years in the Wyoming State Penitentiary on the third-degree sexual assault and attempted third-degree sexual assault convictions, all sentences to run consecutively.
[¶ 11] Mr. Hannon's claim that he was denied the right to cross-examine TB arises under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees an accused the right to confront the witnesses against him. Issues arising under the constitution are questions of law. We review questions of law de novo and afford no deference to trial court determinations on such questions. Restrictions on the right to confront witnesses are subject to the harmless error analysis. Van Riper v. State, 882 P.2d 230, 236 (Wyo.1994), citing Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 306-07, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991).
[¶ 12] Typically, we review trial court rulings on motions to suppress de novo, giving deference to the trial court's findings of fact and credibility determinations. Urbigkit v. State, 2003 WY 57, ¶ 9, 67 P.3d 1207, ¶ 9 (Wyo.2003). Here, however, although Mr. Hannon argued in his motion to suppress that the interview was custodial, the trial court made no findings in that regard.3 We are left, therefore, to review the issue de novo. The following standards apply to Mr. Hannon's claim that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress his statements to law enforcement:
A trial court's ruling on a defendant's motion to suppress a statement on the grounds that it was involuntary, is reviewed de novo. In conducting such a review, we defer to the trial court's findings of fact unless those findings are clearly erroneous. This Court considers all the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court's determination because the trial court has the opportunity to hear the evidence and to assess the credibility of witnesses. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and Wyoming Constitution Article 1, §§ 6 and 11, require that confessions be voluntary. A statement that is obtained by coercion is not trustworthy and may not be used at trial against the person who made it. A defendant is deprived of the right to due process of law if an involuntary statement is admitted at...
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