Heald v. State

• Decision Date: 14 May 1986
• Docket Number: No. 983S324,983S324
• Citation: 492 N.E.2d 671
• Parties: Marcia HEALD, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Page 671

492 N.E.2d 671

Marcia HEALD, Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee.

No. 983S324.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

May 14, 1986.

Allen Wharry, Martin, Wharry & Disler, Lebanon, Brent Westerfeld, Indianapolis, for appellant.

Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Michael Gene Worden, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

GIVAN, Chief Justice.

Appellant was convicted by a jury of Murder and Burglary. The court imposed concurrent forty (40) year and thirty (30) year sentences.

The facts are: Brian Thornton was a mutual friend of appellant and the victim, Shelley Smith. Appellant had developed a delusional pattern of thought in which she perceived Thornton to be Jesus Christ and herself as Eve, a missionary from God or the Mother Mary. Appellant became aware during the summer of 1982 of a strong emotional relationship between Thornton and Smith. Within the framework of appellant's delusion, Smith was the temptress of Christ. Appellant referred to Smith as a serpent and as the "Lady of Illusion."

During the early evening of August 1, 1982, appellant and Thornton were driving from appellant's home in Plainfield to Thornton's home in Lafayette. At Thornton's suggestion, they went to Smith's home in Lafayette. They arrived at the residence at 8:00 p.m. and visited with Smith, her husband Gerald and others until 10:00 p.m. At that time appellant, Thornton and the victim went to Thornton's residence. They stayed there until after midnight. Then, at Smith's invitation, appellant and the victim returned to Smith's home.

At approximately 2:00 a.m., on August 2, Gerald Smith arose from bed to prepare for his work as a deliveryman. He found appellant and the victim engaged in conversation in the living room. After briefly conversing with the couple, appellant left the residence. Gerald Smith continued his preparations and Shelley Smith retired to her bedroom. Gerald Smith testified when he left at 3:00 a.m. the victim was in bed and he believed she was asleep. Gerald Smith carefully closed but did not lock the door when he left.

Before 6:00 a.m. appellant returned to the home. She entered through the front door and went to a downstairs bathroom. There she removed all of her clothes. She proceeded to the kitchen where she obtained a paring knife. Appellant then went to the bedroom where she found the victim asleep on her back. Appellant struck Smith with the knife in the area of the throat. The wound severed an artery but did not cause immediate death.

The women struggled and Smith received several superficial wounds. Appellant pulled Shelley Smith through a bathroom and into a hallway. Smith collapsed from the loss of blood in the hallway. Following the collapse, appellant went to the kitchen to obtain a larger knife to replace the one broken in the struggle. With the larger knife appellant attempted to decapitate Smith. When this effort failed, appellant dropped a large plate glass mirror on Smith's head. Appellant then took a section of broken glass and attempted to sever the victim's head from the body. After nearly accomplishing this task, appellant gave up the effort. She returned to the downstairs bathroom, showered and dressed. She then placed several telephone calls from the Smith residence. Two were long-distance telephone calls to her sons. Appellant then left the residence and returned to her automobile.

While in the automobile, appellant became aware of several lacerations to her hands. She drove to a nearby hospital where personnel in the emergency room removed glass particles from her hands and sutured her wounds. She then drove around the city of Lafayette for several hours. She arrived at Thornton's home after noon. Thornton was not at home and appellant went to sleep in the swing on the front porch.

Gerald Smith returned home at 8:30 a.m. and discovered the body. He immediately called the police. As part of their investigation the police obtained the names of all persons who had been in the home recently. Gerald Smith supplied the names of Thornton, appellant and others.

While the police were at the home conducting the investigation, Thornton telephoned and asked to speak with the victim. After being informed of the death, the police requested an opportunity to speak with him. A police vehicle was dispatched to bring Thornton to the police station. Thornton provided the police with information concerning appellant's bizarre perception toward himself and the victim. He also informed the police that appellant was not a resident of Lafayette. While Thornton was being interviewed, police received information that appellant was at Thornton's home.

Two plainclothes officers, in an unmarked car, were dispatched to Thornton's home. The officers introduced themselves and stated they were investigating Shelley Smith's death. They asked appellant if she would be willing to be interviewed. Appellant consented and entered the police car. At no time were weapons drawn or any restraints used by the police. Appellant inquired whether she was under arrest and was told she was not. Officers testified their primary focus, as to appellant, was the fact she had been in the home the night before the incident and that she was an out of town witness who might return home at any time.

After entering the police vehicle, an officer read appellant her Miranda rights. When she arrived at the station, these rights were repeated and she signed a waiver. Initially, appellant acknowledged being in Smith's home at 2:00 a.m. but denied any knowledge of the homicide. She explained her bandaged hands were the result of a fall on the brick sidewalk at Smith's residence. With intermittent breaks for refreshments and use of the rest room, the interview continued. During this time appellant was again informed she was not under arrest. The tape recording of this interview reveals the police were soon aware of appellant's bizarre thought pattern and certain inconsistencies within her explanation.

Later that day appellant changed her version of the incident and gave the police an inculpatory statement. She was then arrested and a tape-recorded version of the statement was made. Appellant also executed a document authorizing the police to conduct a complete search of her handbag. This search resulted in the police confiscation of a stamped but unsealed envelope addressed to appellant's son. The police opened the envelope and recovered a letter which contained incriminating statements.

Before trial, appellant filed a motion to suppress the confession, the letter and other physical evidence gathered after the statement. This motion was denied. She contends this evidence was the product of an unlawful arrest. She argues she was arrested by the police at Thornton's home without probable cause. She argues she was "seized" within the Fourth Amendment meaning of that term when the police asked her to accompany them to the station. She further contends that at that moment no probable cause existed to support the arrest.

This Court has held that not every encounter between a citizen and a law enforcement officer constitutes a seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. The test to determine when a person has been seized is "whether, considering all the circumstances surrounding the police-citizen encounter, the defendant entertained a reasonable belief that he was not free to leave." Dunaway v. State (1982), Ind., 440 N.E.2d 682, 685.

The United States Supreme Court has applied this same standard to the determination of when an initially consensual encounter between citizens and law enforcement officers has been transformed into an arrest. Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Delgado (1984), 466 U.S. 210, 104 S.Ct. 1758, 80 L.Ed.2d 247.

In the case at bar appellant was informed at Thornton's home, in response to her own question, that she was not under arrest. We find appellant was not under arrest when she left for the police station. Her decision to accompany the police was voluntary. Her early statements to the police were part of a consensual interview.

The question of whether this formerly consensual interview was transformed into an arrest by four hours of interrogation is a closer question. After reviewing the record, we conclude that, at a point prior to appellant's initial incriminating statement, she no longer entertained a reasonable belief she was free to leave the police station. The question then arises as to whether, at that same moment, probable cause existed to support the arrest. Probable cause to arrest without a warrant exists if the facts and circumstances known to the officer would warrant a man of reasonable caution to believe the defendant had committed the criminal act in question. Gee v. State (1984), Ind., 471 N.E.2d 1115.

Shortly after the police first contacted appellant they had in their possession the following information. By her own admission she was one of the last two people to be with the victim. The victim's neck was nearly severed and a section of broken mirror and several knives were found in the vicinity of the body. Appellant had several wounds to her hands for which she had sought treatment only hours after the incident. Thornton had told the police of appellant's delusions relative to Smith and himself. Included within that information, were threats against the "Lady of Illusion" and the necessity of severing the head of the evil serpent. Appellant had provided a highly suspicious explanation of her activities from 2:00 a.m. until the time she had sought medical attention at approximately 9:00 a.m.

We conclude, under the facts and circumstances, the police did have probable cause to arrest appellant at any time after she gave her initial statement. The trial court did not err when it admitted the evidence as it was not the product of an unlawful arrest.

Appellant contends the trial court erred when it failed to suppress the confession on grounds it was taken in...