Henry v. Dees

• Decision Date: 08 October 1981
• Docket Number: No. 79-2585,79-2585
• Parties: Gilbert HENRY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Hayden J. DEES, Warden, et al., Respondents-Appellees. . Unit A *
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 406

658 F.2d 406

Gilbert HENRY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Hayden J. DEES, Warden, et al., Respondents-Appellees.

No. 79-2585.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Unit A ^*

Oct. 8, 1981.

George M. Strickler, Jr. (Court-appointed), Michael G. Collins, Ann Woolhandler, New Orleans, La., for petitioner-appellant.

Harry F. Connick, Dist. Atty., David J. Cortes, J. Kevin McNary, Asst. Dist. Attys., New Orleans, La., for respondents-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Before WISDOM, POLITZ and SAM D. JOHNSON, Circuit Judges.

POLITZ, Circuit Judge:

Gilbert Henry, a twenty year old marginally mental retardate, ¹ was charged in Louisiana state court with armed robbery. ² On the day of trial Henry and his attorney reached an agreement with the prosecutor. Their compact provided that Henry would submit to a polygraph examination. Should it be concluded that he was truthful in denying criminal involvement, the district attorney would submit the case nolle prosequi ; however, if Henry "failed" the examination he would plead guilty. During the administration of the polygraph test, before its completion and outside the presence of counsel, the examiner, Police Sergeant Ruiz, informed Henry that he had "failed." Henry then made inculpatory statements which were introduced at trial, over objection. Henry was convicted and sentenced to twenty years imprisonment. ³ His petition for relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 was denied by the district court. We reverse and remand.

I. BACKGROUND

The facts are uncontroverted and straightforward, a clarity most helpful in resolving the legal issues presented. On May 21, 1975, the day Henry was scheduled to stand trial, his counsel and the prosecutor concluded an agreement regarding a polygraph examination Henry's counsel had requested. An Agreement and Stipulation and a Certificate of Understanding ⁴ were drafted and discussed by the district attorney, Henry, and Henry's counsel for approximately ninety minutes before signing. Thereafter, a state district judge questioned Henry concerning his waiver of certain constitutional safeguards. Paragraphs 5 and 7 of the Certificate of Understanding contain the provisions currently significant. Paragraph 5 reads: "I realize that when taking this polygraph examination I waive my rights to presence of counsel and the right to remain silent, and any statements made by me during the polygraph examination may be used against me in any court or other legal proceeding." (Emphasis added.) Paragraph 7 provides, "(i)f during any phase of the examination, the defendant confesses his guilt, or makes an admission ... all such statements (oral and/or written) shall be admissible without objection by the defense at any trial or hearing." (Emphasis added.) With the Agreement and Stipulation and Certificate of Understanding signed, the stage was set for the examination. Sergeant Ruiz and Henry entered the testing room alone.

According to Sergeant Ruiz, under the standard operating procedure the examiner asks the examinee a prepared battery of questions, stops, and then repeats the questions. Sergeant Ruiz testified that this enables the examiner to isolate and correct problems, such as difficulty in comprehension, the examinee may have encountered. Upon completion, the results are analyzed. Sergeant Ruiz did not follow this procedure in his examination of Henry. Instead, immediately after asking the first twelve questions, Sergeant Ruiz stopped the testing and informed Henry that he had "failed." Ruiz testified: "I then said, 'Well, what is it Gilbert? Why can't you tell the truth about this thing? Are you afraid that you're going to jail?' ... I said, 'Well, do you want to tell me about the thing or you don't (sic)?' " Henry then made inculpatory statements.

The appellant posits two discrete but interrelated contentions. First, he argues Sergeant Ruiz exceeded the parameters of a proper polygraph examination by asking questions directly calculated to elicit inculpatory remarks, not designed to develop reliable test results. In the process, Henry claims that his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination was infringed; the Agreement and Stipulation and Certificate of Understanding pertained only to legitimate polygraph examination. Second, the appellant urges that, in view of (1) his limited mental ability, (2) the absence of counsel when he uttered incriminating remarks, and (3) the lack of warnings immediately prior to Sergeant Ruiz's interstitched questioning, he did not knowingly and intelligently waive his constitutional rights. Considering the combined force of the totality of these contentions, in light of all of the pertinent circumstances, we conclude that Henry's statements were not freely and voluntarily made. They should have been suppressed.

II. WAIVER AND ITS SCOPE

The waiver of constitutional guarantees is a matter of federal constitutional law. The Supreme Court announced in Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938), a standard that has been repeated and affirmed; the burden is upon the state to demonstrate "an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege." Id. at 464, 58 S.Ct. at 1023. The Supreme Court has consistently required adherence to a "totality of the circumstances" test in assessing the effect of constitutional waivers. See North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369, 99 S.Ct. 1755, 60 L.Ed.2d 286 (1979); Boulden v. Holman, 394 U.S. 478, 89 S.Ct. 1138, 22 L.Ed.2d 433 (1969).

As we recently noted, "(i)n considering the voluntariness of a confession, this court must take into account a defendant's mental limitations, to determine whether through susceptibility to surrounding pressures or inability to comprehend the circumstances, the confession was not a product of his own free will." Jurek v. Estelle, 623 F.2d 929, 937 (5th Cir. 1980) (en banc), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 101 S.Ct. 1709, 68 L.Ed.2d 203 (1981). A fundamental concern is a mentally deficient accused's vulnerability to suggestion. See Sims v. Georgia, 389 U.S. 404, 87 S.Ct. 639, 17 L.Ed.2d 593 (1967); Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 81 S.Ct. 1860, 6 L.Ed.2d 1037 (1961). ⁵

Even assuming that Henry could meaningfully grasp his constitutional rights so as to admit of a valid waiver, ⁶ we are not convinced he knew or could understand the range and scope of proper polygraph examination questioning. Although the Agreement and Stipulation recites that the wording of the test questions "shall be at the polygraphist's sole discretion," the inquiries propounded must still be "relevant test questions." See note 4, supra. When Sergeant Ruiz prematurely told Henry that he had "failed," an inference that the "machine" had detected him, Ruiz breached the allowable bounds of test questioning. The Sergeant moved from administration of a polygraph examination to police interrogation without pausing to remind Henry of his privilege against self-incrimination and his right to have his counsel present during questioning.

During the examination Henry was alone with Sergeant Ruiz; he was not allowed to communicate with counsel. This isolation was designed to permit completion of the test without interruption or extraneous influence; it is part of the effort to secure accurate polygraph results. The examination, however, was not conducted as planned, and it was not routinely concluded. Instead, the examination quickly devolved into an exercise which the fifth amendment restrains. We find pertinent the following which, cumulatively, compel our decision.

Misrepresentation

Sergeant Ruiz's statement to Henry that he had failed the examination lacked verity. The examination was aborted; purportedly definitive results were never secured. We cannot glean from this record the veracity of Henry's responses to the questions that were asked. Oregon v. Mathison, 429 U.S. 492, 97 S.Ct. 711, 50 L.Ed.2d 714 (1977), suggests that false police statements do not necessarily render an interrogation environment coercive, but the Supreme Court considered the factor relevant. ⁷ Henry was in no position to dispute the polygraph examiner or the ominous "lie detector" machine. Considering his age and his limited mental acumen, this turn of events had to weigh heavily upon him. This must be considered in the overall evaluation of what later transpired.

Interrogation

A crucial issue in this appeal is whether Sergeant Ruiz's dialogue with Henry constituted "interrogation." The Supreme Court has defined interrogation as queries "reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from the subject." Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 301, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 1689, 64 L.Ed.2d 297 (1980) (footnotes omitted). Ruiz's statement that Henry had failed the test, and his challenge to Henry to "tell the truth about this thing" constitutes such interrogation. Accordingly, the commands of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), apply. The issues now raised are whether Henry was adequately warned and whether he consented to the interrogation.

It is nigh onto superfluous to remind that Miranda forbids interrogation unless prefaced by a list of cautions. ⁸ In addition, "Miranda also included in its survey of interrogation practices the use of psychological ploys, such as to 'posit( )' 'the guilt of the subject,' to 'minimize the moral seriousness of the offense,' and 'to cast blame on the victim or on society.' " Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. at 299, 100 S.Ct. at 1689.

At the suppression hearing, Henry's counsel testified that, when he advised Henry to sign the various instruments and submit to the polygraph examination, there was no suggestion the examination would range beyond the typical scope and become an interrogation session. Neither Henry nor his counsel contemplated that the instruments they signed exposed Henry to questioning which was not an...