Madrid v. State

• Citation: 474 Md. 273,254 A.3d 468
• Decision Date: 09 July 2021
• Docket Number: No. 50, Sept. Term, 2020,50, Sept. Term, 2020
• Parties: Darwin Naum Monroy MADRID v. STATE of Maryland
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

474 Md. 273

254 A.3d 468

Darwin Naum Monroy MADRID

v.STATE of Maryland

No. 50, Sept. Term, 2020

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

July 9, 2021

Argued by Piedad Gomez, Asst. Public Defender (Paul B. DeWolfe, Public Defender of Maryland, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Petitioner.

Argued by Benjamin A. Harris, Asst. Atty. Gen. (Brian E. Frosh, Atty. Gen. of Maryland, Baltimore, MD), on brief, for Respondent.

Argued before: Barbera, C.J., McDonald, Watts, Hotten, Getty, Booth, Biran, JJ.

Watts, J.

In this case, we are asked to determine whether a defendant's confession was obtained in compliance with Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) and voluntary under the common law of Maryland, the Due Process Clause, and Article 22 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. We are also asked to determine whether the trial court correctly declined to instruct the jury on the defense of duress.

In the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, the State, Respondent, charged Darwin Naum Monroy Madrid, Petitioner, with multiple offenses, including the murder of Gamaliel Nerio-Rico and the attempted murder of Carlos Tenorio-Aguirre. Prior to trial, during custodial interrogation in connection with the investigation of the offenses, Madrid made a statement advising a law enforcement officer that he shot Nerio-Rico, the deceased, and shot at Tenerio-Aguirre, the person who survived the shooting, i.e. , Madrid confessed. At trial, the State offered evidence that Madrid was a member of the gang Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, and that a higher-up in the gang ordered him to kill Tenorio-Aguirre, the surviving victim, who was a member of a rival gang known as 18th Street, and evidence of Madrid's statement.

Madrid gave the statement while being interviewed by Detective Luis Cruz of the Homicide Unit of the Prince George's County Police Department and was sixteen years old at the time. During the interview, before administering the Miranda rights, among other things, Detective Cruz told Madrid that, although he was not in the country legally, he still had legal rights. Detective Cruz advised Madrid of his Miranda rights and asked whether he understood his rights, and Madrid responded affirmatively. During the interview, Detective Cruz mentioned to Madrid that he was in danger from his own gang, MS-13, and the rival 18th Street gang. Madrid ultimately confessed. Before trial, Madrid moved to suppress the statement. The circuit court denied the motion to suppress, determining that Miranda had been complied with and that Madrid's confession was voluntary.

At trial, as a witness on his own behalf, Madrid testified that that he had been involved with MS-13 and performed various tasks on behalf of the gang. On the night of the murder and attempted murder, Madrid went to a nightclub that members of MS-13 frequented. While at the nightclub, Madrid telephoned a higher-up in MS-13, who was said to be located outside of the country in El Salvador, and advised that members of the 18th Street gang were in the nightclub. Madrid testified that the higher-up called him back and gave him an order. Madrid and the other member of MS-13 ran to an apartment building in which Tenorio-Aguirre lived and were provided with guns. The record indicates, and Madrid admits, that he fatally shot Nerio-Rico and repeatedly shot at Tenorio-Aguirre, who survived the shooting, outside of the apartment building.

At trial, Madrid testified that he participated in the murder and attempted murder because, if he had not complied, he would have been punished "the following day" or "as soon as [the punishment] could possibly be done." Madrid's counsel submitted to the circuit court written proposed jury instructions, including an instruction on duress. After the circuit court and the parties discussed the propriety of giving a jury instruction on duress, the circuit court declined to give the instruction.

The jury found Madrid guilty. Madrid appealed, and the Court of Special Appeals affirmed his convictions. See Madrid v. State, 247 Md. App. 693, 741, 239 A.3d 770, 798 (2020). The Court of Special Appeals held that the circuit court did not err in denying the motion to suppress or declining to give a jury instruction on duress. See id. at 713, 728, 239 A.3d at 781, 790. Madrid filed a petition for a writ of certiorari , which this Court granted. See Madrid v. State, 472 Md. 312, 245 A.3d 991 (2021).

Before us, Madrid contends that he did not knowingly and voluntarily waive his rights under Miranda because, among other things, he was not given the advisement of rights in writing, no attempt was made to assess whether he understood the advisement, and Detective Cruz informed him before the advisement that he knew Madrid was in the country illegally. In addition, Madrid contends that his confession was not voluntary under the common law of Maryland because during the interrogation, Detective Cruz made references to threats on his life by gangs and, according to Madrid, the only conceivable interpretation is that the references were intended to imply an offer of protection if he confessed. Madrid argues that his confession was not voluntary under Article 22 and the Due Process Clause because of, among other circumstances, his age, inexperience with law enforcement officers, and the alleged coercion of the confession by Detective Cruz mentioning that he was in danger from gangs. Finally, Madrid insists that there was sufficient evidence to generate an instruction on the defense of duress.

The State responds that Madrid freely and voluntarily waived his rights under Miranda, that his confession was voluntary in all respects, and that the evidence at trial was not sufficient to generate a jury instruction on duress.

Below, in Part I, we hold that Madrid knowingly and voluntarily waived his rights under Miranda. In addition, we hold that Madrid's confession was voluntary under the common law of Maryland, the Due Process Clause, and Article 22. We conclude that the circumstances that Madrid was sixteen years old, an immigrant to the United States, and not given the Miranda advisement in writing did not render the advisement given verbally by Detective Cruz in Madrid's first language, Spanish, insufficient and did not render Madrid's waiver of rights involuntary. In addition, we determine that Detective Cruz's statement to Madrid, prior to advisement of his Miranda rights, that he knew Madrid was in the country illegally and statements made later that Madrid was in danger from gangs did not render Madrid's waiver of rights involuntary.

As to the common law of Maryland, we conclude that the State has met its burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Madrid's confession was not the product of a promise or implication of special consideration from a prosecuting authority or other form of assistance. As to the Due Process Clause and Article 22, the State has met its burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Madrid's confession was voluntary under the totality of the circumstances and not the result of police conduct that overbore his will and induced him to confess.

In Part II, we hold that the circuit court was correct in determining that a jury instruction on duress was unwarranted as there was no evidence of a present, imminent, and impending threat. Moreover, the defense of duress was unavailable as a matter of law because any potential threat to Madrid arose because he intentionally or recklessly placed himself in a situation in which it was reasonably foreseeable that he would be subject to coercion.

BACKGROUND

Motion to Suppress

At the hearing on the motion to suppress, without objection, the circuit court admitted into evidence a videotaped recording and a transcript of Madrid's interview with Detective Cruz. Although Detective Cruz and Madrid spoke Spanish during the interview, the transcript includes an English translation.

A review of the transcript reveals the following. Detective Cruz began the interview at 11:52 p.m. on April 18, 2016, by asking Madrid: "Are you awake man? What's your full name man?" (Italics omitted). Madrid indicated that he was born on August 21, 1999, that he was from Guatemala, and that he had been in the United States for nearly two years. Although Madrid said that he had been expelled from school, he did not indicate how far he had gotten in school. Madrid indicated that he worked, that he was paid $1,400 every other week, and that he gave half of his pay to his mother.

After asking questions that did not pertain to the murder and attempted murder, which Madrid answered, Detective Cruz advised Madrid of his Miranda rights by stating:

Well, ah, the most I know right now, I know you're not legal, legally here in the country of America, right? Even though that's the situation, you still have rights under the law here in, in the United States. O.K.? Just U/I^{[1 ]} I'm gonna advi[s]e you of your rights ah, then we're gonna get into why you're here right now, understand? O.K. I'm Officer Cruz you told me U/I ah, I work with the Prince George's County Police. O.K. You have the right to remain silent, if you decide to waive this right, anything you say can be presented as evidence a.., against you in court. Ah, you have the right to talk to an attorney before being interrogated, and you also have the right to have an attorney present w.., while you are being interrogated O.K.? If you want an attorney but you don't have the economic means to pay, to pay for one, an attorney will be provided without cost O.K.? Ah, if you want to answer questions now without the presence of an attorney, you have the right to stop answering these questions at any time, O.K.? Do you understand, do you understand the rights? Yes? Yes? O.K. [NOISE] How long have you been working with the company?

(Ellipses and last brackets in original) (paragraph breaks omitted). On brief in this Court, Madrid acknowledges that, although the transcript...