McIntosh v. State
| Decision Date | 13 June 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 03A01-0405-CR-196.,03A01-0405-CR-196. |
| Citation | 829 N.E.2d 531 |
| Parties | Laura J. McINTOSH, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
Sean G. Thomasson, David M. Hooper, Thomasson & Thomasson, P.C., Columbus, IN, Attorneys for Appellant.
Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, George P. Sherman, Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
Laura McIntosh appeals the trial court's denial of her motion to suppress her statements to police. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
McIntosh raises one issue in this interlocutory appeal, which we restate as the following two:
I. Whether her first and second statements are inadmissible because they were obtained in violation of Miranda; and II. Whether her third statement is inadmissible because the police used trickery and coercion to obtain it.
McIntosh was eighteen years old when she was questioned by police about the armed robbery and murder of Nathan Carothers that occurred at Quail Run Apartments in Columbus, Indiana on August 9, 2001. In the early morning of August 10, 2001, police officers surrounded the Super 8 Motel where Laura was staying with her boyfriend, Timmy Allen, whom police also wanted to question about the incident at Quail Run. There were numerous police vehicles in the motel parking lot with their emergency lights on and several police dogs. The police called Laura and Timmy's motel room to let them know that the motel was surrounded. After Timmy walked out of the room with his hands in the air and was put in handcuffs, the police entered the room and detained Laura. She was patted down and searched, denied access to her purse, and escorted from the motel room with five police officers surrounding her.
She was handcuffed and placed into the rear seat of a police car. She was driven to the Columbus Police Department, where she was questioned by Columbus Police Detective Alan Hayes and Columbus Sheriff's Detective Greg Duke. The first interrogation lasted approximately one hour and was not recorded.1 Laura was not advised of her Miranda rights before, during, or after this first unrecorded interrogation. She was told that she was not under arrest and was free to leave at any time. Laura claims that the detectives coerced her into talking about her involvement in the incident by telling her that they were not interested in prosecuting anyone for the robbery but only for the murder. She also claims that the detectives told her that they believed Timmy was the shooter and that if she made a credible statement about the incident, she could help him stay out of trouble.2 She gave the police a statement about the events of August 9, 2001, admitting that she was at Quail Run during the robbery and murder.
The two detectives transported Laura back to the Super 8 motel, and she allowed them to search her car. After searching the car for approximately fifteen minutes, the detectives found no evidence and transported Laura back to the police station for further questioning. The police would not permit her to remove the car from the parking lot, but she was escorted to the motel room to retrieve her purse. Back at the station, the second interrogation lasted less than one hour and was videotaped with Laura's consent. Again, Laura was not Mirandized at any point before, during, or after this interrogation.
In the videotaped statement, Laura recounted the events of August 9, 2001. She explained that on that evening, Timmy called her and asked her to pick him up at the Taco Bell restaurant on 25th Street. They then went to BigFoot, where Timmy purchased gas and cigarettes. Laura saw Timmy talking to Mario Sanchez. Timmy got back in the car and told her that Mario "knows where some herb's at." St. Exh. 1 at 4. He told Laura to drive to Quail Run Apartments and to let Mario follow her because Mario did not know how to get there. On the way to Quail Run, Timmy told Laura that Mario had a gun. When they got to the apartment complex, Mario parked next to Laura's car, and then Timmy and Mario took off on foot and disappeared from Laura's sight.
Approximately five minutes later, Timmy got back in Laura's car and said, "Baby, let's go." Id. at 5. As they were driving away, Laura and Timmy heard a gunshot. They later met Mario at Steak 'n Shake, where Mario gave Timmy a portion of the stolen marijuana. Laura and Timmy rented a room at the Super 8 motel. In the early morning, Laura walked down to the front desk to get change for the vending machine and saw a newspaper with a front-page story about a murder at Quail Run. She ran back to the room and read the paper with Timmy. Later, the police called their room, and they were taken to the police station.
During the second interrogation, Laura stated her frustration that the state police were trying to "shake [her]" into thinking she may be "in so much trouble." Id. at 3. She discounted her role in the incident, stating, "we stole a little bit of fuckin' weed." Id. At the end of the interrogation, Detective Hayes stated, "You understand that you can get up and leave now or you could have got up and left three hours ago, right?" Id. at 13. Laura answered affirmatively.
After giving the videotaped statement on August 10, 2001, Laura left the police station. Three days later, the police still had possession of her car. On the morning of August 13, 2001, an officer told Laura that she could speak to someone at the station about her car that afternoon. When she arrived at the station, Laura was led to an interrogation room and Mirandized by Detective Morton. She was then taken to a second interrogation room with a hidden video camera.
When Detective Hayes entered the room, Laura asked him why she had been advised of her Miranda rights. Detective Hayes explained that "every detective operates kind of in their own little world" and suggested to Laura that it had been a mistake for her to be Mirandized. State's Exh. 2 at 1. Detective Hayes then conducted a third interrogation, which began as follows:
Det. Hayes: Ok and like I said, we ... covered the Miranda issue earlier. A different detective come in here and read you your rights and ...
McIntosh: Right.
Det. Hayes: ... you said you understood that and we discussed what happened. So you're comfortable with that. Um let's just start at the beginning.
Id. Laura again related the events of August 9, 2001. This time, Detective Hayes questioned her more directly about her knowledge that a robbery was going to take place. Laura stated, "I mean I knew they planned on taking the weed." Id. at 8. She stated that she did not think that stealing marijuana was a "true crime" because it was illegal to have it in the first place, so "how can you get charged for stealing it?" Id. at 9. She also admitted that she knew prior to the robbery that Mario had a gun in his possession but that she "didn't really think it was loaded." Id. at 8.
On August 15, 2001, Laura was arrested and charged with aiding armed robbery. On January 14, 2003, she was charged with felony murder. On December 16, 2003, she filed a motion to suppress her statements given during all three interrogations. The trial court held a suppression hearing on March 1, 2004. Among the witnesses was Dr. Richard Ofshe, a psychologist who testified that Laura's statements were coerced by police. He stated that Laura likely exaggerated her knowledge of and involvement in the robbery to appear credible to police in the interests of saving the person she believed to be in legal jeopardy, Timmy. On April 19, 2004, the trial court issued an order denying the motion to suppress. Laura then filed this interlocutory appeal.3
Laura appeals the trial court's denial of her motion to suppress the statements she made during all three interrogation.
We review the denial of a motion to suppress evidence in a manner similar to allegations of insufficient evidence. We do not reweigh the evidence, and we consider conflicting evidence most favorable to the trial court's ruling. However, unlike the typical sufficiency of the evidence case where only the evidence favorable to the judgment is considered, in reviewing a denial of a motion to suppress, we must also consider the uncontested evidence most favorable to the defendant.
Faust v. State, 804 N.E.2d 1242, 1244 (Ind.Ct.App.2004) (citation omitted). The trial court has broad discretion in ruling on the admissibility of evidence, and we will reverse only if we find an abuse of discretion. Goodner v. State, 714 N.E.2d 638, 641 (Ind.1999). If there is sufficient evidence of probative value to support the denial of a motion to suppress, we will affirm the trial court's decision. Taylor v. State, 689 N.E.2d 699, 702 (Ind.1997). At a suppression hearing, the State bears the burden of demonstrating the constitutionality of measures it used to secure evidence. State v. Glass, 769 N.E.2d 639, 641 (Ind.Ct.App.2002), trans. denied.
Laura argues that her first and second statements are inadmissible because the police violated her Miranda rights. With regard to her third statement, she argues that it is inadmissible because the police obtained it through trickery and coercion. We address each contention in turn.
Laura claims that her statements to police during the first and second interrogation are inadmissible because she was in custody and the police failed to advise her of her Miranda rights. We agree.
[A] person who has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way must, before being subjected to interrogation by law enforcement officers, be advised of his rights to remain silent and to the presence of an attorney and be warned that any statement he makes may be used as evidence against him. Statements elicited...
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