Michaud v. State

• Decision Date: 13 December 1965
• Citation: 215 A.2d 87,161 Me. 517
• Parties: Fortunat J. MICHAUD v. STATE of Maine et al.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

Page 87

215 A.2d 87

161 Me. 517

Fortunat J. MICHAUD v. STATE of Maine et al.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Dec. 13, 1965.

Charles W. Smith, Saco, for appellant.

John W. Benoit, Asst. Atty. Gen., Augusta, for appellee.

Before WILLIAMSON, C. J., and WEBBER, TAPLEY and RUDMAN, JJ.

WEBBER, Justice.

This was a petition for the writ of habeas corpus brought pursuant to 14 M.R.S.A. Sec. 5502 (formerly R.S.1954, Ch. 126, Sec. 1-A). The petitioner is serving a life sentence for the crime of murder. The writ was issued and the matter fully heard by the justice below, the petitioner being represented by court appointed counsel. Many allegations of the petition were disposed of before issuance of the writ in a manner not challenged by either party. The only issues remaining for determination at the time of hearing were raised by Counts V and IX and may be briefly summarized as follows:

1. Whether or not the conviction of the petitioner for murder resulted in part from the State's use of a 'confession' obtained from the petitioner in violation of his constitutional rights.

'2. Whether or not the petitioner at his original trial, being then indigent, was afforded adequate representation by competent counsel.

The justice below resolved the first issue in favor of the petitioner and therefore deemed it unnecessary to determine the second issue. A new trial was ordered and the State has appealed.

We turn at once to the first and decisive issue. Since our decision must rest squarely on the peculiar facts of this case, some recitation thereof is essential at the outset.

Fortunat J. Michaud was in 1955, the time of this tragic event, a boy 15 years of age. He was unable to read or write and possessed the mental capacity of a normal 12 year old. He had resided with foster parents for all but the first two years of his life. In September, 1964 when hearing was held on the matter now before us, he was 24 years old and had served 9 years in prison. The victim of this homicide was one Doris Trudeau, a child of 11 years. On the day in question Doris failed to return home at the usual hour and in due course the police were alerted to her disappearance. They obtained a slender lead suggesting that Doris had been seen during the day in company with a boy answering the decription of Michaud. About 9 o'clock in the evening an officer called at his home and asked him if he had seen Doris that day. Michaud disclosed the fact that he had been with the girl in the forenoon before they returned to their respective homes for lunch, but he related none of the events of the afternoon leading up to and culminating in the fatal assault. Captain Tardiff, the investigating officer, then sought and obtained the permission of the foster mother to take Michaud to the police station for further questioning. It is important to know that at this point the police had no knowledge of Doris' whereabouts or that any crime had been committed. Questioning by two officers continued for about three hours. The justice below found on the basis of credible evidence that the petitioner at no time requested counsel and was not during those evening hours advised of any right to counsel or that any statement made by him could be used against him; that he was not during this period of interrogation 'held incommunicado' as alleged although he was not visited by friends or relatives; and that he was not abused physically or mentally or subjected to any force. It appears that during the greater part of the evening Michaud continued to deny any knowledge of the whereabouts of Doris. Neither the transcript of the testimony at the original trial, made available as a part of this record, nor the evidence adduced at the habeas corpus hearing serve to make it clear as to just when or why the interrogating officers began to entertain a lively suspicion that Doris might be the victim of some sort of foul play of which Michaud possessed as yet undisclosed knowledge. In any event there came a time when these suspicions were heightened by certain of Michaud's responses to questions. Officer McAlevy, one of the interrogators, described that moment as follows:

'This particular case, during the course of the interrogation he kept making the statement of that he went over the tracks and she turned around and went back home. Well, we asked him this question several times. Now the last time that he said it he made the statement of that, he stated, 'We started up--', and he stopped. He had used the plural. He says, 'We started up.' Which in that particular area at that time, the only place he could have been started up would have been a set of railroad tracks. * * * As I was going to say, as we went on to interrogate him I more or less asked him a leading question and said, asked him, said, 'She's still up there, isn't she?' And he shook his head as if to say, 'Yes,' she was still up there. So, I mean, as far as anything that's concerned, we've already established that--that the body was in that area. We didn't pinpoint it down as to exactly where it was. But we knew it was up off the railroad tracks.'

We can only attribute to the training and instincts of the experienced police officer the fact that with what proved later to be perfect accuracy the official mind apparently jumped instantly to the conclusion, first, that the girl Doris was dead, and, second, that her body would be found in the area 'up off the railroad tracks.' The record is silent as to the subsequent course of the interrogation. We are informed only that there came a time when a conversation took place which forms the basis of the decision before us for review. The justice below accepted the testimony of Officer McAlevy as accurately and truthfully recapitulating this conversation. At the habeas corpus hearing he was asked the following question and gave the following answer:

'Q. To your knowledge then, the best of your knowledge--being some 9 years ago, you didn't give him or take part in drafting any written promise.

A. However, in all fairness to Mr. Michaud, I would like to state this: That during the course of the investigation that I did--he--he--well, he said to me in so many words, he said, 'What will happen to me?' Something to that effect. And I says, 'I don't really know. I know that you are a minor.' I says 'I don't know if they'll send you to State School for boys, or where they'll send you. It'll be up to the courts to decide.' And that's the only thing that I can----.'

And later on cross examination he added:

'Well, he asked me and I told that, yes, I agree with that, that--he asked me, 'What will happen to me?' And then that's the way I asked him. I says, 'I know that you're a minor, and I realize that you're sorry for what you done.' Etc., etc. And I says, 'I don't know exactly where you'll go, whether you'll go to State School for Boys, or, exactly where you go.' I said this verbally to him. Nothing was written down.'

The witness was not asked and we are not otherwise informed as to what occurred thereafter or how long the questioning continued after the quoted conversation took place. We know only that the interrogation ceased about midnight and the officers and a physician were led by Michaud to a place in the woods where the dead body of Doris Trudeau was found. There is no evidence that any formal accusation or charge had been lodged against Michaud at least until after the body had been found and examined.

Upon return to the police station at about 4 A.M. Michaud was questioned by an officer of the Maine State Police. They were alone. The officer asked him if he had been arrested and he replied that he didn't know but guessed so. Michaud, after being informed as to the identity and purpose of his interrogator and after being warned that what he said could be used against him, was invited to 'tell the truth and nothing but the truth.' Michaud then related the events of the day and this narration was subsequently incorporated in a written confession. We note in passing that the preliminary oral confession, although excluded from evidence in the early stages of the trial until the mental capacity of the then respondent to make a voluntary confession had been shown, was thereafter admitted without objection. In due course counsel was appointed to represent Michaud and the latter was then committed to the Augusta State Hospital for observation and examination with respect to mental illness. Michaud again narrated the details of his criminal conduct, this time to the assembled staff. Although this version was substantially the same as those previously given, it varied in some respects and Michaud admitted that he had not been truthful on prior occasions as to these details. This narration was given without objection in fullest detail to the jury under the questioning of both the State and the then respondent.

We come now to the specific allegations and the proof tendered in support thereof at the hearing below in the instant case. The justice below accurately summarized the allegations of Count V of the petition as follows:

'That the petitioner was taken to the Saco jail and held incommunicado against his wishes, surrounded by police officials and was not afforded the opportunity of counsel or made aware of his rights to counsel. That he was promised if he would make a confession, the police officials would see that he was given a sentence in the State School for Boys and that said promise was reduced to writing and given to the petitioner, whereupon a confession was given by him. That the petitioner retained the promise until just prior to his arraignment in Municipal Court when he gave the promise to police officials upon request and with the promise that they would show the promise to the Judge and intercede in his behalf to secure a sentence to the State School for Boys. That the State at the time of trial had or should have had the written promise and should have produced...