Miller v. State

• Decision Date: 26 June 2002
• Docket Number: No. 49S00-9908-CR-445.,49S00-9908-CR-445.
• Citation: 770 N.E.2d 763
• Parties: Ronnie G. MILLER, Defendant-Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Plaintiff-Appellee.
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

770 N.E.2d 763

Ronnie G. MILLER, Defendant-Appellant, v. STATE of Indiana, Plaintiff-Appellee.

No. 49S00-9908-CR-445.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

June 26, 2002.

Ann M. Sutton, Marion County Deputy Public Defender, Indianapolis, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

Karen Freeman-Wilson, Attorney General of Indiana, Arthur Thaddeus Perry, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

DICKSON, Justice.

The defendant, Ronnie G. Miller, was convicted of murder and criminal deviate conduct in the 1995 death of 71-year-old Anna Pennington,¹ who was beaten, sexually attacked, and strangled to death in her office where she managed an Indianapolis residence converted into eight apartments. The State had sought the death penalty but the trial court dismissed the death penalty count before trial because it found the defendant to be mentally retarded.² Following the jury's verdict, the defendant was sentenced to sixty-five years for murder and twenty years for criminal deviate conduct, with the sentences to be served consecutively. In this appeal, we address the following claimed trial court errors: (1) admitting his statement that police obtained by coercion and manipulation; (2) excluding the testimony of a social psychological expert in coerced confessions; (3) convicting him on insufficient evidence. Concluding that the exclusion of expert testimony was reversible error, we reverse and remand for new trial.

1. Voluntariness of Statement

The defendant contends that his statement to the police should have been suppressed because it was the result of coercion, manipulation, and fabricated evidence, in combination with his vulnerable mental state. The defendant argues that the "totality of the circumstances creates a full picture of the unwitting mentally retarded defendant being led down the path to his own detriment, the path being paved by lies and coercion." Br. of Appellant at 17.

Prior to trial, the defendant filed a motion to suppress "the statement of the defendant made during the interrogation of the defendant on August 6-7, 1995." Record at 266. The defendant's extensive supporting brief requested the court to "suppress the entirety of his statements made on August 6 and August 7, 1995 to Det. Craig Converse." Record at 309. The trial court denied the motion. During trial, when the State was questioning Detective Converse regarding his preliminary interview of the defendant before the videotaped interview, the defense objected, expressly referring to its objections previously presented. Record at 2320, 2323. When the State offered the videotape and its transcript into evidence, the defendant objected "based on reasons made previously known to the Court, and incorporat[ing] by reference prior hearings and argument in support of the objection." Record at 2375. The objections were denied. The grounds asserted in this appeal were timely raised at trial.

The decision to admit the defendant's statements is a matter of discretion of the trial court after considering the totality of the circumstances. Kahlenbeck v. State, 719 N.E.2d 1213, 1216 (Ind.1999). "When reviewing a challenge to the trial court's decision, we do not reweigh the evidence but instead examine the record for substantial, probative evidence of voluntariness." Schmitt v. State, 730 N.E.2d 147, 148 (Ind.2000); see also Horan v. State, 682 N.E.2d 502, 510 (Ind.1997)

. It is the State's burden to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant voluntarily waived his rights, and that the defendant's confession was voluntarily given." Schmitt, 730 N.E.2d at 148.³ In looking at the totality of the circumstances from all the evidence, many factors may be considered including:

the crucial element of police coercion, Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 167, 107 S.Ct. 515, 522, 93 L.Ed.2d 473, 484 (1986); the length of the interrogation, Ashcraft v. Tennessee, 322 U.S. 143, 153-54, 64 S.Ct. 921, 926-27, 88 L.Ed. 1192, 1199 (1944); its location, see Reck v. Pate, 367 U.S. 433, 441, 81 S.Ct. 1541, 1546-47, 6 L.Ed.2d 948, 954 (1961)

; its continuity, Leyra v. Denno, 347 U.S. 556, 561, 74 S.Ct. 716, 719, 98 L.Ed. 948, 952 (1954); the defendant's maturity, Haley v. Ohio, 332 U.S. 596, 599-601, 68 S.Ct. 302, 303-04, 92 L.Ed. 224, 228 (1948) (opinion of Douglas, J.); education, Clewis v. Texas, 386 U.S. 707, 712, 87 S.Ct. 1338, 1341, 18 L.Ed.2d 423, 428 (1967); physical condition, Greenwald v. Wisconsin, 390 U.S. 519, 520-21, 88 S.Ct. 1152, 1153-54, 20 L.Ed.2d 77, 79-80 (1968) (per curiam); and mental health, Fikes v. Alabama, 352 U.S. 191, 196, 77 S.Ct. 281, 284, 1 L.Ed.2d 246, 250 (1957).

Withrow v. Williams, 507 U.S. 680, 693, 113 S.Ct. 1745, 1754, 123 L.Ed.2d 407, 420 (1993); see also Frazier v. Cupp, 394 U.S. 731, 739, 89 S.Ct. 1420, 1424-25, 22 L.Ed.2d 684, 693 (1969)

(considering duration, maturity, intelligence, police deception, and rights communicated to defendant); Light v. State, 547 N.E.2d 1073, 1077-79 (Ind.1989) (considering duration, education and intelligence, and police conduct); Kahlenbeck, 719 N.E.2d at 1216-17 (considering duration, maturity, intelligence, intoxication, advisement of rights, and police deception); Carter v. State, 490 N.E.2d 288, 290-91 (Ind.1986) (considering advisement of rights, maturity, intelligence, and length of interrogation).⁴ We must determine, in light of the totality of circumstances, whether the police conduct overbore the defendant's will, thus rendering his statement involuntary. Henry v. State, 738 N.E.2d 663, 665 (Ind.2000).

The evidence indicates that, after being told by friends that the local television news broadcast his name in connection with a recent murder, the defendant voluntarily went to the police station to "get it cleared up." Record at 2203. The defendant arrived at 5:30 p.m. and was placed in an interview room and the door was closed. The interview room door automatically locks from the outside when closed. The detective on duty periodically checked on the defendant to see if he needed anything. The defendant was not formally arrested at this time. After the defendant had waited approximately two hours, Indianapolis Police Detective Craig Converse, who was assigned to the case, arrived and began talking to the defendant.

For about one hour, Detective Converse gathered background and preliminary information from the defendant. When the defendant initially denied being at the apartment house where the victim was murdered, which was contrary to the information developed in the police investigation, Detective Converse considered the defendant to be a suspect and orally informed the defendant of his rights. No waiver of rights was signed at this time. Detective Converse's ensuing questioning became more focused and included confronting the defendant with speculation and assertions that misstated or exaggerated information known to the detective. Specifically, Detective Converse told the defendant that witnesses had seen the defendant in the hallway outside the victim's first floor office. But Detective Converse only knew that a witness saw the defendant in the upstairs hallway, and that no witness had stated that the defendant was seen outside the first floor office. In the course of further interrogation, Detective Converse presented the defendant with a fabricated fingerprint card and computer printout and represented that the defendant's fingerprints had been found in the victim's office. In fact, while fingerprints had been recovered at the scene, they had not yet been identified at the time of the interrogation. Detective Converse also showed the defendant the police report that stated that the victim died of natural causes. Detective Converse, knowing that the report was erroneous, nevertheless suggested to the defendant that the death could have been an accident. During the entire period of questioning, the defendant was given breaks for drinks, snacks, and to use the restroom. Just before 1:00 a.m., the defendant acknowledged that he had encountered the victim in her office on the night of her death, that he pushed open the door to her office, she told him to "Get the hell out," and that she then backed up, started to fall, and that he reached out and the subsequent injuries happened. Record at 2369.

At this point, about 1:00 a.m., Detective Converse and the defendant took a 45-minute break, during which time the defendant was provided with a soda and the opportunity to use the rest room. He then was left alone in the room until approximately 1:45 a.m., when Detective Converse informed the defendant that he was under arrest and that Detective Converse wanted "to put this on tape," to which the defendant responded "okay." Record at 2371.

At the beginning of the videotaped interview, Detective Converse again advised the defendant of his rights, one by one, and after reading each, asked the defendant if he understood it. As to each right, the defendant acknowledged his understanding. In response to the detective's concluding question "What does it mean to you when I tell you your rights?" the defendant responded, "It means that if I didn't want to, you know, say anything, that I can talk to an attorney or I could, you know, come on with (inaudible) you know, to get this cleared up." Record at 2381. After then reminding the defendant that he was under arrest and charged with murder, Detective Converse questioned the defendant about the incident. In the ensuing videotaped interview the defendant admitted that, on the day of the killing, he entered the apartment house intending to contact an acquaintance. He entered the structure and knocked on his friend's first floor apartment door. Getting no response, he turned and saw the victim standing in her office door and then closing the door. The defendant then went upstairs to contact another person and, upon his return downstairs to leave the building, he saw the office door again closing. Believing that the victim was...