Noe v. State
| Decision Date | 07 August 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-111,90-111 |
| Citation | 586 So.2d 371 |
| Parties | 16 Fla. L. Weekly D2040 Julia NOE, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Gwendolyn Spivey, Sp. Asst. Public Defender, Tallahassee, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Carolyn J. Mosley, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.
Appellant Julia Noe appeals her conviction and sentences after a jury found her guilty of first degree murder and aggravated child abuse. The trial court imposed a life sentence for the murder conviction, in accordance with the jury's recommendation. In addition, a separate consecutive fifteen-year sentence was imposed for the aggravated child abuse conviction. The issues for our review are: (1) the denial of defense challenges for cause to three prospective jurors, (2) the denial of appellant's motion for change of venue, (3) the denial of appellant's motion to suppress statements, and (4) imposition of a sentence in excess of the sentencing guidelines without simultaneous written reasons. We reverse and remand for new trial with regard to the first issue; we affirm as to the second and third issues, and do not address the last.
Appellant was convicted of the death of her three-year old son, Jonathan English. On March 10, 1989, the day of the child's death, appellant was engaged in tasks related to her family's recent move. The family consisted of appellant, her husband Jeff Noe, her baby son Daniel, and Jonathan, appellant's son by a previous marriage. Other than appellant, the last person to see Jonathan alive was a passing neighbor, who observed him playing in the yard about 12:15 p.m. At 3:00 p.m., appellant asked another neighbor if he had seen Jonathan. The neighbor responded negatively, but suggested that the child might be playing with his children at the Marshall home. The neighbor observed appellant walk to the fence, where she paused briefly and appeared to listen, and then returned to her own home.
The record reflects that appellant made no further effort to look for Jonathan until 7:30 p.m., when her husband returned from work. Jeff Noe enlisted the assistance of neighbors, and began a search for the child. At 9:15 p.m., the child was reported as missing to the Wakulla County Sheriff's Department. By the time a deputy sheriff arrived at the scene, the child had been discovered dead in the septic tank in the yard of the Noes' rented trailer.
The news of the child's death spread through the community. Neighbors who had aided in the search were joined by others who learned that the child had been found dead. The initial investigation involved photographing the area and interviewing persons who had gathered at the scene. Appellant and her husband were asked to go to the sheriff's office to be interviewed there. Appellant was transported by Major Langston, of the Wakulla County Sheriff's Department, while Jeff Noe was transported by Sheriff Harvey and Investigator Gandy.
Upon arrival at the Sheriff's Department, appellant was taken to Major Langston's office, where she was questioned by Major Langston and Investigator Gandy. The evidence is conflicting as to whether appellant asked to have her husband with her. At the suppression hearing, appellant testified that she asked the officers to permit her to talk with her husband before they started questioning her, but they did not do so. The officers stated that appellant made no such request. A similar conflict exists with regard to appellant's right to refuse to accompany the officers to the Sheriff's Department, and her freedom of movement once she got there. Appellant acknowledged that she was not handcuffed or placed under any other overt physical restraint, but maintained that she did not feel free to refuse to accompany the officers and did not feel free to leave. During the questioning, appellant was granted a break to go to the restroom, but she was followed there by another woman, presumably a member of the sheriff's staff. The officers maintained that appellant was asked to go to the Sheriff's Department due to the confusion occasioned by the many people gathered at the Noe residence. The officers further insisted that appellant was not forced to accompany them, and that she was free to leave at any time. However, they acknowledged that no one advised appellant to that effect.
It is undisputed that appellant was not given Miranda 1 warnings prior to questioning, which began at 12:20 a.m. in Major Langston's office. The only persons present during the questioning were appellant, Major Langston, and Investigator Gandy. At 2:05 a.m., following a period when the officers' questions focused specifically on the septic tank, Investigator Gandy advised appellant that "things just weren't adding up." At that point, appellant stated that Jonathan was "hyper," he cried all the time, he was screaming, and she "snapped." At 2:10 a.m., Investigator Gandy advised appellant of her rights. This was accomplished by providing appellant with a printed Miranda rights form, which, according to Gandy, she appeared to read, and by reading the rights to her. Appellant indicated to the officers that she would waive her rights, and talk to them. She then repeated her prior admission that she placed Jonathan in the septic tank.
Before taking appellant to the Sheriff's Department for questioning, the officers were in possession of the following information: (1) appellant had been home with the child all day; (2) seemingly she was the last person known to have seen the child alive; (3) she did not search for the child or advise anyone that he was missing, other than the one query to a neighbor at 3:00 p.m.; (4) she spent the afternoon unpacking and making preparations for dinner, as though nothing were amiss; (5) the septic tank lid was closed, i.e., it was not crooked or ajar in any way. In addition, at the time appellant was asked to accompany officers to the Sheriff's Department, the investigating team had concluded that the child's death was not accidental.
Mental health experts who examined appellant held conflicting views concerning her capacity to make a voluntary waiver of her rights when she confessed. Dr. Maher testified that at the time of her confession, appellant was in a state of psychic shock which made her passively compliant with the expectations and desires of the officers. In other words, the doctor felt that appellant lacked the ability to make independent judgments for herself. According to Dr. Maher, appellant's capacity to distinguish the circumstances of making a statement to the police before having been advised of her right to remain silent, versus her ability to make the comparison after having been advised of those rights, was totally absent. In a similar vein, Dr. Berland stated that appellant was incompetent to make a good judgment concerning whether she needed a lawyer, describing appellant as extremely irrational and a person who approaches the world from an unrealistic, fantasy-like point of view. A contra view was expressed by Dr. McClaren. He opined that appellant had the capacity to understand her rights when they were read to her, giving due consideration to the fact that she was in the midst of a traumatic experience in that her son was dead, and she was being accused of his murder. Dr. McClaren felt appellant's waiver was voluntary, although he offered the caveat that one would find it harder not to make a second statement after a statement already had been made, than if there had been no prior statement.
The crime which is the subject of this appeal received rather wide-spread publicity in the North Florida region where it occurred, both through regular news channels and by word-of-mouth. Four articles appeared in the Tallahassee Democrat, and four articles appeared in the Wakulla News. Five of the articles mentioned appellant's confession, one mentioned the retraction of her confession, and two articles mentioned appellant's alleged child abuse. One article described bloody streaks which the child clawed in his face as he drowned. Also, the crime was reported on television. Community knowledge of the crime and information concerning it became manifest during jury selection. Forty prospective jurors were excused on the basis of prejudicial exposure to pretrial publicity, actual knowledge of the case, or predetermined views concerning the defendant's guilt.
The first issue in this case is a reflection of the pretrial publicity. This issue concerns the denial of defense challenges for cause as to three prospective jurors: Mrs. Lessie Crum, Mr. Mark Roddenberry, and Mr. Clarke Eckert. Mrs. Crum was challenged on the ground that she had formed an opinion that appellant was guilty, based on the publicized confession, and that she was unable to state she could decide the case fairly, impartially, and objectively. The basis for challenge to this juror is demonstrated by the following portion of the voir dire examination of Mrs. Crum THE COURT: When you and your husband discussed it, did ya'll come to any conclusions or opinions about the innocence or guilt of the person?
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