People v. Dracon, 94SA238

• Decision Date: 15 November 1994
• Docket Number: No. 94SA238,94SA238
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Marla DRACON, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 712

884 P.2d 712

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Marla DRACON, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 94SA238.

Supreme Court of Colorado En Banc.

Nov. 15, 1994.

A. William Ritter, Jr., Dist. Atty., Second Judicial Dist., Nathan B. Coats, Chief Appellate Deputy Dist. Atty., Denver, for plaintiff-appellant.

DiManna & Jackson, Michael F. DiManna, Daniel A. Sweetser, Denver, for defendant-appellee.

Justice VOLLACK delivered the Opinion of the Court.

The prosecution brought this interlocutory appeal pursuant to C.A.R. 4.1 and section 16-12-102(2), 8A C.R.S. (1986 & 1993 Supp.), to challenge an order entered by the Denver District Court suppressing all statements made by the defendant, Marla Dracon (Dracon), in response to a custodial interrogation by police officers. The district court held that the failure of the police officers to issue a Miranda ¹ warning made their initial interrogation illegal, and that the post-Miranda interrogation was the product of the initial illegal interrogation. We affirm the suppression order in part, reverse in part, and remand the case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.

Dracon was charged in the Denver District Court with child abuse resulting in the death of an eight-year-old child in violation of section 18-6-401(7)(a)(I), 8B C.R.S. (1986). Dracon filed a motion to suppress the statements she had made to the police during the custodial interrogations.

The district court conducted a suppression hearing in which the district court heard testimony from Officer Randall Smith of the Denver Police Department, Sergeant Doug Hildebrant of the Homicide Unit of the Denver Police Department, and from Detective Steven Luis Antuna of the Homicide Unit of the Denver District Attorney's Office. The following facts were established.

On September 2, 1993, Sergeant Bridges of the Denver Police Department arrived at the home of Allen Spencer to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a minor child, Robert Spencer. Allen Spencer, the boy's father, was taken from the residence to the police station by Sergeant Bridges where he was interrogated, and subsequently arrested.

Dracon, Allen Spencer's live-in girlfriend, was also present at the house, and Sergeant Bridges instructed Dracon to provide him with her keys to the residence. ² Dracon agreed to accompany Officer Smith to the police station to discuss the circumstances surrounding Robert Spencer's death. During the trip to the police station, Dracon sat beside Officer Smith in the front seat of the patrol car without being handcuffed. Dracon asked several questions, and Officer Smith informed her that she would be instructed as to what would happen to her once she reached the police station. At no time did Officer Smith advise Dracon that she was free to leave, or that she was able to decline his invitation to escort her to the police station.

Officer Smith drove to the basement area of the Denver Police Department. He escorted Dracon in a freight elevator not available to the public and took her to the homicide bureau. ³ Officer Smith left Dracon alone in the homicide office waiting area where she was ultimately contacted by Sergeant Hildebrant.

Sergeant Hildebrant brought Dracon into his office for questioning. Sergeant Armedia Gordon was also present. Sergeant Hildebrant informed Dracon that he was a member of the Homicide Unit of the Denver Police Department and that he "needed to know what information she had" so that he could "figure out what happened." At no time either before or during the interview did the officers advise Dracon of her Miranda rights or tell Dracon that she was free to leave. ⁴ Further, at no time did either officer indicate to Dracon that she was under arrest. Conversely, Dracon neither indicated that she wanted to leave nor that she wanted to terminate the questioning.

Sergeants Hildebrant and Gordon interrogated Dracon from approximately 9:50 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. During the interrogation, Dracon made statements pertaining to the disciplinary action taken by Allen Spencer in punishing Robert Spencer's behavior. Dracon additionally made admissions regarding her knowledge that Allen Spencer paddle-spanked Robert the evening preceding the death of the child.

Based upon the information obtained in the interrogation, Sergeant Hildebrant told Dracon that he wished to record her statement and explained why he thought a videotaped statement was necessary. Dracon agreed to give a videotaped statement. Sergeant Hildebrant took Dracon to the videotape room where Dracon was never advised of her Miranda rights. The videotaped interrogation commenced at 11:20 a.m. and concluded at 12:56 p.m. The interrogation was temporarily halted when Dracon went to the restroom unaccompanied by anyone.

After the videotaped interrogation was completed, Sergeant Hildebrant brought Dracon to the lobby area of the homicide bureau, and directed Dracon to "have a seat, ... and I'[ll] ... have someone get back ... [to you] that knows more about the investigation to let you know what's going on." Dracon remained unattended in the lobby area until Detective Antuna interviewed her.

Detective Antuna was assigned to interview witnesses and suspects concerning the suspicious death of Robert Spencer. Detective Antuna had completed his interview with Allen Spencer. ⁵ Detective Antuna walked out into the public hallway and spoke with Sergeant Hildebrant, who made him aware of the statements made by Dracon during the initial and videotaped interrogations.

Detective Antuna approached Dracon, identified himself to her, and asked if he could talk to her about the death of Robert Spencer. Dracon agreed. Detective Antuna escorted her into an interview room. Detective Antuna advised Dracon of her Miranda rights and then asked her whether she understood her rights as they were read to her. Dracon responded affirmatively and signed the written advisement form indicating that she had been advised of her rights.

The interrogation began at approximately 4:00 p.m. and lasted thirty to forty minutes. Detective Antuna did not advise Dracon that she was under arrest or that she was free to leave. After the interview was finished, Detective Antuna instructed Dracon to return to the lobby area. At that point, she was taken to her residence by a Denver police officer. ⁶

At the conclusion of the hearing, the district court granted Dracon's motion to suppress all the statements Dracon had made to the officers. The district court suppressed the statements Dracon made to Sergeants Hildebrant and Gordon on the ground that the statements were made during a custodial interrogation that had not been preceded by Miranda warnings. Relying upon the standard enunciated by this court in People v. Trujillo, 784 P.2d 788 (Colo.1990), the district court determined that a reasonable person in the defendant's position would have considered herself deprived of her freedom of action during the police interrogation. The district court concluded that all statements made during the interrogation with Sergeants Hildebrant and Gordon should be suppressed for all purposes since they were involuntary, and were the product of a custodial interrogation without the benefit of a prior Miranda warning. The district court additionally suppressed Dracon's subsequent statements to Detective Antuna, which were made after Dracon was advised of her Miranda rights, as the illegal product of the initial interrogation made without the benefit of a Miranda warning.

We hold that Dracon's statements were the product of a custodial interrogation. We further hold that Dracon's pre-Miranda statements were made voluntarily and can be used for impeachment purposes only. Lastly, we conclude that the district court erred in finding that Dracon's post-Miranda statements were tainted by the initial custodial interrogations.

II.

The district court determined that Dracon was in custody during the interrogations with Sergeants Hildebrant and Gordon and Detective Antuna at the police station. The district court suppressed Dracon's statements to Sergeants Hildebrant and Gordon as the product of a custodial interrogation without the benefit of a Miranda warning. The district court further suppressed Dracon's post-Miranda statements to Detective Antuna as the illegal product of the initial custodial interrogations.

The People claim that the record does not support the district court's finding that Dracon was in custody during both of the interrogations. ⁷ At the suppression hearing, the People presented evidence to support their contention that Dracon was not in custody, including that Sergeant Hildebrant considered Dracon to be a witness and not a suspect in the case; none of the officers told her that she was under arrest; the officers considered her free to be able to leave at any time; Dracon was not handcuffed at any time; Dracon sat in the front seat of the patrol car; a gun was never drawn on her; and she was left unattended in the lobby area of the homicide unit as opposed to being placed in a secure room or holding cell. The People further maintain that the fact that Dracon was not expressly told that she was under arrest or that she was free to leave was not sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that a reasonable person in her position would have considered herself deprived of her freedom in a significant way.

Under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), a defendant's statements made during the course of a custodial police interrogation are inadmissible as evidence in a criminal case unless the prosecutor establishes that the defendant was advised of certain constitutional rights and has waived those rights. ⁸ Before a Miranda advisement is required, the following two prerequisites must be satisfied: the person to whom the advisement is given must be in custody at the time of the...