People v. Madrid

• Decision Date: 07 April 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07SA326.,07SA326.
• Citation: 179 P.3d 1010
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant v. Lee Anthony MADRID, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

179 P.3d 1010

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant v. Lee Anthony MADRID, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 07SA326.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

April 7, 2008.

Don Quick, District Attorney, Seventeenth Judicial District, Michael J. Milne, Senior Deputy District Attorney, Brighton, Colorado, Attorneys for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Springer and Steinberg, P.C., Harvey Steinberg, Michael P. Zwiebel, Denver, Colorado, Attorneys for Defendant-Appellee.

Justice RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court.

In this interlocutory appeal taken pursuant to C.A.R. 4.1, we review an order from the Adams County District Court suppressing statements the defendant made while in police custody. We find that the trial court erred in suppressing statements the defendant made before receiving a Miranda warning, because those statements were not the product of interrogation. We also find that the trial court erred in suppressing statements the defendant made after receiving a Miranda warning and waiving his rights, because the evidence does not support the conclusion that the defendant's Miranda waiver was coerced. We therefore reverse the trial court's suppression order and remand for further proceedings.

I. Facts and Procedural History

On October 29, 2006, Defendant Lee Anthony Madrid was arrested in connection with the investigation of a fatal shooting that morning. Madrid was brought to the Thornton police department and placed in an interview room equipped with audio- and video-recording equipment. Detective George Poynter initially answered some of Madrid's questions about Madrid's wife, who was also involved in the incident; after that exchange, the conversation proceeded as follows:

[Madrid]: I have a family and kids (unintelligible).

[Det. Poynter]: Oh and that's, that's who you need to be thinkin' of right now is your family and your kids. Cause you know I know what happened tonight was probably not planned, probably was a mistake even. Um but nevertheless it did happen and so now what we need to try to do is we need to try, we know what happened now we need to try and figure out why and what the reasons behind it were, ok. And to tell you how severe this is is we have a, a man that's dead.

[Madrid]: I understand that I, I didn't even realize how bad it turned out to be.

[Det. Poynter]: Right. Well and, and that's how you know that's the unfortunate part of this is that —

[Madrid]: I feel sorry for that young man but what, whoever he is, I don't wish that upon anybody sir.

[Det. Poynter]: Well and I, I don't think anybody does. You know but unfortunately what happened tonight went from bad to worse and here we are ok. Um before we start talkin' to[o] much like I was tellin' you on the way up here um obviously you are in custody. Um for playing a role in what happened up earlier this morning so before we do talk I do have to read you Miranda just like I said ok. Have you ever been arrested before Lee?

[Madrid]: Yes I have sir.

[Det. Poynter]: For what?

[Madrid]: Just domestic.

[Det. Poynter]: Ok.

[Madrid]: (unintelligible) serious charges.

In all of the foregoing colloquy, Detective Poynter spoke softly, slowly, calmly, and without any agitation. When the victim's death was mentioned, Madrid began crying, but did not appear to lose control of himself.

Detective Poynter then proceeded to provide Madrid with the department's standard Miranda advisement form. At this point Madrid stopped crying and appeared to collect himself. Detective Poynter read the Miranda advisement to Madrid and asked him to initial by each advisement, and sign underneath if he understood the advisements. Madrid initialed each blank, and then signed at the bottom. Detective Poynter then read to Madrid the form's question asking if he was willing to discuss the case without a lawyer present. Madrid read that question on the form, following it with his pen, and wrote "yes" next to that question, adding his signature. Detective Poynter then proceeded to question Madrid about the shooting. By all indications, the entirety of Madrid's interview was audio- and video-recorded. That DVD recording is part of the record on appeal.

Madrid was charged with first degree murder, second degree burglary, and illegal discharge of a firearm. Madrid moved to suppress all of his statements to the police, arguing that his statements preceding the Miranda warning were inadmissible results of custodial interrogation, and that his Miranda waiver was coerced such that all subsequent statements were likewise inadmissible. The hearing on Madrid's motion was conducted based upon the DVD of Madrid's interview; Thornton police officers testified on other issues but that testimony added nothing to what is found in the DVD.

In an order from the bench, the trial court suppressed all of Madrid's statements to the police. As explanation, the trial court simply stated that Madrid's Miranda warning came too late; the court made no other findings of fact. Seeking clarification, the prosecutor asked if the Miranda warning was appropriate, and the trial court answered, "The Miranda warning complied with the standards for the Miranda warning, and the statement was voluntary." When the prosecutor asked if the court was ruling that Madrid was coerced into waiving his Miranda rights, the trial court answered "yes." The trial court then issued a written minute order stating that "Miranda warning was too late in time it should have been given much earlier, motion to suppress is granted"; no other written order was issued.

II. Analysis

In their interlocutory appeal, the People request that we reverse the trial court's suppression of Madrid's statements. They argue that Madrid's statements before receiving the Miranda warning are admissible because they were not the product of custodial interrogation, and therefore no warning was required. They also argue that Madrid's statements after receiving a Miranda warning are admissible because Madrid's waiver of his Miranda rights was voluntary, knowing, and intelligent. Madrid does not dispute that all of his statements were voluntary, but argues that his pre-Miranda-warning statements were the product of custodial interrogation, and his Miranda waiver was coerced. We agree with the People's analysis, and therefore reverse the trial court's suppression order.

A. Standard of Review

Ordinarily, we defer to the trial court's factual determinations in suppression cases, provided they are supported by competent evidence in the record. People v. Gennings, 808 P.2d 839, 844 (Colo.1991). However, "[w]hen the controlling facts are undisputed, the legal effect of those facts constitutes a question of law which is subject to de novo review." People v. Valdez, 969 P.2d 208, 211 (Colo.1998). Thus, where the statements sought to be suppressed are audio- and video-recorded, and there are no disputed facts outside the recording controlling the issue of suppression, we are in a similar position as the trial court to determine whether the statements should be suppressed. See People v. Platt, 81 P.3d 1060, 1067 (Colo.2004); People v. Al-Yousif, 49 P.3d 1165, 1171 (Colo.2002); People v. Dracon, 884 P.2d 712, 719 (Colo.1994).

Because Madrid's statements were audio- and video-recorded, because there are no disputed facts outside that record bearing on the issue of suppression, and because the trial court did not make detailed factual findings, we undertake an independent review of the facts of this case to determine whether Madrid's statements were properly suppressed in light of the controlling law.

B. Madrid's Pre-Miranda-Warning Statements

We first analyze the admissibility of the statements Madrid made before his Miranda warning and waiver. Under Miranda, a suspect's statements resulting from custodial police interrogation are inadmissible in the prosecutor's case-in-chief unless the defendant is advised of and waives his right to remain silent, such that any statement he makes may be used against him, and his right to the presence of an attorney, either retained or appointed. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966); People v. Howard, 92 P.3d 445, 449 (Colo.2004). The parties do not dispute that Madrid was in police custody at the time he made all of the suppressed statements, but rather whether Madrid's pre-Miranda-warning statements were the product of interrogation.¹

A suspect is interrogated, for purposes of determining whether Miranda warnings are required, whenever the suspect "is subjected to either express questioning or its functional equivalent." Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 300-01, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 64 L.Ed.2d 297 (1980). Thus, interrogation includes "any words or actions on the part of the police (other than those normally attendant to arrest and custody) that the police should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from the suspect." Innis, 446 U.S. at 301, 100 S.Ct. 1682; see People v. Gonzales, 987 P.2d 239, 241 (Colo. 1999). In considering whether an officer should have known that his or her actions were reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response, "we consider the totality of the circumstances surrounding the making of the statement." Gonzales, 987 P.2d at 241. We focus our inquiry on whether the officer reasonably should have known that his or her words or actions would cause the suspect to perceive that he or she was being interrogated, and whether those words or actions, like express questioning, could compel the defendant to overcome his or her desire to remain silent. Id. at 241-42.

We have had several occasions to analyze what constitutes "express questioning or its functional equivalent," though in general our cases have turned upon the trial court's particularized findings of fact, which are lacking here. On the one hand, we have held that where a suspect initiated a discussion asking about the charges filed against him and the...