People v. Matheny

• Decision Date: 20 May 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01SA355.,01SA355.
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Jonathan Edward MATHENY, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

46 P.3d 453

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Jonathan Edward MATHENY, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 01SA355.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

May 20, 2002.

Edward J. Rodgers, District Attorney Eleventh Judicial District, Charles M. Barton, Deputy District Attorney, Sean P. Paris, Deputy District Attorney, Fairplay, Colorado, Attorney for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Gentry & Haskins, LLP, Elvin L. Gentry, Thomas M. Haskins, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Attorney for Defendant-Appellee.

Justice RICE delivered the Opinion of the Court.

In this interlocutory appeal filed pursuant to C.A.R. 4.1, the prosecution challenges an order of the Park County District Court suppressing all statements made by Defendant, Jonathan Matheny, to investigators during a videotaped interview with police at the headquarters of the Colorado Springs Police Department. The trial court ruled that these statements must be suppressed because they were obtained in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). For the reasons set forth below, we hold that Defendant was not in custody within the meaning of Miranda until he was formally placed under arrest. Statements Defendant made before he was arrested are therefore admissible in the prosecution's case-in-chief; statements Defendant made after he was arrested are not. Accordingly, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand this case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In a twenty-seven count indictment, the prosecution charges Defendant with various offenses—including first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder—in conjunction with the deaths of Anthony Dutcher and his grandparents, Carl and Joanna. Isaac Grimes, an acquaintance of Defendant, confessed to killing Anthony Dutcher and implicated Defendant in the deaths of Carl and Joanna Dutcher. As a result, Agent David Sadar, an investigator with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation contacted Defendant at his place of employment, Carl's Jr. restaurant. Although there were four officers present at Carl's Jr., none was in uniform, and only Agent Sadar, with whom Defendant was already familiar,¹ approached the counter.

Agent Sadar asked the manager if he could speak with Defendant. When Defendant came to the counter, Agent Sadar testified that he asked Defendant "if he had time to come and talk with us at the Colorado Springs Police Department . . . about the Dutcher case." (Record of October 16, 2001 proceeding at p. 11.) Defendant asked his manager for permission to leave work for this purpose; the manager agreed, and Defendant punched his time card.

After calling his mother and asking her to meet him at the police station, Defendant drove himself and Agent Sadar to the Colorado Springs Police Department. Agent Sadar testified that they did not speak about the Dutchers on the way to the station, instead conversing mostly about the condition of Defendant's car.

The Colorado Springs Police Department is by all accounts a secure facility, and the trial court so noted. See (R. of October 16, 2001 proceeding at p. 72.) Access to certain areas is restricted such that moving from one area to another within the building requires security clearance. Thus, when Agent Sadar and Defendant arrived at the Colorado Springs Police Department, they had to be escorted to an interview room on the third or fourth floor where Defendant was told to wait. His mother arrived approximately twenty minutes later at 7:05 p.m., and the interview, which was videotaped, and which we have reviewed, began.

Agent Sadar informed Defendant and his mother they were "free to leave at any time" and that Defendant was "not under arrest."² During the hour and a half Defendant and his mother spoke with police before he was arrested, neither Defendant nor his mother ever asked to leave. Police officers, on the other hand, entered and exited the room numerous times during the interview. Defendant, sitting forward in his chair with his hands on the table, reiterated what he had already told Agent Sadar at Palmer High School, first to Agent Sadar and Agent Dave Dauenhauer, also with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and then to Leonard Post, an investigator with the district attorney's office in the Eleventh Judicial District. Quite articulately and largely in narrative form, Defendant explained that on New Year's Eve, the night the Dutchers were killed, he had met Isaac Grimes at Carl's Jr. From there, they drove to Glen Urban's garage where they drank some rum. Grimes had too much to drink, so they returned to Defendant's residence at approximately 9:00 p.m. Defendant told the investigators that he and Grimes fell asleep and remained at his house until 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. New Year's Day. Convinced that this version of events was untrue, Investigator Post placed Defendant under arrest at approximately 8:30 p.m.³

The trial court found that the officers' "general tone of voice was soft"; that their "general demeanor was polite"; and that the words they spoke to Defendant were "entirely reasonable." "[T]hey didn't threaten"; "they didn't yell"; "there was no pounding of the table and so forth;" nor were any false promises made to Defendant. In fact, the trial court found that the law enforcement agents conducting the interview were completely honest with Defendant and did not engage in any untoward or coercive conduct. Moreover, "there were no directions given to the defendant" and "no restraint placed upon" him. As for Defendant, the trial court found that he was "leaning forward at the table"; that he was "verbal" and "articulate"; and that he did not appear to be "tired, hungry or coerced in any matter." Nevertheless, the trial court held that Defendant was in custody for Miranda purposes. Because it also ruled that Defendant had not been adequately advised of his Miranda rights, the trial court ordered all statements Defendant made during the course of the interview suppressed.

Although the trial court purports to apply an objective standard, the record of the October 16, 2001 proceeding clearly indicates that its decision was based primarily on the subjective intent of the officers: "I want it clear for the record that I'm placing heavy emphasis on . . . [the fact that the police officers] intended to hold Mr. Matheny right from the beginning." As a result, the prosecution filed a motion for reconsideration. In denying this motion the court explained:

While the Court indeed found that the officers intended to hold the Defendant in custody before the interview even started, the Court also found that the indicia of an in custody interrogation were objectively present, given the totality of the circumstances. To the extent that the People argue that the officers did not intend to hold Mr. Matheny at the commencement of the interview, the Court makes credibility findings to the contrary.

We hold that Defendant was not in custody within the meaning of Miranda until Investigator Post placed him under arrest. Statements Defendant made before he was arrested are admissible in the prosecution's case-in-chief; statements Defendant made after he was arrested are not.

II. VALIDITY OF PROSECUTION'S C.A.R. 4.1 CERTIFICATION

As a preliminary matter, we consider Defendant's contention that the prosecution is not entitled to maintain this interlocutory appeal. C.A.R. 4.1 permits the state to file an interlocutory appeal in this court from a district court order suppressing statements made by the defendant on the ground that they were obtained in violation of Miranda. See, e.g., People v. Thiret, 685 P.2d 193 (Colo. 1984). However, the appeal must not be taken for purposes of delay and the evidence must be a substantial part of the proof of the charges pending against the defendant. See C.A.R. 4.1(a); People v. Garner, 736 P.2d 413, 414 (Colo.1987) ("Because the suppressed statements are not a substantial part of the prosecution's proof, the trial court's ruling does not fall within that limited category of cases that we review on interlocutory appeal."). We will refuse to entertain an interlocutory appeal under C.A.R. 4.1 where the prosecution's certification is in the form, and contains the words, required by C.A.R. 4.1(a), but the prosecution's brief and the record do not support this certification. Garner, 736 P.2d at 413; see also People v. Valdez, 621 P.2d 332, 333 (Colo.1981). Here, however, it is clear that the statements suppressed by the district court are a substantial part of the proof against Defendant.

For instance, count VIII of the indictment alleges that Defendant conspired with Grimes to murder the Dutchers. During the interview, Defendant told investigators the same account of his and Grimes's whereabouts the night of the murders that Grimes had told them before recanting and confessing to the murder of Anthony Dutcher. For purposes of our review, we will assume, without deciding that Defendant's account of events is false.⁴ Evidence that Defendant and Grimes jointly fabricated an alibi would be a substantial part of the proof of the charge of conspiracy to commit murder. Moreover, whether true or false, the videotaped confession is probative of Defendant's credibility. See People v. Dist. Court, 785 P.2d 141, 144 (Colo.1990) (holding that "statements suppressed by the trial court constitute a substantial part of the proof of the charges pending against the defendant because the credibility of the victims and the defendant will be of central importance to the trier of fact"). This appeal is therefore proper under C.A.R. 4.1.

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The prosecution maintains that although a trial court's findings of historical fact are entitled to deference by a reviewing court and will not be overturned if supported by competent evidence in the record, whether a person has been subjected to custodial interrogation in violation of Miranda is...