People v. Riggs

• Decision Date: 30 May 1997
• Docket Number: Docket No. 178918
• Citation: 223 Mich.App. 662,568 N.W.2d 101
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Toni Cato RIGGS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

Page 101

568 N.W.2d 101

223 Mich.App. 662

PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Toni Cato RIGGS, Defendant-Appellant.

Docket No. 178918.

Court of Appeals of Michigan.

Submitted May 23, 1996, at Detroit.

Decided May 30, 1997, at 9:00 a.m.

Released for Publication Aug. 27, 1997.

Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Thomas L. Casey, Solicitor General, John D. O'Hair, Prosecuting Attorney, Timothy A. Baughman, Chief of Research, Training, and Appeals, and Jeffrey Caminsky, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for People.

State Appellate Defender by Ronald J. Bretz and Lyle N. Marshall, for Defendant-Appellant on appeal.

Before WHITE, P.J., and SMOLENSKI and R.R. LAMB ^*, JJ.

SMOLENSKI, Judge.

Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, M.C.L. § 750.316; M.S.A. § 28.548, and conspiracy to commit murder, M.C.L. § 750.157a; M.S.A. § 28.354(1). Defendant was sentenced to concurrent terms of life in prison without parole. Defendant appeals as of right. We affirm.

Because of the significance of the constitutional issue presented in this case, our recitation of the facts is necessarily detailed. In March 1991, defendant's husband, Army Specialist Anthony Riggs, was shot to death in Detroit shortly after his return from the Gulf War. Defendant retained an attorney, who represented her at her April 1991 preliminary examination of charges of first-degree premeditated murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with her husband's murder. At the preliminary examination, the district court found that insufficient evidence had been presented with regard to the elements of first-degree murder and, accordingly, determined that there was not probable cause to bind over defendant to the Recorder's Court for trial on either charge. The district court dismissed the case against defendant and denied the prosecutor's motion for a stay of execution of the order of dismissal with a personal bond pending an appeal. The district court discharged defendant. See MCR 6.110(F). The prosecutor appealed to the Recorder's Court, arguing that the district court erred in refusing to consider certain evidence against the defendant. ¹ In June, 1991, the Recorder's Court affirmed the district court's decision. ² In July 1991, the prosecution applied for leave to appeal to this Court.

In April 1992, while the prosecution's appeal of the district court's decision was pending in this Court and defendant continued to be represented by her retained counsel, defendant traveled from Michigan to Texas, where she associated with a man named Reggie and a woman named Rosita. At this time, Reggie and Rosita engaged in an illegal drug transaction (the Texas drug transaction). As a result of her association with the Texas drug transaction and its participants defendant became the target of an undercover drug investigation into the Colombian drug cartel Cali that was being conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). On February, 23, 1993, and while the prosecution's appeal of the district court's decision was still pending in this Court, defendant met in Detroit with two persons she believed to be high-level narcotics dealers to discuss the Texas transaction and various jobs that she could perform for their supposed narcotics organization. The supposed dealers were, in reality, DEA special agent Richard Crock and his partner, Joseph Peterson. During this meeting, which was videotaped by the federal agents, defendant detailed her involvement in her husband's killing.

Crock, who had been attempting to conduct a long-term undercover investigation that was to end shortly, periodically stayed in touch with defendant via face-to-face meetings, which were videotaped, and telephone contacts, which were recorded, during 1993. On May 26, 1993, this Court issued its opinion affirming the district court's suppression of evidence and determination that insufficient other evidence existed to bind over defendant for trial. ³ In June 1993, the prosecution filed with our Supreme Court an application for leave to appeal this Court's affirmance of the district court's decision. On November 17, 1993, and while the prosecution's appeal was still pending in our Supreme Court, defendant was arrested by Crock and other DEA agents pursuant to an arrest warrant for federal narcotics violations and was taken to DEA lockup facilities in Detroit. Defendant was brought to a conference room in which were Crock and Sergeant William Rice of the Detroit Police Department. Rice was the officer in charge of the state investigation into the murder of defendant's husband. Crock played a portion of the videotape of his February, 23, 1993, meeting with defendant during which defendant detailed her involvement in her husband's killing and then left the room. Rice interviewed defendant and obtained an additional statement from defendant. On November 30, 1993, our Supreme Court denied the prosecution's application for leave to appeal.

A state complaint was issued in which defendant was charged, in part, with first-degree premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Defendant's preliminary examination was held on December 14 and 15, 1993. DEA agent Crock was the only witness called to testify. His testimony concerning defendant's statements was received following the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress such testimony on the ground that it had been obtained in violation of defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Crock's testimony may be summarized as follows. Beginning in spring 1992, Crock had been coordinating an investigation into the Cali drug cartel as a member of a task force made up of DEA agents and members of state and local agencies. Defendant had not been a target of this investigation at its very beginning, but rather had become a target only after she became associated with the April 1992 Texas drug transaction. At some point, a DEA agent in Texas, as part of the "investigation run" from the DEA's Tyler, Texas, office, made initial contact with Rice concerning the exact status of Reggie (the man with whom defendant became involved in the Texas drug transaction) and provided Rice with information concerning Reggie. Crock did not direct that this information be given to Rice.

Crock first had contact with Rice in 1986. Concerning defendant, Crock contacted Rice in April 1992, after defendant had become involved in the Texas transaction. At that time, Crock became aware of who defendant was, that homicide charges had been brought against defendant in a state court, and that Rice was still investigating defendant. Crock's understanding of the exact nature of the legal proceedings against defendant in April 1992 was only that there had been a dismissal. Crock related to Rice "the specifics going back to April of '92" concerning any possible involvement by defendant with Reggie.

Crock had no contact with defendant after April 1992 until early 1993 when he recruited a new confidential informant who was able to contact defendant. This confidential informant was working with Crock on the Texas transaction. Crock, the confidential informant, and Crock's partner, Joseph Peterson, tried unsuccessfully to contact defendant by telephone several days before February 23, 1993. However, no contact was made with defendant before February 23, 1993, when Peterson was finally able to arrange by telephone the February 23, 1993, meeting with defendant.

Rice apparently traveled to Texas in January 1993 and obtained statements from Reggie and Rosita. Rice did not undertake to travel to Texas on the basis of any information provided by Crock. Crock knew of Rice's investigation, but he was not made aware until after his February 23, 1993, meeting with defendant that Rice had obtained statements in Texas. Crock had still not seen the statements obtained by Rice at the time of defendant's December 14, 1993, preliminary examination.

Although Crock's testimony is not entirely clear in this regard, it appears that Crock contacted Rice either the day before or the day of the February 23 meeting because "at that point in the investigation we could formulate plans to meet with" defendant. This contact occurred before Peterson contacted defendant by telephone and arranged the February 23, 1993, meeting.

Crock, in his undercover role as a high-level narcotics dealer, thus met in Detroit with defendant on February, 23, 1993. Crock had information that defendant wanted to be involved in this meeting. Rice was not in the vicinity of this meeting. The meeting began with Peterson introducing defendant to Crock and indicating that defendant was the person involved in the April 1992 Texas drug transaction. Crock asked defendant to explain what had happened in Texas so that he could assess the situation because the rules of his organization had been violated during this transaction. As part of their discussion concerning the Texas transaction, Crock and defendant discussed Reggie. Defendant brought up the fact that she was concerned that Reggie was going to turn state's evidence against her in the murder case. The conversation concerning the Texas transaction lasted over ninety minutes. After discussing defendant's involvement in the Texas drug transaction, the conversation turned to defendant's suitability for jobs in the drug trade as a drug or money courier. Crock also learned that defendant had some money that she wanted to invest. At some point in the conversation, defendant told Crock about the appeal and that she was represented by counsel.

After defendant indicated that she was interested in being involved in the drug trade, Crock told her that before they could put her to work they had to address some concerns they had with her past. Crock then turned the discussion to the homicide in the context that he was trying to rectify problems that a confidential informant would be...