People v. Sandoval, 86SA340

• Decision Date: 18 May 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86SA340,86SA340
• Citation: 736 P.2d 1201
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Julio SANDOVAL, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 1201

736 P.2d 1201

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Julio SANDOVAL, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 86SA340.

Supreme Court of Colorado En Banc.

May 18, 1987.

Norman S. Early, Jr., Dist. Atty., Nathan B. Coats, Chief Appellate Deputy Dist. Atty., Frank O. Bowman, III, Nathan Chambers, Deputy Dist. Attys., Denver, for plaintiff-appellant.

Haddon, Morgan & Foreman, P.C., Norman R. Mueller, Denver, for defendant-appellee.

KIRSHBAUM, Justice.

The People have filed this interlocutory appeal pursuant to C.A.R. 4.1 challenging an order of the Denver District Court suppressing certain statements made by the defendant, Julio Sandoval, to Denver Police Department officials on November 14, 1985. The trial court concluded that although the statements were voluntary, they resulted from impermissible custodial interrogation. We vacate the trial court's order and remand the case for further proceedings.

I

At approximately 5:00 a.m. on November 14, 1985, Officer Kathy Hall was directed by a Denver Police Department dispatcher to obtain information from a "Mr. Marquez" at a Denver convenience store. She did not know what type of information she was to receive. Officer Henry Hunter also drove to the store as a backup.

When the officers reached the location, the defendant and Leonardo Marquez left the store and approached the two patrol cars. Marquez, apparently upset that no one had responded to an earlier call he had placed, stated to Officer Hall that the defendant had killed a woman. The defendant was smiling and did not appear to Officer Hall to be at all concerned. Officer Hall immediately radioed Denver police officials, who informed her that no homicide had been reported on the previous shift. At that time Officer Hall did not know whether any crime had occurred.

Officer Hall, who speaks very little Spanish, left her car to speak with Marquez. Marquez, who was still agitated, explained in English that the defendant had stated that he had killed a woman and left the body in the defendant's apartment. Officer Hall asked the defendant in Spanish for his name, and the defendant responded. Officer Hall sought additional information from the defendant, who speaks little English, by stating questions to Marquez in English, who in turn questioned the defendant in Spanish and translated the defendant's answers into English. However, at one point Officer Hall directly asked the defendant in English, "you kill somebody?" and the defendant nodded affirmatively. She also asked the defendant in English how he had killed the woman, and the defendant responded by making a stabbing motion, as if he were holding a knife.

Officer Hall directly asked the defendant where he lived and if he would accompany her in the patrol car and point out his apartment. The defendant agreed, entered her car, and directed her toward his residence. Officer Hunter, with Marquez, followed them. The defendant was not arrested, handcuffed or searched at this time, nor was he in any manner advised of his constitutional rights.

As Officer Hall's vehicle approached the defendant's residence, the defendant pointed to an apartment building and, in response to her question in English, indicated that his apartment was number five. Shortly thereafter Sergeant Peter Diaz joined the defendant, Marquez and Officers Hall and Hunter outside the defendant's apartment. Sergeant Diaz asked Marquez to verify that the defendant resided in the apartment. The defendant responded affirmatively to Marquez' question and gave permission, through Marquez, to the police officers to enter the apartment. Marquez gave the defendant's apartment keys to Sergeant Diaz, who then entered the apartment with Officer Hall. They discovered the body of the victim on the floor, wrapped in a sheet.

The defendant was arrested and transported to Denver police headquarters. At 6:30 a.m. he was interviewed by Officer Fred Herrera, a Spanish-speaking officer, in the presence of Officer Hunter. Officer Herrera advised the defendant of his constitutional rights pursuant to the decision of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), by reading verbatim from the Spanish portion of a preprinted police department form. ¹ The defendant was seated next to Officer Herrera during the advisement and, according to Officers Herrera and Hunter, appeared to be reading the form as Officer Herrera spoke. The defendant also read some portions of the advisement aloud. The defendant was asked by Officer Herrera after each line was read whether the defendant understood that line; when the defendant replied affirmatively, Officer Herrera placed a check mark next to that line on the form. The defendant subsequently signed the form in two places, indicating that he understood his rights and that he wished to speak voluntarily to Officer Herrera. Officer Herrera then interviewed the defendant in Spanish.

At approximately 8:00 a.m. the defendant was interviewed by Detective John Wyckoff. Officer Herrera served as translator during this second interview. Officer Herrera initially re-advised the defendant of his Miranda rights without reading from the form. This advisement and the interview were videotaped. The defendant indicated by nodding his head that he understood each of the rights. ² The defendant then signed in two places another copy of the same police department form.

An information was filed on November 19, 1985, charging the defendant with committing first degree murder, § 18-3-102, 8B C.R.S. (1986), and a crime of violence, § 16-11-309, 8A C.R.S. (1986). The defendant moved to suppress all statements made to Denver police officials. After conducting a hearing on the motion, the trial court found that the prosecution had established by a preponderance of the evidence that all of the statements made by the defendant were voluntary. The trial court held that any statements made by the defendant after he gestured with a stabbing motion while at the convenience store were products of custodial interrogation and violated the defendant's Miranda rights. The trial court also held that the People failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant had waived his constitutional rights at the police station.

II

In determining if an individual is in police custody and, therefore, must be given an advisement of rights pursuant to the Miranda decision before any police interrogation may begin, a trial court must first ascertain whether a reasonable person in the suspect's position would consider himself deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way. People v. Archuleta, 719 P.2d 1091 (Colo.1986); People v. Black, 698 P.2d 766 (Colo.1985). In making that determination, the court must consider the totality of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation, including the following factors:

[T]he time, place and purpose of the encounter; the persons present during the interrogation; the words spoken by the officer to the defendant; the officer's tone of voice and general demeanor; the length and mood of the interrogation; whether any limitation of movement or other form of restraint was placed on the defendant during the interrogation; the officer's response to any questions asked by the...