Peterson v. State, 2642
| Decision Date | 20 April 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 2642,2642 |
| Citation | 562 P.2d 1350 |
| Parties | Paul S. PETERSON, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Alaska, Appellee. |
| Court | Alaska Supreme Court |
Brian Shortell, Public Defender, Phillip P. Weidner, Barbara J. Miracle and John M. Murtagh, Asst. Public Defenders, Anchorage, for appellant.
Avrum M. Gross, Atty. Gen., Juneau, Joseph D. Balfe, Dist. Atty., and Ivan Lawner, Asst. Dist. Atty., Anchorage, for appellee.
Before BOOCHEVER, C. J., and RABINOWITZ, CONNER, ERWIN and BURKE, JJ.
On December 22, 1974, four persons were killed in a cabin in the village of Chignik Lagoon. The following day appellant Paul Stanley Peterson, Jr., the son of Helen and Paul Peterson, two of the victims, was arrested after he confessed to having killed his parents, Nick Willie, and Peter Phillips. Peterson appeals from his conviction on four counts of second degree murder.
Although appellant asserts six contentions of error by the trial court, his primary claims are that the trial court erred in refusing to dismiss the charges against him for violation of his speedy trial rights and that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the statements he made to law enforcement officers. We will address appellant's contentions of error after a statement of the facts.
On December 23, 1974, Sergeant Robert Lochman of the Alaska State Troopers received a report from the Coast Guard that there had been a shooting incident at Chignik Lagoon. Two persons were reported to be dead and two more to be seriously injured; an armed suspect was reportedly at large. Lochman and Trooper Corporal James W. Hogan flew to Chignik Lagoon from Anchorage that same day. Since bad weather made it less than certain that they would be able to get to Chignik Lagoon, Lochman ordered Corporal Joseph Brantley of the Fish and Wildlife Protection Division of the Department of Public Safety to fly himself and Trooper Phillip Gilson to the scene from King Salmon. He also ordered a trooper to fly in from Dillingham and another from Sand Point. When all of the troopers made it to the scene, Lochman decided that there was no need for him to remain there for the investigation, so he left for Kodiak after two hours at Chingik Lagoon, leaving Corporal Hogan in charge of the investigation.
Lochman and Hogan had landed in Chignik Logoon right at the cabin in which the killings occurred. Since their report from the Coast Guard had indicated that an armed suspect was at large, they first went through all of the buildings to see if anyone was around. When Lochman finally entered the cabin, he found Paul Peterson, Sr., Helen Peterson, Peter Phillips and Nick Willie. All four were dead. Nick Willie's body was on the floor of the cabin, and there was a shotgun laying across his chest. It appeared to Lochman that the gun had been placed on Willie's body after the shooting. All four had been shot in the head, and all of their wounds appeared to be shotgun wounds. The condition of the bodies indicated to Lochman that the deaths had not just taken place, but also that the deaths had occurred no more than three days before. There was nothing at the scene which indicated to Lochman that any substantial amount of time had passed between the deaths of the four.
Corporal Brantley arrived at Chignik Lagoon with Trooper Gilson and Don Cogger of the Fish and Wildlife division in the afternoon of December 23. They landed near the Chignik Lagoon cannery, and Brantley went directly to the cannery. He did not go to the cabin where the killings occurred. At the cannery Brantley met Mrs. Jack Dodge, who lived in the cannery complex with her husband. Mrs. Dodge introduced Brantley to appellant Peterson, who had come to the cannery that morning to tell the Dodges that his parents had been killed.
Brantley interviewed Peterson at this point to 'determine what he had seen and what he knew and if there was, in fact, someone hiding in the brush.' Brantley transcribed verbatim a statement made by Peterson, and Peterson signed the statement. The time was 3:25 p. m. on December 23. Brantley testified that Peterson was not in custody and was not suspected of having committed any crime at this point. Peterson was not advised of his rights before he made his first statement.
Peterson's first statement to Brantley related that Peterson had arisen on the morning of December 23 and, finding that his parents had not returned home, gone to Nick Willie's cabin to look for them. There he discovered his father's body. Without checking to see whether his mother was dead or alive, he ran off to tell the Dodges that his father was dead. He did notice, however, that his father's shotgun was laying across Nick Willie's stomach.
After the first interview, Peterson remained in the cannery area. Brantley testified that nothing in Peterson's first interview aroused any suspicion that Peterson had committed any crime. According to Brantley, Peterson moved about the cannery area freely and did not stay with Brantley at all times.
When Officer Cogger returned from the Willie cabin, he told Brantley that it appeared that someone had attempted to make a series of homicides look like a homicide-suicide. He also reported that there were no tracks to indicate that someone had run off into the brush to hide. Brantley then began to suspect that Peterson knew more about the killings than he had revealed in his earlier interview. Brantley testified that he conducted a second interview with Peterson at this point to get as many details as possible to compare with the evidence. The time was 5 or 6 o'clock in the evening, and the interview took place in the cannery store.
Brantley began the interview by advising Peterson of his 'rights to an attorney, not to make any statements, (to) have your attorney present and to stop answering questions at any time and to have your attorney present with you during the interview.' Brantley admitted that he did not read the Miranda warning from a card. Peterson was not told that his statements could and would be used against him, nor was he told that an attorney would be appointed for him if he desired counsel and could not afford to retain an attorney. Peterson stated that he understood his rights.
When Brantley asked Peterson to 'tell us what you know about this situation involving your father and mother and Willie and Phillips,' Peterson responded with Brantley then said:
I understand that-I can understand your feelings, but what we're trying to do is get to the bottom of why they're dead and perhaps you can help us with that.
Peterson responded, 'I don't know why they're dead-I just found them like that.' The questioning continued, but Peterson's second interview only produced a more detailed version of his earlier story.
Shortly after the second interview Trooper Gilson returned to the cannery area from the Willie cabin. He interviewed Peterson in the cannery store at about 7:00. After this interview Gilson arrested Peterson.
Gilson testified that he felt that he did not have probable cause to arrest Peterson before this interview. He admitted that he did not have other suspects, but he stated that he was still open to other suggestions until he talked to Peterson. However, Paul Peterson was 'a prime suspect' at the time of the 7 o'clock interview.
Gilson's first interview of Peterson was not taped. Gilson testified that he advised Peterson of his rights, reading from a card in the same manner as he did the following morning when he conducted a second, taped interview. 1 Gilson also testified that Peterson's response on the evening of December 23 to the reading of his rights was essentially the same as it was on the morning of December 24, at which time Peterson responded 'Yes, I do' to the question of whether he understood his rights.
At 9:35 a. m. on December 24, 1974, Trooper Gilson obtained a full confession from Paul S. Peterson, Jr. The interview began with a clear, slow reading of Peterson's rights. 2 Gilson testified that Peterson did not appear to be under the influence of any intoxicating beverage, that he was responsive to Gilson's questions, that he indicated understanding of his rights, and that he did not appear reluctant to talk to Gilson. However, Peterson was extremely soft-spoken throughout the December 24 interview.
Peterson explained that he had been at Nick Willie's cabin on the night of December 22 with his parents, Willie and Peter Phillips. They had all been drinking home brew. Peterson and Willie got into a heated argument. Peterson shot Willie in the head with his father's shotgun and then killed the other three so that there would be no witnesses. He went home to the Peterson cabin, taking the shotgun with him. He returned the same evening to put the gun on top of Willie in order to make the scene look like a murder-suicide. He then went back to his own cabin again. The next morning he returned to the Willie cabin one more time to survey the scene, and then he went to the cannery to tell the Dodges that his parents were dead.
As the December 24 interview progressed, Peterson began to sob. Gilson's final questions caused Peterson to break into a whimpering crying:
On the instruction of Sergeant Lochman, Peterson had been arrested for only one of the homicides, that of his father, Paul S. Peterson, Sr. This was done because Lochman had been concerned that the bad weather around Chignik Lagoon might make it impossible...
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