Sprague v. State
| Citation | 590 P.2d 410 |
| Decision Date | 02 February 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 3521,3521 |
| Parties | Michael B. SPRAGUE, Appellant, v. STATE of Alaska, Appellee. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Alaska (US) |
Before BOOCHEVER, C. J., and RABINOWITZ, CONNOR, BURKE and MATTHEWS, JJ.
Michael Sprague and a companion, Karl Sinclair, were arrested on charges of burglary. A motion to suppress admissions made by Sprague to police officers approximately two weeks before he was arrested was denied, and Sprague subsequently pled nolo contendere. The trial court accepted the plea with the express condition that Sprague preserved his rights to appeal the suppression decision and the sentence. 1 We affirm the judgment, finding no error in the trial court's ruling that Sprague's statements did not constitute involuntary admissions or confessions. With respect to the sentence, we invalidate certain conditions of Sprague's probation, and remand to the superior court for resentencing.
Based on information given by a citizen informant who described two men and a vehicle which she thought may have been involved in an attempt to burglarize her house, Alaska State Troopers Barnard and Flothe first confronted Michael Sprague and Karl Sinclair as they were unloading their car in a residential area at approximately 1:30 p. m. on January 11, 1977. The troopers asked Sprague and Sinclair for identification, which they produced. Officer Flothe then asked Sprague why he had gone to the informant's house. Sprague replied that he was looking for a friend. No further investigation took place at that time and neither suspect was given a Miranda warning. 2
Later that day, Officers Flothe and Barnard investigated a burglary of another residence and gathered information and a description which matched Sinclair's car. The troopers proceeded to Sprague's residence at around 9 p. m. and interviewed Sprague while he was home alone. Officer Barnard advised Sprague of his Miranda rights from memory 3 and described the evidence the police had against him for the burglary. According to Barnard, Sprague then made admissions of involvement in the burglary. Barnard told defendant Sprague that while there was probable cause to arrest him that night, if he would cooperate in returning the stolen property the officers would not arrest him immediately but would, instead, forward the police reports indicating his cooperation to the district attorney's office.
Sprague agreed to cooperate and see that the stolen goods were returned. He apparently believed that if he returned the property no charges would be brought against him. 4 He did not have the stolen goods with him but he agreed that the officers could return to his apartment in two hours to pick them up.
Sinclair was present when the officers returned to Sprague's residence at 11 p. m. the same night. Most of the stolen property was returned and Sprague and Sinclair stated that they would come to the troopers' office on the following afternoon to deliver the remainder of the goods. No Miranda warnings were read at this time.
Sprague and Sinclair went to the troopers' office the next day to return the remainder of the stolen property. Officer Flothe advised Sprague of his rights from a waiver of rights form, which Sprague subsequently initialed. Sprague again admitted his involvement in the burglary.
Approximately two weeks later Sprague and Sinclair were arrested on warrants for burglary.
Sprague argues that he was denied constitutional due process 5 because his admissions and confessions were involuntary, induced by promises of leniency or immunity made by the state troopers who interviewed him. A statement of involvement in criminal activity is not admissible unless it is voluntary. E. g., Greenwald v. Wisconsin, 390 U.S. 519, 88 S.Ct. 1152, 20 L.Ed.2d 77 (1968); Reck v. Pate, 367 U.S. 433, 81 S.Ct. 1541, 6 L.Ed.2d 948 (1961); Bram v. United States, 168 U.S. 532, 18 S.Ct. 183, 42 L.Ed. 568 (1897). In determining whether a confession is voluntary or is the "product of a mind overborne by coercion," this court has previously stated that it will consider the "totality of circumstances surrounding the confession" 6 and conduct an independent review of the record. Ladd v. State, 568 P.2d 960, 967 (Alaska 1977); Schade v. State, 512 P.2d 907, 916 (Alaska 1973). See Hampton v. State, 569 P.2d 138, 144 (Alaska 1977). The prosecution has the burden of showing that there is sufficient evidence to support a determination, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the admission or confession was voluntary. 7
Sprague's contention that his admissions and confessions were made only after he was promised that he would not be prosecuted if he cooperated is simply not supported by the evidence in the record. Officer Barnard testified that after the two troopers confronted Sprague at his home at around 9 p. m. on January 11 and explained the evidence against him for the burglary, and Officer Barnard gave Sprague his Miranda warnings, the order of the events was as follows:
Q. What happened after you explained your case, basically?
A. Then I indicated he indicated to me that yes, he was, in fact, responsible for the crime, and he indicated that there there was somebody else. He alluded to another person that he didn't want he I got the impression he didn't want involved, or, you know, want to be named, and I I went on to say tell him that as as law enforcement officers we were obligated to investigate the case and refer it for prosecution, but as an option or as a discretionary thing, we the only thing we could do at this point we could either arrest him on the spot for probable cause for the crime of burglary, or depending on his degree of cooperation and the returning or the attempt to return stolen property, that our other option would be not to arrest him at this point and refer the case to the district attorney's office for for whatever may come out of it . . . . 8
Officer Flothe also testified that he believed Sprague admitted the burglary before the discussion with Officer Barnard about not arresting him immediately if he cooperated in returning the stolen property, but Flothe admitted on cross-examination that the confession could have come after the discussion about the arrest.
The sequence of events at the 9 p. m. confrontation with Sprague is critical to his claim that his confession was induced by the promise not to arrest. Sprague did not testify at the hearing on the motion to suppress and his affidavit is ambiguous about when he admitted his involvement in the burglary in relation to when the agreement regarding his cooperation in return for not being arrested that night was made. 9 Based on this record of the events, we must conclude that the confession came before any agreement about the return of the stolen goods. Thus, we find that Sprague's admissions of guilt were not the product of any improper promises on the part of the investigating officers.
Despite the absence of improper promises to elicit Sprague's admissions and confessions, we must examine the words and actions of the state troopers to determine whether they were sufficient to overbear Sprague's free will. Ladd v. State, 568 P.2d 960, 967 (Alaska 1977). The totality of the circumstances surrounding the confession must be considered. "Relevant criteria are the age, mentality, and prior criminal experience of the accused; the length, intensity and frequency of interrogation; the existence of physical deprivation or mistreatment; and the existence of threat or inducement." Brown v. United States, 356 F.2d 230, 232 (10th Cir. 1966). See Peterson v. State, 562 P.2d 1350, 1363 (Alaska 1977). At the time of the incident Sprague was 19 years old. He was a high school graduate and had been living away from home for over two years. No claim has been made that he was mentally incompetent at the time of the confrontations on January 11, or that he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Sprague had previously been convicted of malicious destruction but this was not brought out at the time of the suppression hearing. He was not subjected to any prolonged or exhaustive questioning or any physical or psychological coercion and he was given Miranda warnings at the outset of the conversation with the police officers. 10 There is adequate evidence to support the trial court's finding that Sprague's confession was made freely and voluntarily and not as a result of any overbearing of his will. 11
Sprague also appeals three conditions of probation which were imposed by Superior Court Judge J. Justin Ripley as part of a suspended imposition of sentence. Sprague contends that the conditions were beyond the jurisdiction of the sentencing court and in violation of his constitutional rights to due process. 12 The first of these required Sprague to pay to the victim of the burglary, in addition to $210 which was to cover the actual cost of a door broken during the burglary, a $1,000 punitive payment. With respect to the $1,000, the superior court stated:
In addition, for a period of 10 months, as a condition of probation . . . you will pay $100.00 per month through the probation officer to the victim in this crime. . . . (F)or 10 months, every month, you're going to at least think about what he must have thought when he came home and found his door caved in.
The state legislature has conferred broad discretionary powers on the sentencing court to establish conditions of probation when imposition of sentence is to be deferred. 13 AS 12.55.100(a) more specifically provides with respect to conditions of probation:
While on probation and among the conditions of probation, the defendant may be required
(1) to pay a fine in one or several sums;
(2) to make restitution or reparation to...
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State v. Gaines
...for probation is theoretically inconsistent with the concept of suspension of sentence and, thus, is prohibited. See, Sprague v. State, Alaska, 590 P.2d 410 (1979); 24 C.J.S. Criminal Law § 1571(8) (1961). However, there is respectable authority to support the view we have taken. See, Lewis......