State v. Aitken
| Decision Date | 27 March 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 19304,19304 |
| Citation | 828 P.2d 346,121 Idaho 783 |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Howard Dean AITKEN, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Idaho Court of Appeals |
Alan E. Trimming, Ada County Public Defender, Timothy L. Hansen, Deputy Atty. Gen., Boise, for defendant-appellant.
Larry EchoHawk, Atty. Gen., Jane M. Newby, Sp. Deputy Atty. Gen., Boise, for plaintiff-respondent.
Howard Aitken entered a conditional plea of guilty to grand theft, reserving the right to appeal from an adverse ruling on his motions to suppress evidence. The evidence he sought to suppress consisted of statements he had made to the police after his arrest and of fruits of the crime which police had seized during a consensual, warrantless search of a motel room rented by Aitken. We affirm.
The following undisputed facts were presented to the district court at the hearing on Aitken's motion to suppress. In December, 1989, Aitken employed an elaborate scheme to obtain money from two banks in Boise. He used a traveler's check in the amount of $100 to open a savings account in each bank. He then deposited larger, commercial checks into these accounts, drawn upon an apparent business account in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Unbeknown to the Boise banks, the Albuquerque account had been closed for several months. Before the banks had time to present the out-of-state checks for clearance, Aitken withdrew $7000 from each of the savings accounts, obtaining cashier's checks from the banks, and used the money to purchase gold coins from local coin dealers. When one of the banks realized the New Mexico checks would not be honored, it reported the scheme to the police. Aitken was located by the police while he was attempting to set up a similar arrangement at a third Boise bank.
As Aitken exited this bank, he was arrested by the police for issuing no-account checks. His vehicle, which was parked in the bank's lot, was searched without a warrant and without Aitken's consent. The police found a check-protector machine and several checks evidently used by Aitken in his operation. The police took Aitken to the law enforcement building where, after receiving Miranda warnings, Aitken was interviewed. He gave statements describing the method and extent of his scheme. He also executed a written consent permitting the officers to search his motel room where they subsequently found a briefcase containing the gold coins. As a result of these events, Aitken was charged with two counts of grand theft for wrongfully obtaining $7000 from each of the banks.
Aitken filed separate motions to suppress the evidence seized from his automobile and from his motel room and for suppression of the statements he had given to the police while in custody. He asserted that the search of his vehicle was without probable cause, occurred without a warrant or consent and was not justified by any exigent circumstances. He also submitted that his custodial statements to the police and his consent to search the motel room were obtained as a result of duress and coercion. After an evidentiary hearing, the court granted suppression of the evidence obtained from the vehicle, but denied the other two motions. Aitken then entered a conditional plea of guilty to one count of grand theft, reserving the right to appeal the denial of his suppression motions, and the state dismissed the other grand theft charge.
Aitken raises only one issue on appeal. He asserts that, in light of the evidence presented at the suppression hearing, the court erred by concluding that his statements to the police and the consent to search the motel room were voluntary.
Our standards on review of orders denying motions to suppress evidence are well settled. We will not disturb the district court's determinations of fact which are based upon substantial evidence, but we exercise free review of the lower court's decision as to whether constitutional requirements have been satisfied in light of the facts found. State v. Culbertson, 105 Idaho 128, 666 P.2d 1139 (1983); State v. Rusho, 110 Idaho 556, 716 P.2d 1328 (Ct.App.1986). The burden is upon the state to show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that a defendant's confession was voluntary, Culbertson, supra, and that a consent to search was given freely and voluntarily. Rusho, supra. The voluntariness of a confession must be measured by a "totality of the circumstances" test. State v. Johns, 112 Idaho 873, 736 P.2d 1327 (1987), citing Haynes v. Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 10 L.Ed.2d 513 (1963). Likewise, the voluntariness of a consent to search must be determined from all the circumstances. Rusho, supra, citing Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973).
At the hearing on Aitken's motions to suppress, two police officers testified as to the events surrounding Aitken's arrest, interrogation and the...
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