State v. Arpin, 77-208-C

• Decision Date: 07 February 1980
• Docket Number: No. 77-208-C,77-208-C
• Citation: 122 R.I. 643,410 A.2d 1340
• Parties: STATE v. Ronald D. ARPIN. A.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 1340

410 A.2d 1340

122 R.I. 643

STATE v. Ronald D. ARPIN.

No. 77-208-C.A.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Feb. 7, 1980.

[122 R.I. 670] Dennis J. Roberts, II, Atty. Gen., Alan R. Tate, Spec. Asst. Atty. Gen., for plaintiff.

William F. Reilly, Public Defender, Barbara Hurst, Chief Appellate Atty., John A. MacFadyen III, Lise J. Gescheidt, Asst. Public Defenders, for defendant.

OPINION

BEVILACQUA, Chief Justice.

The defendant, Ronald D. Arpin (Arpin), was tried before a jury in the Superior Court and convicted of second-degree murder. Before the Superior Court the defendant relied on the defense of lack of criminal responsibility by reason of insanity. On appeal the defendant assigns as error a number of the trial justice's rulings. He also urges us to grant him a new trial under the American Law Institute's (ALI) test for legal insanity, the test this court recently adopted in State v. Johnson, R.I., 399 A.2d 469 (1979).

At about 2:45 p. m. September 19, 1974, as twelve-year-old Kristen Judge got off the school bus in front of her home on Howard Hill Road in Foster, Rhode Island, she noticed a white Volkswagen van parked on the opposite side of the road. A few minutes later, Kristen walked from her house out to the road to meet a friend who was coming over for a visit. As the two young girls walked back to Kristen's house, they passed the van and saw a man and a young woman kissing beside the van. A short time later, they came back down the driveway and heard a girl scream. Concerned, the girls returned to the house and asked Kristen's father if he had heard the scream. Although he had heard nothing, he accompanied the girls back out to Howard Hill Road. Seeing that the van had now gone, the girls proceeded alone toward the Foster fairgrounds. While in front of the fairgrounds, they saw the Volkswagen van again, first heading toward Foster, and then about a minute later heading back to the spot where it had been parked when Kristen first noticed it.

At about the same time, Mrs. Linda Tramontano, who also lived on Howard Hill Road, heard some noise in the woods next to her home. She also heard a car door slam several times and then the spinning of wheels. She walked out to the road and saw the white Volkswagen van stuck in a ditch and defendant trying to figure out how to free the van from its predicament. Apprehensive because she was alone and thinking that defendant might come to use her telephone, Mrs. Tramontano called the Foster Highway Department for assistance. Two members of the department arrived shortly at her house. While she spoke to them outside, defendant walked up, explained that his van was stuck, and asked for help. The road men and defendant then walked back down to the van.

At about 3:30 p. m., in response to Mrs. Tramontano's report of the suspicious vehicle, a Foster police officer arrived at the scene. While the road men had been inspecting the problem, defendant entered the van. As the officer tried to help him out, defendant seemed very agitated, gasping for breath, muttering, and struggling. The officer handcuffed him, and the road men restrained him on the ground. While restrained defendant muttered that he had picked up a male and a female hitchhiker and that they had given him some white powder that "worked fast." Believing that defendant might need some medical assistance for drug intoxication, the police officer called for an ambulance and also a wrecking crew. The defendant continued to mumble about the hitchhikers, saying that the man had been beating up the girl. When the medical crew arrived, they strapped the struggling defendant to a stretcher. Meanwhile, the wrecker operator, who had walked into the woods, came out and reported that he had found a female body, partly naked, badly beaten, and bloodied.

The ambulance crew drove defendant to the State Police headquarters in Scituate for interrogation as a suspect in the girl's murder. The defendant originally stated that he had picked up the girl and a man named "Donald," and that "Donald" had beaten the girl. During the interrogation, however, defendant was informed that the two young girls had seen the young woman with only one man, who fit defendant's description. The defendant then abruptly changed his story, confessing that he, and not "Donald," had struck the girl. The police recorded the confession.

The defendant was charged with murder, assault with intent to rape, and assault with a dangerous weapon. After a psychiatric hearing, however, he was declared incompetent to stand trial and was placed in the custody of the Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals for seventeen months. Before the trial commenced almost two years later, defendant filed various pretrial motions, including a motion to suppress his confession. The trial justice denied this motion and, over defendant's objection, admitted the taped confession into evidence. At trial, defendant relied principally on an insanity defense and presented expert witnesses who testified to his mental state at the time of the homicide. At the conclusion of the state's case, the charge of assault with a dangerous weapon was dismissed. The jury found defendant not guilty of assault with intent to rape, but found him guilty of murder in the second degree, and sane.

I

We turn first to defendant's contention that in denying the motion to suppress the taped confession, the trial justice committed reversible error. The defendant argues that the waiver of his constitutional privilege against self-incrimination was not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily made. Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938). The defendant claims specifically that at the time he signed the waiver-of-rights form and gave the confession, he lacked the mental capacity to understand the implications and consequences of signing the waiver form. See id.; State v. Espinosa, 109 R.I. 221, 283 A.2d 465 (1971).

At the pretrial hearing on defendant's motion to suppress the waiver-of-rights form and the confession, Captain Edward D. Pare and Detective Norman Pineau, two police officers, testified that they talked to Arpin at State Police headquarters on September 19, 1974. Captain Pare testified that he first saw Arpin at 4:25 p. m. being removed from the ambulance handcuffed and strapped to a stretcher, and noted that at the time defendant was squirming and appeared excited. After the medical crew released defendant and removed the handcuffs, he accompanied Pare to his office in the police station, where two other officers joined them. Before asking any questions, Pare informed Arpin that he was a murder suspect, informed him of his constitutional rights, and gave him the warnings set out in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Arpin responded, "I know all that," and said that he understood the warnings. Captain Pare described Arpin's demeanor in the office as "somewhat calm" and "coherent." The defendant initially told the fabricated story of "Donald" in a rational, coherent manner, according to Pare. ¹ Captain Pare also testified that he used no force or coercion and made no threats or promises. Captain Pare concluded the initial interview at about 5:15 or 5:30 p. m. and asked Detective Pineau to continue the interrogation.

Detective Pineau and another officer introduced themselves and once again advised Arpin of his constitutional rights. When asked if he understood the warnings and whether he wished to waive the rights and proceed, Arpin responded, "I do not need any type of attorney. I'm a witness. I saw what happened." Arpin then signed the waiver-of-rights form and repeated the story of "Donald" that he had related previously to Pare. At that time, however, an important development occurred. Captain Pare reentered the office and said that a young female eyewitness had stated that only one man and one girl were in the van. He also said that the man she described was Ronald Arpin. At this point, Arpin said, "Okay I want to tell the truth. I want to get this over with."

After asking all but Pineau to leave, defendant admitted that he was "Donald" and had committed the acts he had attributed before to "Donald." Detective Pineau interrupted him because of the inculpatory nature of Arpin's statements, and Arpin was read his rights for the third time. Arpin nodded that he understood his rights and once again agreed to waive them. Detective Pineau described Arpin at this time as "very quiet, very passive." Arpin proceeded to tell a revised story involving only him and Dorene McKenzie. ² Although defendant refused to reduce the story to writing or to sign any statement, he agreed to allow the police to tape it. Before any statement was recorded, Arpin was advised of his constitutional rights for the fourth time. Detective Pineau asked defendant if he wished to waive the rights and give the statement. Arpin responded affirmatively.

The defendant called only one witness, Dr. Herbert Myers, who was qualified as an expert in psychiatry. Doctor Myers testified that he had examined Arpin to determine his competency to stand trial. ³ Before the examination, Dr. Myers had scrutinized Arpin's medical and psychiatric history and had ordered psychological tests. Doctor Myers stated that the one and one-half hour psychiatric interview revealed signs of serious mental illness. ⁴ Doctor Myers stated also that he believed Arpin had been suffering from a mental illness when he signed the waiver-of-rights form and confessed, and that even though Arpin may have been aware of signing the waiver form, he had not understood the implications.

In deciding defendant's motion to suppress, the trial justice considered two questions: (a) whether the Miranda warnings were properly given, and (b) whether Arpin knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waived his privilege against self-incrimination and his right to have an attorney...