State v. Countryman

• Decision Date: 24 December 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-1220,96-1220
• Citation: 572 N.W.2d 553
• Parties: STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Darla COUNTRYMAN, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 553

572 N.W.2d 553

STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Darla COUNTRYMAN, Appellant.

No. 96-1220.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Dec. 24, 1997.

Patricia M. Hulting of Roehrick, Hulting, Blumberg, Kirlin & Krull, P.C., Des Moines, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Mary Tabor, Assistant Attorney General, John P. Sarcone, County Attorney, and Nan Horvat, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

Considered by HARRIS, P.J., and NEUMAN, SNELL, ANDREASEN, and TERNUS, JJ.

HARRIS, Justice.

This first-degree murder prosecution arose from the particularly savage killings of two elderly Des Moines sisters during a crudely inept robbery. The defendant and her husband were both charged with the killings, and she appeals following her conviction of first-degree murder in violation of Iowa Code section 707.2 (1995). Because we find no merit in any of the defendant's four assignments of error, we affirm.

The victims, eighty-three-year-old Madelyne Miletich, and her sister, seventy-seven-year-old Dorothy Miletich, shared a Des Moines apartment. They were befriended by defendant Darla Countryman and her husband Ray Countryman. Ray was a maintenance worker for the apartment complex. On June 15, 1995, the two sisters were packing their belongings in anticipation of their planned move to Missouri. Darla invited the two sisters to spend the night in the Countryman quarters in the complex, rather than in a local hotel. Notwithstanding a reservation the sisters had made there, they did not appear at the hotel and were not thereafter seen alive.

Six days later, on June 21, Darla and Ray left Des Moines in their pickup truck and drove to Nebraska where they stole a car. The next day Darla was found aimlessly wandering, confused and incoherent, in Morris County, Kansas, on a farm owned by Rex and Susan Osborne.

Rex Osborne summoned authorities and Darla was taken by deputy sheriff Scott Coover to the sheriff's office where she spoke extensively with Vicki Hewitt, a police dispatcher. Hewitt did not understand the conversation as an inquiry into a crime, but rather as an effort to learn about Darla's identity. The conversation lasted from 11:30 p.m. on June 22 to approximately 2:15 a.m. on June 23. During this entire time Darla was not advised of her Miranda rights. Hewitt thought Darla appeared to be under the influence of drugs. Darla stated she saw little aborigine men and little black bugs crawling on the walls and heard them speaking to her.

During the conversation Darla stated she had stolen a car. She also told of her family in Iowa, various run-ins with the law, blood in her apartment, Darla's mother's missing property, drug use, and possession of savings bonds. Darla provided no directly incriminating evidence concerning the murder, but did express concern for the Miletich sisters, mentioning that something bad had happened to them.

On the basis of a separate investigation conducted by the sheriff's department, Darla was arrested for the theft of the car she and her husband had stolen in Nebraska. The car was seized and its search revealed more than $100,000 in bonds belonging to the Miletiches as well as checkbooks and credit cards. Other items found in the car included wigs, new clothes, several purses, and notes that Darla and Ray had written during their drive.

On June 25 Darla spoke with Coover after giving her warnings as required by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 473-76, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1627-29, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, 723-25 (1966). ¹ At the same time Darla signed a written waiver of those rights. She stated she had stolen a car and had been taking drugs. On June 26, after again being informed of her Miranda rights and signing a waiver, Darla was questioned again, this time by Madison County deputy sheriff Craig Busch and special agent David Button of the Iowa division of criminal investigation. Darla told the officers about the death of the Miletich sisters and provided a written statement.

On June 27, less than twenty-four hours from the previous interrogation, the same officers initiated a conversation with Darla. This time they did not formally readminister the Miranda warnings, but reminded her of them. The purpose of the interview was to learn whether Darla remembered anything from the previous day. During this episode Darla again made inculpatory statements.

After she was charged with murdering the Miletich sisters, Darla raised a number of pretrial and trial issues which will be discussed in the divisions that follow.

I. Darla challenges the district court's refusal to suppress evidence regarding statements she made during four interviews: (1) statements to Vicki Hewitt on June 22-23; (2) statements to Coover on June 25; (3) statements to Busch and Button on June 26; and (4) statements to Busch and Button on June 27.

Our review of the district court's refusal to suppress Darla's statements is de novo. State v. Smith, 546 N.W.2d 916, 920 (Iowa 1996). We nevertheless give weight to fact findings because of the district court's opportunity to assess the credibility of witnesses. State v. Morgan, 559 N.W.2d 603, 608 (Iowa 1997). We consider both the evidence from the suppression hearing and that introduced at trial. State v. Jackson, 542 N.W.2d 842, 844 (Iowa 1996). We utilize a dual test in determining the admissibility of a defendant's inculpatory statements over a fifth amendment challenge. State v. Davis, 446 N.W.2d 785, 788 (Iowa 1989). We first determine whether Miranda warnings were required and, if so, whether they were properly given. Id. Second, we ascertain whether the statement is voluntary and satisfies due process. Id. Miranda warnings are not required unless there is both custody and interrogation. Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 429, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 3144, 82 L.Ed.2d 317, 328 (1984); Davis, 446 N.W.2d at 788. So the question becomes whether Darla was in custody of law enforcement officers at the time.

The custody determination depends on the objective circumstances of the interrogation, not on subjective views harbored either by the officer or the person being questioned. Stansbury v. California, 511 U.S. 318, 323, 114 S.Ct. 1526, 1529, 128 L.Ed.2d 293, 298 (1994). The Stansbury court explained:

In determining whether an individual [is] in custody, a court must examine all of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation, but "the ultimate inquiry is simply whether there was 'a formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement' of the degree associated with a formal arrest."

Id. (quoted sources omitted). We utilized this objective test in State v. Scott, 518 N.W.2d 347, 350 (Iowa 1994).

In State v. Deases, 518 N.W.2d 784, 789 (Iowa 1994), we said the appropriate test was "whether a reasonable person in the [defendant's] position would understand himself [or herself] to be in custody." We went on to adopt a four-factor test as guidance in making such a determination. Id. These factors include: (1) the language used to summon the individual; (2) the purpose, place, and manner of interrogation; (3) the extent to which the defendant is confronted with evidence of her guilt; and (4) whether the defendant is free to leave the place of questioning. Deases, 518 N.W.2d at 789. This test was again utilized in Smith. Smith, 546 N.W.2d at 922.

When these four factors are applied to the facts here, it does not objectively appear that Darla was in custody during her conversation with Hewitt. Although confused, Darla must have understood that she was being rescued, not arrested, when she voluntarily accompanied Coover to the sheriff's office. The discussion there with Hewitt was to explore Darla's identity so that relatives and friends could be called.

The three-hour length of the conversation did not render it custodial. See State v. Brown, 341 N.W.2d 10, 16 (Iowa 1983) (two and one-half hours of questioning not custodial). A three-hour conversation might sometimes be considered long, but not on these facts. This conversation was interrupted several times for bathroom breaks and for trips to the refrigerator for juice. Hewitt, the only other person in the room, was not confrontational or aggressive in her questioning. Hewitt was a civilian employee whose training was in crisis intervention rather than interrogation or law enforcement techniques. Her kindness and reputation in the department for providing a sympathetic ear was the sole purpose for her being chosen to question Darla.

Another factor is the extent to which a defendant is confronted with evidence of guilt. See Smith, 546 N.W.2d at 925. Absolutely no evidence was presented to Darla concerning her involvement with the murders. Hewitt and the law enforcement officers in fact knew nothing about the Miletich murders at the time.

The final consideration in determining whether custody existed "is the degree to which a reasonable person in the situation of the defendant would believe he [or she] was free to leave." Id. On this element we weigh the degree of physical restraint imposed during the interrogation. Id.; see State v. Kasel, 488 N.W.2d 706, 708-09 (Iowa 1992) (finding custody when a defendant was forcefully returned to an interrogation room after attempting to leave); Brown, 341 N.W.2d at 16 (finding no custody when a defendant was subject to no physical restraint and felt free to leave at any time). There is no indication Darla was restrained. Although Darla never asked to leave, Hewitt testified she would have first tried to talk her out of it for her own safety, but would have eventually allowed her to leave if she insisted.

Because Darla was not in custody, the district court was correct in denying her motion to suppress testimony regarding the Hewitt conversation on the basis of Miranda.

II. Darla challenges testimony of her three-hour conversation on the separate claim it was involuntary. On this issue the State must show by a preponderance of the evidence that the statements were voluntarily given. State v....