State v. Dison, 80-KA-2191
| Decision Date | 06 April 1981 |
| Docket Number | No. 80-KA-2191,80-KA-2191 |
| Citation | 396 So.2d 1254 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Roosevelt DISON. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Ronald C. Martin, Dist. Atty., S. Michael Henry, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee.
Charles R. Whitehead, Jr., Whitehead & McCoy, Natchitoches, for defendant-appellant.
Defendant was convicted of first degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The charge arose out of the "contract killing" of Charles Rollo in Natchitoches Parish. Although circumstantial evidence was adduced at trial that tended to confirm defendant's involvement in the crime, the state's case relied primarily upon a confession given by defendant, in which he admitted shooting the victim after he was offered money to do so. We are called upon to review the admissibility of the confession.
The basic facts of this case are not in dispute. On Easter Sunday of April 15, 1979, Charles Rollo was killed by a shotgun blast while standing in the driveway of his home in Natchitoches. A passing motorist saw a light colored automobile pulling out of the driveway at the time that the homicide was committed; steam was escaping from the hood of the car. A short while later, the same motorist again saw the car, stopped at the foot of a bridge. He was unable to identify the driver. When the officers investigating the shooting received this information, they contacted a service station manager in nearby Powhatan. They learned that defendant had stopped at the station twice on the Saturday before the murder, driving a yellow Cadillac that had been overheating. On Thursday, April 19, defendant was stopped for questioning in Coushatta. He was later arrested. The murder weapon was subsequently recovered from the waters beneath the bridge; it was eventually traced to Don Willie, a neighbor of James Ray Salim.
Although there is some question as to whether defendant received his Miranda warnings at the time of his arrest in Coushatta, it is clear that no statements were obtained from him at that time. However, defendant testified that, during the time that he was questioned in Coushatta, a deputy told him that "if I would lay my cards on the table, he would see to it that I come out of this smelling like a rose."
Defendant was then transported to Natchitoches. He was not questioned during the trip. After he arrived at the Natchitoches jail, though, defendant claimed that a deputy told him to take off his shirt, stating, "Now, what he need (sic) is a boot in the rear end." Defendant was questioned for several hours on the night of April 19. During this questioning, he alleged that an unidentified plainclothes officer told him, "Don't you know .... that .... people .... they will find you in the river, and no one know how you got there?" Although defendant stated that this menacing statement troubled him in the days to come, he continued to refuse to divulge any information about the homicide.
On the morning of Friday the 20th, defendant was reportedly questioned again for a short while. He stated that no "concrete promises" were made to him, but that deputies "said they couldn't do it, they'd get ... the sheriff to do it."
Pursuant to C.Cr.P. 230.1, a hearing was held on Saturday the 21st, at which time defendant was fully informed of his right to counsel. Although the chronology is not clear from the record, defendant had been contacted by Robert L. Salim, an attorney, at some time during this period, in regard to legal representation. At the "72-hour hearing," defendant informed the judge that he did not want an appointed counsel, because he was attempting to retain an attorney privately. However, attorney Salim's fee was not acceptable to defendant's family, and he never became counsel of record. The record does not indicate when, if ever, defendant learned that Mr. Salim would not represent him. Defendant did learn that Robert Salim was the brother of James Ray Salim, and deputies allegedly told him that Robert Salim had visited him in jail to find out the location of his cell, "so they can send somebody in there to kill you." Defendant, according to his own testimony, was unmoved by this warning:
The record does indicate that telephone calls were received at the Natchitoches jail, in the nature of threats on defendant's life. Because of this, the sheriff's office decided to remove defendant from Natchitoches. In the early morning hours of April 24, defendant was taken to Lake Charles by Deputies Delphin and Coleman. Defendant stated that the two officers attempted to question him about the homicide again, but that he forestalled them:
"... I didn't want to make 'em angry .... cause I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know .... man, after this guy had told me, that, 'You know you can get caught in the river, and nobody know how you got there,' that was on my mind, so I didn't know what was happening, so, you know, to keep from telling them don't ask me no questions, I just got off on another conversation."
Defendant's conversation during the drive was centered on the Muslim religion, rather than the homicide. However, defendant claims that the two deputies told him that the murder weapon had been discovered, and that it had been traced to him by his prints. Defendant also alleged that Deputy Delphin told him that, although he could not personally offer him any promises of leniency, the sheriff could, and that the sheriff could purchase an airplane ticket and send defendant wherever he wanted to go.
Upon arriving in Lake Charles, defendant asked to talk privately with Sheriff Sam James, of Natchitoches Parish. Sheriff James was contacted, and he arrived in Lake Charles several hours later. Defendant and the sheriff had a private talk. It is disputed whether defendant was given his Miranda warnings prior to this conversation. Defendant's version of the substance of the talk is as follows:
"Okay. He told me, he said, 'Son,' he said, 'if you put your cards on the table with me,' he said, 'if you be fair with me, I'll be fair with you,' he say, he said, 'you'll come out of this smelling like a rose.' He said, 'I could....' I say, 'That sure is a nice suit you got on.' He say, And, uh .... I questioned him. I said, 'Could you do that?' He said, 'Yeah, I can do it.' And, he said, 'I will do it.'
Q. What else, if anything, did he tell you?
A. That's about all he told me."
In addition, defendant later remembered that the sheriff told him that he would have an armed robbery charge dropped if defendant would make a confession. Defendant also claimed that many other promises were made, but that he could not remember them all.
Immediately after his conversation with the sheriff, in which defendant admitted killing the victim, defendant was taken into a room with the two deputies from Natchitoches Parish and another deputy, to transcribe the confession. Again, the testimony concerning the Miranda warnings is contradictory.
On May 5, defendant was moved from Lake Charles to Many, again for reasons of safety. The sheriff and an unidentified deputy accompanied defendant, and defendant contends that the sheriff repeated the promises he had made in Lake Charles. Subsequently, defendant was questioned in Many by Deputies Coleman and Delphin, and a two page statement was transcribed. The purpose of taking this statement was said to be to clarify some areas of doubt in the prior, four page confession.
At the hearing on the motion to suppress, the testimony of Deputies Delphin and Coleman and that of Sheriff James completely contradicted defendant's. At trial, the three officers essentially reiterated their testimony that no inducements had been offered to defendant prior to the confession and that defendant was fully apprised of his constitutional rights. 1
It is obvious that, if the allegations made by defendant are true, the confession would be inadmissible. The...
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