State v. Fuentes

• Decision Date: 03 August 1981
• Docket Number: No. 79-132-C,79-132-C
• Citation: 433 A.2d 184
• Parties: STATE v. Samuel FUENTES. A.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 184

433 A.2d 184

STATE v. Samuel FUENTES.

No. 79-132-C.A.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Aug. 3, 1981.

Dennis J. Roberts II, Atty. Gen., Thomas H. Caruolo, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., for plaintiff.

William F. Reilly, Public Defender, Paula Rosin, Asst. Public Defender, for defendant.

OPINION

BEVILACQUA, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from judgments of conviction by the defendant, Samuel Fuentes, who was tried before a justice of the Superior Court, sitting with a jury, on an indictment charging him with the murders of Helen and Jane Dias. Prior to trial, the defendant moved to suppress a confession and certain other evidence allegedly obtained in violation of his constitutional rights. The trial justice denied this motion. The jury found the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree on both counts of the indictment. The defendant was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

The record discloses that Helen Dias and her daughter Jane resided in a basement apartment on Quince Street in Providence, Rhode Island. On February 24, 1978, Marta Carlos, a close friend and neighbor of the Diases filed a report with the Providence police that she had not seen and could not locate Helen Dias or her daughter. Shortly thereafter, on March 1, 1978, Irene Sanford, another close friend of the Diases, filed a "missing persons" report with the Providence police department relative to the disappearances of Helen and Jane Dias. As a result of these reports, Detectives Stephen Springer and William Mitchell of the Providence police department commenced an investigation into the disappearances of Helen and Jane Dias.

The investigation by Detectives Springer and Mitchell disclosed that on February 21, 1978, Jane Dias engaged in an argument with defendant at a neighborhood food market. Through the testimony of Marta Carlos, who had accompanied Jane to the market, the detectives discovered that defendant had been the boy friend of Jane Dias and that she had told defendant at that time that she did not want to see him any more. Also present at the time was another neighbor and friend of the Diases, Berta Ledo. Before leaving the food market, Jane Dias expressed a concern to her friends for her personal safety because of the argument she had with defendant.

Later that evening, Jane Dias and Marta Carlos borrowed an automobile and went out for a short ride. Upon their return to Quince Street, Jane Dias observed an automobile belonging to defendant parked near a building directly across from the backyard of her apartment. Fearing for her safety, Jane requested that she be driven to a nearby drugstore, where she phoned her mother at the apartment. ¹ There being no answer, she then, accompanied by Marta Carlos, returned to her Quince Street apartment by various circuitous routes. According to Marta Carlos, Jane entered her basement apartment sometime after 8 p.m. on February 21, 1978. This was the last time Jane was seen alive by anyone other than her murderer.

On the evening of March 2, 1978, as a result of their continuing investigation, Detectives Springer and Mitchell went to defendant's home in Pawtucket to question him about the disappearances of Helen and Jane. The detectives, however, found no one at the Pawtucket address. Detective Mitchell then phoned John Ruginski (Ruginski), an attorney who had represented defendant in the past, and inquired if he had seen defendant. Ruginski told them that he had seen defendant in the Providence Superior Court earlier that day. Detective Mitchell than asked Ruginski if he could locate defendant and have him come down to the police station for questioning concerning the whereabouts of Helen and Jane. Ruginski then asked Detective Mitchell if defendant was suspected of any wrongdoing. Mitchell responded that defendant was not a suspect but was wanted for questioning concerning the Diases' disappearance. Ruginski then informed Mitchell that he had already discussed the Diases' disappearance with defendant and that defendant had stated that he had no knowledge of their whereabouts. Furthermore, Ruginski told Detective Mitchell that in the event he located defendant, he would present him at the police station to discuss the matter.

On the morning of March 3, 1978, defendant was arrested by the Pawtucket police on a District Court bench warrant issued on February 1, 1978, for failure to pay a fine of $103.50. Upon learning that defendant was in custody, Detectives Mitchell and Springer went to the Pawtucket police station and brought defendant back to the Providence police station for questioning on the Diases' disappearance. According to the police, defendant arrived at the Providence police station at approximately 12 noon. The defendant then was advised of his Miranda rights in English from a so- called rights form. The defendant was asked whether he understood the rights and whether he wanted a lawyer of his own choosing or an appointed one. According to the police investigators, defendant indicated that he understood his rights, that he did not want an attorney, and that he was willing to make a statement to the police. Thereupon, Detective Springer asked defendant when he last saw Helen and Jane Dias. The defendant, in turn, responded that he had last seen Helen and Jane Dias the night of February 21, 1978, shortly after the argument with Jane in the food market and that he did not know where they now were. Detective Springer then told defendant that he believed defendant "may have done away with (the Diases)." The defendant responded, "You have no proof. You have no corpus delicti." At this point, the interrogation ceased.

On the morning of March 4, 1978, Detectives Mitchell and Springer, along with several other members of the Providence police department, returned to the Diases' apartment on Quince Street. At approximately 1 p.m., the police discovered the bodies of Helen and Jane Dias buried in the dirt floor of a room adjacent to the basement apartment. Upon discovering the bodies, Detective Springer called the Providence police station to ascertain whether or not defendant was still in custody. He was informed that because of a snowstorm on that particular morning, a judge was not available to release defendant and therefore, defendant was still in custody.

Detectives Springer and Mitchell immediately returned to the police station and at approximately 4 p.m. they began interrogating defendant on the disappearance of the Diases. After being informed of his rights for a second time, defendant acknowledged again that he understood them and agreed to make a statement. The defendant then was shown photographs of the bodies of Jane and Helen Dias taken earlier that day. At this point, Detectives Mitchell and Springer stated that defendant became visibly shaken, and in response to Detective Springer's question "Did you kill them?" the defendant made an oral statement implicating himself in the murders of Jane and Helen Dias. ² By 6:40 p.m., defendant's admissions were reduced to a six-page typewritten statement.

Before trial, defendant moved to suppress the confession and other evidence obtained therefrom claiming that during the period of custodial interrogation until the time he made the admissions, he was physically abused by various members of the Providence police department and that as a result his confession was coerced and involuntary. Additionally, defendant contended that he was effectively denied the right to counsel.

At the hearing, Detectives Mitchell and Springer, who were in charge of the investigation, testified that at all times they respected the rights of defendant, that the interrogation was conducted in a lawful manner, that defendant had been advised of his rights on at least three occasions, and that defendant had clearly indicated he was aware of his rights. Moreover, they indicated that defendant was not physically abused by any of the officers and that defendant had waived his rights willingly and voluntarily. Finally, the detectives testified that at no time during the questioning by the police did defendant ask for a lawyer.

After hearing and considering the evidence, the trial justice found that the confession was voluntary and that the evidence failed to establish any attorney-client relationship. She also found that defendant did not make any request for an attorney and indeed had waived his right to have counsel present during the interrogation. Thus, on the basis of all the evidence, the trial justice denied defendant's motion.

On appeal, we are confronted with the following issues: (1) whether defendant's confession was involuntary, (2) whether defendant was denied his right to counsel in violation of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution, as applied to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment, and art. I, sec. 10 of the Rhode Island Constitution, and (3) whether the trial justice had authority to impose consecutive sentences. ³

I

The defendant claims first that his conviction should be reversed because it was based upon an involuntary confession. The defendant testified that he was periodically beaten and physically abused by the police and thus was coerced into making a statement implicating himself in the deaths of Jane and Helen Dias. Furthermore, defendant contends that, because of the coercive pressures created by the police, he did not intelligently and knowingly waive his rights. However, Detectives Mitchell and Springer testified that defendant was not beaten or coerced in any manner, that he made his statement willingly and voluntarily, that he understood and comprehended his rights, and that he had waived his rights knowingly and intelligently.

It is undeniably clear that the Fourteenth Amendment forbids the use of involuntary confessions. Any conviction based in whole or in part upon an involuntary confession, regardless of its truth or falsity, deprives a defendant of due process of law and,...