State v. Geno

• Docket Number: DA 21-0512
• Decision Date: 09 July 2024
• Citation: 417 Mont. 135
• Parties: STATE OF MONTANA, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. CLOVIS CHRISTOPHER GENO, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

417 Mont. 135

STATE OF MONTANA, Plaintiff and Appellee,

v.CLOVIS CHRISTOPHER GENO, Defendant and Appellant.

No. DA 21-0512

Submitted on Briefs March 6, 2024.

Decided July 9, 2024.

2024 MT 142

417 Mont 135.

___ P.3d ___

Appeal from the District Court of Roosevelt County.

Fifteenth Judicial District Court, CauseNo. DC-2020-6.

Honorable David Cybulski, Judge.

The trial court did not err by denying defendant’s motion to suppress statements he made to two deputies because they were voluntary under the Fifth Amendment, as defendant was advised of his Miranda rights prior to both of his interviews and he readily agreed to speak with the deputies and signed two Miranda waivers.There was no evidence that the deputies subjected defendant to extreme psychological pressure, the interview lasted only about 40 minutes, the deputy made no promises of favorable treatment in exchange for a confession, defendant acknowledged in response to the deputy’s question that he was the only suspect, and defendant had prior experience with criminal justice system.

Affirmed in part and remanded in part.

JUSTICE GUSTAFSON specially concurred, joined by JUSTICE

McKINNON.

For Appellant: Colin M. Stephens, Stephens Brooke, P.C., Missoula.

For Appellee: Austin Knudsen, Montana Attorney General, Brad Fjeldheim, Daniel Guzynski, Assistant Attorneys General, Helena; Theresa Diekhans, Roosevelt County Attorney, Wolf Point.

JUSTICE BAKERdelivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1Clovis Christopher Geno appeals his conviction of deliberate homicide.He asserts that the Montana Fifteenth Judicial District Court, Roosevelt County, erred when it denied his motion to suppress his statements to investigators and when it imposed fees and costs at sentencing.We restate the following issues on appeal:

1.Should Geno’s statements to law enforcement officers have been suppressed as involuntary?

2.Did Geno’s second custodial interrogation violate his right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution?

3.Did the District Court err by imposing fees and costs without considering Geno’s ability to pay?

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶2 On the morning of January 26, 2020, the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office received a report of an unresponsive adult woman inside Geno’s apartment in Culbertson, Montana.Deputy Jason Baker responded to the scene and summoned emergency medical personnel, who identified the woman as Ramona Naramore and determined she was deceased.An autopsy performed on January 28 revealed multiple bruises and injuries to Naramore’s body.

¶3 On January 31, Geno agreed to accompany Deputy O’Connor and Deputy Kunz to the Culbertson airport for an interview.Deputy O’Connor read Geno his Miranda rights.¹Geno said he understood his rights, agreed to waive them, and signed a written Miranda waiver.Geno informed the officers that he and Naramore had dated and lived together on and off for nearly fifteen years.Geno said that he met Naramore at Smokey’s Bar in Bainville around 3:30 p.m. on January 25.They stayed for about an hour.Geno had two beers and Naramore had two or three mixed drinks.After they left Smokey’s Bar, they went home and ate dinner.At around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m., Naramore went to the Montana Bar while Geno stayed home.When Deputy O’Connor asked Geno if he had called or texted Naramore while she was at the Montana Bar, Geno stated that he texted Naramore only to tell her that he was going to lock the door to their apartment because he did not trust their new neighbor.Geno said that when Naramore returned home later that evening, he had to assist her up the stairs into their apartment after she slipped and fell on the ice outside.Geno went to the bedroom around 9:00 p.m., and Naramore slept on the couch in the living room.He said he awoke later in the night to a loud noise in the bathroom and saw that Naramore had fallen in the bathtub.He assisted Naramore back to the couch and went back to sleep.He stated that he found Naramore on the floor in the kitchen the next morning and could not get her to wake up, so he went downstairs to seek their neighbor’s help.

¶4 Geno said that he and Naramore were involved in a physical confrontation three or four days before Naramore’s death.He denied that he had ever slapped, pushed, or choked her.Deputy O’Connor asked Geno about a bite mark discovered on Naramore’s arm.Geno initially denied that he had ever bitten Naramore, but later stated he had bitten her in a physical confrontation four or five months ago.The interview lasted about two and a half hours.

¶5 On February 18, the State requested leave to file an Information charging Geno with deliberate homicide.In its request for leave, the State submitted that on February 14, Deputy O’Connor received communication from the Deputy Medical Examiner with the Montana Department of Justice, Forensic Science Division, reporting that Naramore’s cause of death was "asphyxia caused by strangulation/homicide."The State also provided the court with statements of nine individuals, including neighbors, bartenders who interacted with Geno and Naramore, and friends of Naramore.The court granted the State leave and issued a warrant for Geno’s arrest the next day.In its Information, the State represented that it would seek the death penalty.²

¶6 On the evening of February 19, Deputy O’Connor and Deputy Kunz went to Geno’s residence in Bainville,³ and Geno let the officers inside.Deputy O’Connor told Geno that he was there to "follow up with some more questions" and "[i]t shouldn’t take too long."Geno and Deputy O’Connor sat across from each other, while Deputy Kunz stood nearby.Deputy O’Connor told Geno, "Just so you understand, you’re under no obligation to talk to me still ….The rights I read to you still apply.If you decide you don’t want to talk to me at some point just tell me, okay?I got to explain your rights one more time."Geno responded, "Okay."When Geno stood up, the following exchange occurred:

Deputy O’Connor: All right.Well, so, here’s my worry is I’ve had some bad experiences when people walk around, and next thing I know they got a knife in their hand.

Geno: No, there’s not, there’s not, we don’t even have, well, we got water in the corner.

Deputy O’Connor: All right.

Geno: There’s no cooking utensils or nothing here.

Deputy O’Connor: No guns, nothing like that?

Geno: You still have my knife.

Deputy O’Connor: I do, as a matter of fact.Remind me when we’re done, I’m gonna give that back to you, okay?But, yeah, so it just, it makes me a little nervous.

Geno: Right.Right.I understand.I understand.

¶7 After Geno sat back down, Deputy O’Connor read to Geno a standard Miranda warning.⁴Deputy O’Connor asked Geno if he understood each of the rights he explained, and Geno responded, 'Yes."Geno affirmed that he wished to proceed without an attorney present.Deputy O’Connor then read aloud another paragraph on the Mirandawaiver that stated:

I have read and fully understand my rights, and I am willing to answer questions and make a statement at this time.I do not want the advice of an attorney at this time.I understand and know what I am doing and no promises or threats have been made to me.

Deputy O’Connor asked Geno if he understood that paragraph, and Geno responded, "Yes."Deputy O’Connor asked Geno if he had any questions about his rights; Geno responded, "No."Deputy O’Connor said, "All right ….I just want to reiterate, if for some reason you don’t want to answer a question and you’re uncomfortable with this, you just tell me and I’ll stop, okay?"Geno responded, "Okay" and signed the Miranda waiver.Before proceeding with questions, Deputy O’Connor stated, "If you do have any questions about your rights, make sure you tell me, okay?"Geno said, "Okay."

¶8 After Geno signed the Miranda waiver, Deputy O’Connor said, "So, nothing too exciting ….[S]o we have Ramona’s phone."Deputy O’Connor asked Geno again if he tried to call Naramore or vice versa on the night of January 25; Geno replied that he did not remember.Deputy O’Connor said that they discovered Geno called Naramore around 6:30 p.m. when Naramore was at the Montana Bar, and he was "trying to build" a "timeline" that would show "anything that contributed to [Naramore’s] death."Deputy O’Connor asked Geno if he had "give[n] any more thought to that bite on [Naramore’s] arm[.]"Geno responded, "I was drinkin’, and it could have, it very possibl[y] could have been me."He said he did not remember more.

¶9 Deputy O’Connor told Geno, "I really want to hear from you ….[T]here’s more to it than what we’ve discussed, and … Ramona’s gone."Deputy O’Connor asked Geno whether he and Naramore got into a fight the night before Naramore died.Geno said that they had a "[p]retty good one" that night and admitted that he may have bitten Naramore then but said that he did not remember.Geno explained that he and Naramore would fight often about Geno’s refusal to hire a lawyer for Naramore’s son.Shortly thereafter, the following exchange occurred:

Deputy O’Connor: Okay.Well, here, I’ll lay my cards on the table for you.So, we got a call from the [] pathologist, um, Ramona’s death is a homicide.And I gotta explain to you where I’m coming from, okay?

Geno: Okay.

Deputy O’Connor: Because I really want to hear what you [have] to say, because I, I think there’s more to it than what we’ve talked about.Ramona’s death is a homicide from asphyxiation, meaning she was choked or strangled or deprived of air somehow ….What that tells me … this isn’t a whodunit.This isn’t a, a what happened.We know what happened she was asphyxiated somehow.It’s not a whodunit because two people go into the apartment that night, you and her, one person leaves the next day a homicide victim.That leaves one person who was with her.

Geno: Right.

Deputy O’Connor: Right?Please tell me what happened that night because I think there’s more to it.

Geno: If I could remember I would...