State v. Hoadley

• Decision Date: 21 August 2002
• Docket Number: No. 22000.,22000.
• Citation: 651 N.W.2d 249,2002 SD 109
• Parties: STATE of South Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Darrell HOADLEY, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

651 N.W.2d 249

2002 SD 109

STATE of South Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Darrell HOADLEY, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 22000.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Argued May 28, 2002.

Decided August 21, 2002.

Mark Barnett, Attorney General, Craig M. Eichstadt, Deputy Attorney General, Pierre, South Dakota, Attorneys for plaintiff and appellee.

Joseph M. Kosel, Northern Hills Public Defender's Office, Deadwood, South Dakota, Attorney for defendant and appellant.

[¶ 1.] Justice RICHARD W. SABERS delivers the majority opinion of the Court on Issues 1, 2, 3, 4, and the writing on Issue 5, which controls the result.

[¶ 2.] Justice John K. Konenkamp delivers the writing on Issue 5, which controls the rationale.

[¶ 3.] On March 12-13, 2000, Darrell Hoadley and two others, Elijah Page and Briley Piper, kidnapped and killed Chester Allan Poage in Spearfish, South Dakota. Hoadley was tried by jury and convicted of first degree murder, kidnapping, first degree robbery, first degree burglary and grand theft. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the first degree murder and kidnapping convictions, twenty-five years for first degree robbery and first degree burglary and ten years for grand theft, all terms to run consecutively. Hoadley appeals. We affirm.

FACTS

[¶ 4.] On March 12, 2000, Hoadley, Piper, and Page met with Poage at his house.¹ Piper asked Poage to show him some of the guns Poage's mother owned. Poage only knew the location of one antique .22 caliber pistol. Piper then suggested killing Poage and stealing his property. Piper, Page and Hoadley convinced Poage to leave Poage's house, and the four left in Poage's Chevy Blazer, traveling to Page's house.²

[¶ 5.] Once there, Page exposed the .22 pistol, which he had stolen from Poage's mother's room at the Poage residence, and ordered Poage to get on the floor. Once Poage was on the floor, Piper, kicked him in the face, knocking him unconscious. While Poage was unconscious, the three tied him up and sat him upright in a chair. After he came to, Piper laid a tire iron across his feet to prevent him from moving, while Page made him drink a mixture containing crushed pills, beer and hydrochloric acid. Poage repeatedly asked them why they were doing this. In response, Piper hit him in the face and told him to shut up. The three discussed their plan to kill Poage, and Poage pleaded for his life and offered to give them everything he owned in exchange for his release. Page asked Poage for the PIN number for his ATM card, and Poage complied.

[¶ 6.] The group took Poage to his own Blazer, placed him in the back seat and threatened his life if he attempted to escape. Piper drove the group to Higgin's Gulch in Lawrence County, a remote, wooded area about seven miles from Page's house. They arrived between 11:30 pm and midnight. Poage was forced out of the Blazer into twelve-inch deep snow and instructed to remove his clothes, except his t-shirt, shoes and socks. The three then took Poage's wallet.

[¶ 7.] Hoadley, Piper and Page tried holding Poage down and covering him with snow. Poage attempted to escape, but the three recaptured him and continued to beat him. Poage was taken to the creek, approximately fifty feet from the road. All three were involved in the beating. Hoadley admitted that he stabbed Poage at least once and held a light for Page while Page kicked Poage in the head.

[¶ 8.] During the beating, Poage asked to be allowed into the Blazer to warm up. Testimony at the sentencing hearing indicated that Poage said he preferred to bleed to death in warmth, rather than freeze to death. The group agreed to grant his request, so long as he washed the blood off of his body in the creek. After rinsing in the icy waters, the group refused to let him warm himself in the vehicle. Instead, they continued beating him and dragged him back into the creek where they attempted to drown him. Despite the drowning attempts, stabbings, beatings and stoning, Poage was still alive. Piper claims Hoadley threw the final rocks that killed Poage. Several hours after the beatings began at Higgin's Gulch, Poage was left for dead in the creek, around 3-4 a.m.

[¶ 9.] Hoadley, Piper and Page discussed the division of Poage's property, returned to his house and stole numerous items. The group then drove to Hannibal, Missouri, where they visited Piper's sister, but upon her refusal to let them stay, returned to Rapid City, South Dakota. They used Poage's ATM card for cash and pawned some of Poage's property.³ Eventually, each went his own way.

[¶ 10.] On April 22, 2000, a body was discovered near Higgin's Gulch in Lawrence County. On April 24, 2000, Dr. Donald Habbe, a forensic pathologist from the Clinical Laboratory in Rapid City, performed an autopsy and identified the remains as Poage. Habbe discovered numerous head injuries and stab wounds. Habbe determined the cause of death was the "stab wounds and the blunt force injury to the head."

[¶ 11.] On April 25, 2000,⁴ Danny Burkhart, a friend of Hoadley, told law enforcement that Hoadley was involved in the death of the person whose body was discovered in Higgin's Gulch. Law enforcement outfitted Burkhart with a recording device and asked him to speak with Hoadley.⁵ During their conversation, Hoadley made several admissions about Poage's killing. Hoadley was then contacted by a DCI agent and taken to the Lawrence County sheriff's office. He was advised of his Miranda rights and agreed to waive them. He indicated that he, Piper and Page killed Poage. He agreed to accompany the officers to Higgin's Gulch where he answered questions about the murder.

[¶ 12.] On April 26, 2000, Hoadley was again interviewed by law enforcement. He was advised of his rights and agreed to waive them and speak with the officers.

[¶ 13.] An amended indictment was filed September 7, 2000, charging Hoadley with: (1) First Degree Premeditated Design (SDCL 22-16-4), or in the alternative, First Degree Murder, Felony Murder while engaged in kidnapping (SDCL 22-16-4), or in the alternative, First Degree Murder, Felony Murder while engaged in robbery (SDCL 22-16-4); (2) Kidnapping, Gross Permanent Physical Injury (SDCL 22-19-1), or in the alternative, Kidnapping (SDCL 22-19-1) (Class 1 Felony); (3) First Degree Robbery (SDCL 22-30-1); (4) First Degree Burglary (SDCL 22-32-1(3)); and (5) Grand Theft (SDCL 22-30A-1 and 22-30A-17(1)).

[¶ 14.] Hoadley was tried by jury in Rapid City, South Dakota, from May 2 through May 30, 2001. He was convicted of first degree murder, kidnapping, first degree robbery, first degree burglary and grand theft. Although he was facing a death sentence, he was sentenced by the jury to life in prison without parole for the first degree murder conviction. He was sentenced by the court to life in prison without parole for the kidnapping conviction, twenty-five years for first degree robbery and first degree burglary, and ten years for grand theft, all terms to run consecutively.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶ 15.] "A motion to suppress based on an alleged violation of a constitutionally protected right is a question of law reviewed de novo." State v. Myhre, 2001 SD 109, ¶ 9, 633 N.W.2d 186, 188 (citing State v. Stanga, 2000 SD 129, ¶ 8, 617 N.W.2d 486, 488). See also Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 699, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 1663, 134 L.Ed.2d 911, 920 (1996)

(stating standard of review for questions under the Fourth Amendment).

[¶ 16.] Whether a new trial should be granted is left to the sound judicial discretion of the trial court, and this Court will not disturb the trial court's decision absent a clear showing of abuse of discretion. State v. Perovich, 2001 SD 96, ¶ 11, 632 N.W.2d 12, 15-16 (citing Tunender v. Minnaert, 1997 SD 62, ¶ 9, 563 N.W.2d 849, 851) (citation omitted).

[¶ 17.] "[E]videntiary rulings made by the trial court are presumed correct and are reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard." Id. (citing State v. Goodroad, 1997 SD 46, ¶ 9, 563 N.W.2d 126, 129). Any error "must also be shown to be prejudicial error." Id. (quoting State ex rel Dept. of Transp. v. Spiry, 1996 SD 14, ¶ 11, 543 N.W.2d 260, 263) (citation omitted). "The test is not whether we would have made the same ruling, but whether we believe a judicial mind, in view of the law and the circumstances, could have reasonably reached the same conclusion." Goodroad, 1997 SD 46 at ¶ 9, 563 N.W.2d at 129 (citing State v. Rufener, 392 N.W.2d 424, 426 (S.D.1986)).

[¶ 18.] 1. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ADMITTING THE TAPE RECORDED CONVERSATION BETWEEN HOADLEY AND DANNY BURKHART.

[¶ 19.] Hoadley argues that the trial court's denial of the motion to suppress the tape violated his Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution and the comparable provisions of the South Dakota Constitution.⁶ He argues that the police violated his Fourth Amendment rights when they asked Burkhart to wear a wire and engage Hoadley in conversation. He claims that his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination were violated because Burkhart was acting as a state agent when he agreed to tape record the conversation, thereby creating a custodial interrogation requiring the administration of Miranda warnings. He contends that his Sixth Amendment right to counsel was violated because he was not advised of his right to counsel prior to his conversation with Burkhart.

[¶ 20.] Hoadley argues that his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures was violated. In order to invoke the protections of the Fourth Amendment, one must demonstrate "a reasonable expectation of privacy that society should be prepared to observe[.]" State v. Vogel, 428 N.W.2d 272, 276-77 (S.D.1988) (citing Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S.Ct. 507, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967)).

[¶ 21.] Hoadley had no justifiable expectation of privacy in his conversation with Burkhart. "There is an established difference between an...