State v. Ingram
| Decision Date | 07 July 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. COA15–22.,COA15–22. |
| Citation | 774 S.E.2d 433,242 N.C.App. 173 |
| Court | North Carolina Court of Appeals |
| Parties | STATE of North Carolina, v. Rahmil INGRAM, Defendant. |
Attorney General, Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General, Derrick C. Mertz, for the State.
Appellate Defender, Staples Hughes, by Assistant Appellate Defender, James R. Grant, for defendant-appellee.
The State appeals from a pretrial order suppressing Rahmil Ingram's ("Defendant") statements made to police after waiver of his Miranda rights. Because the trial court failed to resolve material conflicts in the evidence presented at the suppression hearing, we vacate and remand with instructions to make additional findings of fact to resolve these issues.
On 20 February 2012, a Durham County Grand Jury indicted Defendant for two counts of felony assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer. The indictments read as follows:
[D]efendant ... unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously did assault ... a law enforcement officer ... with a firearm, to wit: the defendant brandished a shotgun and pointed the same at the law enforcement officer just described. At the time of this offense, that law enforcement officer was performing a duty of that office, to wit: ... executing service of a lawfully issued search warrant at the address of 905 Colfax Street, Apartment A, Durham, North Carolina.
On 2 September 2014, Defendant filed a pretrial motion to suppress statements he made to law enforcement officers at Duke Hospital's emergency room moments before undergoing surgery to treat his bullet wounds.
In his affidavit supporting his motion to suppress, Defendant contends he was shot twice by police officers of Durham Police Department's Selective Enforcement Team ("SET"), after they broke down the front door of his family's residence by use of a battering ram and entered using four flash-bang devices. Defendant contends he was asleep in his bedroom when he heard a window bust and a "commotion" that he thought was someone breaking into his home to rob his family. Defendant grabbed his loaded shotgun and turned the corner into the hallway, where he immediately saw two police officers dressed in SWAT gear advance toward him. Defendant alleged that as soon as he realized the men were police officers, he dropped his shotgun and put his hands up. One officer shot Defendant in the back of the arm, which knocked Defendant to the ground. Defendant alleged the officers kept shooting and, of the four shots Defendant heard while he was on the ground with his legs up, one bullet entered through his backside. After he was shot, Defendant stated four SET officers continued past him to the bedrooms in the back of the house. Defendant was then handcuffed and moved to the front of the residence, where he was treated by a medic. Durham County EMS and Officer L.M. Kirkman ("Officer Kirkman") of the Durham Police Department transported Defendant to Duke Hospital for further treatment. Following several requests from medical personnel to remove Defendant's handcuffs, Officer Kirkman removed the handcuffs six minutes into his medical treatment. Officer J.J. Wilking ("Officer Wilking") of the Durham Police Department arrived at Duke Hospital at approximately 10:50 a.m. to take custody of Defendant.
According to the nurse's note attached to Defendant's affidavit, Defendant was given three doses intravenously of 50 micrograms of Fentanyl, a strong narcotic medication indicated for severe pain, at 10:55 a.m., 11:05 a.m., and 12:15 p.m. At 2:15 p.m., Defendant was "alternat[ing] between crying loudly and yelling," and at that time, a prescription for Dilaudid, another strong narcotic pain medication, was ordered but not given to Defendant. The nurse's note states:
At approximately 2:37 p.m., an SBI agent interviewed Defendant about the shootings. Officer Wilking was present for some of the interview. Defendant was unable to sign the form indicating he waived his Miranda rights but wrote his initials in wavy letters. At 2:47 p.m., the interview ended, as medical staff intervened to transport Defendant to the operating room for a procedure requiring general anesthesia. Defendant was administered Dilaudid at approximately 3:08 p.m., and his operation started at approximately 3:40 p.m.
Defendant alleged that he waived his Miranda rights and made statements to law enforcement when he was "in a great deal of pain because of his gunshot wounds" and "under the influence of several doses of serious pain medication[;]" therefore, he argues, his waiver was not voluntary and his statements were not reliable. Furthermore, Defendant alleged his statements were involuntary, because they were coerced by police who ordered medical personnel to withhold pain medication from him. Defendant's motion to suppress was heard at the 24 September 2014 Criminal Session of Durham County Superior Court before the Honorable G. Bryan Collins, Jr. The transcript of the suppression hearing reveals the following pertinent facts.
At approximately 2:30 p.m. on 24 January 2012, SBI Agent Brian Fleming ("Agent Fleming") arrived at Duke Hospital's emergency department to interview Defendant about the shootings. Agent Fleming testified he spoke with a nurse or doctor who confirmed Defendant was in a position to speak with him. Agent Fleming entered Defendant's room, where Officer Wilking was attending for the purpose of arresting and charging Defendant upon release from the hospital.
Agent Fleming testified he advised Defendant of his Miranda rights and that Defendant "said he understood." Agent Fleming asked Defendant "if he was willing to speak with [him] now in light of those rights, [and] if he would sign the [Miranda rights waiver] form." The record indicates Defendant initialed the Miranda form at 2:38 p.m. Agent Fleming testified Defendant was unable to sign, because Agent Fleming testified that Defendant seemed to be "[i]n some pain" but appeared "calm[ ] and spoke plainly[ ] and coherently[ ]" during the nine-minute interview he conducted about the circumstances surrounding the shootings earlier that day. Agent Fleming wrote Defendant's statements in a police report.1
According to Agent Fleming's testimony, Defendant stated at the emergency room that he awoke that morning to what he thought was someone breaking into his home to rob his family. Defendant grabbed his 12–gauge shotgun and started toward the "commotion." As he turned into the hallway, he saw police officers dressed in SWAT gear. Defendant stated he immediately "threw the gun down and then he was shot." Agent Fleming "took that to be [sic] [Defendant] was implying that some time had elapsed." Agent Fleming "kept asking clarification questions to try to pin down exactly ... what [Defendant] did and what [the SET officers] did." Agent Fleming then testified Defendant at one point stated: "By the time I threw the gun, I was getting shot." Agent Fleming understood this statement to mean no time elapsed between when Defendant threw his gun and when he was shot. At approximately 2:47 p.m., medical personnel intervened and asked Agent Fleming to leave, so they could transport Defendant to the operating room. During cross-examination, Agent Fleming testified that he did not know what medications were administered to or prescribed for Defendant prior to interviewing him.
Officer Greg Silla ("Officer Silla") of the Durham Police Department testified that he arrived at Duke Hospital around 2:40 p.m. to relieve Officer Wilking. Officer Silla's assignment similarly was to "stand by [Defendant] and when he was to be released, to notify [his] command and take him to jail." After taking command, Officer Silla testified he saw Defendant laying in a stretcher in his room with "[m]edical staff ... around him[,] so [Officer Silla] stood outside [of] the room." When medical staff transported Defendant to the operating room, Officer Silla followed closely behind. Defendant saw him and asked him "what [he was] doing there." Officer Silla responded: "When you're done here, you're going to jail." Defendant stated: "[I]f [I] knew that, [I] would have shot that cop." Officer Silla testified that this short exchange was the only interaction he had with Defendant. On cross-examination, Officer Silla testified that he did not know what medications were administered to or prescribed for Defendant.
Defendant presented testimony of Dr. Christena Roberts, a forensic pathologist, who had reviewed approximately 200 pages of Defendant's medical records associated with his hospital visit on 24 January 2012. Dr. Roberts referred to a medication sheet in relaying the timing and dosage of pain medications given to Defendant. Dr. Roberts testified that, according to the medication sheet, Defendant was administered intravenously three doses of 50 micrograms of Fentanyl within an hour and nineteen minutes prior to his custodial interview with law enforcement. Dr. Roberts explained the effects of Fentanyl as follows: The three intravenously administered Fentanyl doses, doses indicated for "severe pain," were administered at 10:56 a.m., 11:05 a.m., and 12:15 p.m. Dr. Roberts testified a narcotic medication at this dosage would only be given in such a quick succession if "it wasn't providing adequate pain relief, and that's supported by the notes[.]" Dr. Roberts stated that another narcotic pain medication, Dilaudid, was written next on Defendant's medication sheet, but the time when it was...
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