State v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 09 October 1978 |
| Docket Number | No. 62387,62387 |
| Citation | 363 So.2d 684 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. William S. JOHNSON. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
Michael S. Fawer, New Orleans, for defendant-relator.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Harry F. Connick, Dist. Atty., Dennis J. Waldron, Nicholas F. Noriea, Jr., Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-respondent.
Defendant was indicted for first degree murder. This matter comes to us on writs after the district court denied defendant's motion to suppress the confession.
During the early part of the evening of January 16, 1978 a young man rang the doorbell at the Washington Avenue residence of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Crumpler in Orleans Parish. When the door was opened the assailant shot both Dr. and Mrs. Crumpler, seriously injuring him and killing Mrs. Crumpler. On January 17, 1978 William S. Johnson, Mrs. Crumpler's son, was interviewed by members of the New Orleans Police Department concerning his activities the previous evening. During the interview at Johnson's grandmother's house on Philip Street, where Johnson had an apartment, the officers questioned Johnson about one Kevin Seward. At first the defendant stated that he did not know anyone named Seward, but after some time he went upstairs and returned with Seward who had been staying at the Philip Street residence for several days. After an interview the officers departed.
At about 10:30 p. m. the next evening, January 18, 1978, the police phoned Johnson to find out whether he and Seward would be at home that evening for further questioning. Johnson replied that both men would be at home all evening. However, when the police arrived at 11:30 p. m. they arrested Johnson and charged him with "harboring a fugitive" and with being an "accessory to murder." Seward, who was in bed, was roused and arrested, and both men were taken to police headquarters for interrogation by the homicide unit. During the course of interrogation defendant confessed to the murder of his mother a confession admittedly false in its principal details.
On January 26, 1978 defendant was indicted by the Orleans Parish Grand Jury on charges of first degree murder (R.S. 14:30). Mr. Johnson through counsel thereafter filed a motion to suppress the confession on the ground that the confession had not been given freely and voluntarily and that the confession was the fruit of an illegal arrest. After a denial of his motion on May 30, 1978, defendant sought and was granted a writ of certiorari from this court to review the ruling of the district court. 360 So.2d 201 (La.1978).
Defendant alleges that the district court committed reversible error by not granting his motion to suppress because the State failed to meet its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt the free and voluntary nature of defendant's statements made while in custody.
R.S. 15:451 provides: "Before what purposes (purports) to be a confession can be introduced in evidence, it must be affirmatively shown that it was free and voluntary, and not made under the influence of fear, duress, intimidation, menaces, threats, inducements or promises." This statute has been interpreted to require the State to prove the voluntary nature of the confession beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Hills, 354 So.2d 186 (La.1977), State v. Glover, 343 So.2d 118 (La.1977). The State is also required by the jurisprudence to rebut specific testimony introduced on the defendant's behalf which indicates coercive measures or intimidation and cannot rely merely on general testimony of officers not present that they did not witness any coercion, intimidation or other undue influence. State v. Hills, supra, State v. Monroe, 305 So.2d 902 (La.1974).
Defendant argues that his confession is inadmissible because it resulted from fear that he would be beaten as he alleges Kevin Seward was, or that Seward would be beaten more severely. Fear that police will inflict additional harm on another has been recognized as a substantial factor in determining the voluntary nature of the confession. State v. Monroe, supra (on rehearing). The inquiry therefore must focus on two points: whether Kevin Seward was in fact beaten by members of the homicide unit; and whether the defendant actually believed that further beatings, whether to be inflicted upon himself or upon Kevin Seward, would result from his failure to confess.
After their arrest, Johnson and Seward were taken to the police station where Seward was interrogated from shortly after midnight until about 2:00 a. m. Seward's questioning was conducted in a small room at one end of a large hall while Johnson was placed in a holding cell at the other end. At approximately 2:00 a. m. the roles were reversed and the defendant was interrogated by the homicide unit.
Seward remained in the custody of the homicide unit from the time of his arrest until 2:30 p. m. the following day. Upon being transferred to Central Lockup he complained of chest pains to the booking clerk, but explained that they resulted from a fall down some stairs prior to his arrest. Later Seward again complained of pain and requested to see a doctor. On this occasion Seward told the watch commander of Central Lockup that his injuries resulted from a fall from a porch.
As a result of his request Seward was taken to Charity Hospital by two officers from the homicide division. In their presence he informed the treating physician, Dr. Pike, that he had been injured in a fall down stairs, but when the officers left he whispered to the doctor that his injuries were a result of police beatings and that he was telling him this to receive correct treatment. Seward also told the doctor that he was afraid for the record to reflect the true cause of his injuries for fear of further beatings. At the hearing on the motion to suppress Dr. Pike testified that Seward was suffering from a swelling on the head and from patches of bruises which covered his back. The doctor also noted that a costovertebral-angle test had shown some kidney injury (although urinalysis revealed no blood) and that Seward was suffering chest wall ache. These symptoms were, according to Dr. Pike, consistent with a severe beating or with a fall down stairs, albeit a rather spectacular one. The doctor dated the injuries as having occurred within a time range of eight to twenty-four hours before his examination, between 5:30 p. m of January 18, 1978 and 9:30 a. m., January 19, 1978.
Defense counsel argues in brief that the State's own witnesses have inadvertently precluded Seward's being injured prior to his arrest because the arresting officers testified that they observed no bruises on Seward's body at the time of his arrest when he was wearing only undershorts. However, one officer testified that he might not have observed any bruises because the room was dimly lighted, a statement controverted by defendant. All the arresting and interrogating officers testified that Seward and Johnson were not beaten, tricked, intimidated or threatened in their presence.
Even if Seward was beaten by the police, the confession of the defendant is to be excluded from evidence only if he was fearful as a result of Seward's being beaten and confessed to avoid similar treatment for himself or even harsher treatment for Seward. At the time Seward was interrogated, Johnson was confined in a holding cell at a distance of between forty and sixty feet. Although Johnson testified that he could hear Seward's shouts and the policemen's threats and curses, two officers who questioned Seward denied that Seward cried out and furthermore stated that they had conducted the interrogation quietly, raising their voices only occasionally. Defendant also testified that he was told by the interrogating officers that he would not be marked but that they were willing to hurt Seward and even kill him if the defendant did not confess. Moreover, the officers allegedly slapped the defendant when he responded incorrectly to their questions.
The interrogating officers both testified that defendant had communicated his fears of being beaten, but had not mentioned Seward. One of the officers testified that he told Johnson that he would not be beaten and that Johnson subsequently confessed, after discussing his rights and signing a second "rights of the arrestee" form. The other officer stated that defendant was advised of his rights after he related his fears of being beaten and that he confessed soon afterward.
The police testimony contradicted all the testimony of Seward and Johnson. If we disbelieve all the testimony of Seward and Johnson and believe the testimony of the police, Seward must have been beaten a few hours before his arrest. On the record before us, it is difficult to conclude that all the police were lying, and it is not difficult to believe Seward and Johnson were lying. Therefore we cannot say the trial judge was in error in finding that the confession was freely and voluntarily made.
The assignment is without merit.
Defendant contends that his confession is the fruit of an illegal arrest, since there was no probable cause to arrest him on January 18, 1978.
Although mere suspicion cannot justify an arrest, State v. Thomas, 349 So.2d 270 (La.1977), the officer does not need sufficient proof to convict, State v. Randolph, 337 So.2d 498 (La.1976). Article 213 of the Code of Criminal Procedure permits an officer to arrest a person without a warrant when ". . . (3) The peace officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed an offense, although not in the presence of the officer." The meaning to be given this provision has frequently been expressed:
". . . Reasonable cause, which we have treated under this article as consonant with the probable cause concept, exists when the facts and circumstances known to the arresting...
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