State v. Jones
| Decision Date | 29 August 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 04-435.,04-435. |
| Citation | 2006 MT 209,142 P.3d 851 |
| Parties | STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. John Stanley JONES, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
For Appellant: Craig R. Buehler, Lewistown, Montana.
For Respondent: Mike McGrath, Attorney General; Mark W. Mattioli, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana, Thomas P. Meissner, County Attorney; Monte J. Boettger, Deputy County Attorney, Lewistown, Montana.
¶ 1 John Stanley Jones (Jones) appeals from an order from the Tenth Judicial District Court, Fergus County, denying his motion to suppress statements that he made to police during an interview and the coat he wore on the day Gisela Morris (Gisela) was murdered. We affirm.
¶ 2 We address the following issues Jones presents on appeal:
¶ 3 1) Did the District Court err when it denied Jones's motion to suppress statements Jones provided to police officers during a December 31, 2002, interview?
¶ 4 2) Did the District Court err when it denied Jones's motion to suppress the coat that the police took from Jones's home?
¶ 5 The night security patrol for the Eagles' Manor retirement home in Lewistown, Montana, discovered seventy-year-old Gisela dead in her apartment on the evening of December 16, 2002. Gisela had died of severe blunt force injuries to her head, strangulation or suffocation, and four stab wounds to her neck. Gisela also had been sexually assaulted before her death. Fergus County police initiated the investigation by seeking to interview probationers and parolees who had not reported during the time period surrounding the homicide. Fergus County Probation Officer Jim Simonich (Simonich) assisted the police in locating some of his probationers.
¶ 6 Simonich supervised Jones's probation. Jones had failed to report to Simonich in early December 2002. Simonich went with police to Jones's house, and informed Jones's brother and mother that the police wanted to talk to him. Simonich issued an arrest warrant for Jones's failure to report on December 30, 2002. Jones belatedly reported to Simonich on December 31, 2002. Simonich testified that Jones was "calm, polite, a little bit joking, . . . no different than he had been any other time that he reported." Simonich informed Jones that the police wanted to talk with him regarding the homicide that had occurred two weeks earlier. Jones said that he had nothing to hide and agreed to speak with police. Simonich called the police department to advise that Jones was on the way. Jones walked to the police station unaccompanied by Simonich.
¶ 7 Officer Travis Tilleman (Tilleman) spoke with Jones in an interview room at the police station and videotaped the conversation. The door to the interview room closed automatically, but was not locked. Tilleman promptly advised Jones of his Miranda rights. Jones signed the statement indicating that he understood his rights and also signed the waiver. The two engaged in what Tilleman described to be a "real free, full, and open conversation."
¶ 8 Jones denied having seen Gisela the day of the homicide, and provided a written statement detailing his whereabouts on the evening of the homicide. Tilleman inquired about a cut he noticed on Jones's hand and Jones responded that he received the cut in a fight with his friend on December 16, 2002. Jones permitted Tilleman to photograph his hand. Tilleman asked Jones whether he would be willing to undergo a rape kit examination. Jones replied that he would not mind and said, "I'm just here to do whatever you guys want." Tilleman next asked if Jones would have any problems taking a polygraph test. Jones responded that he had ADHD and an anxiety disorder that may affect the results, so he would have to talk to an attorney first, but that he was "not saying [he] wouldn't."
¶ 9 Tilleman asked Jones what he was wearing on December 16, 2002, and Jones replied that he was wearing black jeans and a red and black Columbia coat. Tilleman asked whether the police could look at the coat. Jones replied, "sure" and informed Tilleman that Jones had the coat at home. Tilleman then suggested that they could go to Jones's home to "go get" the coat following the interview. Tilleman stated that he was going to check on some things and left the room.
¶ 10 Captain Dave Sanders (Sanders) returned to the interview room instead of Tilleman. Sanders stated that discrepancies existed between what Jones had told Tilleman and what witness accounts reported. Jones then promptly informed Sanders that he had in fact seen Gisela the day of the homicide. Sanders asked why Jones had told Tilleman that he had not seen Gisela for several months. Jones argued that Tilleman had narrowed his inquiry to Jones's actions after 3:00 or 4:00 PM on December 16, 2002, and that Jones had visited Gisela earlier that day. Sanders then employed the "guilt assumption technique" and informed Jones that the police "investigation demonstrates that you were the person that did this." Jones stated that he was through talking and that Nonetheless, Jones kept talking and continued to deny his involvement in the crime.
¶ 11 Sanders asked if Jones would be willing to submit to a polygraph test, and again Jones stated that he would have to first talk to an attorney. Sanders left the room and Jones smoked a cigarette. Sanders returned and asked if Jones was willing to continue talking and if Jones still would allow the police to look at the coat Jones had been wearing on December 16, 2002. Jones responded affirmatively and stated that he had nothing to hide. Sanders asked if Jones had walked or driven to the station. Jones had walked, and Sanders said, "[w]e'll just give you a ride."
¶ 12 Tilleman drove a squad car the mile-and-a-half from the police station to Jones's home with Jones and Sanders in the back. Jones went to his room, retrieved the coat, and brought it to the kitchen area. Tilleman and Sanders testified that Jones signed a consent form before relinquishing the coat. Jones stated that the officers first took possession of the coat and that he signed the consent form afterwards. The officers then left Jones's home.
¶ 13 Sanders telephoned Jones shortly after police returned to the station and an inspection of the coat had revealed blood stains. Sanders asked Jones if he would be willing to return to the station for a second interview. Jones agreed and appeared shortly after the phone call. Jones and Sanders returned to the interview room. The officers again videotaped the conversation. Sanders advised Jones of his Miranda rights for the second time that day. Jones signed a form acknowledging that he both understood his rights and that he chose to waive them. Sanders asked Jones more questions that employed the guilt assumption technique. For example, Sanders made statements repeatedly to the effect that he knew it would take courage, but that Jones should just tell Sanders what happened. Sanders also stated frequently that he knew Jones had a conscience.
¶ 14 Jones left the station and did not return until January 2, 2003, when Sanders telephoned and asked Jones again if he was willing to come in for an interview. Jones appeared at the station a third time. Sanders again provided to Jones Miranda warnings in the same interview room used before. Jones promptly invoked his rights. Sanders ended the interview. Law enforcement did not have further contact with Jones until they arrested him on March 4, 2003, for deliberate homicide, sexual intercourse without consent, aggravated burglary, and commission of an offense with a dangerous weapon.
¶ 15 Jones filed a motion to suppress the statements he made during the December 31, 2002, interviews and the coat police acquired from his home. The District Court held a two-and-a-half-day suppression hearing and received testimony from various witnesses including Tilleman, Simonich, and Jones. The court also reviewed—at least twice—the videotapes of Jones's interviews. The court concluded that Jones made the statements on December 31, 2002, voluntarily, and that law enforcement did not violate Jones's Fifth Amendment rights. The court also concluded that police did not violate Jones's Fourth Amendment rights when they seized his coat. Consequently, the District Court denied Jones's motions to suppress.
¶ 16 Following a fourteen-day trial held in January and February 2004, a jury convicted Jones of deliberate homicide, aggravated burglary, and commission of an offense with a dangerous weapon. Jones appeals the District Court's decision to deny his motions to suppress.
¶ 17 We engage in a twofold review of a district court's denial of a motion to suppress. State v. McCollom, 2005 MT 61, ¶ 7, 326 Mont. 251, ¶ 7, 109 P.3d 215, ¶ 7. We initially review the court's findings of fact to determine whether they are clearly erroneous. McCollom, ¶ 7. A finding of fact is clearly erroneous if substantial evidence does not support it, if the district court misapprehended the effect of that evidence, or if a review of the record leaves this Court with the definite and firm conviction that the district court made a mistake. McCollom, ¶ 7. We then engage in a plenary review of the conclusions of law to determine whether the district court's interpretation of the law is correct. McCollom, ¶ 7. The specific question of whether a defendant has given a voluntary confession "`is largely a factual determination that is within the discretion of the district court.'" State v. Hill, 2000 MT 308, ¶ 37, 302 Mont. 415, ¶ 37, 14 P.3d 1237, ¶ 37 (quoting State v. Grey, 274 Mont. 206, 209, 907 P.2d 951, 953 (1995)).
¶ 18 Jones argues that this Court should reverse the District Court and grant his motion...
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