State v. Langford
| Citation | 33 P.3d 567,136 Idaho 334 |
| Decision Date | 05 September 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 24720.,24720. |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Dale J. LANGFORD, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Idaho |
Luverne Eugene Shull, Gooding, for appellant.
Hon. Alan G. Lance, Attorney General; Karen A. Hudelson, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. Karen A. Hudelson argued.
Dale J. Langford appeals from his judgments of conviction and sentences for vehicular manslaughter and aggravated driving under the influence (DUI). We affirm.
At 1:46 a.m. on October 6, 1996, a Gooding County Sheriff's officer happened upon a wrecked vehicle while on patrol. The vehicle had apparently veered off the road. The officer discovered three people inside the vehicle who were unconscious and also smelled an odor of alcohol. Langford was hanging out the driver's side window with his leg caught in the steering wheel. Kristina Carter was wedged in the middle of the front seat with her head below the steering wheel and her buttocks against Jackie Fletcher, who was in the passenger seat. Langford regained consciousness at the accident scene. All three victims were transported to a local hospital. At the hospital, Langford made a number of contradictory statements to medical personnel and investigating officers that he was the driver of the vehicle and that he had been drinking. Test results indicated that Langford's blood alcohol level exceeded the legal limit. Langford and Fletcher were successfully treated. Carter died as a result of her injuries.
Langford was charged with vehicular manslaughter, I.C. § 18-4006(3)(b), and aggravated DUI, I.C. § 18-8006. Langford filed a motion to suppress the statements he made to medical personnel while receiving medical treatment, asserting that they were privileged under I.R.E. 503(b)(2). He also sought to suppress the statements he made to investigating officers, claiming that they were taken in violation of his rights under the United States and Idaho Constitutions. Langford's motion was denied following a hearing.
Following a trial, the jury found Langford guilty of the charged offenses. For vehicular manslaughter, the district court sentenced Langford to a unified term of six years, with a minimum period of confinement of four years. For aggravated DUI, the district court sentenced Langford to a consecutive unified term of four years, with a minimum period of confinement of two years.
The district court retained jurisdiction for 180 days, and Langford was sent to participate in the rider program at the North Idaho Correctional Institution (NICI). After Langford completed his evaluation at NICI, the jurisdictional review committee concluded that Langford was a marginal candidate for probation. The district court relinquished jurisdiction, and sua sponte, reduced Langford's sentence for aggravated DUI to a unified term of four years, with no minimum period of confinement.
Langford appeals, challenging the denial of his motion to suppress, the admission of the trial testimony of several witnesses regarding statements he made at the accident scene, and the refusal of the district court to give a requested jury instruction. Langford also argues that the district court abused its discretion in relinquishing jurisdiction and in executing his sentence.1
At the hearing on Langford's motion to suppress, both medical personnel and investigating officers testified regarding the statements Langford made to them that he was the driver of the vehicle at the time of the accident and that he had been drinking. In addition, one of the investigating officers testified that Langford stated that he would take full responsibility for the accident.
Langford asserts that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress these statements. Langford claims that the statements made to medical personnel should have been suppressed because they were privileged under I.R.E. 503(b)(2). In addition, Langford claims the statements made to investigating officers should have been suppressed because they were taken in violation of his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution and in violation of his rights under the Idaho Constitution.2
The standard of review of a suppression motion is bifurcated. When a decision on a motion to suppress is challenged, we accept the trial court's findings of fact which are supported by substantial evidence, but we freely review the application of constitutional principles to the facts as found. State v. Atkinson, 128 Idaho 559, 561, 916 P.2d 1284, 1286 (Ct.App.1996). At a suppression hearing, the power to assess the credibility of witnesses, resolve factual conflicts, weigh evidence, and draw factual inferences is vested in the trial court. State v. Valdez-Molina, 127 Idaho 102, 106, 897 P.2d 993, 997 (1995); State v. Schevers, 132 Idaho 786, 789, 979 P.2d 659, 662 (Ct.App.1999).
Langford argues the statements he made to medical personnel were privileged under I.R.E. 503(b)(2) because, although he was treated mainly for his physical injuries, hospital staff needed to diagnose him for other purposes including his mental state.
At the hearing on Langford's motion to suppress, one of the nurses who treated Langford testified that when Langford was initially brought to the hospital, she did a brief overall assessment of him to determine his level of consciousness and to begin a neurological assessment. She testified that the purpose was to establish a "base line" and to track any change in Langford's neurological state following his injury. When asked whether such an assessment was done to treat his emotional condition or his physical condition, she testified it was only to treat his physical condition.
The district court found that the purpose of Langford's medical treatment was for the physical injuries and trauma sustained in the car accident. The district court further found that Langford was not diagnosed or treated for any emotional or mental condition at the hospital. The district court's findings are supported by substantial evidence in the record.
Idaho Rule of Evidence 503(b)(2) provides:
Criminal action. A patient has a privilege in a criminal action to refuse to disclose and to prevent any other person from disclosing confidential communications made for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment of a patient's mental or emotional condition, including alcohol or drug addiction, among the patient, the patient's psychotherapist, and persons who are participating in the diagnosis or treatment under the direction of the psychotherapist, including members of the patient's family.
As noted by the California Supreme Court, any physical injury is likely to have a mental component in the form of pain suffered by the injured person. See Roberts v. Superior Court of Butte County, 9 Cal.3d 330, 107 Cal.Rptr. 309, 508 P.2d 309 (1973)
. Thus, in any case involving personal injury, a mental component may be said to be at issue, in that limited sense. Id. at 314, 508 P.2d at 314. However, that is insufficient to transform Langford's treatment for his physical injuries into treatment for his mental condition. To allow Langford to claim the statements he made during medical treatment for his physical injuries are privileged would defeat the plain language of Rule 503(b)(2). Therefore, we conclude that Langford's statements to medical personnel were not privileged, and the district court did not err in denying Langford's motion to suppress those statements.
Langford argues the statements he made to investigating officers should have been suppressed because they were taken in violation of his rights under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution.
The Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches only at or after the initiation of adversary judicial proceedings against an individual. United States v. Gouveia, 467 U.S. 180, 187, 104 S.Ct. 2292, 81 L.Ed.2d 146 (1984); Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 688, 92 S.Ct. 1877, 32 L.Ed.2d 411 (1972); State v. Harmon, 131 Idaho 80, 86, 952 P.2d 402, 408 (Ct.App.1998). Because no formal criminal judicial proceedings were initiated against Langford at the time he made statements to investigating officers, the Sixth Amendment does not apply here.
In order to effectuate the Fifth Amendment privilege against compulsory self-incrimination, police officers must inform individuals of their right to remain silent and their right to counsel before conducting a custodial interrogation. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966); State v. Albaugh, 133 Idaho 587, 591, 990 P.2d 753, 757 (Ct.App. 1999). A person is in custody for purposes of Miranda when he or she has been arrested or when his or her freedom of action is curtailed to a degree associated with formal arrest. Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 440, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 82 L.Ed.2d 317 (1984); Albaugh, 133 Idaho at 591, 990 P.2d at 757. Because the officers' questioning of Langford while he was in the hospital falls within the general area of interrogation, this Court must determine whether Langford was in custody for purposes of Miranda.
Two Idaho cases discuss whether a person is in custody for purposes of Miranda when interviewed by police while hospitalized. In State v. Sandoval, 92 Idaho 853, 452 P.2d 350 (1969), the Idaho Supreme Court held that a defendant/patient was not subject to a custodial interrogation because he was not under arrest, the authorities did nothing to restrain his freedom of action, the questioning took place in a hospital room, and another patient was present. In State v. Cooper, 119 Idaho 654, 809 P.2d 515 (Ct.App. 1991), this Court held that a defendant/patient was not subject to custodial interrogation because he was questioned in the public...
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