State v. A.M.

• Decision Date: 01 April 2019
• Docket Number: A-76 September Term 2017,080744
• Citation: 205 A.3d 213,237 N.J. 384
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. A.M., Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

237 N.J. 384

205 A.3d 213

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.A.M., Defendant-Respondent.

A-76 September Term 2017

080744

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued January 15, 2019

Decided April 1, 2019

Ian C. Kennedy, Special Deputy Attorney General/Acting Assistant Prosecutor, argued the cause for appellant (Dennis Calo, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor, attorney; Ian C. Kennedy, of counsel and on the briefs).

Brian J. Neary argued the cause for respondent (Law Offices of Brian J. Neary, attorneys; Brian J. Neary, of counsel and on the letter briefs, and Jane M. Personette, on the letter briefs).

Jane C. Schuster, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for amicus curiae Attorney General of New Jersey (Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General, attorney; Jane C. Schuster, of counsel and on the briefs).

Emma R. Moore, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for amicus curiae Public Defender of New Jersey (Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney; Emma R. Moore, of counsel and on the brief, and Joseph J. Russo, Deputy Public Defender, on the brief).

Alexander Shalom argued the cause for amicus curiae American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey Foundation, attorneys; Alexander Shalom and Jeanne LoCicero, on the brief).

JUSTICE SOLOMON delivered the opinion of the Court.

In this appeal, we are called upon to decide whether under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), defendant A.M., who speaks limited English, waived his constitutional right against self-incrimination pursuant to the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Before his interrogation, defendant reviewed a Spanish-language Miranda form while a Spanish-speaking officer read aloud defendant's rights. The officer pointed out the waiver portion of the form and defendant then signed it. Afterward, defendant made incriminating statements in response to police officers' questions. The trial court denied defendant's motion to suppress his statement, finding that defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights. The Appellate Division reversed, concluding the State failed to meet its burden to show an express waiver.

Although the better practice would have been to read aloud the form's waiver portion to defendant, we rely on the trial court's well-supported observations and factual findings and reverse the Appellate Division's judgment. We therefore need not reach the issue of implied waiver.

I.

A.

We garner the following facts from the record of proceedings before the trial court on defendant's motion to suppress his statement to police.

Defendant was alone in his apartment with his fourteen-year-old step-granddaughter, A.I., when he asked her to try on her bathing suit to see if it fit. After she changed into the bathing suit, defendant hugged A.I. from behind, touching her breasts and vagina over her bathing suit, and inserted at least one finger into her vagina. A.I. told defendant to stop, pushed him away from her, and left the apartment.

After learning of the incident, A.I.'s mother contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. Officers went to defendant's home and transported him to the Bergenfield Police Department. One member of the Prosecutor's Office and two members of the Bergenfield Police Department conducted an interview of defendant. Because defendant spoke little English and stated that he was more comfortable with Spanish, Detective Richard Ramos assisted in translating the interview from English to Spanish. The entire interview was video-recorded to a DVD and later transcribed in English by a clerk-typist employed by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.

Before beginning the interview, Detective Ramos reviewed with defendant a Spanish-language form prepared by the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, which set forth defendant's Miranda rights. The form listed each of defendant's Miranda rights in Spanish followed by "Entiende Usted?" (Do you understand?), "Respuesta" (Response) and "Iniciales" (Initials). At the bottom of the form is a waiver paragraph, which states in Spanish, "I have read the above declaration of my rights and they have been read aloud. I understand my rights. I am willing to answer questions without having a lawyer present. No promise or threats have been made to me and no pressure or coercion has been used against me." Spaces for signatures follow the waiver paragraph.

Detective Ramos read defendant his Miranda rights from the Spanish-language form, pausing after reading each one to ask defendant in Spanish if he understood. Defendant replied "sí" (yes) each time. Thereafter, Detective Ramos wrote "sí" after each right, turned the form to defendant and stated in Spanish, "If you want, you can read what I told you and you only have to put your initials on each line. That's the same thing I read." Defendant replied "Uh-huh." Defendant initialed each line and turned the form to Detective Ramos.

Detective Ramos then handed the form to defendant to review the waiver portion and asked in Spanish, "Do you understand?" Defendant replied, "Sí," and Detective Ramos told defendant in Spanish, "Write your name in the line[:] complete," pointing to a signature line. Defendant signed the form where Detective Ramos had pointed, but Detective Ramos turned the form back to defendant, again pointing to the bottom part of the form and stated, "And you have to sign here, the line is not there, but you have to sign." Defendant signed the form before turning it back to Detective Ramos, who then also signed it.

Detective Lucas conducted the remainder of the interview, and Detective Ramos translated as needed. During the course of the interrogation, defendant admitted to touching his step-granddaughter inappropriately.

B.

Defendant was indicted by a Bergen County grand jury for first-degree aggravated sexual assault, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2(a)(2)(a) ; second-degree sexual assault, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2(c)(4) ; two counts of third-degree aggravated criminal sexual contact, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:14-3(a) ; and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4(a).

Defendant challenged the admission of his statement to police, contending that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights and that Detective Ramos inadequately translated the interview, denying him his rights to due process and equal protection.

At the hearing on defendant's suppression motion, Detective Ramos testified about his background and noted that, based on his personal experience speaking with both adults and children in Spanish, defendant "took his time reading [the form]. It appears to [him] that [defendant] did read it." Detective Ramos acknowledged that he did not ask defendant any questions to determine defendant's educational background or literacy level.

Detective Ramos also testified about discrepancies between the video recording and the transcript of defendant's statement and explained that he was "paraphrasing" defendant's answers.

After watching the DVD of defendant's interview, the trial court denied defendant's motion to suppress in a written opinion, finding that "defendant appeared calm during the interview, appeared to understand the questions posed to him in both English and Spanish, and was able to answer the questions forthrightly." The court also explained that defendant seemed "alert and cognizant" while the form was explained to him and that "it [was] clear from the video tape that defendant was given an opportunity to read the waiver paragraph and signed the waiver portion, and did in fact review the waiver portion before signing it." Finally, referring to defendant's expressed preference that the interview be conducted in Spanish, the court added that, "[i]f defendant had any problem reading the waiver portion of the form, written in Spanish as he had requested, it is clear to this court that he would have voiced such difficulty." The trial court concluded that, considering the totality of the circumstances, defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights.

Defendant pled guilty to second-degree sexual assault while reserving his right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress.

The court sentenced defendant to a six-year custodial term with Parole Supervision for Life, Megan's Law and Nicole's Law restrictions, and applicable fines and fees.

C.

Defendant appealed the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress. In a published opinion, the Appellate Division reversed the decision of the trial court, finding the State failed to prove defendant made a voluntary decision to waive his Miranda rights. State v. A.M., 452 N.J. Super. 587, 590, 178 A.3d 719 (App. Div. 2018). Although the panel applied the deferential standard of review we adopted in State v. S.S., 229 N.J. 360, 379-81, 162 A.3d 1058 (2017), the panel found that "[t]he [trial] judge's analysis improperly shift[ed] the burden of proof to defendant to alert the interrogating officers about any difficulty he may be having understanding the ramifications of a legal waiver," A.M., 452 N.J. Super. at 599, 178 A.3d 719.

The panel observed that the trial court's decision illustrated "a fundamental misunderstanding of the legal principles governing a motion to suppress under Miranda" because the court did not address Detective Ramos's failure to ask about defendant's education or literacy level, his failure to read the waiver aloud, or his failure to explain to defendant what a Miranda waiver entails. Id. at 598-99, 178 A.3d 719.

Observing that the record presented to the motion judge included a transcript of defendant's statement but did not contain any information about the transcriber's qualifications as a translator, the panel also challenged the interrogation's transcription. See id. at 599-600, 178 A.3d 719 ("The mere fact of having a...