State v. Martin
| Decision Date | 29 April 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. S-91-546,S-91-546 |
| Parties | STATE of Nebraska, Appellee, v. Raymond L. MARTIN, Appellant. |
| Court | Nebraska Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. Motions to Suppress: Appeal and Error. In reviewing a trial court's ruling on suppression of evidence, an appellate court does not reweigh the evidence or resolve conflicts in the evidence.
2. Confessions: Appeal and Error. A district court's finding and determination that a defendant's statement was voluntarily made will not be set aside on appeal unless such determination is clearly erroneous.
3. Confessions: Due Process. The Due Process Clause of U.S. Const. amend. XIV and the due process clause of Neb. Const. art. I, § 3, preclude admissibility of an involuntary confession.
4. Confessions. In determining whether a confession or statement is voluntary, a court must make its assessment based on an examination of all the circumstances surrounding the confession or statement.
5. Confessions. A defendant's confession may be involuntary and inadmissible if obtained in exchange for a promise of leniency.
6. Constitutional Law: Confessions: Police Officers and Sheriffs: Prosecuting Attorneys. A police officer's promise or representation that a defendant's cooperation will be brought to the prosecutor's attention does not, by itself, render the defendant's confession or statement involuntary and, therefore, constitutionally inadmissible in the defendant's trial.
Deborah D. Cunningham, Omaha, for appellant.
Don Stenberg, Atty. Gen. and Delores Coe-Barbee, Lincoln, for appellee.
Raymond L. Martin was convicted of the first degree murder of Mathew Mallory, the second degree assault on Valentine Marrufo, and two counts of using a firearm to commit those felonies and was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder conviction and to imprisonment for terms of years for the other felony convictions. Martin contends that his confession was involuntary and should have been excluded because his confession resulted from the interrogating police officer's promise of leniency in exchange for Martin's confession.
On September 18, 1990, Mathew Mallory and Valentine Marrufo drove from Sioux City, Iowa, to Omaha to attend an M.C. Hammer concert. Mallory and Marrufo became lost in Omaha and stopped at a gas station to ask for directions to the Omaha Civic Auditorium, the site of the concert. At the gas station, they asked an unidentified man who was using the phone to show them how to get to the auditorium. After the man hung up the phone, he got into the car with Mallory and Marrufo. The unidentified man saw that Mallory and Marrufo were drinking whiskey from a bottle, and, according to Marrufo, the man
The trio drove to an area of Omaha where the unidentified passenger got out of the car and walked away. Mallory and Marrufo then got out of the car; approached a group of individuals gathered in front of a residence; and, after asking the group "[who's] got it?", said: "All we want is $300 worth of powder." At some point, some members of the group believed that Mallory and Marrufo might be police officers. A man from the group proceeded to frisk Marrufo for weapons. After more conversation, Marrufo told Mallory that "there's something wrong here," and as the two started to return to their car, shots rang out. Before Marrufo was able to put the car between himself and the source of the shots, a bullet struck Marrufo once in his left leg as he stood near the car's trunk. Mallory, who was trying to reach the car's passenger door, was unprotected by the car and was shot in his back and then in his chest as he was apparently spun around by the impact from a bullet or bullets. Marrufo managed to climb into the driver's seat. Mallory, bleeding from his mouth, nose, and chest, fell into the passenger seat and slumped onto Marrufo's shoulder. Marrufo drove to a nearby gas station, where he summoned help. Mallory later died from his wounds. An autopsy revealed that Mallory had been struck by four bullets; he was hit once in his chest, once in his back, and twice in his left leg.
Martin, who was then 19 years old, was arrested on September 19, 1990, and was taken to Omaha police headquarters for interrogation. On arrival at the police station, Martin, who was not free to leave and who had not received the Miranda warning or admonition, was questioned by Det. Paul Briese and another officer for approximately 25 minutes, during which time Martin denied that he had shot Mallory or Marrufo. The officers left the interrogation room for about 10 minutes, and when they returned, Martin was read the Miranda warning. On resumption of the interrogation, Martin continued to deny any involvement in the shootings. However, Briese and another officer continued to press Martin for an inculpatory statement. The officers told Martin that three eyewitnesses, Brett Whitaker, Calvin Scott, and Johnny Ray, had said that Martin was responsible for shooting Marrufo in the leg. The interrogating officers told Martin:
These three people are going to make statements against you in court and it's going to leave you all alone and you're going to get caught up in a whirlpool where they're all going to finger you, so the best thing you can do is tell the truth as to what occurred to the best of your knowledge.
For more than an hour, despite being urged to confess, Martin repeatedly denied any part in the shooting. Finally, Martin, during tape-recorded questioning, admitted his involvement in the incident as follows:
I wasn't gonna shoot none of 'em, you know, so I picked up the gun and I aimed the gun at the car and when I pulled the trigger it didn't go off, and it was like, ah, .22 pump, and I pumped the gun again and the bullet fell out and I shot then and I shot at the car
at which point
Brett [Whitaker] grabbed the gun from me after I did that and he was about to shoot but Johnny Ray grabbed the gun from me and ... the one he was on the passenger's side at the front of the car and Johnny just started shootin' 'em all in the back and in the chest or in the legs.
At the pretrial hearing for suppression of Martin's confession, Briese, on direct examination, denied promising Martin anything "in terms of what charges would or wouldn't be filed" if Martin confessed. On cross-examination, Briese was again questioned about any promise in exchange for Martin's confession:
Q. All right. Now with respect to what was told between you and my client, did you ever indicate to him it was best to save yourself? Basically, "People are telling on you, you're going to go down by yourself unless you tell the truth"?
A. Yes. He had to tell the truth.
....
Q. Did you tell him to--to cooperate and tell what his involvement was because if he did, he would not be charged with murder, he would strictly be charged with assault and use?
A. No, sir, absolutely not.
....
Q. After the statement was given, did you indicate to my client that you would tell the prosecutor that Mr. Martin had cooperated?
A. Yes, sir.
At the suppression hearing, Martin testified in his own behalf:
Q. During the time that you were talking with Officer Briese, did Officer Briese make any promises or threaten you in any way to give any kind of statements?
A. When I got down to the station, he stated that it would be--it would be necessary that I tell the truth because it was three other friends of mine stating that I was involved in the shooting and that if I didn't want to go down for the murder, that I should tell the truth and that I will probably be charged with first-degree assault and use of a weapon.
Q. When does he say this in relationship to this taped statement that we have? Is it before, after, when?
A. Before.
Q. All right. Were you shown any paperwork by Officer Briese when you were in this interrogation room?
A. Yes.
Q. What were you shown?
A. I was shown a yellow copy of the charges that Johnny Ray was charged with.
Q. All right. Did you have any conversation with Officer Briese with respect to Johnny Ray's charges?
A. I stated to him that those was some serious charges and that I don't want no charge like that.
Q. What did he say when you told him that?
A. He said, "If you don't cooperate, that's what you will be charged with."
Q. So after that was said, did you cooperate?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you give a statement?
A. Yes.
Q. Did Officer Briese at any time indicate to you that if you talked about what you knew happened, that you would just be charged with assault and use of firearm?
A. Yes.
Q. Based upon what he indicated to you, you went ahead and told your involvement; is that correct?
A. Yes.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the court denied Martin's suppression motion.
Brett Whitaker, a witness for the State, testified that he was in the group approached by Marrufo and Mallory and heard Martin say, "I'm going to jack 'em." According to Whitaker, "jack" or "jack-move" means to rob someone of money. Whitaker further testified that he saw Martin leave the group; go into a nearby house; and, carrying a rifle, return to the group, where Martin said to Mallory and Marrufo, "Give it up." Martin raised the rifle and fired twice at Mallory and Marrufo. Whitaker also testified that after Martin fired the rifle twice, Johnny Ray took the rifle from Martin's hand and continued firing at Mallory and Marrufo.
Another witness for the State, Calvin Scott, testified that he was watching TV in a nearby house when Martin entered, got a rifle, and told Scott that there were "two guys out there who wanted some dope" and that "he was going to make a...
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