State v. Matthews

• Decision Date: 25 January 1982
• Docket Number: Nos. 81-K-1591,81-K-1691,s. 81-K-1591
• Citation: 408 So.2d 1274
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Lee MATTHEWS. STATE of Louisiana v. Cleo MATTHEWS.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 1274

408 So.2d 1274

STATE of Louisiana v. Lee MATTHEWS.

STATE of Louisiana v. Cleo MATTHEWS.

Nos. 81-K-1591, 81-K-1691.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Jan. 25, 1982.

Frank J. Uddo, New Orleans, for defendant-relator.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., John M. Mamoulides, Dist. Atty., Abbott J. Reeves, David C. Loeb, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-respondent.

DENNIS, Justice.

The critical question in this case is whether, under the circumstances, the police denied defendants the right to remain silent, the right against self-incrimination, and the assistance of counsel during in-custody interrogation in violation of Article 1, § 13 of the 1974 Louisiana Constitution, by rejecting their defense attorney's request to speak to the interrogating officer and by failure to inform defendants their attorney was seeking to assist them.

On December 18, 1980 Lee Sherman Matthews received a call at work from his wife who informed him the police had called his house and wanted to speak to him about the drowning of his neighbor, Dorothy Penino. Matthews called his attorney, Frank Uddo, who advised him to say nothing to the authorities if he were to be arrested before they could confer. At about 4:00 p. m., Matthews was arrested at his place of business for the first degree murder of Dorothy Penino and taken to the police station. Cleo Matthews, his wife, was arrested at her residence for the same offense at about 4:30 p. m. and taken to the police station.

Shortly after the Matthews reached the police station and were placed in separate interrogation rooms, their attorney, Frank Uddo, placed a call to the police station. The lawyer described the ensuing events in the following terms:

" * * * (A)bout 5 o'clock or maybe a little bit before 5 o'clock I received a call from Paul Marchadie being the step son of Lee Matthews. Paul Marchadie indicated to me at that time that Lee Matthews had been arrested and that his mother had been arrested and and that they had been arrested on the charge of first degree murder.

"Immediately thereafter I called the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department and particularly at the Westbank Police Station at the Old Gretna Courthouse. I was not aware of the name of the person with whom I spoke. He indicated that he was a police officer and I told him at that time that I wanted to speak with Lee Matthews. He-I held on the phone for quite sometime. I-after he came back on, he told me that Detective Nuzzolillo was handling it. Well, he didn't use Nuzzolillo. He said Detective Marco was handling it and that he talked with him and he said that I could not speak with Lee Matthews at the present time; that there was an interview being conducted and at that time I said, I don't want anybody interviewing my client. I said my client has a constitutional right to have his attorney present during any interviews and I don't want anybody conducting any interviews or taking any statements from my client without me present. He said, well, I'll have him call you. I waited for sometime. I didn't get a call. * * * Thereafter (at 8:00 or 8:30 p. m.) not having heard anything I came over to Gretna to the police station. I went to the front desk and I told the officer at the front desk who I was and that I wanted to speak with my client.

"I waited downstairs for approximately one half hour before I was-I was brought in. Thereafter, I did talk to my client and to Detective Nuzzolillo and to Detective Masson and Cleo Matthews and at that time it was indicated to me that statements had been given by everybody. * * * "

Lee Matthews testified that he asked to talk to his attorney on three occasions before giving a statement in response to interrogation: when he was arrested, upon reaching the police station, and just before he signed a waiver of rights form. He stated that the police officers told him his wife was in custody and charged with first degree murder, that she had implicated him in the crime, that if he made a statement it could exonerate her, and that his wife and his daughter were having an affair with the same man. Cleo Matthews and her daughter, Diana James, testified that when Mrs. Matthews was arrested the officers refused to let Miss James call a lawyer at her mother's request. Mrs. Matthews stated that a police officer promised that if she told the truth he would see that the magistrate let her out of jail to care for her two teenage sons and see that she was not discharged by her employer. She testified that before she gave her statement the officer told her that her husband had confessed and had implicated one of her sons by a previous marriage.

The police officers denied that either defendant requested an attorney or attempted to call one. They denied making the coercive or inducing statements attributed to them by the Matthews. One officer admitted questioning Lee Matthews about whether his wife and daughter were having an affair with a certain individual. He contended that the question was pertinent to his investigation because extra marital activities were prevalent in the Matthews' neighborhood. He admitted telling Mrs. Matthews that her husband had made some admissions before she gave her statement, but he denied telling Mr. Matthews that his wife had confessed.

It is undisputed that the defendants' attorney, Frank Uddo, telephoned the police station, identified himself to the cadet desk officer as the Matthews' lawyer, and asked to talk to the officer conducting the interrogation. ¹ All of the officers denied that the lawyer requested or demanded that his clients not be questioned in his absence. The cadet officer who answered the phone stated that after conferring with the officer in charge of the case he told Mr. Uddo the interrogation could not be interrupted and that the attorney would have to come to the station to talk to the interrogating officer; to this, he said, Mr. Uddo replied, "fine," and hung up.

Lee Sherman Matthews was indicted for second degree murder, La. R.S. 14:30.1. His wife, Cleo Matthews, was indicted for acting as an accessory after the fact of second degree murder, La. R.S. 14:25 and 14:30.1. Both defendants filed motions to suppress inculpatory statements given to police officers following their arrests. The motions in each case were denied after a hearing. We granted certiorari to consider whether the statements were obtained in violation of defendants' right to remain silent, right against self-incrimination, and right to the assistance of counsel guaranteed by Article 1, § 13 of the 1974 Louisiana Constitution.

The trial judge, who denied the defendants' motions to suppress without reasons, apparently resolved the many conflicts in the testimony in favor of the prosecution. Although we perhaps would have made different factual findings, we defer to the trial judge's credibility assessments because he was there and saw the witnesses as they testified. Evidently, he also decided it was immaterial that the officers rejected the defense attorney's request to talk to the interrogating officer and did not inform the Matthews that their attorney was seeking to assist them. In this determination, however, he fell into an error of law.

In a case which arose before the adoption of our present constitution, this court held that when counsel has been retained to represent a prisoner, the government authorities cannot deny the lawyer reasonable access to his client, nor may they ignore his request that he be allowed to confer with his client prior to, if not during, the interrogation; and that confessions taken in violation of these principles are constitutionally inadmissible because the interrogation was made without an informed waiver of the defendant's right to the assistance of counsel and to remain silent. State v. Jackson, 303 So.2d 734 (La.1974) citing Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977 (1964); Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201, 84 S.Ct. 1199, 12 L.Ed. 246 (1964). See also, American Law Institute Model Code of Pre-Arraignment Procedure, Section 140.7 (Tentative Draft No. 6, April 1, 1974).

If it was not evident from our holding in State v. Jackson, supra, it is now clear that the constitutional and statutory policy of our state favors a person having the assistance of counsel during in-custody interrogation and prohibits any interference with it by governmental authorities. Article 1, § 13 of the 1974 Louisiana Constitution requires that any person arrested or detained in connection with the investigation or commission of any offense must be advised fully of the reasons for his arrest or detention, his right to remain silent, his right against self-incrimination, his right to the assistance of counsel and, if indigent, his right to court appointed counsel. This guarantee clearly affords a person subjected to in-custody interrogation the right to assistance of retained or appointed counsel, including the right to have counsel present during any questioning if the person so desires. By the adoption of Article 1, § 13, Louisiana enhanced and incorporated the safeguards of Miranda v. Arizona. In Re Dino, 359 So.2d 586 (La.1978); L. Hargrave, The Declaration of Rights of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, 35 La.L.Rev. 1, 41 (1974). Statutorily, a person arrested has, from the moment of his arrest, a right to procure and confer with counsel and to use a telephone or send a message for the purpose of communicating with his friends or with counsel. La.C.Cr.P. art. 230. The accused in every instance has the right to defend himself and to have the assistance of counsel. His counsel shall have free access to him, in private, at reasonable hours. La.C.Cr.P. art. 511.

In State v. Jackson, supra, a New Orleans attorney, who had been employed by her family to represent a woman in custody in Vidalia without her knowledge, called the sheriff's office and requested that she not be...