State v. Mattox
| Decision Date | 09 December 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 89,547.,89,547. |
| Citation | 124 P.3d 6 |
| Parties | STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Michael K. MATTOX, Appellant. |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Randall L. Hodgkinson, deputy appellate defender, argued the cause and was on the briefs for appellant.
Robert D. Hecht, district attorney, argued the cause, and Deborah L. Hughes, assistant district attorney, and Phill Kline, attorney general, were with him on the briefs for appellee.
Michael Mattox was convicted by a jury of one count of aiding and abetting unintentional second-degree murder and one count of aiding and abetting criminal discharge of a firearm. The Court of Appeals reversed in part, holding that Mattox's statements made to three Topeka Police Department detectives and evidence obtained as a result of those statements should have been suppressed. It affirmed the district court on all other issues, however, including the admission into evidence of Mattox's statements made to Douglas County Sheriff's Office booking officer Mark Unruh. State v. Mattox, No. 89,547, unpublished opinion, 2004 WL 719250 filed April 2, 2004.
Both Mattox and the State filed petitions for review, which we granted solely on the suppression issues. Our jurisdiction is pursuant to K.S.A. 60-2101(b).
The issues on appeal, and our accompanying holdings, are as follows:
1. Did the district court err in admitting Mattox's statements to Douglas County Sheriff's Office booking officer Mark Unruh? No.
2. Did the district court err in admitting Mattox's statements to Topeka Police Department detectives and Mattox's handgun obtained as a result of those statements? No.
3. Did an independent basis for admitting Mattox's handgun exist under United States v. Patane, 542 U.S. 630, 124 S.Ct. 2620, 159 L.Ed.2d 667 (2004)? Moot.
Accordingly, we affirm in part and reverse in part the Court of Appeals and affirm the district court.
Officer Matthew Ford of the Topeka Police Department was on duty October 11, 2001, when he responded to the 1100 block of Carnahan regarding reported gunshots. When he arrived at 3:21 a.m., he found a gray car stopped on the median; the car was still running and music was playing. John Lane was slumped over in the driver's seat with two gunshot wounds to his head. Lane was taken by ambulance to a hospital but died shortly thereafter.
Although several people heard four or five rapid gunshots, the police found no eyewitnesses to the shooting. Four .380 caliber shell casings were found at the scene. Their locations were consistent with shots fired from a moving vehicle.
Five days after the Lane shooting, on October 16, 2001, Officers Joshua Guile and Matt Sarna of the Lawrence Police Department were dispatched to a Lawrence McDonald's restaurant regarding a possible robbery at a nearby Kwik Shop. Sarna searched the coat of the suspect, Michael Mattox, and found an empty magazine for a .380 caliber pistol in Mattox's right front pocket, as well as quite a bit of cash. Mattox was arrested for criminal trespass and transported by Guile to the Lawrence Investigation Center for an interview. On the way to the Center, Mattox made statements that he was afraid for his life; he thought people were coming after him and thought the officers were going to hurt him.
At 4:30 p.m. at the Center's interview room, Guile read Mattox his Miranda rights and after asking Mattox if he understood his rights after reading them all, Mattox answered, "Yes." Guile asked if Mattox was waiving his rights and if he would speak to the Lawrence police officers. Mattox said he wanted to speak with his lawyer, so Guile did not ask any further questions. Mattox was then taken to the county jail.
At 5:53 p.m. Mark Unruh, a corrections officer with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, began booking Mattox for criminal trespass at the county jail. About 2 minutes into the booking, Mattox interrupted to say he had some information to tell Unruh. Unruh told him there was nothing Unruh could do with the information and he needed to be booked in. Several minutes later Mattox again interrupted to say, "I have some information I need to tell you." Unruh reexplained he merely booked people and there was nothing he could do with the information. Mattox repeated five or six times during the booking process that he had information he wanted to tell, and Unruh continued to tell Mattox he was not the person to receive such information. At one point Mattox became angry because Unruh would not listen to him.
At 7:30 p.m., after Mattox had been processed and showered, he approached Unruh and asked, "Are you ready to listen to me yet?" After moving to a juvenile processing room at Mattox's request for privacy, Unruh asked, "OK, what have you got to tell me?"
Mattox began by saying, "I have some information on a couple of murders." Unruh replied, "Okay, what about them?" Mattox first told Unruh about a murder at a bank. Unruh explained that all he could do with the information, as a corrections officer, was pass the information on to detectives. Unruh also began writing it down, telling Mattox he would pass the information on to detectives. Mattox did not object. Mattox then talked about his brother's murder for 5 to 10 minutes.
As Mattox talked, Unruh did not interrupt or question, except to make sure he had the names correct.
Unruh then went over his notes with Mattox to make sure everything was correct. After Unruh checked with Detective Massey for guidance, he began to type the information in a report to be placed in Massey's box. When informed of Massey's response, Mattox had no objection to this procedure. Unruh also gave Mattox a pencil and paper and suggested he write what he had told Unruh in his own words, a recitation that would be submitted with Unruh's report. While Unruh typed, Mattox wrote.
At 9:21 p.m., after Unruh finished his report on the two murders, he showed it to Mattox for accuracy. When Unruh asked if he had forgotten anything in his report, Mattox replied, "Well, I have some more information on another murder." Unruh then said, "Okay, tell me about it." Mattox then began to provide information on the Lane murder.
Mattox stated that around 3 a.m. on October 13, 2001, he was riding in a car driven by Robert Gigger behind the Pine Ridge Apartments in Topeka. When another car pulled up next to them on the driver's side, Gigger was agitated because the car had been swerving behind them. Gigger told Mattox to get the gun, which Mattox retrieved from the glove compartment. Gigger then took the .380 handgun registered to Mattox and shot the victim, John Lane. Mattox repeatedly said that he was not the shooter. He told Unruh that after the shooting he and Gigger went to Mikey Watson's house and then home where they saw the murder on the news.
As Mattox talked, Unruh interrupted only to get times and locations correct. When Mattox was done talking about the Lane murder, Unruh advised Deputy Robertson who told him Topeka police would be called when Unruh was done. Unruh then typed the Lane murder information into his report and, when completed, read it to Mattox. Mattox's only comment was that he had not shot Lane. While Unruh had typed, Mattox had continued working on his statement, even asking for an eraser and another pencil at one point.
As Unruh was finishing his report, his shift ended, so he took Mattox to a holding cell, where Mattox continued to write. Unruh then went off duty and left the building around midnight.
Topeka Police Department Detectives Brian Hill, Gary Robinson, and Richard Volle were called into their police station at 10:30 that same night. They were previously aware that Lane had been shot while driving a car on Deer Creek Parkway and that .380 shell casings had been found in the area. They were now told that Mattox had been arrested in Lawrence for criminal trespass and was giving information on the Lane homicide. The detectives were told that according to Mattox, Robert Gigger had committed the crime.
The three detectives went to the Douglas County jail, arriving at 12:55 a.m. on October 17. They set up a video camera in the interview room, and Mattox was brought in. The detectives were aware that Mattox had written out a statement and saw he was holding a paper when he came in. They introduced themselves and told Mattox they were investigating the John Lane murder. None of the officers read Mattox his Miranda rights.
Several minutes into the interview, the following exchange took place:
The videotaped interview lasted from approximately 1 a.m. until 2:30 a.m. Over its course, Mattox told the detectives that he and Gigger were riding in the car, going to a friend's house to smoke some marijuana. A car pulled up behind them, driving erratically and tailgating. They thought it might be other gang members wishing to do them harm. Gigger said, "There's a car coming up real fast." Mattox took the gun in his hand, and the car passed. Mattox saw it was not a gang member,...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Aguirre, 119,529
......The inquiry requires an examination of the totality of the circumstances, and an appellate court reviews the factual underpinnings of the trial court's decision by a substantial competent evidence standard and the ultimate legal conclusion by a de novo standard." State v. Mattox , 280 Kan. 473, Syl. ¶ 3, 124 P.3d 6 (2005). The State bears the burden to establish voluntariness by a preponderance of the evidence. State v. Guein , 309 Kan. 1245, 1259-60, 444 P.3d 340 (2019). "The essential inquiry is whether the statement was the product of an accused's free and ......
-
State v. Bridges
...... The question of whether a suspect should be re- Mirandized after waiver of those communicated rights is one of law that this court answers by considering the totality of the circumstances. See State v. Mattox, 280 Kan. 473, 489–90, 124 P.3d 6 (2005) (citing cases); see also State v. Ransom, 288 Kan. 697, 706–07, 207 P.3d 208 (2009); State v. Nguyen, 281 Kan. 702, 723–24, 133 P.3d 1259 (2006). One factor this court considers is the time interval between the waiver and the giving of the ......
-
Khalil-Alsalaami v. State
......Regelman , 309 Kan. 52, 59, 430 P.3d 946 (2018). If a defendant voluntarily waives Miranda rights, any subsequent inculpatory statement must still be voluntarily given. See State v. Mattox , 280 Kan. 473, 483, 124 P.3d 6 (2005) ("We acknowledge that the judicial determinations of the two issues usually are separate, i.e ., one can make a voluntary waiver of his or her Miranda rights but still produce an involuntary confession."). And, in determining the voluntariness of both a ......
-
State v. Guein
......But sometimes, as here, whether the defendant waived Miranda rights can be virtually indistinguishable from whether the defendant's statement was voluntary. See State v. Mattox , 280 Kan. 473, 483-84, 124 P.3d 6 (2005). The panel majority held the State failed to meet its burden to show that Guein's post- Miranda statements were voluntary. In particular, after reviewing the language during Weber's pre- Miranda walk and talk with Guein, it emphasized Weber made ......