State v. Monroe
| Citation | 142 N.H. 857,711 A.2d 878 |
| Decision Date | 11 June 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 96–139.,96–139. |
| Court | Supreme Court of New Hampshire |
| Parties | The STATE of New Hampshire v. Michael MONROE. |
Philip T. McLaughlin, Attorney General (Mark D. Attorri, Senior Assistant Attorney General, on the brief, and John P. Kacavas, Assistant Attorney General, on the brief and orally), for the State.
James E. Duggan, Chief Appellate Defender, Concord, by brief and orally, for defendant.
The defendant, Michael Monroe, was convicted of second degree murder. See RSA 630:1–b (1996). On appeal, he argues that the Superior Court (Hampsey, J.) erred by: (1) admitting his involuntary confessions; (2) admitting statements, including confessions, he made without fresh Miranda warnings following a polygraph examination; (3) excluding evidence of his son's prior bad acts; (4) admitting hearsay testimony from the lead investigator; and (5) denying requested funds for an expert witness to testify regarding false confessions. We affirm.
On the night of March 6, 1993, Theresa Levesque, the defendant's mother-in-law, was stabbed to death in her Nashua home. Her body lay undiscovered until the following morning. That day, the Nashua Police Department began its investigation by interviewing several of the victim's relatives, including the defendant.
During the following eighteen months, the police continued to investigate the crime. Their investigation included the use of an undercover officer, "Nick," to portray a witness who saw the defendant leaving the victim's home. They also conducted two polygraph examinations of the defendant and interviewed him more than a dozen times. Finally, on the night of August 29, 1994, the defendant confessed. In total, he provided four confessions to the police. Following a jury trial, the defendant was convicted of second degree murder. This appeal followed.
The defendant first argues that his confessions were involuntary because they were coerced by improper police tactics, including threats of violence and extortion. The nature of the defendant's challenge compels a detailed review of the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. See State v. Aubuchont, 141 N.H. 206, 209, 679 A.2d 1147, 1149 (1996).
When police suspicion of the defendant as a potential suspect intensified, they used an undercover officer, Nick, to portray a witness who saw the defendant leaving the victim's home on the night of the murder. Nick had three direct contacts with the defendant, twice over the phone and once in person. He also left messages at the defendant's restaurant on two occasions, knowing that the defendant was at the police station.
The two telephone conversations occurred in March 1993. In sum, Nick related that he and his girlfriend had spotted the defendant at the victim's home on the evening of the murder and that in exchange for money, he would not tell the police.
Both calls were promptly reported to the police, who then interviewed the defendant. In both interviews, the defendant revealed only portions of the calls, such as Nick's demand for $2,000, and denied that they concerned his mother-in-law's death. Also, during an interview unrelated to Nick's calls, the detectives alleged that an anonymous woman had called the station, claiming that she had some information concerning the victim's death and that she disagreed with some actions taken by her boyfriend, whom she did not identify. The defendant refuted any connection between that call and his encounters with Nick.
On the night of April 9, 1993, Nick approached the defendant in the alley behind his restaurant. He demanded $2,000, but the defendant again denied that he was at the victim's home on the night of the murder and told Nick that he had passed a polygraph examination with "flying colors."
Nick, however, insisted that he saw the defendant at the victim's house, and asked him if he would "risk going down for this rather than giving [him] a little money [to] get [him] out of [his] life?" The defendant told Nick that the police knew about him. Nick, in turn, suggested that they call the police together, a suggestion the defendant rebuffed. The next day, the defendant returned to the police station and told the detectives about his encounter with Nick, but, again, failed to disclose Nick's assertion that he saw him at the victim's house on the night of the crime. Rather, he told the police that Nick gave no reason for his demand.
On April 22, 1994, more than one year after the defendant's last interview with the police and following his relocation to North Carolina, Detectives Douglas Hayes and James Briggs of the Nashua police and a local police detective appeared at the restaurant where the defendant was working. The defendant told the detectives that, on the advice of his attorney, he would not go to the police station. He eventually agreed, however, to talk to them in the back of the restaurant. Detective Hayes told the defendant that Nick had implicated him in the victim's death and confessed to demanding money in exchange for not reporting what he knew to the police. In response, the defendant denied ever discussing the murder with Nick.
Shortly thereafter, Detective Hayes went to see the defendant's wife, Rosemarie, and told her that the police had found Nick and that he had provided them with information about the homicide. He also told her that Nick's explanation for his calls to the defendant differed from that provided by her husband, and he suggested that she ask her husband for the substance of Nick's explanation. When asked, however, the defendant advised Rosemarie that he did not know what information Nick had given to the police. After further prompting by the police, Rosemarie again inquired, but the defendant remained firm that Detective Hayes had not given him any additional information about Nick.
After several additional months without police contact, the defendant was visited at his home by Detectives Hayes and Seusing on the morning of August 28, and he agreed to an interview. Along with Rosemarie, the detectives confronted him with the discrepancies between his conversations with his wife and his conversations with the police. The interview maintained a conversational tone, and after three hours, Rosemarie asked the defendant to take a polygraph examination, and he agreed.
The following afternoon, at approximately 4:30 p.m., the defendant and his wife arrived at the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation for the examination. Detectives Seusing and Hayes introduced the defendant to Special Agent Johnson, who administered the polygraph after the defendant reviewed his Miranda rights and signed a waiver.
Following the examination, Johnson concluded that the defendant was deceptive when he denied stabbing the victim. As a result, at approximately 7:30 p.m., he began calmly questioning the defendant and encouraging him to admit to the killing. Shortly before nine o'clock, he brought Rosemarie into the interview room at the defendant's request. The defendant became increasingly emotional and stated that he could not remember being involved, but he no longer denied involvement.
Approximately one hour later, Detective Seusing replaced Agent Johnson. He and Rosemarie began asking questions and confronting the defendant with their belief that he was responsible for the murder. Detective Seusing maintained a conversational tone, with only the defendant and his wife expressing emotion. By 10:30 p.m., the defendant admitted that he had argued with the victim at her house during the night of the murder and, after gradually revealing more details, confessed to the stabbing. After providing some additional details, the defendant informed the detective that he was thirsty. Detective Seusing got soft drinks for the defendant and his wife, and they took a break from questioning.
When they reconvened, the defendant provided a more detailed confession, including a description of the events leading up to his arrival at the victim's home and the nature of their argument. The defendant then asked to smoke a cigarette and was brought to a smoking room. The detective offered him food, which he declined.
Close to midnight, the defendant agreed to have further discussion recorded. On tape, the defendant stated that he had taken the polygraph examination freely and, after the detective reminded him that he did not have to continue with the interview, agreed to further questioning. He then confessed again. At 1:20 a.m., on August 30, the police arrested the defendant for murder.
While en route to New Hampshire on August 31, the defendant executed another waiver of his Miranda rights. Almost immediately upon his return to Nashua, he confessed again and led the police through a reenactment of the events of March 6, 1993, including the murder.
The trial court found beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant's confessions were voluntary. See State v. Beland, 138 N.H. 735, 737, 645 A.2d 79, 80 (1994). "We will not overturn the trial court's decision unless it is contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence...." Aubuchont, 141 N.H. at 209, 679 A.2d at 1149 (quotation omitted). "Because the State Constitution provides greater protection to a criminal defendant with respect to confessions than does the Federal Constitution, we decide this case under the State Constitution with reference to federal cases only to aid our analysis." Id. at 208, 679 A.2d at 1148–49 (); see Beland, 138 N.H. at 737, 645 A.2d at 80 ().
"[T]o be considered voluntary, a confession must be the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice and not extracted by threats, violence, direct or implied promises of any sort, or by the exertion of any improper influence." State v. Decker, 138 N.H. 432, 436, 641 A.2d 226, 228 (1994). "In determining the...
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