State v. Nicholas S.

• Decision Date: 23 April 1982
• Citation: 444 A.2d 373
• Parties: STATE of Maine v. NICHOLAS S.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

Page 373

444 A.2d 373

STATE of Maine v. NICHOLAS S.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

April 23, 1982.

Janet T. Mills, Dist. Atty., Geoffrey Rushlau (orally) Asst. Dist. Atty., Auburn, for plaintiff.

Gauvreau & Thibeault, N. Paul Gauvreau (orally), Lewiston, for defendant.

Before McKUSICK, C. J., and NICHOLS, ROBERTS, CARTER, VIOLETTE and WATHEN, JJ.

CARTER, Justice.

Following a joint juvenile adjudicatory hearing, the District Court, sitting as the Juvenile Court, found that the juvenile defendant, Nicholas S., had committed the juvenile offenses of theft and burglary. His brother, also a juvenile, was adjudicated to have committed the lesser offense of criminal trespass.

The appeal by Nicholas S. to the Superior Court, Androscoggin County, was denied. ¹ On appeal to the Law Court, the juvenile asserts that the District Court erred in admitting into evidence his confession to the above noted offenses. Specifically, he argues that his statements were inadmissible because they were not a product of a knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of his Miranda rights. We vacate the judgment below and remand for further proceedings.

Factual Background

On February 14, 1981, two Lewiston police officers, Lieutenant Maurice Bolduc and Detective Charles Frazer, went to the Hillview Apartments to investigate a burglary. Earlier that afternoon, the victim of the burglary had discovered that approximately $8,000 in cash was missing from a strongbox stored in his apartment. After examining the victim's apartment and attic, the officers surmised that entry into the victim's attic had been gained by removing a piece of firewall separating the victim's attic from the attic of the adjoining apartment. Entrance into the living area of the victim's apartment was by way of the trap door leading from the attic to the living area.

The police then approached the occupant of the adjoining apartment, Mrs. S., the juvenile's mother, and explained to her that they were investigating a burglary. They asked her permission to search her attic and the mother consented. Upon searching the attic, the officers discovered several rolls of money on the floor of the attic. They then requested that Mrs. S. and Nicholas S., the only one of her three sons that was present in the apartment at the time, accompany the officers to the police station.

At the police station, Mrs. S. permitted the police to fingerprint her son. The juvenile was uncooperative at the fingerprinting session. He testified that he thought he had to give his fingerprints to the police. Soon thereafter but before the questioning began, the juvenile overheard the police say that one of his fingerprints matched a print found in the victim's apartment. At this point in time, the Miranda warnings had yet to be given to either the juvenile or his mother.

About a half-hour after arriving at the station, the mother and her son were seated in an office. Bolduc and Frazer joined them to conduct the interrogation. Frazer read the Miranda warnings from a card and Bolduc elaborated on Frazer's reading. The testimony of record does not suggest the extent of this explanation of the rights. The officer's differ in their recollection as to whether the juvenile was informed that he had a right to request at any time that the questioning cease.

The testimony of the officers also differs as to whether, in reading the Miranda rights, the focus of the police was towards the mother rather than the juvenile. Frazer indicated that he was reading to Mrs. S.; Bolduc concurred in this respect but further intimated that he addressed both the mother and the juvenile. The juvenile testified that the officers read to his mother and told him that "it wasn't necessary for me to know 'em." The Juvenile Court found that the Miranda rights "had been explained to his mother, in the juvenile's presence." (Emphasis added.)

Following the reading of the rights, Mrs. S. stated that she understood them. The Juvenile Court specifically found that Nicholas S. "made no formal agreement or statement that he understood and ... would waive his Miranda rights." Mrs. S. told her son to tell the truth and the police then asked what they described as "a leading question" regarding the burglary. The juvenile replied, "You already know", a response based upon his having overheard the statement regarding the fingerprint match-up. Nicholas S. then proceeded to answer questions about the burglary. The "confession" was not in the form of a narrative; when asked questions, the juvenile responded.

The first period of interrogation lasted 30 to 45 minutes. By the end of this session, the juvenile had told the police where he had hid some of the money. The parties then went to the apartment, recovered the money and returned to the police station. Upon their return, the juvenile was questioned for two more hours.

Following a suppression hearing held on March 12, 1981, the Juvenile Court found that although the juvenile made no express waiver, it appeared that he understood his rights. The court also found that the rights had been explained to his mother, in the juvenile's presence. The court denied the motion to suppress.

The juvenile again raised the issue of the propriety of the confession at the adjudicatory hearing held on March 12 and 16. The Juvenile Court denied this motion on the basis of its decision at the suppression hearing. The Juvenile Court adjudicated the defendant to have committed the juvenile offenses of theft and burglary.

From the adjudication by the Juvenile Court, the juvenile appealed to the Superior Court. The Superior Court found that there was rational support for the conclusion that Miranda warnings were given and understood, that the confession was voluntarily given and that the juvenile knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived his rights. Accordingly, the Superior Court affirmed the judgment below. This appeal followed.

The Admissibility of the Confession

In State v. Ann Marie C., Me., 407 A.2d 715 (1979), this Court adopted the totality of the circumstances test to determine whether a juvenile has knowingly and voluntarily decided to forego his right to remain silent and to have the assistance of counsel. Quoting from the United States Supreme Court decision in Fare v. Michael C., 442 U.S. 707, 99 S.Ct. 2560, 61 L.Ed.2d 197 (1979), we noted:

This totality of the circumstances approach is adequate to determine whether there has been a waiver even where interrogation of juveniles is involved. We discern no persuasive reasons why any other approach is required where the question is whether a juvenile has waived his rights, as opposed to whether an adult had done so. The totality approach permits--indeed, it mandates--inquiry into all the circumstances surrounding the interrogation. This includes evaluation of the juvenile's age, experience, education, background, and intelligence, and into whether he had the capacity to understand the warnings given him, the nature of his Fifth Amendment rights, and the consequences of waiving those rights.

State v. Ann Marie C., 407 A.2d at 724, quoting Fare v. Michael C., 442 U.S. at 725, 99 S.Ct. at 2572, 61 L.Ed.2d at 212. See State v. Michael L., Me., 441 A.2d 684, 688 (1982).

In articulating this standard, the majority in Fare v. Michael C. expressed the belief that juvenile courts are capable of applying the totality of the circumstances analysis so as to take into account the special concerns that are present when juveniles are in custody. Fare v. Michael C., 442 U.S. at 725, 99 S.Ct. at 2572, 61 L.Ed.2d at 212-13. This view, however, has been questioned by commentators and rejected by various jurisdictions in favor of some form of a per se exclusionary rule whenever certain initial safeguards such as the presence of a parent have not been met. See e.g., Conn.Gen.Stat.Ann. § 46b-137(a) (West Supp.1981); Okla.Stat.Ann. tit. 10 § 1109(a) (West Supp.1979-1980); State ex rel. J. M. v. Taylor, W.Va., 276 S.E.2d 199 (1981); In Re Dino, 359 So.2d 586 (La.1978), cert. denied 439 U.S. 1047, 99 S.Ct. 1022, 58 L.Ed.2d 706; Commonwealth v. Smith, 472 Pa. 492, 372 A.2d 797 (1977); Grisso, Juveniles' Capacities to Waive Miranda Rights: An Empirical Analysis, 68 Cal.L.Rev. 1134 (1980); Levy and Skacevic, What Standard Should Be Used To Determine A Valid Juvenile Waiver?, 6 Pepperdine L.Rev. 767 (1979); Comment, The Judicial Response to Juvenile Confessions: An Examination of the Per Se Rule, 17 Duquesne L.Rev. 659 (1978-1979).

The parties in this action do not question the vitality of the totality of the circumstances approach in this jurisdiction. We note, however, the superiority of this approach over a per se rule when the traditional test is properly applied. The framework provided by the totality of the circumstances test is sufficiently flexible so as to accommodate the interests of both the juvenile and the State. Liberal application of the rule in favor of juvenile rights, however, is absolutely essential. Objective satisfaction by the State of several of the relevant factors articulated in case law can not substitute for a critical examination of the circumstances surrounding the confession and a sensitive understanding of a juvenile's vulnerability in a custodial atmosphere. The simple balancing of factors can only lead to a cursory appraisal of the juvenile's position thereby threatening the protection of his fundamental constitutional rights.

Under the totality of the circumstances approach, no single factor is controlling in determining whether a juvenile has validly waived his rights. The factors noted in Fare v. Michael C., and State v. Ann Marie C., are by no means exclusive. ² The manner in which these factors are to be weighed and evaluated is a matter typically left to the exercise of the sound judgment of the trial judge. Grisso, Juveniles' Capacities to Waive Miranda Rights: An Empirical Analysis, 68 Cal.L.Rev. 1134, 1138 (1980). In...