State v. Nichols
| Decision Date | 02 March 2017 |
| Docket Number | CC 140066CR,SC S063985 |
| Parties | STATE of Oregon, Appellant, v. Steven P. Wagner NICHOLS, Respondent. |
| Court | Oregon Supreme Court |
Doug M. Petrina, Assistant Attorney General, Salem, argued the cause and filed the briefs for the petitioner on review. Also on the briefs were Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General.
Anne Fujita Munsey, Deputy Public Defender, Salem, argued the cause and filed the brief for the respondent on review. Also on the brief was Ernest G. Lannet, Chief Defender, Office of Public Defense Services.
This case involves the state's appeal of a pretrial order suppressing evidence in a pending murder prosecution, ORS 138.060(2)(a). The trial court determined that, near the beginning of a custodial interrogation, defendant equivocally invoked his right against compelled self-incrimination under Article I, section 12, of the Oregon Constitution, but law enforcement failed to clarify defendant's intent as to that invocation and, instead, continued the interrogation. The court concluded that the failure to clarify had violated Article I, section 12, and it therefore suppressed defendant's invocation and all the statements that he had made thereafter. We affirm, but on different grounds: We conclude that defendant unequivocally invoked his right against compelled self-incrimination and, therefore, the interrogation should have ended when defendant made that invocation.
The facts are undisputed.1 Defendant's girlfriend, who was also the mother of his then-infant daughter, died in 2009 when she fell during a hike with defendant in the Columbia River Gorge. The investigation into the cause of her fall proceeded slowly. In the meantime, defendant continued to live in Oregon for several years; he then traveled with his daughter to work in China, staying for 18 months.
In 2014, while defendant was still in China, prosecutors secured a secret indictment in the Hood River County Circuit Court, charging defendant with murder. A judge immediately issued a warrant for defendant's arrest. In early 2015, defendant was located and detained at the San Francisco International Airport after arriving there on an overseas flight from China, en route to Oregon, with his daughter. Two detectives from the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office responded and took over the investigation. At some point, defendant was handcuffed and remained so for several hours. He also had not slept for an extended period of time.
The detectives then interviewed defendant, who apparently was still handcuffed. At the outset of the interview, the lead detective, Matsuura, introduced himself and the other detective, and stated that defendant was not free to leave. Matsuura then read defendant his Miranda rights, which defendant indicated that he understood. Matsuura began the interview by explaining that the airport fell within the jurisdiction of his office and that, when individuals are arrested at the airport, his office interviews them before lodging them in the county jail. Defendant did not respond to that explanation. The following back-and-forth then ensued between Matsuura and defendant:
(Emphases added.) Defendant then told the detective that the victim had died about six years earlier after falling from a cliff. The interview continued for about three hours, touching on many subjects. Defendant thereafter was booked in the local county jail and later was transported back to Oregon and arraigned.
Defendant moved to suppress his statements from the interview, asserting violations of his state and federal constitutional rights against compelled self-incrimination when questioning continued after he had stated, "[i]t's not something I want to talk about."2 Defendant alternatively argued that his statement had been either an unequivocal invocation, which required the detectives to stop the interview, or an equivocal invocation, which he asserted required the detectives, under Article I, section 12, to clarify his intent as to the invocation. The state responded that defendant's statement did not qualify as an invocation, either unequivocal or equivocal. The state continued that, even if defendant had made an equivocal invocation, the detectives would have been permitted to continue the interview without asking clarifying questions and, therefore, no violation of defendant's Article I, section 12, right against compelled self-incrimination had occurred.
To decide the merits of defendant's motion, the trial court considered evidence consisting of an audio recording and transcript of the interview, and heard argument at a pretrial hearing, but did not hear any witness testimony. The court ultimately ruled that suppression was warranted. The court first determined that defendant's statement had been ambiguous because it could have been an invocation or it could have been defendant's way of signaling that the topic of the victim's death was still an emotionally charged one, although not foreclosing his willingness to discuss it. The court thus characterized the statement as an equivocal invocation under Article I, section 12, which, in the court's view, required the detectives to ask clarifying questions to determine whether defendant was invoking his right against compelled self-incrimination. Because the detectives failed to do so, the court concluded, defendant's right under Article I, section 12, had been violated, and the resulting interview statements must be suppressed. The state appealed to this court. See ORS 138.060(2)(a) ().
On direct appeal, the parties repeat the invocation arguments summarized above—focusing first on whether defendant made an unequivocal invocation of the right against compelled self-incrimination under Article I, section 12, or, alternatively, whether he made an equivocal invocation or even any invocation at all. The state also repeats its argument that, if defendant made an equivocal invocation, the detectives were not required to ask clarifying questions, and it urges this court to consider that question anew under Article I, section 12. The state in particular argues that this court's case law to date merely assumes that Article I, section 12, imposes a duty to clarify, but does not expressly so hold, and adds that, by contrast, the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution imposes no such duty.3 The state further contends that, if anything, defendant merely demonstrated an intent to not respond to questions about certain topics, but not an intent to invoke his right against compelled self-incrimination, such that the detectives were required to stop the interview.
Defendant counters that this court previously has held—and should continue to hold—that, if a suspect equivocally invokes the right against compelled self-incrimination, law enforcement officers are required to clarify the suspect's intent as to the invocation before proceeding further. Defendant otherwise alternatively responds that he was entitled to "selectively invoke" that right as to questions on certain topics, and, once he did so, the detectives were precluded from asking further questions about those topics.
We review for error of law—that is, we determine as a matter of law whether defendant's statement amounted to an unequivocal invocation or, if not, then whether it amounted to an equivocal invocation or no invocation at all. State v. Avila-Nava , 356 Or. 600, 609, 341 P.3d 714 (2014) ; State v. McAnulty , 356 Or. 432, 449, 338 P.3d 653 (2014), cert. den. , ––– U.S. ––––, 136 S.Ct. 34, 193 L.Ed.2d 48 (2015). As explained below, we conclude that defendant made an unequivocal invocation.4
We begin by setting out some familiar principles. Article I, section 12, establishes a right against compelled self-incrimination.5 To protect that right, police must give Miranda warnings to a...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Sanelle, A156503.
...error. We review for legal error whether defendant's statement was an equivocal invocation of his right to counsel. State v. Nichols , 361 Or. 101, 106, 390 P.3d 1001 (2017). We limit our discussion of the circumstances of defendant's statement and the interview to the record developed at t......
-
State v. Roberts
...utterance" to determine whether a reasonable officer would understand that defendant was invoking his rights. State v. Nichols , 361 Or. 101, 108-09, 390 P.3d 1001 (2017) (quoting State v. Avila-Nava , 356 Or. 600, 613, 341 P.3d 714 (2014) ). Invocations of one's Article I, section 12, righ......
-
State v. Ward
...bears the burden of proving a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver "under the totality of the circumstances." State v. Nichols , 361 Or. 101, 107, 390 P.3d 1001 (2017). In addition to the general "totality of the circumstances" inquiry, to ensure that any waiver is knowing as well as ......
- State v. Andersen