State v. Olivas

• Decision Date: 03 March 2011
• Docket Number: No. 27,953.,27,953.
• Citation: 149 N.M. 498,2011 -NMCA- 030,252 P.3d 722
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff–Appellee,v.Blaine OLIVAS, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

149 N.M. 498

252 P.3d 722

2011 -NMCA- 030

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.Blaine OLIVAS, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 27,953.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

Jan. 19, 2011.Certiorari Denied, No. 32,840, March 3, 2011.

Gary K. King, Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM, Ralph E. Trujillo, Assistant Attorney General, Albuquerque, NM, for Appellee.Albright Law & Consulting, Jennifer R. Albright, Albuquerque, NM, for Appellant.

OPINION

FRY, Chief Judge.

{1} Defendant appeals his convictions for second degree murder and three counts of tampering with evidence for the shooting death of his friend, Johnny McKnight III (Victim). On appeal, Defendant raises four issues: (1) the district court erroneously refused to suppress two sets of statements Defendant made to the police regarding Victim's death, one of which was given without Defendant's first being informed of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966); (2) his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated; (3) he was improperly sentenced without being given an opportunity to present mitigating evidence; and (4) he was denied effective assistance of counsel.

{2} We reverse the district court's denial of Defendant's motions to suppress because we conclude that, under the facts presented in this case, Defendant was subject to a custodial interrogation when he gave his first statement at the district attorney's office without the benefit of required Miranda warnings. Accordingly, we vacate Defendant's convictions and remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. For purposes of remand, we determine that despite the Miranda violation, Defendant voluntarily gave his statement at the district attorney's office. See State v. Adame, 2006–NMCA–100, ¶ 10, 140 N.M. 258, 142 P.3d 26 (explaining that the failure to give Miranda warnings does not require suppression of evidence that is the fruit of a suspect's unwarned, but voluntary, statements). We further hold that Defendant's argument regarding admissibility of a second statement taken while Defendant was in jail is not susceptible to review on appeal and that Defendant did not preserve his speedy trial argument. In light of our holding, we do not address Defendant's remaining two claims of error.

BACKGROUND

{3} In the late evening hours of October 12, 2004, police found Victim's body on the side of a state highway near Clayton, New Mexico, after responding to a report by a passing motorist. A medical investigator testified at trial that Victim had been killed by a gunshot wound to the head and that the manner of death was homicide. In the course of a criminal investigation into Victim's death, investigators from the New Mexico State Police Department learned from various Clayton residents, including Victim's ex-wife and a local sheriff, that Defendant and Victim, who were friends, had been seen together on the evening that Victim was killed.

{4} After state and local police unsuccessfully attempted to make contact with Defendant several times over the course of two days following Victim's murder, a relative of Defendant contacted the police on October 14, 2004, and informed them that Defendant was willing to meet with investigators at a neutral location. After officers arrived at the location, they informed Defendant that they wanted to discuss Victim's death with him, and Defendant agreed to accompany the officers to the local district attorney's office for an interview. Once there, Agent Mark Lewandowski and Sergeant Miguel Aguilar, both of the New Mexico State Police, questioned Defendant regarding his whereabouts on October 12 and Victim's death. It is undisputed that Miranda warnings were not given to Defendant at any point during his encounter with police before or after questioning began at the district attorney's office. Although Defendant denied any involvement in Victim's murder, he told Sergeant Aguilar that he had seen “visions” of the crime and then, while narrating what he had seen in the visions to the officer, he relayed that someone named Pete had killed Victim, the manner in which the shooting had occurred, and where physical evidence taken from the crime scene could be found in the Clayton area. At the conclusion of the interview, Defendant was arrested on an outstanding warrant for an unrelated misdemeanor charge, of which he had himself informed the officers during the interview.

{5} Based on the information Defendant gave in this first statement, investigators were immediately able to recover several pieces of incriminating physical evidence related to the crime, including the murder weapon. Later that same day, Sergeant Aguilar interviewed Defendant a second time after he had been transported to jail on the unrelated misdemeanor warrant. Defendant does not dispute that he was given Miranda warnings in full and that he did not invoke his rights under Miranda at any time during this second interview. Sergeant Aguilar testified that this interview yielded no new information regarding Victim's murder, as Defendant reiterated only what he had previously stated at the district attorney's office.

{6} Shortly thereafter, Defendant was charged with an open count of murder in connection with Victim's death and four counts of tampering with evidence. During pre-trial proceedings, Defendant sought to suppress both of his statements from October 14 on the grounds that: (1) he was subject to a custodial interrogation at the district attorney's office without being given the required Miranda warnings, (2) his jailhouse statement was the fruit of the poisonous tree from the earlier illegally obtained custodial interrogation, and (3) his statements were not voluntarily given. The district court denied Defendant's motions to suppress, finding that Defendant was not subject to a custodial interrogation at the district attorney's office and that the statement was voluntary. Defendant was later convicted at a jury trial, and this appeal followed.

DISCUSSIONA. Admissibility of Defendant's Statements

{7} The main issue on appeal is whether the district court erroneously admitted into evidence both statements Defendant made to police officers on October 14. On appeal, Defendant argues that both statements should have been suppressed because: (1) he was subject to a custodial interrogation at the district attorney's office, which required that officers administer Miranda warnings to him, and none were given; (2) his jailhouse statement was tainted by the initial, allegedly illegally obtained statement at the district attorney's office; and (3) neither statement was voluntarily given. We address each of Defendant's arguments in turn.

1. Standard of Review

{8} A ruling on a motion to suppress evidence presents a mixed question of law and fact. State v. Garcia, 2005–NMSC–017, ¶ 27, 138 N.M. 1, 116 P.3d 72. In reviewing a district court's rulings on a motion to suppress, “[we] review[ ] factual findings under a substantial evidence standard, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, and we review de novo whether the district court correctly applied the law to the facts.” State v. Slayton, 2009–NMSC–054, ¶ 11, 147 N.M. 340, 223 P.3d 337. In addition, we “indulge in all reasonable inferences in support of the district court's ruling and disregard all evidence and inferences to the contrary.” State v. Bravo, 2006–NMCA–019, ¶ 5, 139 N.M. 93, 128 P.3d 1070. Whether a defendant was subject to a custodial interrogation and whether a defendant's statement was voluntarily given are legal determinations that we review de novo on appeal. State v. Nieto, 2000–NMSC–031, ¶ 19, 129 N.M. 688, 12 P.3d 442 (applying de novo review to whether a defendant is subject to a custodial interrogation); State v. Cooper, 1997–NMSC–058, ¶¶ 25–28, 124 N.M. 277, 949 P.2d 660 (applying de novo review to whether a confession is voluntary).

2. Admissibility of Defendant's Statement at District Attorney's Office

{9} We first address Defendant's argument that the district court erroneously refused to suppress his statement to Agent Lewandowski and Sergeant Aguilar during questioning at the district attorney's office. Defendant asserts that he was subject to a custodial interrogation during this interview, which required that officers advise him of his rights under Miranda prior to questioning him, and it is undisputed that no warnings were administered. On appeal, Defendant seeks reversal of the district court's ruling that the interview was non-custodial in nature and that Miranda therefore did not apply.

{10} In Miranda, the United States Supreme Court established a prophylactic rule requiring that suspects be advised of their right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment when they are subjected to the inherently compelling pressures of custodial police interrogations. Miranda, 384 U.S. at 444, 467–68, 86 S.Ct. 1602; see State v. Javier M., 2001–NMSC–030, ¶ 14, 131 N.M. 1, 33 P.3d 1. Thus, it is well-established that law enforcement officers are obligated to administer Miranda warnings only when a suspect is subject to a custodial interrogation or, in other words, when he/she is “(1) interrogated while (2) in custody.” State v. Wilson, 2007–NMCA–111, ¶ 12, 142 N.M. 737, 169 P.3d 1184 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). In this case, because the State concedes that Defendant was subject to an interrogation at the district attorney's office, the sole issue is whether Defendant was in custody such that Miranda warnings were required prior to the questioning. In determining whether an individual is in custody for purposes of Miranda, we “apply an objective test to resolve the ultimate inquiry: was there a formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement of the degree associated with a formal arrest?” Wilson, 2007–NMCA–111, ¶¶ 14, 23, 142 N.M. 737, 169 P.3d 1184 (internal quotation marks and...