State v. Peterson, 00-1318.
| Decision Date | 11 June 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 00-1318.,00-1318. |
| Citation | 663 N.W.2d 417 |
| Parties | STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Steven Joseph PETERSON, Appellant. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Dennis D. Hendrickson, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Cristen C. Odell, Assistant Attorney General, Thomas J. Ferguson, County Attorney, and D. Raymond Walton, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
A jury convicted Steven Joseph Peterson of first-degree murder. He appealed his conviction, judgment, and sentence, contending the district court erred in refusing to suppress statements he made to law enforcement officers. We transferred the case to the court of appeals, which held that the district court should have suppressed the statements, but that any error in admitting them was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. We granted Peterson's application for further review. Our de novo review of the record leads us to conclude that the district court should have suppressed the statements and the erroneous admission of those statements was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. We therefore vacate the court of appeals decision, reverse the district court judgment, and remand the case for a new trial.
Howard Smith, an elderly gentleman who lived alone, loved people. Children in particular would frequent his home; he kept pop and candy for them. Ruben Howard, Jessie Billington, Peterson, and others often took advantage of Smith's generosity and stole from him.
About two months before Smith was found stabbed to death in his home, Peterson, Billington and several of their friends stole Smith's car. Peterson confessed to the theft, pled guilty, and was imprisoned at the Newton Correctional Facility sometime after Smith's death. Billington also admitted to stealing Smith's car, and was also imprisoned at some point. However, the record is not clear as to whether Billington was imprisoned for the theft.
Eventually, the State charged Peterson with first-degree murder in connection with Smith's death. Detectives Moller and Holms of the Waterloo Police Department drove to the Newton Correctional Facility to arrest Peterson pursuant to an arrest warrant on the charge.
Moller had advised prison authorities that he was coming to serve Peterson with the warrant. When the two detectives arrived at the prison, Correctional Officer Holder escorted Peterson from Peterson's work area to a small room segregated from the general prison population. Holder remained on guard outside the room.
Moller attempted to interview Peterson about Smith's death without first telling Peterson about the charge and the warrant and advising him of his rights. Peterson stood up and denied any involvement with the death. Moller asked Peterson to sit down and talk to him for just a minute. Peterson sat down, at which point Moller told Peterson that they had talked to quite a few people. Peterson again denied that he had killed Smith and announced he would not talk any further without an attorney.
Instead of terminating the interview, Moller continued talking, informing Peterson that he had learned some things. Moller told Peterson he knew that Ruben Howard, Billington, and he—Peterson—had gone to Smith's home to get some money, something had gone wrong, and Smith had been killed. At this point, Peterson asked what everyone was saying about him. Moller refused to go into details. Peterson again denied that he had killed Smith. Detective Holms then said to Moller, "just go ahead and arrest him on the warrant and let's get going." Moller responded by advising Peterson he was under arrest for the murder of Smith.
Peterson then asked about the penalties for murder and Moller told him that first-degree murder carries a life sentence. Peterson stood up and said, "Let's go," at which point Moller responded, "Well, I'd still maybe like to talk to you more about this." Peterson said, "Well maybe when we get back to Waterloo, I'll talk to you."
Correctional Officer Holder then accompanied Peterson to his cell so Peterson could retrieve his belongings. While the two were crossing the prison yard, an inmate yelled at Peterson, wanting to know what was going on. Peterson responded that he was going to be charged with first-degree murder. Holder asked Peterson what he thought about that, to which Peterson responded that he did not remember anything because he had been using methamphetamine for a month. After Peterson retrieved his belongings, Holder escorted him back to the two detectives. Holder told the detectives about his conversation with Peterson.
The detectives put Peterson in the back seat of their car. At this point, Peterson was in restraints. Moller sat in the back seat with Peterson while Holms drove. The officers engaged Peterson in some small talk about prison life.
Holms asked Peterson whether drugs were available in prison. Peterson denied using drugs in prison but did make a statement similar to what he had said to Holder about using methamphetamine "back then" and not remembering anything. At this point Moller told Peterson that he would like to talk to him more but would first need to have him sign a waiver of his Miranda rights. Peterson signed the waiver form and began talking with Moller about the case.
When the detectives and Peterson arrived at the Waterloo Police Station, Moller took a typewritten statement from Peterson, which Peterson signed. Peterson also provided an oral videotaped statement. In his statement, Peterson described the killing this way:
Peterson went on to describe moving the body to the bed and the three of them stealing various items from Smith's home.
Peterson moved to suppress all his statements to the two detectives at the prison facility and on the trip to the Waterloo Police Station, as well as his statement to Correctional Officer Holder and the statements he gave at the police station. District Judge Jon Fister denied the motion. At trial, District Judge George L. Stigler admitted the statements into evidence and the jury found Peterson guilty of first-degree murder. The district court sentenced Peterson to life imprisonment. Peterson appealed.
On appeal, Peterson contended the statements he made to law enforcement officers on the day of his arrest were obtained in violation of his Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights and should have been suppressed. We transferred the case to the court of appeals. The court of appeals concluded the district court should have suppressed Peterson's statements because they were obtained in violation of his Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. However, the court of appeals concluded that any error in the statements' admission was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. We granted Peterson's application for further review.
We recite additional facts as they relate to the issues presented.
We review constitutional issues de novo. State v. Biddle, 652 N.W.2d 191, 200 (Iowa 2002).
A. Fifth Amendment. The Fifth Amendment to the federal constitution provides that no person "shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." U.S. Const. amend. V. The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal constitution makes this right against self-incrimination binding on the states. Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 6, 84 S.Ct. 1489, 1492, 12 L.Ed.2d 653, 658 (1964). Pursuant to the Fifth Amendment, a person questioned by the police after being "taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way" must first be warned that "he has a right to remain silent, that any statement he does make may be used as evidence against him, and that he has a right to the presence of an attorney, either retained or appointed." Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1612, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, 706-07 (1966).
Once the warnings have been given, Miranda makes very clear the subsequent procedure:
If the individual indicates in any manner, at any time prior to or during questioning, that he wishes to remain silent, the interrogation must cease. At this point he has shown that he intends to exercise his Fifth Amendment privilege; any statement taken after the person invokes his...
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