State v. Prue
| Decision Date | 09 September 2016 |
| Docket Number | No. 15-002,15-002 |
| Citation | 153 A.3d 551 |
| Parties | STATE of Vermont v. Allen PRUE |
| Court | Vermont Supreme Court |
Lisa A. Warren, Caledonia County State's Attorney, and Kirk L. Williams, Deputy State's Attorney, St. Johnsbury, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Allison N. Fulcher of Martin & Associates, Barre, for Defendant-Appellant.
PRESENT: Reiber, C.J., Dooley, Skoglund, Robinson and Eaton, JJ.
¶ 1. Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted kidnapping following a jury trial. On appeal, he makes four claims. First, he argues that his confession on March 27, 2012, should be suppressed because his waiver of his Miranda rights and ensuing confession were not voluntary. Second, he argues the trial court committed reversible error when it excluded evidence of his wife's psychiatric diagnosis. Third, he contends that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of his wife's internet search history. Finally, defendant argues his sentence should be reversed and remanded because the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion to continue his sentencing so that certain witnesses could testify. We find no error and affirm defendant's convictions and sentence.
¶ 2. We address each argument in turn, providing the salient facts as relevant to each of defendant's arguments.
¶ 3. In considering defendant's motion to suppress, the trial court made the following findings, which are supported by substantial evidence.
¶ 4. On March 25, 2012, the victim, Melissa Jenkins, phoned a friend and reported that a woman had called asking her to help a person who used to plow her driveway because his car had broken down. The victim told her friend that she was going to help, but felt uneasy and wanted someone to know. She gave her friend the phone number from defendant's business card.
¶ 5. After a period of time, the friend became concerned when he had not heard back from the victim. He went to look for her and found her car running on the side of the road with her two-year old son sitting in the back, and no sign of the victim. The friend then phoned the Vermont State Police. When the police arrived at the scene of the crime, they found a hat and identified the phone number and plow business to be defendant's. In addition, they found defendant's business card on a table in the victim's home.
¶ 6. As a result of this evidence, defendant became a potential witness to what was at that point a missing person case. Accordingly, the police went to defendant's home in the early morning hours of March 26, 2012. Defendant and his wife were up and about when the police arrived because his job as a paper-delivery person required an early start. The police interviewed both defendant and his wife about where they had been that day and whether either of them had had contact with the victim. With the consent of defendant and his wife, the police searched defendant's home, outbuildings, and motor vehicles. The trial court found this first contact to be significant because it was through this initial contact that defendant and his wife became aware that they were in police focus concerning the victim's disappearance. The next day, the victim's body was discovered.
¶ 7. Coincidentally, several weeks earlier, defendant's wife had reported to the police concerns about unauthorized use of her credit card. She suspected that her ex-husband was involved. Around 3:00 p.m. on March 26—the afternoon following the victim's disappearance—defendant and his wife appeared unannounced at the Vermont State Police barracks to speak with someone further about this "identity theft" issue. The trial court found that defendant later admitted that the purpose of him visiting the barracks was to "find out what the police knew" regarding the victim's homicide. Police officers offered defendant and his wife water and then kept the cups they used for DNA testing. In addition, with defendant's wife's consent, they downloaded the contents of her cell phone. Unbeknownst to defendant and his wife, this interaction was recorded through a hidden camera and microphone.
¶ 8. The next day, March 27, the police invited defendant and his wife back to the station to further discuss their identity theft case. This was actually a ruse to get the two back in the station so they could be questioned about the victim's death. Defendant and his wife arrived around 5:30 p.m., and they were separated. Defendant met with Lieutenant Matthew Nally, who started the interview by telling defendant that he wanted more information about the identity theft case.
¶ 9. About fifteen minutes into the interview, Detective Todd Baxter knocked on the door and falsely indicated that he was surprised to see defendant at the station because he, Detective Baxter, had just been to defendant's home in order to speak with him further about the victim's death. Detective Baxter told defendant that he was free to go, as had Lieutenant Nally previously. For roughly the next hour and a half, the troopers asked about defendant's and his wife's whereabouts on March 25, 2012. Both troopers were dressed in plain clothes and were armed. They were in a room of about 100 square feet located in the secure area of the barracks. The door was closed for privacy, and the barracks was busy with officers working on the homicide investigation. On and off throughout the interview, defendant was offered bathroom breaks and water or soda, and was reminded that he was free to leave at any time. He kept possession of his cell phone throughout the interview.
¶ 10. The interview lasted a total of seven hours, including travel to various sites. The trial court listened to the audio recording of the interview and found that defendant demonstrated solid general knowledge. For example, the trial court found that defendant spoke clearly about auto mechanics and welding, understood military time, and was aware that the Burger King he and his wife visited the day before the homicide had cameras that the police could use to cross-check his statements. In addition, the trial court found that defendant's overall speech pattern was good, his language was detailed, and he was generally forthcoming with information, except for instances where defendant struggled out of an apparent attempt to avoid incriminating himself or his wife.
¶ 11. The two troopers used a number of interview techniques with defendant, including rapport-building, minimizing and maximizing the severity of the offense, and victim blaming. The trial court found that as the officers worked through defendant's timeline, a fair amount of banter took place between the officers and defendant. Defendant remained engaged in the conversation and on multiple occasions when asked if he wanted to continue talking, defendant said he was happy to do so. This rapport-building had some effect on defendant, as evidenced by his willingness to share ever more intimate details about his life, including his sexual relations with his wife.
¶ 12. Although defendant expressed anxiety about being questioned as to the victim's homicide, he understood the overall dynamic of the interview and that the officers were investigating him. The trial court cited one example from the interview where defendant "mentioned that he knew [the police] would have done a background check on him" before their conversation. In addition, defendant told the officers he was aware of their techniques, stating, for example, "this little technique right here, you guys saying your wife has already given up ... That's you guys' technique." One final example the trial court gave regarding defendant's overall understanding of the dynamic of the interview was his reaction to being charged with penetrating the victim. When confronted, defendant said "I mean, the autopsy should have proved that."
¶ 13. Approximately two hours into the interview, after reviewing defendant's activities of March 25, the officers gave defendant Miranda warnings. The trial court excerpted the relevant dialogue from the transcript of the interview:
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...may be a question of fact reviewed for clear error under the Vermont Constitution. State v. Prue, 2016 VT 98, ¶ 23 n.3, 203 Vt. 123, 153 A.3d 551. We need not decide here whether a different standard may apply under the Vermont Constitution, however, because neither party argues a different......
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...this case, where defendant claims that psychological tactics rendered his confession involuntary. State v. Prue, 2016 VT 98, ¶ 39, 203 Vt. 123, 153 A.3d 551 ; Bacon, 163 Vt. at 293, 658 A.2d at 64. The instruction accurately conveyed the spirit of the law. Pitts, 174 Vt. at 23, 800 A.2d at ......
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State v. Lambert
...may be a question of fact reviewed for clear error under the Vermont Constitution. State v. Prue, 2016 VT 98, ¶ 23 n.3, 203 Vt. 123, 153 A.3d 551. We need not decide here whether a different standard may apply under the Vermont Constitution, however, because neither party argues a different......