State v. Rheaume, 02-400.

CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Vermont
Citation853 A.2d 1259
Docket NumberNo. 02-400.,02-400.
PartiesSTATE of Vermont v. Roy M. RHEAUME.
Decision Date09 April 2004

Derk A. Wadas, Franklin County Deputy State's Attorney, St. Albans, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Matthew F. Valerio, Defender General, and Anna Saxman, Deputy Defender General, Montpelier, for Defendant-Appellant.

Present: AMESTOY, C.J., DOOLEY, JOHNSON, SKOGLUND and REIBER, JJ.

¶ 1. DOOLEY, J.

Defendant Roy Rheaume was convicted by a jury of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), 23 V.S.A. § 1201; this DUI conviction was defendant's third and accordingly classified as a felony. See 23 V.S.A. § 1210(d) (person convicted of three or more DUIs shall be fined not more than $2,500 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both); 13 V.S.A. § 1 ("any offense whose maximum term of imprisonment is more than two years ... is a felony"). Prior to his jury trial where he was convicted, defendant moved to suppress statements concerning his identity. These statements were made in response to questions asked by a Vermont State Trooper during processing. In an effort to suppress the statements, defendant argued that his Miranda rights were violated because he was read the Miranda warnings and subsequently invoked his right to silence prior to questioning by the processing trooper. The trial court denied defendant's motion, finding that "there was no violation of the defendant's Fifth Amendment rights, rights under the Vermont Constitution or the Vermont Public Defender Act by the process followed by the trooper." At the enhancement proceeding, the prosecution used defendant's date of birth and social security number to identify him and show that he had two prior DUI convictions. Defendant now appeals his felony conviction and the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress the statements. We affirm.

¶ 2. On August 31, 2001, a Vermont State Trooper pulled over a speeding vehicle. After the vehicle stopped, the driver, later identified as Roy Rheaume, fled the vehicle and ran into a cornfield. The trooper gave chase, but was unable to see anything in the cornfield. Other troopers arrived on the scene and began searching for defendant. After approximately thirty minutes, defendant was found sleeping in the cornfield. The troopers who apprehended defendant detected a strong odor of alcohol on defendant's breath and saw that he had difficulty walking. Defendant was arrested for DUI.

¶ 3. Following the arrest, the troopers took defendant to the station for processing, which was videotaped by the processing trooper. Before defendant was given Miranda warnings, the processing trooper asked defendant several questions.1 After defendant answered these questions, the trooper read defendant the Miranda warnings. In response to the warnings, defendant stated that he did not wish to speak with the trooper and that he wanted an attorney. Following this request, the processing trooper telephoned the on-call public defender. While the trooper had the attorney on the telephone, the trooper asked defendant his name and date of birth. The trooper also informed the attorney, in defendant's presence, that if defendant submitted to a breath test he could be released, but if he refused he would be lodged. Defendant then spoke with the attorney and agreed to take the breath test. After defendant spoke with the attorney, the trooper, continuing to process defendant, asked him for his address and social security number. Defendant answered the processing questions, apparently truthfully.

¶ 4. Using defendant's date of birth and social security number, the trooper obtained copies of defendant's two prior DUI convictions: one in 1981 and one in 1997. Following a breath test, the trooper charged defendant with a third DUI offense — a felony.

¶ 5. After charges were filed, defendant moved through counsel to suppress the statements and the results of the breath test and to dismiss. The trial court considered the motion during defendant's civil suspension hearing. Subsequent to the hearing, the parties agreed that the court should consider the evidence presented in support of suppression in the civil suspension hearing in deciding defendant's motion to suppress evidence in the criminal case. The court granted defendant's motion to suppress the breath test because of the trooper's statement to the on-call attorney that if defendant refused the breath test he would be lodged, but denied his motion to suppress the statements concerning his identity. The court entered judgment in the civil suspension case in defendant's favor and set the criminal case for trial before a jury.

¶ 6. Pursuant to the procedures first outlined in State v. Cameron, 126 Vt. 244, 249-50, 227 A.2d 276, 279-80 (1967), the court held a bifurcated jury trial, first addressing whether defendant committed DUI on August 31, 2001. During that phase of the criminal jury trial, defendant's attorney objected to the use of defendant's name and social security number for identification. The court overruled this objection. Defendant was convicted of DUI by a unanimous jury verdict.

¶ 7. Following this jury verdict, the court moved on to the enhancement phase. Because the State charged defendant with a third offense, it was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant was convicted of DUI on two prior occasions. During this proceeding, the State used defendant's name, date of birth, address, and social security number-information obtained after defendant had received Miranda warnings and invoked his right to remain silent-to establish that the Roy Rheaume convicted of DUI in 1981 and 1997, and the Roy Rheaume presently convicted, were the same person. At the conclusion of this proceeding, the jury found that the State had established the two prior DUI convictions. Defendant was sentenced to ninety days to five years.

¶ 8. Defendant argues here, as he did below, that his Miranda rights were violated when the processing trooper asked him his birth date and social security number after he had invoked his right to silence. Therefore, he claims the trial court erred when it denied his motion to suppress the answers to these questions. We review motions to suppress de novo. State v. Pierce, 173 Vt. 151, 152, 787 A.2d 1284, 1286 (2001). The State, in opposition, contends that although the questions were asked after defendant invoked his right to silence, these questions did not violate Miranda because they fall within the "routine booking question" exception. Defendant, conceding that such an exception exists under federal law, urges us not to apply it on the facts of this case and not to adopt it under Chapter I, Article 10 of the Vermont Constitution. Thus, we address two issues in this appeal: (1) whether the questions objected to — seeking defendant's birth date and social security number — fit within the routine booking question exception to Miranda as a matter of federal law; and (2) whether we should recognize such an exception to Miranda under the Vermont Constitution.

¶ 9. We start with the routine booking question exception under federal law. Although, as noted below, there was a disagreement over the rationale for the holding, the United States Supreme Court recognized an exception to the requirements of Miranda in Pennsylvania v. Muniz, 496 U.S. 582, 601-02, 608, 110 S.Ct. 2638, 110 L.Ed.2d 528 (1990). In Muniz, a police officer asked an arrested DUI suspect a number of routine questions for processing purposes. Defendant sought to suppress the answers to these questions because he had not received Miranda warnings at the time that the questions were asked. The United States Supreme Court upheld the denial of the motion to suppress based on a routine booking question exception to the Miranda requirements. Id. The plurality decision of Justice Brennan explained his rationale for adopting the exception:

The Commonwealth argues that the seven questions asked by Officer Hosterman ... — regarding Muniz's name, address, height, weight, eye color, date of birth, and current age-did not constitute custodial interrogation as we have defined the term in Miranda and subsequent cases. In Miranda, the Court referred to "interrogation" as actual "questioning initiated by law enforcement officers." We have since clarified that definition, finding that the "goals of the Miranda safeguards could be effectuated if those safeguards extended not only to express questioning, but also to `its functional equivalent.'" In Rhode Island v. Innis, [446 U.S. 291, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 64 L.Ed.2d 297], the Court defined the phrase "functional equivalent" of express questioning to include "any words or actions on the part of the police (other than those normally attendant to arrest and custody) that the police should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from the suspect. The latter portion of this definition focuses primarily upon the perceptions of the suspect, rather than the intent of the police." However, "[a]ny knowledge the police may have had concerning the unusual susceptibility of a defendant to a particular form of persuasion might be an important factor in determining" what the police reasonably should have known. Thus, custodial interrogation for purposes of Miranda includes both express questioning and words or actions that, given the officer's knowledge of any special susceptibilities of the suspect, the officer knows or reasonably should know are likely to "have ... the force of a question on the accused," and therefore be reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response.
We disagree with the Commonwealth's contention that Officer Hosterman's first seven questions regarding Muniz's name, address, height, weight, eye color, date of birth, and current age do not qualify as custodial interrogation as we defined the term in Innis, merely because the questions were not intended to elicit information for investigatory purposes. As explained above, th
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15 cases
  • State v. Lambert
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Vermont
    • April 30, 2021
    ...privilege against self-incrimination and that contained in the Fifth Amendment are synonymous." State v. Rheaume, 2004 VT 35, ¶ 18, 176 Vt. 413, 853 A.2d 1259. Federal law therefore governs cases alleging a Miranda violation and, with respect to federal issues, "we are no more than an inter......
  • State v. Oney
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Vermont
    • November 25, 2009
    ...privilege against self-incrimination and that contained in the Fifth Amendment are synonymous," State v. Rheaume, 2004 VT 35, ¶ 18, 176 Vt. 413, 853 A.2d 1259; see also State v. Peterson, 2007 VT 24, ¶¶ 17-18, 181 Vt. 436, 923 A.2d 585, and that "the right to representation by counsel found......
  • State v. O'Neill
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Vermont
    • March 29, 2019
    ...determine whether a suspect was subject to interrogation by assessing the totality of the circumstances. Rheaume, 2004 VT 35, ¶ 12, 176 Vt. 413, 853 A.2d 1259.¶ 44. We hold that the trial court properly denied suppression of defendant's statements in the police cruiser and processing room p......
  • State v. Lambert
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Court of Vermont
    • April 30, 2021
    ...privilege against self-incrimination and that contained in the Fifth Amendment are synonymous." State v. Rheaume, 2004 VT 35, ¶ 18, 176 Vt. 413, 853 A.2d 1259. Federal law therefore governs cases alleging a Miranda violation and, with respect to federal issues, "we are no more than an inter......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • The Children’s Corner
    • United States
    • Vermont Bar Association Vermont Bar Journal No. 39-1, March 2013
    • Invalid date
    ...U.S. Const. Amend. 5; Vt. Const. Ch. 1, Art. 10. [13] U.S. Const. Amend. 5. [14] State v. Rheaume, 2004 VT 35, ¶ 18, 176 Vt. 413, 422, 853 A.2d 1259, 1265). [15] Estelle v. Smith, 451 U.S. 454, 462-463 (1981) (“the Fifth amendment privilege is available outside of criminal court proceedings......

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