State v. Rivera, 1245
| Decision Date | 15 May 1963 |
| Docket Number | No. 1245,1245 |
| Citation | 381 P.2d 584,94 Ariz. 45 |
| Parties | The STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Jesus Mares RIVERA, Appellant. |
| Court | Arizona Supreme Court |
William H. Tinney, Jr., and John R. McDonald, Tucson, for appellant.
Robert W. Pickrell, Atty. Gen., Jack I. Podret, County Atty., of Pima County and William J. Schafer, III, Deputy County Atty., for appellee.
Jesus Mares Rivera was convicted in the superior court of the crime of Second Degree Murder. A motion for new trial was denied and Rivera appeals from the verdict and judgment and the denial of his motion for new trial.
The facts may be briefly summarized.
Appellant, the victim, Jesus Romero, and two other men of Mexican descent all related, spent the late afternoon and early evening of September 30, 1961, drinking beer. At about 8:00 P.M. they decided to go to the home of Ysidirio Montano, one of the party, to have something to eat. On the way they stopped to buy more beer. After they arrived at Montano's home and while they were waiting in the car outside for his wife to prepare food, defendant expressed a desire to go home. Montano and the decedent, Jesus Romero, objected to the defendant's leaving. Rivera persisted, however, and when he attempted to walk away from the car a fight ensued. Rivera stabbed Romero with a pocket knife, inflicting a mortal wound. Rivera then left, saying he would return with a doctor, but was later found asleep at his aunt's home where he was arrested. Rivera did not show any effects of the fight when arrested.
After his arrest at approximately 11:00 P.M., Rivera was taken to the scene of the altercation for identification and then to the police department where he was booked. He was then placed in an interrogation room. At approximately 12:55 A.M., October 1, 1962, Rivera was escorted from the interrogation room and given a breathalyzer test. He was returned to the room at 1:25 A.M., where he remained until 4:15 A.M. when an interrogation began which resulted in a statement being given to the police by Rivera. At 7:00 A.M. Rivera was placed in a cell in the city jail.
The statement was taken in this fashion. Rivera who for all practical purposes neither spoke, read nor understood the English Language was asked a question in English by the interrogating officer. This was translated from English into Spanish by an interpreter who then translated Rivera's answers from Spanish to English. The questions in English and the translated answers in English were reduced to writing by typing in English as they were made. After completion of the interrogation the statement was read to Rivera, being translated from English to Spanish and he then signed it.
The statement insofar as its factual contents are considered contains many admissions against interest. We think the statement was admissible as against a claim of hearsay on the authority of our former decision in Indian Fred v. State, 36 Ariz. 48, 282 P. 930. There although the statement as made to the interpreter was not reduced to writing, the interpreter was permitted to relate at the trial what had been told to him by the defendant. In the present case the only distinction is that the statement as interpreted was reduced to writing in English, retranslated to the sccused and then signed by him. The multiple translation does not affect the admissibility of the statement, it merely goes to the weight to be accorded thereto by the jury. We may agree with the defendant's argument that it would be desirable for the statement to have been written out in Spanish so that defendant could have read it before signing but here again we believe this merely goes to the weight and not to its admissibility.
The appellant complains that the statement was an involuntary confession and therefor inadmissible. It was stipulated, however, that there was no force or violence used or any threats nor was there any promise of immunity given. The appellant as a witness corroborated these facts.
It is urged that the length of time Rivera was kept at the police station, from 11:00 P.M. to 7:00 A.M., coupled with the language difficulty and the manner and length of interrogation, constituted psychological coercion. We recognize that there is a point where the combination of non-physical and non-violent activities, similar to those outlined above, becomes so oppressive to the mind and body that a person's will is overpowered. We are of the opinion, however, that the facts in this case do not amount to such psychological coercion that as a matter of law the trial judge should have ruled the confession was involuntarily given. cf. Pierce v. United States, 91 U.S.App.D.C. 19, 197 F.2d 189, cert. denied, 344 U.S. 846, 73 S.Ct. 62, 97 L.Ed. 658. To a large extent each case in this area must be judged on its own peculiar factual background. The judge in his preliminary examination passed upon the voluntariness of appellant's statement and submitted it to the jury under appropriate instruction for a final determination on the question of whether it was freely and voluntarily given. This is in accord with our established practice. State v. Pulliam, 87 Ariz. 216, 349 P.2d 781.
Defendant also contends that the statement was inadmissible because it was obtained at a time when he was being unlawfully detained. A.R.S. § 13-1418 requires that a person arrested without a warrant be taken before a magistrate without unnecessary delay. It is urged that the failure to immediately take the defendant before a...
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