State v. Roberts, S00A1896.
Court | Supreme Court of Georgia |
Citation | 543 S.E.2d 725,273 Ga. 514 |
Docket Number | No. S00A1896.,S00A1896. |
Parties | The STATE v. ROBERTS. |
Decision Date | 02 March 2001 |
543 S.E.2d 725
273 Ga. 514
v.
ROBERTS
No. S00A1896.
Supreme Court of Georgia.
March 2, 2001.
Johnny R. Moore, Lawrenceville, for appellee.
Damien Roberts is an 18-year-old high school senior who was arrested for the murder of Gustava Hernandez. He waived his right to remain silent, and the two arresting officers videotaped his interrogation and statement. Roberts did not request an attorney, and approximately 22 minutes into a 34-minute interview, he confessed to the murder. In his statement, he admitted randomly selecting the victim simply because he was an Hispanic male, and shooting from the passenger side of a friend's vehicle as Hernandez rode by on his bicycle. However, Roberts filed a pre-trial motion challenging the admissibility of his statement. At the suppression hearing, only the two interrogating officers testified, and Roberts offered no evidence. After considering the testimony and reviewing the tape of the interview, the trial court granted Roberts' motion to suppress, holding that
the totality of the circumstances such as the age of the defendant, the time of night, the nature of the charges, the length of the questioning before the defendant would make any admissions, combined with the nature and content of the comments [made by the two officers] to induce the defendant to make an inculpatory statement....
Based upon these factors, the trial court concluded
that the defendant's statement was not freely and voluntarily made, but rather,... that the statement was made after repeated promises of benefit made by the officers and repeated statements that implied that the defendant had no choice but to speak to the police.
Pursuant to OCGA § 5-7-1(a)(4), the State appeals directly from the trial court's order.
1. In this state, the admissibility of a confession is dependent upon the satisfaction of three conditions. The defendant must offer it "voluntarily," it cannot be "induced by another by the slightest hope of benefit," and it should not be the product of the "remotest fear of injury." OCGA § 24-3-50. Unless clearly erroneous, a trial court's factual and credibility determinations related to the admissibility of a confession will be upheld on appeal. Gober v. State, 264 Ga. 226, 228(2)(b), 443 S.E.2d 616 (1994). In this case, however, there are no disputed facts and no credibility issues. Compare Tate v. State, 264 Ga. 53, 440 S.E.2d 646 (1994). Only the officers testified, and the videotape of Roberts' interrogation is demonstrative objective proof of the [273 Ga. 515] circumstances surrounding his inculpatory statement. Therefore, the question presented for resolution is whether the trial court erred in its legal conclusion that, under this undisputed evidence, Roberts' confession was inadmissible because it did not satisfy the requirements of OCGA § 24-3-50. In resolving this issue, "[i]t is the duty of this [C]ourt to independently review the evidence to determine whether the [S]tate has carried its burden of proving the admissibility of appellant's confession by a preponderance of the evidence. [Cit.]" Brooks v. State, 244 Ga. 574, 581-582(II)(2), 261 S.E.2d 379 (1979), vacated and remanded on other grounds, 446 U.S. 961, 100 S.Ct. 2937, 64 L.Ed.2d 821 (1980). Accordingly, we have considered the transcript of the suppression hearing and have viewed the videotape of the interrogation itself.
2. When determining the voluntariness of a confession, a trial court must consider the totality of the circumstances, as exemplified by nine factors. Reinhardt v. State, 263 Ga. 113, 115(3)(b), 428 S.E.2d 333
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