State v. Scruggs

• Decision Date: 24 October 2012
• Docket Number: No. A11–0950.,A11–0950.
• Citation: 822 N.W.2d 631
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Alfunda SCRUGGS, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

822 N.W.2d 631

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent,

v.Alfunda SCRUGGS, Appellant.

No. A11–0950.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Oct. 24, 2012.

Syllabus by the Court

1. The district court did not err in denying appellant's motion to suppress his statement to the police because the appellant was not in custody when he made the statement, and therefore a Miranda warning was not required.

2. Because the facts did not compel a single inference regarding whether a witness was an accomplice, the district court did not err when it denied appellant's request to instruct the jury that the witness was an accomplice as a matter of law.

3. The district court did not commit plain error when it instructed the jury that a conviction could not be based on the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice without specifically instructing the jury on when a person could be liable for a crime committed by another as an aider and advisor under Minn. Stat. § 609.05, subds. 1–2 (2010).

4. The district court did not abuse its discretion when it admitted Spreigl evidence regarding the appellant's prior assaults of a witness.

Lori Swanson, Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; and Michael O. Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney, Elizabeth Johnston, Assistant County Attorney, Minneapolis, MN, for respondent.

David W. Merchant, Chief Appellate Public Defender, Benjamin J. Butler, Assistant State Public Defender, St. Paul, MN, for appellant.

OPINION

DIETZEN, Justice.

A Hennepin County jury found appellant Alfunda Scruggs guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree intentional murder arising out of the February 4, 2010, death of Michael Fonta by strangulation. The district court entered judgment of conviction on the first-degree murder charge and imposed a life sentence without the possibility of release. In this direct appeal, Scruggs argues that the court erred in: (1) denying his motion to suppress his statement to police on the basis that it was obtained in violation of his Miranda rights; (2) refusing to instruct the jury that Scruggs's girlfriend, H.J., was an accomplice as a matter of law; (3) failing to instruct the jury on the aiding-and-advising theory of accomplice liability; (4) admitting evidence of Scruggs's prior assaults of H.J.; and (5) various other issues raised by Scruggs in his pro se brief. We affirm.

In the early morning of February 4, 2010, Minneapolis police responded to a 911 call reporting the discovery of a body near the rear door of a Minneapolis apartment building. The body was later identified as Michael Fonta, who was a resident of the apartment building. Initially, police interviewed several people who lived in the apartment building, including Fonta's next-door neighbor. The police also knocked on Fonta's door, but received no response. Several hours later, police knocked on Fonta's door and, after again receiving no response, attempted to enter the apartment with a key. The door was secured with a chain, and Scruggs and H.J. were in the apartment. An officer asked Scruggs and H.J. to go to the police station for questioning as witnesses. Scruggs and H.J. both agreed to the officer's request and were transported to the police station. Scruggs was released following his interview, but H.J. was arrested on an outstanding warrant for a misdemeanor trespass charge. Scruggs paid H.J.'s bail later that night.

The police executed a search warrant on Fonta's apartment and found Fonta's blood between couch cushions and behind the couch. In a dumpster behind the building, police found a set of sheets covered in Fonta's blood and a bloody sock containing Fonta's wallet. Fonta's DNA was found on an electrical cord located in the apartment.

An autopsy revealed that Fonta had been strangled, and had numerous injuries including several broken ribs and superficial stab wounds to his neck and chest. A single hair was found in Fonta's left hand, but no DNA testing was performed on the hair. Fonta's blood alcohol level was .419, and he tested positive for cocaine.

When police re-interviewed H.J. approximately one week after Fonta's death, they tried to convince her to cooperate in the investigation. She continued to deny any knowledge about Fonta's murder. The next day, however, H.J. called the police and admitted watching Scruggs kill Fonta and dispose of the evidence. She acknowledged holding the door open for Scruggs when he dragged Fonta's body outside. Police later interviewed Matthew Preston, who told them he heard Scruggs say in jail that he had beaten, strangled, and stabbed a person who he thought was sleeping with his girlfriend.

Scruggs was indicted for first-degree premeditated murder, in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.185(a)(1) (2010), and second-degree intentional murder, in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.19, subd. 1(1) (2010). Before trial, Scruggs moved to suppress the statement he made at the police station on the day of Fonta's death because he was not given a Miranda warning. At the suppression hearing, police officers testified that at the time of the interview, they did not know the location of the murder and Scruggs and H.J. were not suspects in the murder investigation. The officers testified that it was standard practice to interview important witnesses at the police station because video recording equipment is available. Both Scruggs and H.J. were told they would be brought back to the apartment after their interviews. Before leaving the apartment, the officers allowed Scruggs to put on a shirt and Scruggs brought Fonta's cell phone to the interview.

The district court denied Scruggs's motion to suppress, concluding that a reasonable person would not have believed he or she was in custody to the degree associated with arrest. Specifically, the court concluded that the police told Scruggs before and during the interview that he would be returned to the apartment to retrieve his clothing.

Additionally, the State moved to admit evidence of prior assaults Scruggs committed against H.J., and threats Scruggs made to H.J. immediately after the murder and in the days that followed. The State argued that the evidence of the threats against H.J. was relevant to explain her delay in telling the police what had happened and that the prior assaults were relevant to proving that H.J. believed Scruggs's threats. The district court allowed the State to introduce limited evidence of the threats consisting of responses to two leading questions that Scruggs “had assaulted her, and injured her in the past” and that “he was convicted of such an incident.”

At trial, the State presented testimony from police and residents of the apartment building, Scruggs's statement to the police, and forensic evidence. H.J. testified that she, Scruggs, and Fonta were drinking and smoking crack together on the night of February 3, 2010. When Fonta insulted H.J. several times, Scruggs responded by punching Fonta repeatedly, kicking and kneeing Fonta in the ribs, and banging Fonta's head into the floor. H.J. told Fonta to stop antagonizing Scruggs, but Fonta did not stop, and Scruggs attacked Fonta again. When Scruggs told H.J. that they would have to keep Fonta in the apartment, she objected, and then Scruggs strangled Fonta. H.J. said she did not intervene because she had cracked ribs. After Scruggs and H.J. noticed Fonta was still moving, Scruggs stabbed Fonta in the neck and the chest. Scruggs stated to H.J.: “[w]hen I do things, I do things by myself. I don't leave no witnesses”; and the statement caused H.J. to be “scared.” Thereafter, Scruggs wrapped Fonta's body in sheets and H.J. held the door open while Scruggs dragged the body outside. H.J. testified that Scruggs told her to tell the police that they last saw Fonta the previous day.

M.P., who is a convicted felon, testified that Scruggs talked to him about the murder while the two were incarcerated at the Hennepin County jail. Scruggs told M.P. that he discovered another man had been sleeping with his girlfriend, and when he confronted the man things got out of hand. Scruggs admitted to strangling the man and stabbing him in the chest and the neck, and cutting off one of his hair braids. Scruggs told M.P. he wrapped the body in sheets or towels and dragged it outside.

Scruggs testified that Fonta was his best friend and that he did not kill Fonta. He testified that, on the night in question, he was at the apartment with H.J. and Fonta was not with them. Scruggs denied telling M.P. anything about the case.

Following the trial, the jury returned guilty verdicts on both counts. The district court imposed a life sentence without the possibility of release on the first-degree murder conviction. This direct appeal follows.

I.

Scruggs argues that his statement to police was obtained in violation of his Miranda rights, that the district court erred in admitting it, and that the error was prejudicial. Specifically, Scruggs argues he was in custody at the time of his interrogation without being informed of his Miranda rights and therefore the resulting statement should have been excluded.

Pursuant to the Fifth Amendment, statements made by a suspect during a custodial interrogation are admissible only if the suspect was informed of his Miranda rights. See Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492, 494–95, 97 S.Ct. 711, 50 L.Ed.2d 714 (1977) (citing Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966)). A Miranda warning is required if a suspect is both in custody and subject to interrogation. State v. Thompson, 788 N.W.2d 485, 491 (Minn.2010). At issue is whether Scruggs was in custody when he gave his statement to the police.

The United States Supreme Court describes custody as a term of art to specify circumstances that present a serious danger of coercion. Howes v. Fields, ––– U.S. ––––, 132 S.Ct. 1181, 1189, 182 L.Ed.2d 17 (2012). Recently, we explained that an interrogation is custodial if, based on all the surrounding circumstances, a reasonable person...