State v. Smith, 521A84

• Decision Date: 03 June 1986
• Docket Number: No. 521A84,521A84
• Citation: 343 S.E.2d 518,317 N.C. 100
• Parties: STATE of North Carolina v. Curtis Eugene SMITH.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

Page 518

343 S.E.2d 518

317 N.C. 100

STATE of North Carolina v. Curtis Eugene SMITH.

No. 521A84.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

June 3, 1986.

Lacy H. Thornburg, Atty. Gen. by Isaac T. Avery, III, Special Deputy Atty. Gen., Raleigh, for the State.

Malcolm R. Hunter, Jr., Appellate Defender by David W. Dorey, Asst. Appellate Defender, Raleigh, for defendant-appellant.

FRYE, Justice.

Defendant seeks a new trial because of an alleged error committed by the trial court. Defendant, a juvenile, contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress his confession because it was obtained in violation of his right to be free from compelled self-incrimination, to have counsel present, and to have his mother present. Having carefully reviewed the record and the relevant law, we conclude that defendant's confession was obtained in violation of his juvenile rights as set forth in N.C.G.S. § 7A-595, and that the motion to suppress was improperly denied. Defendant is entitled to a new trial.

Defendant was charged with murder in the first degree. ¹ Evidence for the State tended to show that on 29 November 1983, between the hours of 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., Paschal Oil Company in Mount Holly was robbed and Marvin Hunt, an employee, was severely beaten. Hunt died as a result of the inflicted injuries. Judson Lee Ross was identified as a suspect by witnesses near the scene of the crime. Upon police questioning, Ross stated that he and defendant planned and executed the robbery and assault at the oil company.

As a result of Ross' statement, two police officers picked up defendant from his home around 10:48 a.m. and took him to the Mount Holly Police Station for questioning. An officer read defendant his juvenile rights on the way to the station. See N.C.G.S. § 7A-595 (1981). At the police station, defendant was taken to the police chief's office and read his juvenile rights in the presence of Officer Moore. Pursuant to those rights, defendant requested the presence of his mother during questioning. At that point, the interview ceased and Officer Cook went to locate defendant's mother. This occurred at approximately 11:20 a.m. Defendant told Officer Cook that his mother had gone to the Gaston County Jail in Gastonia to take care of an unrelated matter. Officer Cook called the jail twice and learned that defendant's mother had not yet arrived. He decided to drive to Gastonia to locate defendant's mother and to secure a search warrant for defendant's home.

Meanwhile, around 12:55 p.m., defendant's mother returned home. She was told by officers at her home that defendant was at the Mount Holly Police Station. Officer Cook arrived at the house ten or fifteen minutes later. The evidence is conflicting as to whether Officer Cook told defendant's mother that defendant had asked to see her.

Sometime between 11:52 a.m. and 12:15 p.m., while Officer Cook was attempting to locate defendant's mother, Officer Moore returned to the room where defendant was waiting. He told defendant that he wanted to explain some things to him and asked defendant not to say anything. Around 12:15 p.m., shortly after Officer Moore began talking to defendant, Chief Huffstetler, Mount Holly Police Department, entered the room. Officer Moore introduced defendant and told Chief Huffstetler that defendant had been advised of his rights and had requested the presence of his mother during the questioning. According to Officer Moore's testimony, Chief Huffstetler talked briefly with defendant and asked defendant if he wanted to "straighten" it out, apparently referring to the assault and robbery at the oil company. Officer Moore left the room but returned shortly thereafter. Upon his return, Officer Moore informed defendant that the crimes being investigated, robbery and assault, were quite serious; that if the victim died it could be murder; that Judson Ross had implicated him in the crimes; that Ross would be a witness against him if the case went to trial; that he wanted him to tell the truth; and that a confession could be considered as a mitigating circumstance by the trial judge.

At 12:30 p.m., defendant told the officers that he wanted to make a statement but did not want his mother present. Defendant was advised of his rights, stated that he understood them, and signed the waiver of rights form. Mrs. Nan Oates, a bookkeeper for the City of Mount Holly, witnessed these acts. After signing the waiver, defendant confessed to having committed the charged offenses. He stated that he entered the side door of the building while Ross waited at the front. He hit Marvin Hunt with a stick "in the back of the head" and when Hunt tried to "get a hold of [defendant]," he "swung the stick at him some more." Defendant didn't know whether he hit Hunt again during this struggle. Defendant opened the front door for Ross. They took money from the cash register and left separately.

Defendant's motion to suppress his confession was denied 24 May 1984. On 29 May 1984, defendant, pursuant to a plea bargain agreement, entered a plea of guilty to murder in the first degree. On 14 June 1984, following a sentencing hearing, a jury, after finding no aggravating circumstances, unanimously recommended that defendant be sentenced to life imprisonment. N.C.G.S. § 15A-979(b) permits a defendant whose motion to suppress is denied to plead guilty and appeal the ruling of the judge on the motion. If the appellate court sustains the trial court's ruling on the motion, the conviction stands; if the ruling on the motion is overturned, the defendant is entitled to a new trial wherein the evidence As grounds for suppression of his incriminating statement, defendant contends that it was obtained in violation of his fifth amendment right against compulsory self-incrimination, his sixth amendment right to counsel, and his right to have a parent present during police questioning in accordance with N.C.G.S. § 7A-595(a)(3). We find it unnecessary to address defendant's arguments which rely on the United States Constitution, since this case is fully resolvable under our own statute, N.C.G.S. § 7A-595.

will be suppressed. See Official Commentary, N.C.G.S. § 15A-979 (1983).

In determining whether there was a violation of defendant's rights under N.C.G.S. § 7A-595(a), we must first determine whether defendant was in custody when his confession was obtained. The trial judge concluded that it was unnecessary to determine whether defendant was in custody at the time he confessed since he had earlier concluded that none of defendant's rights under the state or federal constitutions had been violated in obtaining his confession. Nevertheless, the juvenile's rights under N.C.G.S. § 7A-595 arise, under the specific language of the statute, only if the juvenile is in custody. Accordingly, it is necessary to determine whether defendant was in custody within the meaning of N.C.G.S. § 7A-595 at the time his confession was obtained.

The standard objective test for "custody" is whether "a reasonable person in the suspect's position would believe himself to be in custody or that his freedom of action was deprived in some significant way." Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492, 494, 97 S.Ct. 711, 713, 50 L.Ed.2d 714, 718 (1977), see also Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 82 L.Ed.2d 317 (1984), State v. Braswell, 312 N.C. 553, 324 S.E.2d 241 (1985), State v. Jackson, 308 N.C. 549, 304 S.E.2d 134 (1983), State v. Perry, 298 N.C. 502, 259 S.E.2d 496 (1979). This Court, in Perry, looked to events occurring prior to, during, and after the investigative interview to determine whether there was "custody." The operative question is whether a reasonable individual would have believed under the circumstances that he was free to leave. State v. Perry, 298 N.C. 502, 259 S.E.2d 496.

The evidence in the instant case shows that defendant was "in custody" when he gave his confession. Two police officers went to defendant's house after they learned that defendant had been implicated in the robbery and assault at Paschal Oil Company. Defendant was informed that he was a suspect in the crimes and was asked to accompany the officers to the local police station "to talk about it." Defendant agreed to do so and asked if he could get dressed. Officer Cook answered in the affirmative and stayed with defendant while he dressed "from the skin out." Defendant was driven to the police station in the back seat of an official police vehicle. The doors of the car could only be opened from the outside. On the way to the station, defendant was read his juvenile rights. Upon arrival at the station, defendant was escorted to a room and again read his rights in the presence of Officer Moore. When defendant requested the presence of his mother, one officer was sent to locate her while the defendant waited in the same room at the police station. While waiting, defendant, a sixteen year old youth, was confronted by the police chief and a police sergeant, both of whom were much larger than defendant. These officers "explained," among other things, that Judson Ross had implicated defendant and would be a witness against him at trial, and that the police had enough to charge him and would charge him whether he made a statement or not. At no time was defendant told that he was free to leave. In fact, the constant presence of law enforcement officers with firearms would suggest the contrary to a person of defendant's age and experience.

Under these circumstances, we cannot say that a reasonable person in defendant's position would have believed that he was free to go or that his freedom of action was not being deprived in a significant way. Therefore, we conclude that defendant was The State contends that the facts of this case are so similar to the facts in Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492, 97 S.Ct. 711, 50 L.Ed.2d 714, and State v. Jackson, 308 N.C. 549, 304 S.E.2d 134, that those cases should control the decision...