State v. Staats

• Decision Date: 27 March 2003
• Docket Number: No. C8-02-174.,C8-02-174.
• Citation: 658 N.W.2d 207
• Parties: STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Mark Owen STAATS, Appellant.
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

658 N.W.2d 207

STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Mark Owen STAATS, Appellant.

No. C8-02-174.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

March 27, 2003.

Rehearing Denied April 28, 2003.

Richard Sand, Daniel S. Adkins, Richard Sand & Associates, PA, St. Paul, MN, for Appellant.

Mike Hatch, Attorney General, St. Paul, MN, Amy Klobuchar, Hennepin County Attorney, Michael Richardson, Asst. County Attorney, Minneapolis, MN, for Respondent.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

OPINION

MEYER, Justice.

A jury convicted Mark Owen Staats of the crime of aiding and abetting the first-degree murder of Dustin Jirasek. Staats was sentenced to life in prison. In this direct appeal, Staats contends that the district court erred in admitting into evidence each of the five statements he gave to police, the court's error was not harmless, and consequently his conviction should be reversed. We are asked to determine whether police obtained the first two statements in violation of the recording requirement of State v. Scales, 518 N.W.2d 587 (Minn.1994), and, if so, whether statements and evidence subsequently obtained should be suppressed under a "fruit of the poisonous tree" analysis. We also consider whether one of the statements was obtained in violation of Staats' right to counsel.

Dustin Jirasek was shot and killed at close range while standing in the doorway of his home on December 16, 2000. Minnetonka police immediately suspected Mike Dahlin. When they spoke to Dahlin, he claimed he was with Mark Owen Staats in another location at the time of the murder. Sergeant Cziok and Officer Petersen of the Minnetonka police department drove to Staats' home to investigate Dahlin's alibi.

Cziok and Petersen arrived at Staats' residence around 5 p.m. on December 18, 2000. They introduced themselves and went inside. Petersen began questioning Staats about his relationship with Dahlin and their whereabouts on the night of the killing. Staats said he was at home until 10:50 p.m. on the night in question and then went to two bars with Dahlin before eventually retiring to Dahlin's house. After speaking to Staats for fifteen or twenty minutes, Petersen gave him a Miranda warning and took a recorded statement, recapping the information Staats had given her.

Toward the end of this recorded statement, Staats' mother arrived at the home. Cziok asked to speak with her in another room. After Cziok and Petersen noticed discrepancies between Staats' description of the events on the night in question and his mother's description, Petersen asked Staats to give a second recorded statement and Staats agreed. Petersen reminded him of his Miranda rights and recorded a second statement, in which Staats admitted that he waited in the truck while Dahlin went up to the house of someone who was "harassing" Dahlin's girlfriend. Staats claimed he heard a loud "bang" as he waited in the truck. The officers then arrested Staats and brought him to the police station.

Over the course of the next four days, while in police custody, Staats gave three more recorded statements to police and made an admission in court.¹ His story changed several times as he described his activities on the evening of the murder. Eventually, police discovered that Staats and Dahlin were drinking, and Staats understood that Dahlin wanted to rough up Jirasek. Then Staats accompanied Dahlin to a K-Mart where they allegedly discussed which type of ammunition to purchase, and bought ammunition and stocking caps. Staats contributed change to the purchase when Dahlin came up short of cash. They drove to Jirasek's house, and Staats was present in the doorway when Jirasek was killed. Dahlin and Staats then drove to a wooded area and disposed of the weapon.

The five statements from Staats incriminated himself and Dahlin, and provided police with crucial leads in their investigation. In the suppression hearing, the defense argued that the two interviews at Staats' home were custodial, and because the police did not properly record them under Scales, the statements must be suppressed. Staats then introduced the report of an expert who found fifteen points at which the tape was stopped and restarted during the two statements at Staats' home. Staats testified that during those stoppages he had requested an attorney, and that police had coerced him into making incriminating statements. In addition to arguing that these two statements should have been excluded under Scales, Staats argued that his last statement to police should have been excluded as a violation of his right to counsel.

The district court denied Staats' motion to suppress the five statements after hearing testimony from Staats, his mother, and police officers. The district court acknowledged the seriousness of Staats' contentions, but specifically rejected the testimony of Staats and found it not credible. It found that the first two statements in Staats' home need not comply with the Scales recording requirement because Staats was not in custody when he gave them. The district court also concluded that Staats' fifth statement was properly obtained because he reinitiated contact with the police after invoking his right to counsel. Staats did not testify at trial. The state's evidence against him consisted primarily of Staats' five recorded statements.

I.

We first decide whether Staats was in custody when the police recorded two statements in his home. If he was in custody, the recordings may be suppressed if they do not meet the standards directed by this court in State v. Scales, 518 N.W.2d 587 (Minn.1994). If the recordings fail the Scales standard, evidence subsequently obtained may also be suppressed under a "fruit of the poisonous tree" analysis. State v. Warndahl, 436 N.W.2d 770 (Minn. 1989); see also Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 487, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963). The district court found that Staats was not in custody when the police recorded the two statements in his home and therefore the statements were not required to be recorded.

This court makes an independent determination about whether Staats was in custody. State v. Wiernasz, 584 N.W.2d 1, 3 (Minn.1998). With respect to the facts, however, we review the district court's findings for clear error. State v. Hince, 540 N.W.2d 820, 823 (Minn.1995). We grant "considerable, but not unlimited, deference to a trial court's fact-specific resolution of such an issue when the proper legal standard is applied." State v. Champion, 533 N.W.2d 40, 44 (Minn.1995).

The test for determining whether Staats was in custody is whether

a reasonable person in the suspect's situation [would] have understood that he was in custody. If a suspect has not yet been arrested, a district court must examine all of the surrounding circumstances and evaluate whether a reasonable person in the suspect's position would have believed he was in custody to the degree associated with arrest.

State v. Miller, 573 N.W.2d 661, 670 (Minn.1998) (citations omitted). In reviewing "all of the surrounding circumstances" to determine whether a suspect was in custody, this court has looked to many factors. While no factor alone is determinative, this court has noted that the following factors may combine to indicate custody: police interviewing the suspect at the police station; the officer telling the individual that he or she is the prime suspect; officers restraining the suspect's freedom; the suspect making a significantly incriminating statement; the presence of multiple officers (six); and a gun pointing at the suspect. See Wiernasz, 584 N.W.2d at 3-4; Champion, 533 N.W.2d at 43; State v. Rosse, 478 N.W.2d 482, 486 (Minn.1991). However, regardless of whether the suspect made incriminating comments, this court has said that if an interrogation is noncustodial at the outset and no circumstances change, it remains noncustodial. Champion, 533 N.W.2d at 43. This court has recognized that one or more of the following circumstances may indicate a suspect is not in custody: questioning taking place in the suspect's home; police expressly informing the suspect that he or she is not under arrest; the suspect leaving the police station at the close of the interview without hindrance; the brevity of questioning (fifteen minutes); the suspect's freedom to leave at any time; a nonthreatening environment; and the suspect's ability to make phone calls. See Wiernasz, 584 N.W.2d at 3-5; Hince, 540 N.W.2d at 824.

The circumstances in this case indicate that Staats was not in custody. The officers did not tell him he was under arrest, questioning took place in his home, and the tapes do not indicate any intimidation or show of force by the police. Several friends of Staats were allowed to continue playing video games in the living room while Staats was interviewed in the kitchen. The phone rang multiple times during both recorded statements, and the police officers did not prevent Staats from answering the phone. Staats moved around the house, borrowing cigarettes from friends and placing a barking dog in a bedroom. Importantly, the district court made a finding that Staats' claim that he was coerced into making incriminating statements was not credible, based on the court's observations of Staats' demeanor on the witness stand at the suppression hearing. The interrogation was noncustodial in the beginning and no circumstances changed, so it remained noncustodial. Champion, 533 N.W.2d at 43. Even though the questioning cannot be said to be brief (a total of ninety minutes) and Staats was arrested immediately after the statements were concluded, the overall circumstances surrounding the interviews suggest he was not coerced into talking to the police officers and a reasonable person would not believe he was in custody.

Staats argues that the police officer's decision to record his statements is proof that the officer considered Staats to be in custody. Officer Petersen testified at the...