State v. Stanga

• Decision Date: 20 September 2000
• Docket Number: No. 21082.,21082.
• Citation: 2000 SD 129,617 N.W.2d 486
• Parties: STATE of South Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Richard Morris STANGA, Sr., Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: South Dakota Supreme Court

617 N.W.2d 486

2000 SD 129

STATE of South Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. Richard Morris STANGA, Sr., Defendant and Appellant.

No. 21082.

Supreme Court of South Dakota.

Argued March 22, 2000.

Decided September 20, 2000.

Mark Barnett, Attorney General, Ann C. Meyer, Assistant Attorney General, Pierre, South Dakota, Attorneys for plaintiff and appellee.

David R. Gienapp, William H. Dietrich of Arneson, Issenhuth & Gienapp, Madison, South Dakota, Attorneys for defendant and appellant.

KONENKAMP, Justice.

[¶ 1.] In this appeal, we must decide if the circuit court erred in ruling that the defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights. The interrogating officer repeatedly told the defendant that any statement he gave was "between you and me," signifying that it would not go beyond the interrogation room. Officers cannot mislead suspects on their constitutional rights. Here, the required Miranda warning that any admission can be used in court was subverted by the suggestion that admissions would not be used against him. Therefore, the confession should have been suppressed. We affirm the conviction, however, because there was immense, independent evidence of guilt, making the failure to suppress the statement harmless error.

A.

[¶ 2.] Richard Morris Stanga, Sr., and his wife, Judy, divorced in 1988 after thirty years of marriage. Stanga's long-standing alcoholism factored foremost in the breakdown of their relationship. Judy received the couple's home in the divorce. Nevertheless, hoping Stanga would eventually find sobriety and they would reconcile, she allowed him to stay at her home occasionally. But after years with no change, Judy "gave up on" reconciliation. She obtained a protection order forbidding Stanga from contacting her or coming to her home. He began living on the street, but stayed at a homeless shelter in Sioux Falls when sober.

[¶ 3.] In November 1998, Stanga spotted Judy with a male acquaintance at church. Upset, he telephoned her numerous times. Although the calls were a violation of the protection order, Judy did not report them to law enforcement. When she did not return his messages, he resorted to more direct contact. On the evening of November 16, Judy was home alone. She heard noises outside at 7:30 p.m. coming from the back porch. When she looked out the window, she saw Stanga with "something shiny in his hand that he took out of his pocket." She dialed 911 for emergency help.

[¶ 4.] While Judy was on the telephone, Stanga broke the front window with a rock and crawled through into the house. He grabbed the phone from her, threw it to the floor, and hit her repeatedly with his fists. He pulled off her glasses and flung them down. In the struggle, her necklace and earrings were broken off. Then he ordered her upstairs with the threat, "or I'll kill you right here." Grabbing the neck of her sweater and twisting it into a tight hold, he began dragging her up the stairs. All the while, the 911 operator remained on the line, recording the unfolding events.

[¶ 5.] In a few minutes the police arrived. They found five or six large landscaping rocks piled against the back door—an apparent attempt by Stanga to block Judy's escape. The officers entered the house through another door and came upon Stanga and Judy halfway up the stairwell. A belt was wrapped around his wrist. Concerned that he had a weapon, the officers did not attempt to seize him immediately but ordered him to show his hands and let Judy go. Still clutching Judy's sweater, Stanga would not relent. He kept putting his free hand inside his coat pocket. After a brief standoff, the officers grabbed his legs, dragged him down the stairs with Judy in tow, and pried him away from her. Officers later recovered various items Stanga had brought with him that night: a utility knife, razor blades, needle-nose pliers, a pair of blunt-nose scissors, and a roll of duct tape.

[¶ 6.] Stanga was taken to the Minnehaha County Jail. A blood sample was drawn for testing, which later showed that he had a blood alcohol content of 0.17. At 8:55 p.m. Detective Troy Lubbers began to interrogate him. The interview was recorded with a hidden video camera and microphone. Only Detective Lubbers and Stanga were in the room. At trial, the detective testified that he repeatedly lied to Stanga to induce him to confess. Stanga admitted during interrogation that he wanted to kill Judy, but also contradicted himself with remarks that he would "never hurt" her and that he only wanted to "talk" to her.

[¶ 7.] Stanga was charged with two counts of first degree burglary, one count of simple assault, and one count of violating a protection order. A jury found him guilty of all charges. The circuit court sentenced him to twenty-five years in the penitentiary on one of the burglary convictions. He now appeals the denial of his motion to suppress.¹

B.

[¶ 8.] Our review of a motion to suppress based on an alleged violation of a constitutionally protected right is a question of law examined de novo. See Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 699, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 1663, 134 L.Ed.2d 911, 920 (1996)

(standard of review for questions under the Fourth Amendment); United States v. Khan, 993 F.2d 1368, 1375 (9thCir.1993); State v. Hirning, 1999 SD 53, ¶ 9, 592 N.W.2d 600, 603. The voluntariness of an admission and the validity of a Miranda waiver-of-rights are separate but parallel inquiries. 2 S. Childress & M. Davis, Federal Standards of Review § 11.13, at 11-54,55 (3d Ed. 1999). The State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant's admissions were voluntary. State v. Faehnrich, 359 N.W.2d 895, 898 (S.D.1984) (citations omitted). The totality of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation must be considered. Id. Although the underlying circumstances surrounding an interrogation are factual determinations, ultimately voluntariness is a legal question, requiring independent judicial review. Miller v. Fenton, 474 U.S. 104, 116, 106 S.Ct. 445, 452-53, 88 L.Ed.2d 405, 414-15 (1985).

C.

[¶ 9.] Before the interrogation began, Detective Lubbers identified himself as an officer and advised Stanga of his Miranda rights. After a little hesitancy, he agreed to give an interview, acknowledging that he knew he did not have to. Lubbers then began questioning in a conversational tone. Stanga admitted that he had been drinking and Lubbers concluded that Stanga was under the influence: his breath smelled of an alcoholic beverage, his intoxication was apparent by his behavior, and his slurred speech was difficult to understand at times. During the interview, Stanga did not ask for an attorney or for questioning to stop. He was responsive and displayed an awareness of details such as Judy's street address, the length of his marriage to her, and how long it had been since their divorce.

[¶ 10.] Lubbers said numerous times that he was there to listen, making comments such as "it's between you and me," "I'm here to listen to your side," and "you need to get this off your chest," all as part of his interrogation technique. Stanga said repeatedly that he went to the house to "talk" to Judy, but he also admitted hitting her, and then divulged having in mind a plan to kill her. Throughout the interview, he sought assurances on whether he could trust the detective—whether he could speak "straight up." When Stanga seemed to forget who he was talking to, Lubbers reminded him, "Well, I am the cop." At one point, Stanga told the detective, "I know you're here to get something against me." But Lubbers responded, "No, I'm here for you and I to talk." After hearing this, Stanga said, "Okay. I'm going to tell you straight up, and if it goes any further than me and you, then I won't tell. I don't know." Lubbers responded, "You can trust me straight up. Go ahead."

[¶ 11.] Still needing more assurance, Stanga asked, "What I say to you, suppose it goes to everybody?" As the videotape ran and as other officers watched unseen, Lubbers replied, "Between you and me. There's nobody else in the room here. It's between you and me." Stanga confided again that he was thinking about killing Judy when he broke into her home. Later, seeming to understand that his statement could be used against him, Stanga said, "I'll tell you the truth and you tell the judge." Yet at the end of the interview, Stanga repeated his earlier overture, "Don't tell anybody either." Lubbers responded, "No, I ain't telling anybody anything...."

[¶ 12.] A voluntary waiver of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination depends on the absence of police overreaching. Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 170, 107 S.Ct. 515, 523, 93 L.Ed.2d 473, 486 (1986) (citing Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 421, 106 S.Ct. 1135, 1141, 89 L.Ed.2d 410, 421 (1986)). The Miranda warning ensures that a waiver of rights is given knowingly and intelligently "by requiring that the suspect be fully advised of this constitutional privilege, including the critical advice that whatever he chooses to say may be used as evidence against him." Colorado v. Spring, 479 U.S. 564, 574, 107 S.Ct. 851, 857-58, 93 L.Ed.2d 954, 966 (1987) (emphasis added). The Court in Spring cites several examples, predating Miranda, where police made affirmative misrepresentations, making a Fifth Amendment waiver invalid. Id. at 576 n.8, 107 S.Ct. at 858, 93 L.Ed.2d at 967 (citing Lynumn v. Illinois, 372 U.S. 528, 83 S.Ct. 917, 9 L.Ed.2d 922 (1963) (confession rendered involuntary by police officers' misrepresentation that suspect would be deprived of state financial aid for her dependant children if she failed to cooperate with authorities); Spano v. New York, 360 U.S. 315, 79 S.Ct. 1202, 3 L.Ed.2d 1265 (1959).

[¶ 13.] Miranda imposes "concrete constitutional guidelines for law enforcement agencies and courts to follow." Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 442, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1611, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, 705 (1966). Specifically, before...