State v. Stott

• Decision Date: 04 April 2002
• Citation: 171 N.J. 343,794 A.2d 120
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. William E. STOTT, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

794 A.2d 120

171 N.J. 343

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. William E. STOTT, Defendant-Appellant.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued November 5, 2001.

Decided April 4, 2002.

Salvatore Principato, Jr., Blackwood, argued the cause for appellant.

Wendy Alice Way, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent (John J. Farmer, Jr., Attorney General of New Jersey, attorney).

Theodore S. Novak, Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for amicus curiae Office of the Public Defender (Peter A. Garcia, Acting Public Defender, attorney; Mr. Novak and Stanley M. Shur, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, on the brief).

Michael J. Sullivan argued the cause for amicus curiae Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey (McElroy, Deutsch & Mulvaney, attorneys). The opinion of the Court was delivered by VERNIERO, J.

The Court is called on to evaluate defendant's right to be free of unreasonable searches in a hospital setting, as well as his right against self-incrimination. Defendant was a patient at a State-run psychiatric hospital. The police conducted a warrantless search of defendant's room, discovering a small quantity of Xanax, a controlled dangerous substance. On two separate days, the police interviewed defendant without counsel, and without advising him of his constitutional rights. Defendant incriminated himself in both interviews. The courts below determined that neither the search of defendant's hospital room nor the questioning by the police violated defendant's rights. We disagree and reverse.

I.

The relevant facts are derived largely from testimony presented at a suppression hearing conducted by the trial court. Ancora State Psychiatric Hospital (Ancora) is a facility operated by the New Jersey Department of Human Services (Department) in Camden County. By statute, the Department appoints and employs its own police officers who are "empowered to act as [ ] officer[s] for the detection, apprehension, arrest and conviction of offenders against the law[.]" N.J.S.A. 30:4-14b. Department officers maintain a station in Poplar Hall on the grounds of Ancora. The station is located on the first floor with at least one police office in the basement.

Defendant was committed involuntarily to Ancora in September 1997 after attempting to bleed himself to death. A person is subject to involuntary commitment when he or she is "mentally ill and... dangerous to self or dangerous to others or property[.]" N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.9; see also R. 4:74-7 (outlining procedures for civil commitments of adults). A person so committed may be released only in accordance with the administrative discharge procedures set forth in N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.17, or pursuant to court order. N.J.S.A. 30:4-27.16. When admitted, defendant was nineteen years old and assigned to Ward C, Dormitory 216 in Larch Hall.

Within that dormitory, defendant shared a room with another patient, James Hilliard. Defendant's room was a typical residential hospital room, containing a bed and nightstand. In addition to those items, patients are furnished with an individual "wardrobe" to store clothing and other personal effects. The wardrobe may be locked, and each patient has a key for that purpose. Patients assigned to Ward C are not permitted to walk around unsupervised. Similarly, patients cannot leave the ward unless a staff person has let them out. Hospital staff personnel regularly search the patients' rooms, including their wardrobes.

On the evening of October 7, 1997, defendant and Hilliard shared a quantity of heroin and each consumed two Xanax tablets before going to bed. When defendant awoke, he was ushered immediately out of the room by the hospital staff. Defendant later discovered that Hilliard had died during the night, apparently from a drug overdose. When hospital staff persons found Hilliard's body, they called Department police officers and a member of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office to investigate the circumstances of Hilliard's death.

After their arrival, Department officers sealed off the area by posting a police guard outside defendant's room, locking the door to that room, and restricting access to the room to persons authorized to enter by the investigators. One officer testified that by the time he had arrived on the scene at 8:10 a.m., the ward already had been secured by a different officer. At about 8:42 a.m. another officer arrived on the ward; he was joined at approximately 8:45 a.m. by a detective from the homicide unit of the prosecutor's office. A total of five law enforcement officers were present at that juncture. Shortly after 10:00 a.m., the authorities removed Hilliard's body from defendant's room. The police guard testified that when he left his post at about 10:25 a.m., the door to defendant's room remained locked, and only a few staff persons had access to the room.

By the time the detective from the prosecutor's office had arrived, all of the patients in the area, including defendant, had been removed from their rooms and taken to the so-called day room. There, the detective interviewed numerous patients, including Anthony Fisher, who resided in the room across the hall from defendant. A total of twelve patients were questioned over a period of several hours.

At about 12:30 p.m. the detective interviewed Fisher. The patient told the detective that on the previous evening defendant had offered to sell him some Xanax pills. Fisher also stated that defendant had informed him that he (defendant) kept Xanax hidden in the hem of a curtain in his room. Based on that information, the detective and a Department police officer proceeded immediately to defendant's room. They searched the hem of the curtain and found four Xanax tablets. The officers did not obtain a warrant prior to conducting the search.

The detective acknowledged at the suppression hearing that, following the Fisher interview but prior to the search, nothing prevented the police from either repositioning an officer outside defendant's room or obtaining a warrant. The detective simply did not believe that a warrant was necessary. More specifically, the detective was asked, "Now was there anything preventing you at that point from posting a guard at the door of the room and securing a warrant?" He replied, "There was nothing but I didn't feel it was necessary."

At about 1:55 p.m. the detective approached defendant in the day room and asked him whether he "would [ ] accompany us over to the police department for an interview on this investigation[.]" (We assume that "us" refers to the fact that the detective and at least one other law enforcement officer brought defendant to the police station in Poplar Hall.) Of the twelve patients assembled in the day room, defendant was the only person taken to the police station for questioning. The detective stated that he informed defendant that "it was a voluntary interview" and, further, that he advised defendant more than once that he was "free to leave."

The early part of the interview was not recorded. The detective stated that defendant acknowledged during the interview's unrecorded portion "that he was involved with sharing drugs with the decedent[.]" Defendant also "admitted attempting to distribute drugs." In addition to the detective, at least one Department officer was present during that segment of the interview. The detective further testified that defendant's unrecorded admissions prompted his request for a taped statement.

The parties agree that at no time did the police inform defendant of his right to remain silent or to have a lawyer present before questioning. At the start of the taped segment, however, the interviewing officer asked defendant whether he was "willing to make a voluntary statement and a truthful statement about this matter." He replied, "Yes." The detective did not participate in the recorded portion of the interview. The record is clear that at the detective's request a Department officer conducted that segment of the interview, which took place in the basement police office in the presence of one other officer.

Defendant gave a detailed account of the preceding evening. He said that he and Hilliard had "snorted" heroin between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and then "went out for [a] smoke break." After returning to their room, the two men continued to ingest heroin until defendant helped Hilliard into bed. Defendant then left the room to buy some sodas. Defendant stated that by the time he returned to the room Hilliard had moved from his (Hilliard's) bed into defendant's bed. With Anthony Fisher's assistance, defendant placed Hilliard back into his own bed. Defendant indicated that he himself slept from about midnight until the next morning when staff persons woke him following their discovery of Hilliard's body.

Defendant also described his involvement with the Xanax pills. Defendant stated that Hilliard informed him that he (Hilliard) had the pills available for sale and requested defendant's assistance in locating potential buyers. Defendant indicated that the asking price for the drug ranged from $5 to $10 per tablet, "depending on the patient." Defendant stated that Hilliard also had spoken to Fisher about the pills.

Toward the end of the interview the police officer asked defendant, "has this statement been given voluntarily and of your own free will?" Defendant replied, "For the most part." The officer then asked, "What do you mean for the most part?" Defendant replied, "I don't feel that I was ready to speak to police at all today but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do." When asked again whether any person had forced him to give his statement, defendant replied, "No." After having defendant listen to his recorded statement, the police officer again asked, "Has this statement been given voluntarily and of your own free will?" Defendant replied, "Yes."

Defendant briefly left Ancora to participate in a drug rehabilitation program at a...