State v. Troyer

Citation910 P.2d 1182
Decision Date07 December 1995
Docket NumberNo. 910320,910320
PartiesSTATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Daniel R. TROYER, Defendant and Appellee.
CourtSupreme Court of Utah

Jan Graham, Atty. Gen., Kenneth A. Bronston, Asst. Att'y Gen., and Gregory S. Skordas, Salt Lake City, for plaintiff.

James A. Valdez, Joan C. Watt, and Mark R. Moffat, Salt Lake City, for defendant.

RUSSON, Justice:

The State of Utah appeals four separate trial court orders granting defendant Daniel R. Troyer's motions to suppress (1) evidence derived from a custodial interrogation, (2) Troyer's statements to Seattle police officers, (3) DNA evidence, and (4) the testimony of prison inmates. As a result of the suppression orders, the State was unable to proceed with its case against Troyer, and consequently, the case was dismissed. 1 We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

I. FACTS

We initially recite the facts briefly to clarify the context in which the suppression orders arose. Facts relating to each suppression order are developed in greater detail in the corresponding analysis section.

On August 18, 1988, Ethel Luckau, an eighty-eight-year-old woman, was found dead in her home. She was last seen alive at approximately 9:00 a.m. on August 17, and from an autopsy report, it was believed she died that day. The autopsy report indicated the death to be a homicide caused by asphyxiation, possibly due to strangulation or smothering.

At the time of the homicide, Troyer had been transferred from the Utah State Prison to the Bonneville Community Correctional Center ("Bonneville"), a state-run correctional facility, where he was participating in a sex offenders program. According to the records at Bonneville, Troyer had been granted a temporary release from the facility to seek employment on the day of Luckau's murder. On August 19, 1988, at the suggestion of another officer, Detective Don Bell sought Troyer for questioning in connection with Luckau's murder. The police arrived at Bonneville and escorted Troyer to the station house for questioning. There, Troyer was interrogated without the benefit of Miranda warnings 2 for approximately one and a half hours. At one point during this interrogation, Troyer claimed that he was with his sister, Bonnie Troyer, on the afternoon of August 17, the date of the murder.

Shortly after the interrogation ended, Troyer telephoned Bonnie. During this telephone conversation, Troyer requested that Bonnie provide him with an alibi if questioned by the police. She agreed to do so even though she had not been with defendant on the date of the murder.

Four days later, on August 23, 1988, Troyer absconded from Bonneville. On October 14, 1988, the Seattle police received information that Troyer would be arriving on a certain Greyhound bus. Seattle police officers Lishner and Holley met the bus and arrested Troyer. At the bus station, the officers read Troyer his Miranda rights and asked him if he understood his rights, to which he responded that he understood. Officer Lishner advised Troyer that he was being arrested for "investigation of a fugitive." Troyer remained silent at the bus station and during the drive to the police station. At the station house, Officer Lishner again read Troyer the Miranda warnings. Again, Troyer was asked if he understood his rights, and again, he answered affirmatively. Officer Lishner then proceeded to ask Troyer if he knew why he was being arrested. Troyer responded that he had "escape[d] from prison" because "he had attempted to rape a 60-year old woman" and "[h]e was getting nervous because people were asking him questions about it." Troyer further stated that he was in prison for burglary and had escaped from prison around September 1, 1988.

Following Troyer's extradition to Utah, the State charged Troyer with murder in the first degree, a capital offense, in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-202(1)(a), (d), (h), burglary, a second degree felony, in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 76-6-202, and being a habitual criminal, a first degree felony, in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 76-8-1001. During the initial pretrial proceedings, the trial court entered two separate suppression orders. In the first order, dated January 16, 1990, the trial court suppressed "[a]ny and all statements made by Defendant during a telephone conversation with his sister on August 19, 1988, including an attempt by Daniel Troyer to corroborate an alibi." The trial court directed that such statements could not be used for any purpose, including any attempt to impeach Troyer's credibility. On February 1, 1990, the trial court entered a second suppression order stating that "all incriminating statements made to any [Seattle] law enforcement officers involved in the extradition of Daniel Troyer ... [are] hereby suppressed."

The State also intended to introduce DNA evidence at trial. Apparently, the State was utilizing a controversial polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing procedure, and defendant was having difficulty locating an expert to analyze the test results. After several hearings and motions, Troyer indicated that he had finally found an expert but that the expert needed access to all the materials and data used in connection with the State's DNA testing. Furthermore, Troyer indicated that it would take his expert approximately six months to complete the analysis of the data and that following these six months, Troyer anticipated a lengthy hearing to determine the admissibility of such evidence. In addition, Troyer requested that the State pay for all travel and trial costs incurred in bringing his DNA expert to Salt Lake City.

On April 27, 1990, at a hearing on Troyer's motion to secure an out-of-state witness, defendant's DNA expert, the State represented to the court that it would no longer use DNA evidence at trial. The State's decision was purportedly based on the "hoops" and "hassles" it was encountering in trying to satisfy Troyer. Despite the State's assertion that it would not use this evidence, the trial court granted Troyer's discovery requests for information on the State's DNA testing results and permitted Troyer to continue to explore whether the DNA results could be exculpatory. In an order dated May 21, 1990, the trial court summarized its decision: "[T]he State of Utah ... withdrew from evidence the results of PCR DNA tests performed ... on forensic evidence associated with the case.... The defense may employ independent experts to evaluate the testing techniques and test results of all PCR DNA testing conducted in [this] matter."

Subsequently, on January 3, 1991, the State informed the trial court that it had changed its decision and now intended to use DNA evidence at trial. 3 The State maintained that because the trial court continued to allow defendant to proceed with his own DNA testing, the prosecution assumed it would likewise be allowed to utilize such evidence. The trial court, however, issued a third suppression order, which stated, "Based upon representations of the prosecutor made on April 27, 1990, the Court orders that the prosecutor will not be allowed to use evidence of DNA testimony in the trial of this matter."

During the preliminary proceedings, the State also attempted to have Troyer moved from the Salt Lake County Jail to the Utah State Prison. On January 8, 1990, the trial court entered an order granting the State's request.

On January 24, 1990, Troyer petitioned the court for a hearing on the issue of whether he should continue to be housed at the prison. The reason for the request was that certain inmates had approached Troyer with detailed information about his case and he was concerned that an inmate with access to such information would fabricate a confession attributable to him. The State argued that Troyer should remain at the prison and assured the trial court that it did not have any informants planted at the prison and that it would not use prison inmates as witnesses at trial. On the basis of the State's representations, the court ordered that Troyer remain at the prison.

On November 30, 1990, the State indicated that it intended to use the testimony of prison inmate David Ray Coon at trial. Troyer moved to suppress this evidence on the basis of the prosecution's prior assurances that it would not use such testimony. On March 21, 1991, the trial court granted Troyer's motion, suppressing all testimony of any prison inmate and ordering that Troyer be moved from the prison to the county jail.

At a hearing on April 23, 1991, the State represented that as a result of the four suppression orders outlined above, it was unable to proceed with the prosecution of this case. Accordingly, on June 6, 1991, defendant moved for and was granted a dismissal of all charges. The State now appeals from the trial court's order of dismissal, specifically seeking review of the four suppression orders.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review the factual findings underlying the trial court's decision to grant the motions to suppress evidence under the clearly erroneous standard. State v. Brown, 853 P.2d 851, 854 (Utah 1992). This court will find clear error only if we decide that the factual findings made by the trial court are not adequately supported by the record. State v. Pena, 869 P.2d 932, 935-36 (Utah 1994). In addition, we consider the facts in a light most favorable to the trial court's determination. Id. However, this court reviews the trial court's conclusions of law based on such facts under a correctness standard, State v. Ramirez, 817 P.2d 774, 781-82 (Utah 1991), according no deference to its legal conclusions. Pena, 869 P.2d at 936; State v. Deli, 861 P.2d 431, 433 (Utah 1993). Under these standards, we now evaluate each suppression order in turn.

III. EVIDENCE DERIVED FROM CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION

The first suppression order entered by the trial court stems from the August 19, 1988, custodial interrogation of Troyer. This...

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17 cases
  • State v. Apodaca, 20140774-CA
    • United States
    • Utah Court of Appeals
    • June 28, 2018
    ...be used in the prosecution’s case in chief, they are admissible to impeach conflicting testimony by the defendant.’ " State v. Troyer , 910 P.2d 1182, 1190 (Utah 1995) (quoting Michigan v. Harvey , 494 U.S. 344, 350–51, 110 S.Ct. 1176, 108 L.Ed.2d 293 (1990) ). The rationale is that "if def......
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    • Utah Court of Appeals
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    ...given to officers, the State intended to use those statements in an effort to impeach Defendant at trial. See generally State v. Troyer, 910 P.2d 1182, 1190 (Utah 1995) (“With regard to the State's ability to introduce [the defendant]'s statements into evidence for the sole purpose of impea......
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    • United States
    • Utah Supreme Court
    • August 29, 2019
    ...not be used in the prosecution’s case in chief, they are admissible to impeach conflicting testimony by the defendant." State v. Troyer , 910 P.2d 1182, 1190 (Utah 1995) (quoting Michigan v. Harvey , 494 U.S. 344, 350–51, 110 S.Ct. 1176, 108 L.Ed.2d 293 (1990) ). The rationale for this rule......
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1 books & journal articles
  • Case Summaries
    • United States
    • Utah State Bar Utah Bar Journal No. 9-6, July 1996
    • Invalid date
    ...even though it exonerates criminal defendant only if he does not have the mental capacity to form the intent to kill. State v. Troyer, 910 P.2d 1182 (1995): Where statement made by defendant was without benefit of Miranda warning, statement may not be used in state's case-in-chief, but may ......

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