Sullivan v. State of Ala.

Citation666 F.2d 478
Decision Date22 January 1982
Docket NumberNo. 80-7380,80-7380
PartiesJames SULLIVAN, Jr., Petitioner-Appellant, v. STATE OF ALABAMA, Respondent-Appellee.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (11th Circuit)

Robert R. Bryan, San Francisco, Cal., for petitioner-appellant.

Jean Williams Brown, Asst. Atty. Gen., Montgomery, Ala., for respondent-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court For the Northern District of Alabama.

Before TUTTLE, HENDERSON and HATCHETT, Circuit Judges.

HENDERSON, Circuit Judge:

James H. Sullivan, Jr., the petitioner-appellant, appeals the decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. 28 U.S.C. § 2254. He asserts that his trial in the Alabama state court was constitutionally flawed by the admission into evidence of his statements made to police officers and by comments of the prosecution at trial. After reviewing the record, we find no error and affirm the district court.

At approximately 6:00 p.m. on March 27, 1975, James Sullivan walked into the Jefferson County jail in Birmingham, Alabama. Deputy W. B. Miller of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office was working at the front information desk. When Miller saw him, the petitioner was mumbling and repeating to himself, "I have done something terrible, it is awful." Trial Transcript at 59, Alabama v. Sullivan, No. 34264 (10th Judicial Circuit Court for Jefferson County, Dec. 11, 1975) (hereinafter referred to as "Trial Transcript"). Petitioner repeated this statement several times and was obviously very upset, distraught and emotional. Miller asked Sullivan his name and the nature of his problem, but Sullivan did not answer. Deputy Miller then summoned Sgt. Joseph Gardner. When Sgt. Gardner arrived, Miller related his previous conversation with Sullivan and stated that Sullivan had requested to talk to someone. Trial Transcript at 56. Gardner then ushered Sullivan into his office, and, without initially advising Sullivan of his Miranda rights, began to converse with the petitioner. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). The following account of the exchange between Gardner and Sullivan appears in the opinion of the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeal:

Detective Gardner took the appellant to his office, identified himself as a detective sergeant and showed the appellant his badge and identification card. Gardner asked the appellant if he had a drug problem and the appellant answered "No". After a pause, the appellant remarked that his car was parked outside and he was afraid that it would be pulled away because it was on a parking meter. Gardner told the appellant to tell him what his problem was and he would listen. When Gardner attempted to obtain the appellant's name the appellant "fumbled around" in his pocket and pulled out a musician's union card and a driver's license. The appellant asked Detective Gardner to do him a favor and lock him up.

In response to questions by Detective Gardner, the appellant stated that he had been married until the day before, was a musician and worked in a night club but had been out of work for about two months; the appellant stated that his wife was Jill Scott, a night club entertainer and that "something happened to her".

At this point, Detective Gardner "got the feeling that (he) might advise him of his rights because (he) didn't know what might have happened to her". The appellant was then orally advised of his rights but was not asked to sign a written waiver. Neither was he asked if he understood his rights.

After being advised of his rights, the appellant sat in the office and sobbed for a few minutes. Then he asked if he could write a note. Upon being handed pen and paper, the appellant wrote:

"Father, Mother & Brother,

Forgive me please.

I don't know what

I'm doing anymore.

Jimmy."

The appellant stated that he "just couldn't take this anymore" and said that "Jill's dead". Detective Gardner then asked the appellant if he wanted to tell what happened.

The appellant stated that they had been having money problems and arguing over them and that he had even cut off his beard in order to find employment. The appellant told Detective Gardner that they had argued that day and gave him a key to her apartment. Gardner learned that Ms. Scott was in the apartment and the appellant gave him the address and said that it did not happen long ago. He stated that he couldn't stand for someone else to walk in and find her; that they were sure to come looking for her because she had the money. 1 The appellant told Gardner that she had died from a gunshot and that she wasn't very pretty. Detective Gardner then carried the appellant back to the Warden's Office and told Deputy Miller to keep an eye on him while he went to investigate. Deputy Miller testified that Detective Gardner questioned the appellant for about thirty minutes and that when Gardner brought him back out the appellant appeared to be "calming down a bit ... not quite as emotional and upset ... not mumbling to himself as much".

Sullivan v. State, 351 So.2d 659, 663 (Ala.Cr.App.1977) (footnote added). 2 Sgt. Gardner and other investigators then proceeded to the apartment where they found the dead body of Sullivan's wife. She had been shot six times. A target pistol, belonging to the petitioner's father, was on the floor. It was later determined to be the murder weapon. Several fingerprints were lifted from the weapon, one of which was identified as that of Sullivan. At the trial, the petitioner offered an exculpatory story in his defense. Record at 140. See Sullivan v. State, 351 So.2d at 661.

Sullivan was charged with first degree murder. Prior to the trial, he was transferred to a mental hospital for four months. After a jury trial in the Circuit Court for the Tenth Judicial Circuit of Alabama, he was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. His unsuccessful appeal followed, Sullivan v. State, 351 So.2d 659 (Ala.Cr.App.1977), and both his request for a rehearing and petition for certiorari to the Alabama Supreme Court were denied. Ex parte Sullivan, 351 So.2d 665 (Ala.1977). The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama subsequently denied Sullivan's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, 28 U.S.C. § 2254. He then filed a notice of appeal to this court.

Sullivan first alleges that the admission into evidence of the various pre-Miranda statements was error because (1) he was in custody at the beginning of the questioning and (2) the statements were involuntary by reason of his mental incompetence. In Miranda v. Arizona, the Supreme Court held that evidence obtained as a result of a custodial interrogation was inadmissible unless the defendant had first been warned of his rights and knowingly waived those rights. 384 U.S. at 444-5, 86 S.Ct. at 1612, 16 L.Ed.2d at 706-7. However, the protections of Miranda do not extend to voluntary statements made to law enforcement officers. As the Supreme Court stated in Miranda,

(a)ny statement given freely and voluntarily without any compelling influences is, of course, admissible in evidence. The fundamental import of the privilege while an individual is in custody is not whether he is allowed to talk to the police without the benefit of warnings and counsel, but whether he can be interrogated. There is no requirement that police stop a person who enters a police station and states that he wishes to confess to a crime, or a person who calls the police to offer a confession or any other statement he desires to make. Volunteered statements of any kind are not barred by the Fifth Amendment and their admissibility is not affected by our holding today.

384 U.S. at 478, 86 S.Ct. at 1629, 16 L.Ed.2d at 726 (footnote omitted). In United States v. Savell, 546 F.2d 43, 46 (5th Cir. 1977), the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reiterated this view in stating that the Miranda rule "does not reach a situation ... where the statements were unsolicited, spontaneous and freely made prior to any attempted interrogation." Sullivan walked into the sheriff's office of his own free will. Any comments or declarations made at that time were clearly volunteered and not the result of a custodial interrogation. Thus, the Miranda rule was inapplicable and no warning was required.

Likewise, the statements made by Sullivan while he was in Sgt. Gardner's office were voluntary and not the product of a custodial interrogation. The Miranda Court defined custodial interrogation as "questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way." 384 U.S. at 444, 86 S.Ct. at 1612, 16 L.Ed.2d at 706. A custodial interrogation is to be distinguished from the "traditional investigatory functions" of police where the compulsive atmosphere triggering Miranda is absent. See Miranda, 384 U.S. at 477-78, 481, 86 S.Ct. at 1629, 1631, 16 L.Ed.2d at 725-7; United States v. Montos, 421 F.2d 215 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1022, 90 S.Ct. 1262, 25 L.Ed.2d 532 (1970). The pre-Miranda conversation between Sgt. Gardner and the petitioner does not reveal any of the significant restraint of freedom characteristic of a custodial interrogation. Sgt. Gardner had no indication of the commission of a crime. In fact, he suspected that Sullivan might have a drug problem. His initial inquiry was merely an attempt to investigate and probe the situation. Sullivan was not under arrest; he remained at the station of his own accord and freely answered the questions asked of him.

As the second prong of this argument, Sullivan insists that the pre-Miranda statements were involuntary because of his mental incompetency or insanity. It is settled that statements or confessions made during a time of mental incompetency or insanity are involuntary and, consequently, inadmissible. Townsend v. Sain, 372...

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