Welch v. Commonwealth
Welch v. Commonwealth
Opinion of the Court
Appellant, Christopher Welch, was convicted of one count of sodomy in the first degree and of one count of sexual abuse in the first degree. He was sentenced to a twenty-year term of imprisonment. The charges arose from statements made by Appellant during his treatment at a juvenile sex offender program. Appellant entered a conditional guilty plea to the above charges and reserved the right to appeal the Boyle Circuit Court’s denial of his motion to suppress these statements. The issue here is whether statements made by a juvenile to counselors without Miranda
Appellant was adjudicated as a juvenile sex offender and committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice (“DJJ”). He was sent to Rivendell, a treatment facility, to participate in the juvenile sex offender treatment program. While at Rivendell and participating in the treatment program, Appellant disclosed to his counselor several uncharged acts of sexual misconduct. The counselor notified social workers who then notified the Boyle County Sheriffs Department. Deputy Sheriff Jim
Appellant presented evidence at the suppression hearing regarding the juvenile sex offender treatment program and evidence regarding the lack of warnings given to him. The evidence revealed that participation in the juvenile sex offender program is not voluntary, but rather the participants are at these treatment programs by court order and must follow the rules and procedures of the program. The program uses group therapy and group dynamics as a means to further the goals of the program. Participants are strongly encouraged, by counselors and other group members, to admit and disclose all prior sexual misconduct. This fosters treatment and reprogramming of the behavior of those involved. Testimony during the suppression hearing described participation in this part of the program as essential to progress toward completion of the program as ordered by the court. Progress in the program is required to obtain and keep certain privileges during treatment.
Appellant received no warning or notice that his counseling disclosures could result in criminal prosecution. When Appellant made the statements to counselors at Ri-vendell, no Miranda warnings were given. The first time Appellant was made aware of his right to remain silent occurred when he was interviewed at the treatment facility by the police officers. The record does not contain any written verification of waiver at that time. As a result of his statements, Appellant was charged with the offenses herein. Following the denial of his suppression motion, Appellant entered the conditional guilty plea from which this matter of right appeal
Appellant argues that the trial court erred when it failed to suppress his statements made to the counselors at .Rivendell. He presents three alternative reasons as to why the statements should have been suppressed: (1) the statements were obtained in violation of Miranda, (2) the statements were involuntary, and (3) the statements were privileged. The Commonwealth argues that such statements made to counselors are not privileged and are voluntary, and that the counselors are not agents of the police.
Appellate review of a motion to suppress is governed by the standard expressed by the Supreme Court of the United States in Ornelas v. United States
Upon review of the law, the initial inquiry must be whether the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution or Section 11 of the Kentucky Constitution securing the privilege against self-incrimination is applicable to this situation. The privilege has been held to protect a person from being forced to put forth evidence against himself or herself and “the availability of the privilege does not turn upon the type of proceeding in which its protection is invoked, but upon the nature of the statement or admission and the exposure which it invites.”
A custodial interrogation is a prerequisite for invoking the necessity of Miranda warnings.
Another Miranda requirement is state action. The counselors who questioned Appellant were employees of the treatment facility, not law enforcement officers. Generally, questioning by law enforcement is required to trigger the necessity for Miranda warnings. On the other hand, the Supreme Court of the United States has recognized the applicability of Miranda in situations not involving law enforcement. In Estelle v. Smith,
The title and employer of the questioner are not the sole basis for determining state action; rather courts must determine whether the interrogation was such as to likely result in disclosure of information which would lead to facts that would form the basis for prosecution.
Supporting this view is State v. Evans,
Appellant further argues that his statements to police should be suppressed as fruit of a poisonous tree.
Supporting this view is a recent United States Supreme Court decision, United States v. Patane,
Since we have decided the case on constitutional grounds, we t need not address the parties’ arguments pertaining to the applicability of KRS 197.440, KRS 635.527, and KRS 620.030(1).
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Boyle Circuit Court is reversed and this cause is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion.
. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).
. Ky. Const. § 110(2)(b).
. 517 U.S. 690, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996).
.Ky., 967 S.W.2d 6 (1998).
. Ornelas, 517 U.S. at 699, 116 S.Ct. at 1663.
. Id.
. In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 49, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 1455, 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967).
. Miranda, 384 U.S. at 467, 86 S.Ct. at 1624.
. See Hourigan v. Commonwealth, Ky., 962 S.W.2d 860, 864 (1998); Commonwealth v. Cooper, Ky., 899 S.W.2d 75, 78 (1995); Newman v. Stinson, Ky., 489 S.W.2d 826, 829 (1972) (holding that the Fifth Amendment and Section 11 of the Constitution of Kentucky provide identical protection against self-incrimination).
. See Miranda, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).
. Dickerson v. United States, 530 U.S. 428, 431, 120 S.Ct. 2326, 2329-30, 147 L.Ed.2d 405 (2000).
. Id.
. 451 U.S. 454, 469, 101 S.Ct. 1866, 1876, 68 L.Ed.2d 359 (1981).
. United States v. D.F., 63 F.3d 671, 683-84 (1995), vacated and remanded, 517 U.S. 1231, 116 S.Ct. 1872, 135 L.Ed.2d 169 (1996), remanded to, 115 F.3d 413 (1997) (holding that the Fifth Amendment analysis contained in D.F., 63 F.3d 671 was correct).
. 144 Ohio App.3d 539, 760 N.E.2d 909 (2001), discretionary appeal not allowed, 93 Ohio St.3d 1473, 757 N.E.2d 771 (2001).
. Id. at 924.
. Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 488, 83 S.Ct. 407, 417, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963).
. Id., citing Nardone v. United States, 308 U.S. 338, 341, 60 S.Ct. 266, 268, 84 L.Ed. 307 (1939).
. - U.S. -, 124 S.Ct. 2620, 159 L.Ed.2d 667 (2004).
. Id. at -, 124 S.Ct. at 2626
. Patane, - U.S. at -, 124 S.Ct. at 2628 (quoting Chavez v. Martinez, 538 U.S. 760, 769, 123 S.Ct. 1994, 2002, 155 L.Ed.2d 984 (2003)).
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent for three reasons: (1) Appellant’s statements to the police were made after Miranda
I. Statements to Police
The Supreme Court of the United States has previously addressed whether Miranda warnings given by police officers after an unwarned confession are effective. In Oregon v. Elstad,
II. Identity of Other Victims
In United States v. Patane,
In this ease we must decide whether a failure to give a suspect the warnings prescribed by [Miranda ], requires suppression of the physical fruits of the suspect’s unwarned but voluntary statements. The Court has previously addressed this question but has not reached a definitive conclusion .... Because the Miranda rule protects against violations of the Self-Incrimination Clause, which, in turn, is not implicated by the introduction at trial of physical evidence resulting from voluntary statements, we answer the question presented in the negative.9
The SeZ/-Incrimination Clause does exactly what its name implies: It creates a right against self-incrimination. It does not create a right against incrimination by others. Thus, the Self-Incrimination Clause is not implicated by the introduction at trial of the testimony of others, e.g., the victim. The Appellant can assert his Fifth Amendment rights only to bar the introduction of statements that he has made, not statements made by others. Thus, even if we assume that Appellant’s statements should be suppressed, the fruits of his otherwise voluntary statements, i.e., the identity of his other victims, are not subject to suppression, and the newly identified victims may testify against him.
III. Custodial Interrogation
At first blush, it seems illogical to maintain that a person adjudicated a juvenile sexual offender and remanded to a treatment facility is not in custody when he is questioned. Of course Appellant was in
Although Kentucky’s appellate courts have not previously addressed whether one who is imprisoned is per se “in custody” for purposes of Miranda, the Second, Fourth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Circuits of the United States Court of Appeals have addressed this issue and have held that merely because the defendant is in prison on an unrelated charge does not mean the defendant is “in custody” under Miranda.
Factors the courts considered in determining whether the prisoner was “in custody” include: the defendant’s freedom to leave the scene and the purpose, place and length of the questioning; a change in the surroundings of the prisoner which results in an added imposition on his freedom of movement; and whether circumstances suggest any measure of compulsion above and beyond the confinement.12
In U.S. v. Chamberlain,
A determination of how a reasonable person would have felt in this situation — whether a reasonable person would have thought he was in custody— requires close consideration both of how Chamberlain got to the interview room and of the atmosphere of the interviews once Chamberlain arrived for, and during, questioning.
*415 The six factor analysis set out in United States v. Griffin provides guidance in making this determination:
(1) whether the suspect was informed at the time of questioning that the questioning was voluntary, that the suspect was free to leave or request the officers to do so, or that the suspect was not considered under arrest;
(2) whether the suspect possessed unrestrained freedom of movement during questioning;
(3) whether the suspect initiated contact with authorities or voluntarily acquiesced to official requests to respond to questions;
(4) whether strong arm tactics or deceptive stratagems were employed during questioning;
(5) whether the atmosphere of the' questioning was police dominated; or,
(6) whether the suspect was placed under arrest at the termination of the questioning.
All six of these factors need not be present for a finding of custody requiring a Miranda warning. Nor is this list exhaustive. The custody issue ultimately “focuses upon the totality of the circumstances.”16
Here, Appellant voluntarily participated in the Sex Offender Treatment Program at the juvenile facility. It was his choice to attend the sessions, and a decision not to attend or participate would not increase his sentence.
The counselors encouraged Appellant to discuss his previous offenses in an effort to provide treatment and not as a “strong arm tactic” or a “deceptive stratagem.” It is undisputed that the counselors were not seeking to elicit information from Appellant for the purpose of his prosecution. Unlike the situation in Estelle v. Smith
I believe that the majority’s reliance on State v. Evans is misplaced given that the case precedes the Supreme Court’s decisions in Patane and Seibert, and other than sharing with the present case the general subject matter of a juvenile who confesses in a treatment program, Evans is factually different. In Evans, although the Court found that the counselors were not law enforcement officials or their
Thus, I believe that although Appellant was imprisoned at the time he attended the sessions, he was not “in custody” for the purposes of Miranda when he made his admissions to the counselors.
For the above three reasons, or any one separately, I dissent and would affirm Appellant’s conviction.
GRAVES and WINTERSHEIMER, JJ., join this dissenting opinion.
. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).
. Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963).
. 470 U.S. 298, 105 S.Ct. 1285, 84 L.Ed.2d 222 (1985).
. Missouri v. Seibert, - U.S. -, 124 S.Ct. 2601, 2610 n. 4, 159 L.Ed.2d 643 (2004) ("In Elstad, 'a simple failure to administer the warnings, unaccompanied by any actual coer
. - U.S. -, 124 S.Ct. 2601, 159 L.Ed.2d 643 (2004).
. Seibert, - U.S. at -, 124 S.Ct. at 2615, 159 L.Ed.2d at 660 (Kennedy, J., concurring).
. In State v. Evans, 144 Ohio App.3d 539, 760 N.E.2d 909 (2001), the Court of Appeals of Ohio determined that staff members of a juvenile treatment facility were not required to give Miranda warnings even though the juveniles were encouraged to confess past offenses because the staff members were not law enforcement officials or their agents.
. - U.S. -, 124 S.Ct. 2620, 159 L.Ed.2d 667 (2004).
. - U.S. at -, 124 S.Ct. at 2624, 159 L.Ed.2d at 673 (citations omitted; emphasis added).
. See United States v. Willoughby, 860 F.2d 15, 23 (2nd Cir. 1988) ("[W]e believe that the mere fact of imprisonment does not mean that all of a prisoner’s conversations are official interrogations that must be preceded by Miranda warnings.”), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1033, 109 S.Ct. 846, 102 L.Ed.2d 978 (1989); United States v. Conley, 779 F.2d 970, 972 (4th Cir. 1985) ("declin[ing] to read Mathis as compelling the use of Miranda warnings prior to all prisoner interrogations and [holding] that a prison inmate is not automatically always in 'custody' within the meaning of Miranda ”), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 830, 107 S.Ct. 114, 93 L.Ed.2d 61 (1986); U.S. v. Menzer, 29 F.3d 1223, 1232 (7th Cir. 1994) (where no "added imposition on his freedom of movement” nor "any measure of compulsion above and beyond [imprisonment],” defendant held not "in custody" for the purposes of Miranda); Leviston v. Black, 843 F.2d 302, 304 (8th Cir. 1988) ("While Miranda may apply to one who is in custody for an offense unrelated to the interrogation, [Mathis, 391 U.S. at 4-5, 88 S.Ct. at 1504-05], incarceration does not ipso facto render an interrogation custodial ....”), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 865, 109 S.Ct. 168, 102 L.Ed.2d 138 (1988); Cervantes v. Walker, 589 F.2d 424 (9th Cir. 1978) (questioning of inmate by deputy sheriff about contents of matchbox containing a substance resembling marijuana during a routine search of an inmate’s belongings held noncustodial).
. See U.S. v. Menzer, 29 F.3d 1223, 1232 (7th Cir. 1994).
. Id. (citations, internal quotation marks, brackets, and ellipses omitted; emphasis added).
. 163 F.3d 499 (8th Cir. 1998).
. Id. at 503.
. 922 F.2d 1343 (8th Cir. 1990).
. Chamberlain, 163 F.3d at 503 (citations omitted).
. See Martin v. Chandler, 122 S.W.3d 540 (Ky. 2003) (holding requirement that prisoner complete Sex Offender Treatment Program to be eligible to earn discretionary good time credits towards his sentence did not result in increase in punishment).
. 451 U.S. 454, 101 S.Ct. 1866, 68 L.Ed.2d 359 (1981).
. State v. Evans, 144 Ohio App.3d 539, 760 N.E.2d 909, 915 (2001) (“Hillcrest authorities deemed Evan’s first attempt to complete the ‘commitment offense paper’ unacceptable because ‘incomplete.’ The staff required that he try again. To assist him in being more thorough, a counselor provided Evans with a list of fourteen charges that at one time had been brought against him, and he was specifically told to write separately about each of them.”).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Christopher WELCH, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY, Appellee
- Cited By
- 73 cases
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- Published