State v. Brocious, Unpublished Decision (9-5-2003)
State v. Brocious, Unpublished Decision (9-5-2003)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} On November 23, 2002, Sheriff Deputy Matthew Brocious reported to the scene of an automobile accident. While Deputy Brocious was measuring skid marks pursuant to his investigation of the accident, Captain Jim Steggeman from the fire department arrived and parked his fire engine over the skid marks. Versions of events differ from this point regarding the behavior of Deputy Brocious and Captain Steggeman. Essentially, however, Deputy Brocious ordered Captain Steggeman to move the fire engine. While getting back into the vehicle to do so, Captain Steggeman referred to Deputy Brocious as an "asshole." This led to Deputy Brocious's pulling his gun on Captain Steggeman, handcuffing him, and placing him under arrest in the back of the cruiser.
{¶ 3} After Deputy Brocious arrested Captain Steggeman, Deputy Brocious's superior, Sergeant Dan Loney, arrived. Sergeant Loney spoke to the chief of the fire department and to Deputy Brocious. He then ordered Deputy Brocious to return to headquarters and to remain there until Sergeant Loney arrived. He further ordered Deputy Brocious to prepare a statement regarding the incident. Sergeant Loney remained at the scene, where he spoke to witnesses and took an employee misconduct statement regarding Deputy Brocious. Sergeant Loney also notified his superior, Lieutenant Russell Garman, of the incident.
{¶ 4} Lieutenant Garman was in the process of reporting to the scene when his superior, Captain Carl Loney, ordered him to report to headquarters and question Deputy Brocious. Captain Loney made the decision to begin a formal investigation and ordered Lieutenant Garman to give Deputy Brocious warnings pursuant to Garrity v. State of New Jersey
(1967),
{¶ 5} On January 16, 2002, the Springfield City Prosecutor requested that a special prosecutor, Riverside City Prosecutor Susan Brasier, be appointed to review the case for possible criminal charges. She was given a packet of materials, which included the statement typed by Deputy Brocious. Based upon her review of the packet of information, Deputy Brocious was charged with Aggravated Menacing and Misconduct at an Emergency on January 29, 2002. On April 29, 2002, Deputy Brocious filed a motion to dismiss the charges based upon the prosecutor's use of his immunized statement. A hearing was held on May 22, 2002, and the trial court granted the motion to dismiss on October 10, 2002. In granting Deputy Brocious's motion to dismiss, the trial court concluded that Deputy Brocious's typed statement had been made voluntarily but that it had been immunized during Lieutenant Garman's interview. The trial court further concluded that the prosecutor had failed to establish (1) that she had not made any use of the immunized testimony and (2) that the evidence to be presented at trial was derived from sources wholly independent of the statement.
{¶ 6} The state appeals, raising one assignment of error.
{¶ 7} "The Trial Court Erred In Finding That The Invocation Of Garrity Warnings After A Defendant Has Made A Voluntary Statement Required The Dismissal Of The Criminal Charges Against A Sheriff's Deputy."
{¶ 8} The state argues that the trial court erred in concluding that Deputy Brocious's typed statement was an immunized statement and that the prosecutor improperly used Deputy Brocious's immunized statement.
{¶ 9} In Garrity v. State of New Jersey (1967),
{¶ 10} Based upon these cases, the Supreme Court of Ohio has held that, in investigating police officers for the purpose of internal discipline, an internal affairs division is empowered to fire an officer who refuses to answer questions following an advisement that the answers will not be used in a subsequent criminal proceeding. See Jones, supra. The state argues that Jones is inapplicable to this case because it involved a civil suit brought by a police officer who had been terminated for refusing to answer questions in connection with an internal investigation after she had been advised that her answers would not be used against her in a subsequent criminal proceeding. In upholding her termination, the supreme court concluded that an internal affairs division has the power to effectively immunize statements made by a police officer in the context of an internal investigation. Id. at 44. The court noted: "[T]he [Internal Affairs Division], within clearly defined constitutional parameters, must be given latitude to conduct investigations to ensure the continued integrity of the department. It is critical to any meaningful IAD investigation that, once officers have been assured that their constitutional guarantees remain intact, they are required to respond to specific questions dealing with job performance. Without such a mandate, the IAD cannot ensure the integrity and trustworthiness of the department officers and the public cannot be assured of the propriety of placing its trust in these public servants." Id. While, as the state argues, this case has been criticized for giving police officers the power to protect each other from criminal prosecution, see, e.g., Jones, supra, at 49, 55 (Douglas, J., dissenting); State v. Sess (1999),
{¶ 11} Having determined that Lieutenant Garman had authority to grant Deputy Brocious immunity from the use of his statements in a subsequent criminal proceeding against him, we must now determine whether Lieutenant Garman did so with respect to Deputy Brocious's typed statement. Prior to interviewing Deputy Brocious, Lieutenant Garman had him sign a form, which described his rights and provided: "I, Matt Brocious understand: * * * That I am granted immunity and that neither my statements, nor any information or evidence gained by reason of this interview, including the results of the polygraph examination, can be used against me in any subsequent criminal proceedings." There is no question, and the state does not dispute, that this form granted Deputy Brocious immunity from the use of statements he made during his interview with Lieutenant Garman in a subsequent criminal proceeding against him. What is in dispute is whether this statement granted him immunity over the use of his typed statement.
{¶ 12} The state argues that Deputy Brocious's typed statement was made voluntarily before the administering of Garrity warnings and therefore was not covered by the grant of immunity. Deputy Brocious argues that the statement was covered by the grant of immunity because he was under investigation at the time it was made and because he did not give the statement to Lieutenant Garman until after he had been given hisGarrity warnings, and therefore after the grant of immunity. The trial court concluded that the internal investigation of Deputy Brocious began when Captain Loney instructed Lieutenant Garman to give Deputy Brocious his Garrity warnings and interview him about the incident with Captain Steggeman. The court further noted that the typed statement was not given to Lieutenant Garman until after Deputy Brocious had been given hisGarrity warnings two times and had been interviewed. Furthermore, Lieutenant Garman testified that he had believed that the statement would be used in the internal investigation and had, in fact, turned the statement over to internal affairs where it was made a part of the file. Based upon these facts, the trial court concluded that the statement was covered by the grant of immunity. We agree. Although the state stresses that Deputy Brocious wrote his statement prior to the administering ofGarrity warnings, we note that it is unclear from the record whether Deputy Brocious had completed his statement prior to Lieutenant Garman's collecting it. Furthermore, he did not give it to Lieutenant Garman until he was told to do so after the interview. The Garrity warnings on their face granted Deputy Brocious immunity for this statement. Therefore, we conclude that the trial court properly determined that the immunity granted to Deputy Brocious covered the typed statement.
{¶ 13} The Supreme Court of Ohio has addressed the use of immunized statements by a prosecutor. In State v. Conrad (1990),
{¶ 14} We note that Conrad and Kastigar specifically prohibit any
use by the prosecutor of a witness's immunized statement. Furthermore, the burden is upon the state to establish that no use was made of the immunized statement and that the evidence to be used at trial was derived from sources wholly independent of the immunized statement. However, federal courts are split regarding whether non-evidentiary uses, such as informing the decision to prosecute or interpreting other evidence, are prohibited by the language in Kastigar. Compare United States v. McDaniel
(C.A. 8, 1973),
{¶ 15} In this case, the trial court concluded that the state did not deny having used Deputy Brocious's statement in determining whether to bring charges against him. On the contrary, the testimony by the prosecutor indicated that she had read witness statements and interviewed witnesses and that she had read Deputy Brocious's statement and determined that it corroborated the witness statements. At the least, the prosecutor made use of Deputy Brocious's statement in solidifying her decision to charge him. She was furthermore specifically asked if she had told the trial court and the defense attorney that she had decided to bring two charges against Deputy Brocious based upon her review of his statement. Her answer was that she did not know whether she had said it. Also problematic is the lack of testimony regarding the sources of the evidence to be used at trial. The prosecutor could not remember whether she had read Deputy Brocious's statement before or after she had finished interviewing witnesses, and there is no testimony regarding the evidence that she intended to use at trial. Based upon these factors, the trial court determined that the state had not met its burden under Kastigar andConrad.
{¶ 16} We agree with the trial court. While we do not necessarily agree with the McDaniel court's conclusion that the government is faced with an "insurmountable task" in meeting the Kastigar test in this situation, the evidence presented at the hearing on the motion to dismiss did not establish that the prosecutor made no use of Brocious's immunized statement or that the evidence to be used at trial was derived from wholly independent sources. Because the burden is on the state to establish that no improper use was made of the statement, we must conclude that the trial court properly found that the state did not meet its burden. Pursuant to Conrad, the appropriate sanction for improper use of an immunized statement is dismissal of the indictment: "Since improper use of immunized testimony by the prosecution under Kastigar should never be countenanced, dismissal of the indictment will greatly discourage such abuse by prosecuting authorities in future cases." Conrad, supra, at 5. While there is some confusion among courts regarding the appropriate remedy where the immunized statement was also coerced, see Sess, supra, at 692-93 (deciding the case on the basis that the testimony was coerced and holding that suppression was the appropriate remedy), no such confusion exists in this case. Therefore, we hold that, pursuant toConrad, dismissal of the complaint is the appropriate remedy, and the trial court did not err in dismissing the complaint against Deputy Brocious.
{¶ 17} The state's assignment of error is overruled.
{¶ 18} The judgment of the trial court will be affirmed.
GRADY, J., concurs.
Dissenting Opinion
{¶ 19} I would sustain the State's assignment of error, reverse the judgment of the trial court, and remand for further proceedings.
{¶ 20} I agree with the trial court that the statement Brocious gave was compelled under the holding of Garrity v. State of New Jersey
(1967),
{¶ 21} As I understand the holding in Garrity and in subsequent cases, where a police officer has been compelled to make a potentially incriminating statement, that statement may not be used in any criminal proceedings against the officer, because to do so would violate the officer's privilege, under the
{¶ 22} Brocious was given assurance, pursuant to the immunity he was extended in order to compel his statement, that "neither my statements, nor any information or evidence gained by reason of this interview, including the results of the polygraph examination, can be used against me in any subsequent criminal proceedings." This is consistent with the constitutional protection afforded him.
{¶ 23} The normal remedy for violating this protection is to bar, or to exclude, the admission into evidence of the compelled statement, or any evidence derived from it. Use and derivative-use immunity is coextensive with the privilege against self-incrimination. Kastigar v.United States (1972),
{¶ 24} In the case before us, there were no proceedings before a grand jury, the criminal proceedings having been instituted by complaint, because the offense was a misdemeanor, not a felony requiring presentment to a grand jury. Therefore, in my view, this case is distinguishable from State v. Conrad, supra, and merely requires the normal remedy for a compelled statement — exclusion of the compelled statement, or any evidence derived from that statement, from evidence in any criminal proceeding against Brocious.
{¶ 25} The rule we are adopting in the case before us would appear to require more than the traditional remedy of exclusion from evidence of a compelled statement and any evidence derived from the compelled statement. It would appear that whenever a criminal defendant in this appellate district is making a claim that he has been compelled to make an incriminating statement, in violation of his federal and Ohio constitutional privileges against self-incrimination, the proper vehicle for that claim will now be a motion to dismiss the charge, rather than a motion to suppress evidence. Even if, by some chance, the prosecutor is not originally aware of the circumstances giving rise to the claim that the accused has been compelled to make an incriminating statement, the prosecutor will become aware of those circumstances by virtue of the motion to suppress or to dismiss, and may therefore be influenced by that knowledge in exercising the various forms of discretion available to prosecutors; e.g., in plea bargaining, or in deciding the extent of public resources to devote to prosecution of the case. This should not, in my view, bar the prosecutor from continuing to prosecute the case. I would limit the relief available to the defendant to the exclusion of the compelled statement and of any evidence derived from the compelled statement.
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