Police must Mirandize a suspect when (1) he is in custody and (2) police are conducting an interrogation. (For details, see my post When Must Police Read Miranda Warnings to a Suspect?)
Today the Appeals Court published an interesting opinion on the topic of Miranda rights and OUI investigations.
The facts, according to the court, are as follows.
Waltham police responded to a crash. A Honda rear-ended a pickup truck. The crash must have been significant because, when police arrived, the Honda was smoking and leaking fluids while the truck was completely “destroyed.”
The Honda’s driver was not at the scene. So police ran the vehicle’s plate number and called the owner. The owner answered and the police requested that he return to the scene.
When the driver arrived he appeared unsteady on his feet. He was also “very jolly…laughing, and joking.”
Police asked the man to sit on a wall near the sidewalk. As he sat roadside, police spoke with him and he admitted to falling asleep behind the wheel and crashing into the truck.
Ultimately police charged the driver with OUI and negligent operation.
Prior to trial his attorney sought to exclude the driver’s statements to police. The attorney argued that the police should have Mirandized the driver prior to speaking with him.
The trial court judge disagreed and the statements were admitted at trial. The driver lost on both counts and his attorney filed an appeal.
The Appeals Court upheld the conviction writing,
Central to our conclusion is the fact that the defendant returned to the scene voluntarily. [The arresting officer] did not command him to do so. The evidence supports the motion judge’s finding that the request that the defendant come to the accident scene where his damaged car was located was not an “official summons” or an “official action of police” — it was a relayed “as a request through a civilian by telephone,” notwithstanding his “businesslike” tone. A person is not considered to be in custody merely because he complies with a request from a police officer to come in for questioning.
The full text of the opinion is attached below.