Morris v. State

2016 Ark. App. 546

506 S.W.3d 299

Randy Harold MORRIS, Jr., Appellant

v.STATE of Arkansas, Appellee

No. CR–16–200

Court of Appeals of Arkansas, DIVISION IV.

Opinion Delivered: November 16, 2016

Keith, Miller, Butler, Schneider & Pawlik, PLLC, by: Mason L. Boling, Rogers, for appellant.

Leslie Rutledge, Att'y Gen., by: Christian Harris, Ass't Att'y Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.

BART F. VIRDEN, Judge

Randy Harold Morris, Jr., appeals his conviction by a jury on one count of rape by a Washington County jury. His sole point on appeal is that the circuit court erred in denying his motion to suppress his statement to police. Specifically, Morris contends that the circuit court erred in finding that he was not "in custody" when he was interrogated by the police immediately prior to his arrest and that Morris's statement was made pursuant to an interrogation without his having been informed of his Miranda rights. We agree, and we reverse and remand for a new trial.

I. Facts

On August 24 and 26, 2015, there was a suppression hearing concerning certain statements made by Morris to police immediately prior to his arrest. At the hearing, Springdale police officer Christopher James Eagle testified that on April 30, 2014, he responded to a report of rape at the Sleep Inn in Springdale. Eagle testified that he and other officers met with C.K. in a conference room at the motel, where she told them the details of her attack. Officer Eagle stated that C.K. told officers that she and some friends had formed a plan to rob Morris. Instead, she met Morris at his hotel room and bought methamphetamine from him, and then she asked if she could use his shower. Eagle testified that C.K. had told them that, while she was in the shower, Morris pulled her from the shower, put her on the bed, tied her wrists with a zip tie, and injected her in the crook of her arm with an unknown substance. C.K. told officers that Morris had raped her orally, anally, and vaginally. Eagle stated that C.K. had told officers that, after the rape had occurred and while Morris was cleaning, she left to go get change at a nearby store so that Morris could do laundry. C.K. warned the officers that Morris had a knife and that he had used it to cut the zip ties.

Officer Eagle testified that he and Officer Landrum were in the hallway outside Morris's hotel room when Morris exited the room carrying a plastic bag that had a zip tie protruding from the top. Morris was also carrying a basket of clothes. Officer Eagle testified that he had his gun drawn and was holding it in a low position and that when Officer Landrum patted Morris down, he put his gun away.

Officer Jerry Corken testified that after Morris had been patted down, Morris asked if he could go check on his laundry but that "we asked him to wait." Officer Corken stated that after speaking to Morris in the hallway for a while, "the conversation was moved into the room because the hallway was starting to get really crowded with people coming out of their rooms." Officer Corken testified that, for safety reasons, they moved police and Morris into the hotel room.

Officer Kyle Naish testified that he stood opposite the hotel-room door with his back to the bedroom area so he could watch Detective Matt Ray and Morris. He testified that Detective Nelson was also in the room and that Morris was sitting on the couch. Officer Naish testified that Detective Robert Nelson took pictures of the room, while Officer Eagle came in to the room to remove drug paraphernalia from the couch cushions and that other officers "made a circle around the room to see if there was anything around." Officer Naish testified that the officers searched the bedroom, the bathroom, the closet, the television stand, and the dresser. After the search, they escorted Morris to his truck, obtained Morris's consent to search the truck, and then arrested Morris.

Officer Ray testified that Morris had not been informed by any of the officers that he could refuse to allow them into his room and that Morris had not been provided any Miranda warnings before or during the questioning that took place in his room. Officer Ray testified that he had asked Morris's permission to wrap the zip tie on Morris's wrist and that Morris had agreed. Officer Ray testified that the interview with Morris in his room lasted somewhere between thirty and forty-five minutes. Officer Ray agreed that the questions he asked Morris were designed to elicit a confession or a self-incriminating statement and that the questions "were the type where his responses were either going to put him in prison or not."

The circuit court ruled that Morris had not been in custody that evening in his hotel room; therefore, Morris's statements would not be suppressed at the trial. The court reasoned that the facts recited at the hearing were analogous to those in Collins v. State , 2014 Ark. App. 574, 446 S.W.3d 199. It also stated that because Morris never objected, because he voluntarily answered the police questions, and because he had prior felonies and was familiar with the police and police procedure, Morris "did not feel that he was under arrest."

A jury trial was held on September 28–29, 2015. At the trial Morris's recorded statement was played for the jury. In the statement, Morris admitted that he and C.K. had consensual sex. Morris explained to police that he had a legal prescription for methamphetamine but that C.K. did not receive any drugs from him, or do any drugs in front of him. In his recorded statement, Morris questioned why someone claiming to have been raped would have gone to the store and come back with change to do laundry. At that point, the following exchange occurred:

OFFICER RAY : I know why. Because you raped her. You tied her up and you raped her. That's the conclusion I just got.

MORRIS : Why did she leave and come back and leave and come back? In her own car? Maybe she's full of it! You are not going to call me a liar. If you want to take me to jail, take me to jail. Do not call me a liar.

OFFICER RAY : Then don't lie to me. Tell me the truth.

MORRIS : I told you. She's a freak. We had sex. We watched half a movie. No, I did not film it. I've been married eighteen years, and she comes up wanting to do this. This guy that introduced us can tell you that she wanted to have sex with me the night before, but I was too tired. No, she did not want to have sex for meth. I don't have any meth.

UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER : Yeah you do; it's right here.

OFFICER RAY : And you're sitting here saying I'm calling you a liar. I'm sure we're going to find meth in your truck, too.

MORRIS : If there is meth in the truck, somebody put it there. You just accused me of raping a woman. You know that's disrespectful. She raped me. I didn't want to have sex with her.

In his recorded statement, Morris also described having sex with C.K., and he explained that, afterward, C.K. took a shower and went to get breakfast for them.

OFFICER RAY : Here's the deal. You're being accused of rape. I've given you every opportunity to tell me exactly what happened. I'm not scared of you. Quit being intimidating.

MORRIS : I'm not. You ask the same things over and over again.

UNKNOWN OFFICER : When I first talked to you, what did I say? These are the allegations.

MORRIS : These aren't allegations when you are trying to beat something in me.

UNKNOWN OFFICER : Listen to what Detective Ray is saying. He's working for you. We have been doing this long enough to know something's wrong.

....

OFFICER RAY : Did you rape her?

MORRIS : No, I did not.

Shortly thereafter Morris was placed under arrest on a charge of rape.

At the trial, C.K. testified that when she arrived at Morris's hotel room on April 29, 2014, she and Morris smoked methamphetamine, and then she took a shower. C.K. told police that while she was in the shower, Morris entered, threw her over his shoulder, and threw her on the bed. She testified that he held her down, restrained her wrists with zip ties, tied off her arm with a neutral-colored rubber band, and injected her with a substance she believed to be methamphetamine. C.K. testified that Morris had raped her orally, vaginally, and anally and that he had ejaculated in her mouth. C.K. stated that when he had finished raping her, he cut the zip tie with a black knife. C.K. said she got dressed and then Morris told her to go to his truck to get cleaning supplies. C.K. testified that, when she returned, Morris told her to go to the gas station across the street to get quarters. C.K. explained that she wrote a note and gave it to the gas-station attendant. In the note, C.K. stated that she had been raped, and she requested that the attendant call the police. C.K. testified that she went back to the hotel room, that she told Morris that she was going to the lobby to get breakfast, and that the police arrived while she was out of the room.

Irene Whitaker, a nurse examiner specializing in sexual-assault cases, testified that she had examined C.K. on April 30, 2014. Whitaker testified that C.K. told her that she was on methamphetamine and that she had been orally, anally, and vaginally raped. Whitaker stated that C.K. explained that she had bitten her own lip and that she had pain in her wrists from being tied up. Whitaker testified that she made note of the red marks on C.K.'s wrists, the puncture where C.K. said she had been injected, and an unhealed, bleeding wound with bruising at the opening of C.K.'s cervix. Whitaker testified that the bruising was consistent with blunt-force trauma. Whitaker stated that though there was no injury to C.K.'s anus, this was consistent with C.K.'s statement. Whitaker testified that though C.K. had recounted being strangled with a belt, the fact that there was no bruising on her neck was still consistent with C.K.'s story.

In the State's closing argument, it stated, "Let's dispense with the first element, sexual intercourse. The victim told you they had sexual intercourse. You heard the...