State v. Smith

321 Conn. 278

138 A.3d 223

STATE of Connecticut

v.Dante SMITH.

No. 19322.

Supreme Court of Connecticut.

Argued Dec. 16, 2015.

Decided May 10, 2016.

Raymond L. Durelli, assigned counsel, for the appellant (defendant).

Laurie N. Feldman, special deputy assistant state's attorney, with whom were Russell C. Zentner, senior assistant state's attorney, and, on the brief, Peter A. McShane, state's attorney, for the appellee (state).

ROGERS, C.J., and PALMER, ZARELLA, EVELEIGH, McDONALD, ESPINOSA and VERTEFEUILLE, Js.

ROGERS, C.J.

This certified appeal requires us to construe the scope of the public safety exception to Miranda¹ as articulated in New York v. Quarles, 467 U.S. 649, 657, 104 S.Ct. 2626, 81 L.Ed.2d 550 (1984). The defendant, Dante Smith, appeals from the judgment of the Appellate Court affirming the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial, of two counts of assault in the second degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a–60 (a)(1). See State v. Smith, 149 Conn.App. 149, 160, 86 A.3d 524 (2014). The defendant claims that the trial court improperly denied his motion to suppress his statements made (1) at the crime scene and (2) later at the police station during his booking. Because we conclude that the public safety exception applied, we affirm the judgment of the Appellate Court.

The following facts, which the jury reasonably could have found, and procedural background are relevant to the defendant's claim. “On the night of March 9, 2010, the victim, Justin Molinaro, was driving his Audi [A6] in the vicinity of Maplewood Terrace, a public housing complex in Middletown known to be a high crime area. As he drove past the complex, two unidentified men flagged him down and informed him that his cousin, the defendant, wanted to speak with him. The victim drove his car into a parking lot at Maplewood Terrace, where he saw the defendant get into the backseat of another car. The victim exited his Audi and asked the defendant what he wanted. While the victim was waiting for the defendant, he saw Tykeem Privott, who was also in the car with the defendant. The victim noticed that Privott had a supply of marijuana on his lap and began to chastise Privott for his drug use. As the victim talked to Privott, the defendant got out of the car wielding a Louisville Slugger aluminum baseball bat, which he used to strike the victim on the head. The blow knocked the victim to the ground, and the victim asked the defendant, ‘[W]hat the hell is going on?’ The other occupants of the vehicle then exited the car and began to kick and punch the victim as he lay on the ground.

“Privott picked up the Louisville Slugger and swung it at the victim, striking him on the back of his neck. The defendant choked the victim and told him to ‘go to sleep, motherfucker.’ The defendant ordered his accomplices to go through the victim's pockets, which they did, taking his cell phone, wallet, and the keys to the Audi.

“As the assailants left, the victim stumbled to his feet. He found his car keys in a patch of grass near the parking lot. The defendant, however, reappeared and said, ‘What, you didn't have enough yet?’ and pointed a black handgun in the victim's face. The defendant took the keys to the Audi and said, ‘This shit is mine.’ The victim then saw Privott, who was now also holding a handgun. Privott asked the defendant, ‘Do you want me to pop this motherfucker?’ The defendant then turned and left in the Audi.

“The victim walked to a nearby house and called 911. He reported to the dispatcher the details of the assault and carjacking. While on the telephone with the dispatcher, the victim saw the Audi double back, headed in the direction of Maplewood Terrace. He told the dispatcher that six people were returning in his car with guns, and he asked the dispatcher to send help.

“The police arrived on the scene, and police officers attended to the victim [who flagged them down]. One police officer later stated that the victim looked ‘like an alien’ because the area around his left eye was bloodied, swollen, and disfigured. The swelling around the victim's eyes rendered him nearly blind. The victim was gasping for breath and making statements to the effect of, ‘I don't want to die.’ When asked what happened, the victim responded, ‘Dante Smith and Tykeem Privott did this. Dante had a bat and Tykeem had a gun.’ The victim faded in and out of consciousness and his respiration was irregular. Emergency workers arrived and transported him to the hospital.

“After treating the victim, the police processed the crime scene and secured the area surrounding Maplewood Terrace, where a crowd had gathered. Approximately forty minutes after the assault took place, a black male calmly approached [Detectives] Dan Smith and Nicholas Puorro [of the Middletown Police Department]. As he drew near, he stated, ‘I am Dante Smith, my grandmother said the police were looking for me.’

“On the basis of the information provided by the victim, the police had reason to believe that the defendant was involved in an assault that involved both firearms and a baseball bat. The police informed the defendant that they had to place him in handcuffs for safety reasons, and that they had an obligation to protect both themselves and the surrounding crowd. The defendant stated that he understood, and that he also understood that he was not under arrest.

“The police asked the defendant whether he had any weapons; he replied that he did not. The police frisked the defendant, but found no weapons. The defendant was asked whether he knew where the weapons were, to which he responded, ‘What weapons?’ When asked about Privott, the defendant denied knowing him. The defendant was then asked what happened that evening. The defendant stated that he had been involved in a fight with the victim, and that he and the victim were cousins. He told the police that the victim had called him and wanted to go for a ride. The defendant stated that once he was in the car with the victim, the victim wanted to go and buy drugs. The defendant stated that he did not want to buy drugs and wanted to get out of the car. When the victim did not stop the vehicle, the defendant stated that he punched the victim in the face several times.

“Upon hearing the defendant's narrative, the police informed him that it appeared as if the victim had been struck with a baseball bat, and that the injuries occurred to the left side of his face, which was inconsistent with the defendant's story that the victim was driving. The defendant grew frantic and stopped cooperating with the police, stating, ‘Do what you got to do, arrest me, arrest me.’ The defendant was placed under arrest and transported to police headquarters.” Id., at 151–53, 86 A.3d 524. At the police station, the defendant repeated the statements he made to the police at the crime scene after receiving Miranda warnings. Id., at 154, 86 A.3d 524.

“The defendant was charged in a seven count amended information, which included two counts of assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a–59 (a)(1). The defendant thereafter filed a motion to suppress the statements he made to the police at the crime scene and during his booking at the police station, arguing that they were inadmissible pursuant to Miranda .... A hearing on the motion to suppress was held during which the defendant argued that the statements he made to the police while he was handcuffed at the crime scene should be suppressed because he was in police custody and interrogated without having received Miranda warnings.” (Citation omitted.) Id., at 153–54, 86 A.3d 524. The trial court denied the motion, finding in its memorandum of decision both that “the Terry² stop [of the defendant] was amply justified and the length and intrusiveness of the stop were lawful pursuant to Terry ” and, despite the defendant's argument that he should have been given his Miranda rights or had the handcuffs removed immediately after the pat down revealed no weapons, that “under all the circumstances, the investigative detention was properly continued, especially in view of the officers' concerns for public safety and their own safety and the extremely brief duration, one to two minutes at most.”³ “The [trial] court also found, with respect to the statements made at the police station during his booking, that the defendant was properly advised of his Miranda rights and that he waived his rights when, during his booking, he repeated the statement[s] he made to the police at the crime scene.

“Following a trial, the jury found the defendant guilty of two counts of the lesser included offense of assault in the second degree in violation of § 53a–60 (a)(1), and rejected the defendant's claim of self-defense. The defendant was found not guilty of all other charges. The court merged the two assault convictions and sentenced the defendant to a total effective term of five years incarceration, execution suspended after forty months, followed by five years probation with special conditions.” (Citation omitted.) State v. Smith, supra, 149 Conn.App. at 154, 86 A.3d 524.

On appeal to the Appellate Court, the defendant argued that the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress his statements to the police violated his fifth amendment rights and that he was subjected to custodial interrogation without Miranda warnings at the crime scene. Id. The Appellate Court disagreed and held that the Quarles public safety exception did apply without deciding whether the defendant was in custody for the purposes of Miranda. Id., at 155, 159, 86 A.3d 524. Consequently, because the questioning at the crime scene of the defendant was justified, the Appellate Court found the doctrine articulated in Missouri v. Seibert, 542 U.S. 600, 616–17, 124 S.Ct. 2601, 159 L.Ed.2d 643 (2004), which requires the suppression of a subsequent, voluntary confession when the police intentionally violate Miranda in obtaining the initial confession, to be...