State v. Carl Hreha, New Jersey Supreme Court, decided May 15, 2014.
Defendant,
Carl Hreha, asserted that he waived his Miranda rights and confessed to a crime
because the arresting State Police detectives had made promises of leniency to
him, thus making his confession not knowingly or voluntary.
Specifically,
the officers had promised lenient treatment in exchange for his confession. It
was alleged that promises had included that he would not be handcuffed when he
was removed from the Hughes Justice Complex, would not be jailed for the week-end,
would be admitted to PTI, and would not lose his job with the Attorney
General’s Office.
Under
New Jersey law, promises of leniency are not per se unlawful, and do not render
a subsequent confession involuntary, but such promises under the totality of
the circumstances may render such a confession involuntary, and hence,
inadmissible. In other words, based on
the promises made, and other factors, the trial court can determine that the
confession was not knowingly and voluntary.
It
is well settled however, that before any suspect under custody can be
questioned, that the suspect be advised of his Miranda Rights. However, once a defendant has been so
advised, the defendant may waive his or her Miranda rights and confess, but that waiver must be
“voluntary, knowing, and intelligent.”
In
New Jersey, the State
shoulders the burden of proving
beyond
a reasonable
doubt that a defendant’s confession was
actually
volunteered and that the police did not overbear
the
will of the defendant. See, State v. Galloway, 133
N.J.
631, 654 (1993). Determining whether the State has met that burden requires a
court to assess
“the totality of the circumstances, including both the characteristics of the
defendant and the nature of the interrogation.”
Although
not a bright line rule, after a 104 hearing, the trial court can conclude that
a defendant’s confession was involuntary if the interrogating officers
extended a promise so enticing as to induce that confession. See, State v.
Fletcher, 380 N.J. Super. 80, 89 (App. Div. 2005)
In
the Hreha case it was determined that the trial court improperly gave undue
weight to the credibility of the detective and mis-characterized the testimony
of the State police detective.
The
Supreme Court took issue with the fact that the trial court mis-characterized
the testimony provided by the detective.
The trial court
determined that the detective’s testimony directly contradicted defendant’s version of
events, and the trial court chose to credit the detective’s testimony over defendant.
However, the detective only testimony regarding such promises was
provided in response to questions by defense counsel during cross-examination.
Instead of denying that the officers had extended any such promises, he merely
asserted that he could not recollect whether any promises had been made.
Further,
the Supreme Court took issue with the trial court explained that defendant’s
audio-recorded
statement included no mention of any promises of leniency, and defendant denied
being subjected to coercion or 21 threats. That statement,
however, captured only eight minutes of a lengthy interrogation; defendant
alleges that he was offered leniency long before he provided the recorded
statement. Moreover, although defendant twice denied having been coerced or
threatened, the officers did not ask whether he had been offered leniency in
exchange for his confession.
Based
on the foregoing the Supreme Court remanded the case back to a new judge to
determine whether the facts warrant a suppression of the confession.
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