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CLICK v. STATE12/20/1996
Investigators Wayne Sharp and Howard Turner went to the appellant's house at 9:30 P.M. on July 25, 1990, the day the murder was discovered, in response to information that Click had been seen at the victim's house the day before. The appellant arrived home at around 10:00 P.M., and, after a brief conversation regarding his acquaintance with the victim, he and his stepfather followed the investigators to police headquarters for questioning. (R. 471-73, 662-65, 714.) Turner testified that interviewing for the purposes of a criminal investigation of this nature always took place at the police station at the request of the investigator. (R. 740.) At police headquarters, beginning around 10:45 P.M., the appellant gave Investigator Sharp an account of what he had done at the victim's house the day before. Nothing he told the investigator at this point indicated any involvement in McClure's death. (R. 476-78, 670-72).
At approximately 11:00 P.M., Investigator Turner came into the interview room where appellant was being questioned and had a conversation with Investigator Sharp. Investigator Sharp then advised appellant of his juvenile Miranda rights. (R. 477-78, 672-73). Investigator Turner testified that the juvenile Miranda rights were read to Click immediately after he received information that the appellant matched the description of a person seen in the woods behind the victim's house the evening of the murder. Testimony of Investigators Sharp and Turner revealed that the appellant was not a suspect before they received this information. (R. 478.) After the appellant was advised of his Miranda rights at approximately 11:10 P.M., and before approximately 2:50 A.M. the following morning, he gave the investigators two more versions of his activities on the day of the murder. (R. 486-90.) The final version of his statement detailed his involvement in the homicide.
The appellant maintains that he should have been advised of his Miranda rights when the investigators began interviewing him at his house because, he says, he was a suspect at that point. The appellant further alleges that he was in custody for the purposes of Miranda when he was taken into the interview room at the police station, and that his stepfather should have been allowed to be present during the interview or apprised of what was going on during the course of the interview. The appellant also alleges that the investigators questioned him continually until he made the incriminating statement. This allegation was based on testimony by Investigator Sharp that he continued his questioning after he determined that the appellant was tired. (R. 536.) Additionally, the appellant argues that Investigator Sharp improperly induced him into making a confession by improperly giving him legal advice.
It is well established that "the prosecution may not use statements, whether exculpatory or inculpatory, of the defendant unless it demonstrates the use of procedural safeguards effective to secure the privilege against self-incrimination." Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1612, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, (1966). However, the safeguards required by Miranda are required only if the defendant is in custody when
questioned. Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 440, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 3150, 82 L.Ed.2d 317 (1984); Landreth v. State, 600 So.2d 440, 444 (Ala. Cr. App. 1992).
We conclude that the appellant was advised of his Miranda rights at the proper time and in the proper manner by the investigators involved in the case. The appellant's interrogation did not become custodial in nature until just before he was advised of his rights. The appellant's initial statement to the police was made at the police station and b
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