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Crawford v. State10/22/2004
In this appeal, we must assess the potential curative effect of Miranda warnings that were administered to a suspect in police custody after the police had already unlawfully obtained incriminating statements from the suspect in violation of Miranda (by interrogating him without giving him the required warnings).
In our last major decision on this subject, Halberg v. State, 903 P.2d 1090 (Alaska App. 1995), we described two competing analyses of this question: the older "dissipation of taint" analysis exemplified by the United States Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Illinois, and the modified analysis announced in 1985 by the Supreme Court in Oregon v. Elstad.
Under Brown, even though a suspect ultimately receives proper Miranda warnings, the statements that the suspect makes after receiving those Miranda warnings are still presumptively inadmissible; to rebut this presumption, the government must show that there was a "break in the chain of events" to insulate those later statements from the taint of the suspect's initial unwarned admissions. But under Elstad, the later administration of Miranda warnings presumptively negates the psychological pressures of custodial interrogation from that point forward, thus rendering the suspect's ensuing statements admissible despite the fact that the suspect had earlier made incriminating admissions. In the words of the Elstad Court, "a careful and thorough administration of Miranda warnings serves to cure the condition that rendered the [earlier] unwarned statement inadmissible", even when there has been no significant break in the stream of events as required under Brown.
In Halberg, we were asked to reject the Elstad rule and to adopt the Brown rule as a matter of state constitutional law. However, we ultimately concluded that there was no need to decide that issue, since the defendant's post-Miranda-warning statements were untainted even under the Brown rule.
In the present appeal, we are once more faced with this issue. We again conclude that we need not decide the issue - this time, because the defendant's statements should be suppressed even under the Elstad rule.
Underlying facts
Phillip A. Crawford was convicted of possession of cocaine (fourth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance) after the police found cocaine under the seat of his car. The police found the cocaine after Crawford told them where the drug was and gave them permission to search his vehicle. However, Crawford made his initial admission about the cocaine when he was subjected to custodial interrogation without the benefit of Miranda warnings.
Alaska State Troopers George Kammer and Justin Lindell (a probationary recruit) stopped Crawford's car because his registration tags were expired. Trooper Lindell approached Crawford's car and identified himself. During his conversation with Crawford, Lindell smelled alcohol on Crawford's breath. Lindell asked Crawford if he had been drinking. Crawford denied having had anything to drink that day, but he admitted drinking the night before.
Lindell then asked Crawford if he had any alcohol, weapons, or drugs in the car, and if he would consent to a search of his vehicle. Crawford denied having any contraband, but he consented to the search of his car.
After further questioning, Crawford admitted that he had failed to register the car after he purchased it. Crawford also admitted that his driver's license was revoked. After a computer check confirmed that Crawford's driver's license was revoked, Lindell informed Crawford that he was under arrest for driving with a revoked license, and Lindell handcuffed Crawford's hands behind his b
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