 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Miller v. State2/9/2001
iller on this charge, convicting him of the lesser offense of criminally negligent burning. Thus the jury acquitted Miller of the one charge that required it to find that he set fire to anything but the insulation block intentionally.
Because the jury did not convict Miller of intentionally setting fire to the building and did not necessarily conclude that Miller intentionally set fire to the bus, we are unable to tell if the jury concluded that Miller intentionally set fire to anything besides the insulation block. Therefore, Miller could well have been convicted of these charges based upon his statement that he had intentionally burned the insulation block but the larger fire was an accident.
In this case, we believe that Smith is controlling. Several times during his interrogation, the police made statements that suggested that Miller would not be in any trouble if he had accidently started the fire. They implied to Miller that if the fire was accidental they would not arrest him and that it would be "not that big a thing" and "an over and done deal." Although originally denying several times that he had anything to do with the fire, after these inducements Miller admitted that he had burned a piece of foam insulation to turn it into a piece of artwork. He admitted that he had placed this insulation over by the bus but also stated that he had thoroughly doused the insulation with catsup so that he believed that it had been extinguished. But he suggested that the fire could possibly have started from the insulation. Miller's account can reasonably be understood as describing an accident. Since the police essentially told Miller that he would not be prosecuted for accidentally starting the fire, we conclude that the officers offered an improper inducement for Miller's statements and that the statements are involuntary. We therefore conclude that the court erred in failing to suppress these statements. Since the convictions against Miller were obtained through use of these statements, we reverse Miller's convictions.
The convictions are REVERSED.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 Alaska DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|