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Blank v. State5/19/2000
introduced himself to Blank and told her that he "needed to talk to her about the accident." Tyler asked Blank: "Why don't you come and sit in my car[?]" Blank accompanied Tyler out to his patrol car, which was parked outside the residence, and sat in the front seat.
Tyler recorded the interview with Blank. At the start, Tyler stated that the interview was being conducted in the patrol car "only for convenience sake" and expressed concern about "the kids getting involved." Tyler advised Blank that "you're not under arrest or anything like that" and that "you're free to leave any time you want to." Blank answered Tyler's questions during the approximately hour- long interview. Towards the end, Tyler asked, "were you coerced, promised anything, . . . forced to make a statement or anything?" Blank answered "no" and offered another detailed recital of events. Tyler returned to his question:
TYLER: Were you forced to make a statement?
BLANK: No.
TYLER: Okay, you're doing this on your own free will?
BLANK: You bet. You bet.
Blank agreed to accompany Tyler to the hospital for a blood test. After hearing evidence on Blank's motion to suppress the statements she made during the interview with Tyler, Judge Cutler found that a reasonable person would not have thought she was in custody, and found that Blank subjectively understood she was not in custody during the interview. As support for finding that a reasonable person would not have thought they were in custody, Judge Cutler noted that police "routinely" interview drivers in a patrol car after an accident. Judge Cutler found that the length of the interview and the small number of officers present at the Blank residence were not indicative of a custodial interview. As for the interview's location in the patrol car, Judge Cutler saw the patrol car as an alternative private location. The judge found important the fact that, although Tyler suggested the patrol car as a location for the interview, it was Mr. Blank who brought the police back to the residence.
In Hunter v. State, the Supreme Court adopted an objective test for deciding if a person was in custody, so that Miranda warnings were required. Miranda warnings must precede police interrogation conducted under circumstances in which a "reasonable person would feel he was not free to leave and break off the questioning." The Supreme Court further indicated that:
At least three groups of facts would be relevant to this determination. The first are those facts intrinsic to the interrogation: when and where it occurred, how long it lasted, how many police were present, what the officers and the defendant said and did, the presence of actual physical restraint on the defendant or things equivalent to actual restraint such as drawn weapons or a guard stationed at the door, and whether the defendant was being questioned as a suspect or as a witness. Facts pertaining to events before the interrogation are also relevant, especially how the defendant got to the place of questioning - whether he came completely on his own, in response to a police request, or escorted by police officers. Finally, what happened after the interrogation - whether the defendant left freely, was detained or arrested - may assist the court in determining whether the defendant, as a reasonable person, would have felt free to break off the questioning.
Blank has not attacked Judge Cutler's findings regarding these factors. However, Blank claims that Judge Cutler erred by concluding from her findings that Blank was not in custody.
Our review of the record convinces us that Judge Cutler did not err in determining that a reas
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