Hughen v. State
Full Opinion (html_with_citations)
delivered the opinion of the Court,
We granted appellant Jeffery Daniel Hughenâs petitions for discretionary review in order to determine whether the court of appeals erred in upholding the trial courtâs denial of Hughenâs pretrial motion to suppress. We affirm.
On the evening of July 15, 2006, in Fan-nin County, Hughen and several others were involved in a violent altercation. At the conclusion of that altercation, Bonham police arrested Hughen and took him to the Fannin County Jail.
On July 17, 2006, at around 8:20 a.m., Bonham police, pursuant to Article 15.17 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, took Hughen before a Fannin County magistrate, who explained to him that he was charged with attempted murder, a felony of the second degree. See Tex. Pen.Code §§ 15.01(d) & 19.02(e). The magistrate also explained to Hughen that: (1) he had the right to remain silent; (2) any statements he made could be used against him at trial; (3) he had the right to the presence of counsel during questioning; and (4) if he could not afford counsel, one would be appointed for him. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 478-79, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) (consistent with the Fifth Amendment, law enforcement officials must give these warmings to suspects before custodial interrogation). After the magistrate explained these matters to Hughen, he acknowledged that he
Three hours after Hughenâs Article 15.17 initial appearance, Bonham Police Detective Lisa Herrington and Sergeant Wendell Bockman, without waiting for the appointment of Hughenâs counsel, took Hughen from his jail cell and placed him in an interview room. One of the officers activated a digital video disc (DVD) recorder, and that device recorded what transpired in the interview room.
After Herrington explained to Hughen these rights, she asked him the following three questions and received his responses: (1) âDo you understand your rights, Jeff?â Hughen nodded in the affirmative.^) âAnd understanding these rights, do you need to have a lawyer present before any questioning?â He answered, âI guess not right now, no.â (3) âHaving these rights in mind, will you talk to me now?â Hughen answered, âOkay.â
Herrington then presented Hughen with a fill-in-the-blank waiver form. The upper half of the form was titled âMiranda Warning,â and below that title were listed the rights that Herrington had explained to Hughen. The lower half of the form was titled âWaiver,â and below that title were the three questions that Herrington had asked Hughen, along with blanks for âyesâ or ânoâ appropriately checked by Herring-ton to reflect Hughenâs answers to those three questions. Thus, the waiver form, if signed, would memorialize: (1) Hughenâs acknowledgment that he understood the rights that Herrington had explained to him; (2) his waiver of his right to have counsel present for police questioning at that time; and (3) his agreement to talk to the police at that time.
Hughen looked over the waiver form and, at Herringtonâs request, wrote his initials beside each of the rights listed, indicating that he had read and understood each right. Then, just before he signed the form, he asked Herrington, âThis ainât waiving my right for an attorney, is it?â Herrington responded, âNo, sir. This is just talking with us about what happened and what was going on and all that good stuff.â Hughen then signed the waiver form. Immediately thereafter, Herrington questioned him about the altercation that had occurred on July 15th.
On July 25, 2006, the trial court appointed counsel to represent Hughen. On September 22, 2006, a Fannin County grand jury returned one indictment charging Hu-ghen with attempted murder and a second indictment charging him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a felony of the second degree. See Tex. Pen.Code § 22.02.
On February 1, 2007, Hughen filed a pretrial motion to suppress âany conversations between [him] and law enforcement officersâ on the grounds that such conversations had occurred while he âwas [unlawfully] deprived of his right to counselâ under both the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. On May 14, 2007, the trial court held an evidentiary hearing on Hughenâs motion to suppress. At that hearing, Hu-ghen first explained to the trial court the
The State argued in response that Hu-ghen had âvoluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently waivefd] his right to an attorney for purposes of [Herringtonâs] questioning, and, therefore, [the DVD] should not be suppressed.â The Stateâs argument continued:
â[T]his defendant was made aware of his rights, he knew he had a right to an attorney to be present, not only throughout his trial and throughout the prosecution of his cases but at [the time] when he spoke with the officers. He chose to waive that right, and any question that he asked of those officers, am I waiving my right to an attorney, was reasonably interpreted as applying to the entire process, not to [the questioning], especially in light of the very obvious written warnings that he had in front of him, which he initialed it himself.â
The trial court, after viewing the DVD and a copy of the waiver form, denied Hughenâs motion to suppress. The trial court did not issue any findings of fact or conclusions of law.
On May 15, 2007, the State brought Hughen to trial under both indictments, before a single jury, on his pleas of not guilty. During the course of the guilt stage of trial, the trial court admitted in evidence, over Hughenâs continued objection, the DVD of Herringtonâs interrogation of him. The jury viewed the DVD and later found Hughen guilty as charged in both indictments. After hearing additional evidence at the punishment stage, the jury assessed Hughenâs punishment for the attempted murder at imprisonment for life and a fine of $10,000, and it assessed his punishment for the aggravated assault at imprisonment for twenty years and a fine of $5,000.
On direct appeal, Hughen, again citing both the Fifth and Sixth Amendments, argued that the trial court had erred in denying his pretrial motion to suppress. âThe unconstitutional contact by [the Bon-ham police] rendered [the DVD] inadmissible,â Hughen argued. More specifically, he argued, as he had in the trial court, that the waiver of counsel that he had given to the Bonham police had been invalid because they had approached him and interrogated him without first contacting his counsel.
âAfter the invocation of the right to counsel under the Fifth Amendment, and after the Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches, both accomplished facts in this case prior to [the] interrogation, any subsequent waiver of counsel, to be effective, must be the product of either accused-initiated communications*334 with the police, or police-initiated communications with the accused in the presence of counsel.â
The court of appeals, after a lengthy analysis, rejected Hughenâs federal constitutional claims and affirmed the trial courtâs judgments of conviction. Hughen v. State, 265 S.W.3d 473, 482-84, 486 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2008) (the attempted murder case); Hughen v. State, No. 06-07-00092-CR, 2008 WL 2277506 (Tex.App.-Texarkana 2008) (the aggravated assault case) (not designated for publication).
We granted Hughenâs petitions for discretionary review in order to determine whether the court of appeals erred in holding that the trial court did not violate his Sixth Amendment right to counsel when it admitted the DVD of his interrogation into evidence at his trial.
The Sixth Amendment provides that â[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.â The Sixth Amendment right to counsel applies in all state criminal prosecutions in which the defendant is accused of a felony. Gideon v. Wainmight, 372 U.S. 335, 342, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963). Once the adversarial judicial process has been initiated, the Sixth Amendment right to counsel guarantees an accused the right to have counsel present at all âcriticalâ stages of the criminal proceeding. United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 227-28, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967). Interrogation by the police, after charges have been brought, is such a critical stage. Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387, 401, 97 S.Ct. 1232, 51 L.Ed.2d 424 (1977); Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201, 204-05, 84 S.Ct. 1199, 12 L.Ed.2d 246 (1964).
The Sixth Amendment right to have counsel present during interrogation, once the adversarial judicial process has been initiated, may be waived, as long as the waiver is voluntary, knowing, and intelligent. Patterson v. Illinois, 487 U.S.
In the instant case, Hughenâs Article 15.17 initial appearance marked the initiation of adversarial judicial proceedings against him and thus âplainly signalled] attachmentâ of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Rothgery v. Gillespie County, â U.S. at â, 128 S.Ct. at 2591-92. Therefore, under the Sixth Amendment, Hughen had the right to have counsel present when Herrington interrogated him. Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. at 401, 97 S.Ct. 1232; Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. at 204-05, 84 S.Ct. 1199. However, when Herrington read Hughenâs Miranda rights to him and he agreed to waive those rights, that was sufficient, on the record and arguments before us, to validly waive his Sixth Amendment right to have counsel present during the interrogation. Patterson v. Illinois, 487 U.S. at 296, 108 S.Ct. 2389.
Hughenâs reliance on Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625, 106 S.Ct. 1404, 89 L.Ed.2d 631, is unavailing. Jackson held that âif police initiate interrogation after a defendantâs assertion, at an arraignment or similar proceeding, of his right to counsel, any waiver of the defendantâs right to counsel for that police-initiated interrogation is invalid.â 475 U.S. at 636, 106 S.Ct. 1404. Hughen argues that under the rule of Jackson, the waiver that he gave to Herrington was invalid and the DVD of that interrogation was inadmissible against him at his trial. Unfortunately for Hu-ghen, the United States Supreme Court overruled Jackson in Montejo v. Louisiana, â U.S. â, â, 129 S.Ct. 2079, 2091, 173 L.Ed.2d 955 (2009).
After Montejo, the Sixth Amendment does not bar police-initiated interrogation of an accused who has previously asserted his right to counsel. On the other hand, the Fifth Amendment does bar police-initiated interrogation of an accused who, in the context of custodial interrogation, has previously asserted his right to counsel during such interrogation, unless the accusedâs counsel is actually present. Minnick v. Mississippi, 498 U.S. 146, 153, 111 S.Ct. 486, 112 L.Ed.2d 489 (1990); Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 484-85, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981).
We affirm the judgments of the court of appeals.
. The resulting DVD is part of the record, and we have reviewed it. One can reasonably conclude from the DVD that, at the time in question, Hughen was an able-bodied male approximately 40 years of age; he was lucid and of normal intelligence; he understood the English language; he knew how to read the English language; and he knew how to sign his name.
. Hughen, in his brief to the court of appeals, did not argue, as he had in the trial court, that the waiver of counsel that he had given to Herrington had been invalid because she had given "inaccurate informationâ to him when he had asked whether he was waiving his right to counsel. Thus, Hughen, in the court of appeals, effectively abandoned his earlier argument that Herringtonâs "inaccurate informationâ had rendered his waiver invalid.
. Hughenâs ground for review in case No. PD-1124-08 reads: âThe Court of Appeals erred in failing to recognize that this case is controlled by the Sixth Amendment, Brewer v. Williams [430 U.S. 387, 97 S.Ct. 1232, 51 L.Ed.2d 424 (1977) ] and Rothgery v. Gillespie Co. [- U.S. -, 128 S.Ct. 2578, 171 L.Ed.2d 366 (2008) ].â In case No. PD-1123OS, we granted review of the following question on our own motion: âWas Appellantâs waiver of counsel during police interrogation valid when he previously invoked his right to counsel at the time he was brought before a magistrate?"
In neither of his petitions for discretionary review does Hughen challenge the court of appealsâs Fifth Amendment holding, and we did not grant review to consider it.
. Appellant also argues that the written waiver that he gave to Herrington is âsuspect in light of the confusion seededâ when she told him, immediately before he signed the waiver, that he was not waiving his right to an attorney. See discussion, infra. This argument was not made to the court of appeals, however, so we do not consider it. See Monreal v. State, 947 S.W.2d 559, 564 n. 7 (Tex.Crim.App.1997).
. The Minnick-Edwards rule is "designed to prevent police from badgering a defendant into waiving his previously asserted Miranda rights.â Michigan v. Harvey, 494 U.S. 344, 350, 110 S.Ct. 1176, 108 L.Ed.2d 293 (1990).