ANTONIO MARTINEZ, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed Antonio Martinez's conviction for the Orange Grove Murder because his confession was obtained through coercion and intimidation rather than voluntary choice. The trial court erred in denying Martinez's motion to suppress the confession, which was elicited only after police threatened him with the electric chair and told him that polygraph results and witnesses contradicted his denials.
The confession was involuntary and should have been suppressed because it was obtained through coercion and intimidation, not an essentially free and unconstrained choice. The trial court erred in denying Martinez's motion to suppress.
[1] A confession is involuntary and must be suppressed if it is the product of coercion and intimidation.
[2] A confession is not the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice when elicited through psychological coercion.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the state failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that Martinez' confession was "the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice."”
Establishes the legal standard for voluntary confession and the state's burden of proof
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMartinez, an illegal alien with limited education, was in custody on an unrelated charge when police interrogated him about the Orange Grove Murder. H…
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GUNTHER, Judge.
We reverse the conviction and sentence of appellant, Antonio Martinez, because the trial court erred in not granting Martinez’ motion to suppress. The record demonstrates that Martinez’ statements were not voluntarily made but were the product of coercion and intimidation. Viewing the evidence in its totality, the state failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that Martinez’ confession was “the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice.” Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 602, 81 S.Ct. 1860, 1879, 6 L.Ed.2d 1037, 1057 (1961).
The record in this case clearly indicates that Martinez did not initially intend to confess to the crime of the “Orange Grove Murder,” the crime upon which this conviction is based. Martinez, an illegal alien with an extremely limited education, was in custody on an unrelated charge when the police initiated an interrogation of him regarding the “Orange Grove Murder.” Although Martinez agreed to speak to the police, when he was requested to do so, he denied any involvement in the “Orange Grove Murder.” The police further pursued the matter, however, by asking Martinez if he would take a polygraph test, and by telling him that “if he tells [the police] what happened, he wouldn’t be in any more trouble than he already was” in now. During the polygraph examination, Martinez continued to deny any involvement in the “Orange Grove Murder.” Finally, even after the examination was completed and the polygraphist accused Martinez of having lied during the examination, Martinez held fast to his position and would not confess to the crime.
Nevertheless, the police ultimately elicited a confession from Martinez after telling him, among other things, that he “could wind up” in the electric chair if he was not truthful with the police. Although the po-lygraphist claimed he mentioned the electric chair to advise Martinez of an option which was available to the state, he failed to mention any other option available to the state. Thus, raising the spectre of the electric chair was not simply intended to be informative, but to unduly emphasize this particular option, and psychologically coerce Martinez into confessing to the crime.
Moreover, after having examined the polygraph results, the polygraphist told Martinez that it was “impossible” that he was being truthful. He also told Martinez that the state had many witnesses against him, and that “everybody has already said what they had to say and you’re going to wind up in a problem and you will be the only one that’s going to wind up in problems.” Thus, the polygraphist exerted improper influence over Martinez by emphasizing that both the polygraph results and the state’s witnesses would contradict his story, and by telling him that he was going to wind up in a problem. See Brewer v. State, 386 So. 2d 232, 235-36 (Fla.1980).
Viewing the circumstances surrounding the interrogation in their totality, we conclude that the confession which was ultimately elicited from Martinez was not “the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice.” Accordingly, we reverse Martinez’ conviction and sentence and remand for a new trial absent the confession.
REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR A NEW TRIAL.
DOWNEY and GLICKSTEIN, JJ., concur.
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Johnson v. State, 660 So. 2d 637 (Fla. 1995)…So. 2d 798 (Fla. 2d DCA 1964). Rather, there must be a sufficient showing of physical or psychological coercion, intentional deception, or a violation of a constitutional right. State v. Sawyer, 561 So. 2d 278 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Martinez v. State, 545 So. 2d 466 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). Absent such egregious police misconduct, the confession may be admitted; but if it is, defendants are entitled to argue to the finder of fact why the confession should be deemed untrustworthy, if they wish to do so. Johnson, 16…
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Nelson v. State, 688 So. 2d 971 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)…92 So. 2d 950 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980), modified on other grounds, 410 So. 2d 1343 (Fla.1982); Hawkins. Appellant asserts that the mention of the death penalty was unduly coercive, citing Brewer v. State, 386 So. 2d 232 (Fla.1980) and Martinez v. State, 545 So. 2d 466 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989). However, the statements made in Brewer and Martinez were significantly more threatening than the statement made in the instant case when weighing the evidence most favorably for the state. Here, the interrogators’ objectionable…
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Wyche v. State, 987 So. 2d 23 (Fla. 2008)…ere the defendant makes a showing of “physical or psychological coercion, intentional deception, or a violation of a constitutional right.” Id. at 642 (emphasis supplied) (citing State v. Sawyer, 561 So. 2d 278 (Fla. 2d DCA 1990); Martinez v. State, 545 So. 2d 466 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)); accord Commonwealth v. Slaton, 530 Pa. 207, 608 A. 2d 5, 9 (1992) (“Consent must be freely and intelligently given, however, and is not voluntary if it is obtained through deception as deception amounts to implied coercion, whi…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568 (U.S. 1961)
- Brewer v. State, 386 So. 2d 232 (Fla. 1980)