State v. Rogers, 2014 ND 134

Rogers appealed after a conditional guilty plea to murder and willful disturbance of a dead body.
Court held Rogers was not in police custody when he confessed and the confession was not involuntary.
Initial 911 suicide call and discovery of Elizabeth Rogers's body with a gun in hand.
Rogers consented to a home search; later, he was hospitalized on a 72-hour hold or medical hold.
Rogers was interviewed at Prairie St. John’s while under medical hold; interview room was hospital-controlled and non–station-house.
Interviews led to Rogers’s confession and subsequent suppression motion; district court denied suppression.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Was Rogers in police custody requiring Miranda warnings?	State says no custody; no Miranda warning needed.	Rogers contends he was in custody from welfare check through medical hold.	Not in custody; Miranda warnings not required.
Was Rogers’s confession voluntary under totality of circumstances?	Rogers’s will was overborne by coercive police pressure.	Confession was voluntary and not coerced.	Confession was voluntary; district court did not err in denial of suppression.

State v. Goebel, 725 N.W.2d 578 (N.D. 2007) (custody, mixed fact/law, ultimate test: restraint to degree of arrest)
State v. Sabinash, 574 N.W.2d 827 (N.D. 1998) (custody inquiry is mixed fact/law; overall custody determination required)
State v. Webster, 834 N.W.2d 283 (N.D. 2013) ( Miranda warnings; four rights; custodial interrogation defined)
State v. Fields, 294 N.W.2d 404 (N.D. 1980) (hospital interview not custodial interrogation; voluntary statements possible)
Pontbriand, 878 A.2d 227 (Vt. 2005) (custody not established merely due to inability to leave hospital)