Lead Opinion
OPINION ON APPELLANT’S PETITIONS FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW
Appellant was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and attempted voluntary manslaughter and sentenced by the court to 40 years imprisonment for each conviction, the terms to run concurrently. Appellant’s convictions were affirmed by the El Paso Court of Appeals. Alvarado v. State,
In his petitions for discretionary review, appellant alleges his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments rights under the U.S. Constitution were violated. Appellant contends the State Judicial Police of Chihuahua, Mexico, were acting as agents for the El Paso police, when they obtained his confession without first advising him of his constitutional rights as set forth in Miranda v. Arizona,
Appellant, a U.S. citizen, was involved in an altercation outside Chico’s Tacos on Alameda Street in the city of El Paso on April 26, 1989. After appellant shot and killed Ricardo Gomez and shot and wounded Augusto Medina, he fled from El Paso to Juarez, Mexico. Following police procedure, the El Paso police notified the state police authorities in Juarez, Mexico that appellant was a suspect for a murder committed in the U.S. and was believed to be residing in Juarez. Acting in part on the El Paso police tip, the Mexican State Judicial Police in Juarez apprehended appellant.
Following the Mexican Code of Criminal Procedure, the Mexican State Police obtained a written statement from appellant in which he confessed to his crimes in the United States. Mexican police turned appellant and his confession over to the Mexican Chief of Immigration for deportation. U.S. officials were unaware of appellant’s apprehension and confession until appellant was presented to U.S. Immigration officials in El Paso. Appellant was subsequently tried and convicted of both crimes based in part on the confession obtained by the Mexican State Police.
Appellant complains the admission of the confession violates his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights because the Mexican police, acting as agents for the El Paso police, obtained a confession from him without first reading the Miranda warnings.
This is a case of first impression for this Court.
The Fifth Amendment provides in part that no person “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself...” In order to effectuate the Fifth Amendment’s directive, the Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona, held:
The prosecution may not use statements, whether exculpatory or inculpatory, stemming from custodial interrogation of the defendant unless it demonstrates the use of procedural safeguards effective to secure the privilege against self-incrimination. By custodial interrogation, we mean questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way ... The defendant may waive effectuation of these rights, provided the waiver is made voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently.
Other jurisdictions which have considered the matter before us today have held, as a general rule, that Miranda warnings are not essential to the validity of a confession which has been obtained in a
The clear import of Miranda is to require U.S. officials to notify accused persons of their constitutionally protected rights prior to any questioning. This prophylactic measure, protects our citizens from our state and our federal governmental actions. We know of no constitutional objective that would be served by extending Miranda to cases outside our borders. Because this is a question of interpretation of Miranda, and whether it applies, we fail to see how the state and federal exclusionary rules could differ. Our exclusionary rule contained in article 38.23 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure excludes evidence obtained, in this case, in violation of Miranda. See also Bodde v. State,
Notwithstanding the general inapplicability of Miranda to confessions obtained by foreign officials, two exceptions have been carved out of the general rule. First, the confession will be excluded if the circumstances surrounding the confession shocks the conscience of an American Court. United States v. Heller,
Second, the confession will also be excluded when U.S. law enforcement personnel participate in the foreign interrogation or if the foreign authorities are acting as agents for their U.S. counterparts.
A portion of appellant’s grounds for review are premised in part on the belief that the Chihuahua State Judicial Police were acting as agents for the El Paso Police Department. Were this true our inquiry would end here. Where an individual acts as an agent for law enforcement personnel, the agents are bound by our confession rules. See Cantu v. State,
We believe a determination of whether an individual is acting as an agent for U.S. law enforcement personnel is best left to the trial court at a suppression hearing. The term “agency” denotes a consensual relationship existing between two persons, by virtue of which one of them is to act for and on behalf of the other. Ackley v. State,
At a suppression hearing, the trial judge is the sole judge of the credibility of the witnesses and of the weight attributable to those witnesses. Meek v. State,
There is no evidence that Texas authorities participated in the seizure of appellant in Mexico, nor is there any evidence that Texas authorities participated in the taking of the confession by the Mexican police.
In a further attempt to show that an agency relationship existed between these neighboring authorities, appellant contends that cooperation between El Paso police and Juarez police has created a joint venture arrangement. While a joint venture arrangement would also create an agency relationship, mere notification of the potential existence of a criminal in another police’s jurisdiction is not enough to create such a relationship. See, United States v. Heller, supra (tip by American officials did not create agency relationship); United States v. Derewal,
SUMMARY
We therefore hold that the requirements of Miranda v. Arizona do not apply to actions of foreign officials not acting as agents of American law enforcement personnel. After reviewing the evidence we also conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in holding the Mexican officials were not agents of the El Paso police department. We further hold that the court of appeals did not err in affirming the ruling of the trial court.
The actions of the Mexican police in obtaining appellant’s confession without first obtaining his Miranda warnings is not vio-lative of the U.S. Constitution. Therefore the confession of appellant was not excludable on the basis of Tex.Code Crim.Proc. article 38.23 or the federal exclusionary
Notes
. Miranda v. Arizona,
. The Texas exclusionary rule is embodied in Tex.Code Crim.Proc. art. 38.23 (West 1992) which provides, in part:
. The court of appeals, in its opinion, denotes Tex.Code Crim.Proc. art. 38.22 (West 1992) as a state exclusionary rule. While the predicates or requirements contained therein do in fact have the effect of limiting the admissibility of evidence in certain cases, we view this rule as an evidentiary rule not an exclusionary rule.
. Nothing in this opinion contemplates the admission of a coerced or involuntary confession. While appellant raises Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment claims, his only complaint on appeal is based on Miranda and not the independent and distinct Due Process claims also contained within the Fourteenth Amendment. See Griffin v. State,
"Coercive police activity is a necessary predicate to the finding that a confession is not ‘voluntary’ within the meaning of the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Colorado v. Connelly,
. This Court has only peripherally addressed the issue of whether evidence obtained in contravention of a state statute by a non-Texas government official is admissible in a Texas court. See White v. State, No. 69,861 (Tex.Crim.App. June 3, 1992) (unpublished) (appellant’s statements were voluntarily given where he was presented before a neutral and detached magistrate in Mississippi and notified of his rights); Perillo v. State,
. United States v. Wolf,
. Appellant argues the Mexican police are included under Article 38.23 which excludes not only evidence obtained illegally by officers but also evidence obtained illegally by any "other person.” Unfortunately, appellant has failed to articulate any State or Federal laws or constitutional provision which has been violated by the ' Mexican police, with the exception of the failure to give Miranda warnings.
. The dissent notes that we confuse the issue of participation with that of agency. Op. at 25-26. However, it is apparent the court of appeals found both that the American officials did not participate in the taking of the confession and that the Mexican authorities did not act as agents for the American authorities.
. The dissent denies the finding of an agency relationship by the court of appeals in an effort to avoid the directives of Arcila, infra. However, we are persuaded otherwise. The court of appeals stated:
The record before us enables the Appellant to present a strong argument that such agency relationship existed and applied to this confession, but not so strong as to demonstrate that the trial court’s ruling was erroneous as a matter of law or constituted an abuse of discretion.
There is no question that information concerning the alleged offenses by Appellant and his suspected presence in Juarez as well as a request for assistance by the El Paso Police Department to Chief Rubalcaba was a cause in fact of Appellant's apprehension by the Chihuahua State Judicial Police. Standing alone this does not create an agency relationship. [cites omitted]. American law enforcement personnel were not present and did not participate in the arrest, interrogation, confession or deportation. They did not request the interrogation or taking of a confession, [cite omitted]. In this case, according to Rubalca-ba, they were not even aware of the apprehension and confession until after these events had occurred.
The critical inquiry in this case must focus upon what Chief Rubalcaba described as a preexisting or on-going cooperative arrangement between the Mexican authorities and the El Paso law enforcement agency. A preexisting arrangement or agreement, no longer requiring case-specific instructions, may be sufficient to establish an agency relationship, [cite omitted]. In order to determine the applicability of the agency concept as urged by Appellant, however, it is essential to analyze the arrangement with the El Paso Police Department in the context of the purely sovereign Mexican procedure which would have otherwise obtained in Appellant’s case.
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[The court of appeals then discusses the facts].
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Based on the testimony presented, the trial judge could have concluded properly that the procedure by which Appellant was arrested and his confession taken would have occurred in the exact same manner regardless of any express or preexisting arrangement between the Mexican and American law enforcement agencies. Any satisfaction of that inter-agency agreement was incidental to and a mere by product to an otherwise routine, sovereign police action by the Mexican authorities. Given this independent, albeit concurrent, basis for the arrest and production of the challenged confession, the deterrent effect intended by the various federal and state exclusionary rules would not be served by the suppression of this Appellant’s confession, [cites omitted].
Alvarado,
. When Chief Rubalcaba was asked what the purpose of the statement was, he stated,
A. Mainly it’s to find out whether the man is guilty or not and then we have to prove to the Mexican Immigration Service that he is wanted for murder and he already confessed to that, you know, and then we send (sic) the birth certificate to show that he is a (sic) U.S. citizen.
Q. Okay.
A. In the mind of the Mexican Immigration Chief, if he doesn't think that the man is supposed to be, even if he is a (sic) U.S. citizen, if there is not enough evidence, then he can’t release the man.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
While I agree that absent a showing of agency, foreign authorities do not have to inform a United States citizen of his constitutional rights prior to any questioning as required by Miranda,
The majority concludes that an agency relationship did not exist between the El Paso Police and the State Judicial Police of Chihuahua, Mexico because the El Paso Police did not participate in appellant’s arrest or interrogation, and because the Court of Appeals determined that the Chihuahua State Police had an independent basis for obtaining appellant’s confession.
I. Agency
Federal courts have held that Miranda applies to confessions obtained by foreign authorities if: (1) the confession was obtained in such a manner as to shock the conscience of our courts; (2) domestic authorities participated in obtaining the confession; or (3) foreign authorities acted as agents for domestic authorities. E.g., United States v. Heller,
The majority confuses the issue of participation with that of agency, holding that an agency relationship did not exist in this case because the El Paso Police did not participate in appellant’s arrest or custodial interrogation. Alvarado v. State,
According to the testimony at the suppression hearing, the El Paso Police contacted Chief Jose Refugio Rubalcaba of the Chihuahua State Police and asked him to apprehend appellant who was believed to be in Juarez and was wanted for an El Paso murder. Chief Rubalcaba testified that he knew appellant would be released into the custody of the El Paso Police,
The majority defines an agency relationship as “a consensual relationship existing between two persons, by virtue of which one of them is to act for and on behalf of the other.” Alvarado, at 22 (citations omitted). “The actual agency relationship may be express or implied from the parties’ conduct.” Id. The Chief of the Chihuahua State Police testified to the existence of a continuing cooperative arrangement in which his department and the El Paso Police Department assist each other in the apprehension of criminal suspects beyond their respective borders. Pursuant to that arrangement, the El Paso Police requested that the Chihuahua State Police apprehend appellant. Given the majority’s definition, an agency relationship clearly existed between the El Paso Police and the Chihuahua State Police.
The implications of the majority’s holding are great. By failing to recognize the existence of an agency relationship, the majority permits the El Paso Police to do indirectly that which they could not do directly, that is, obtain appellant’s confession without informing him of his constitutional rights, and his right to execute those rights prior to and during the custodial interrogation. The El Paso Police had an arrangement of mutual and reciprocal benefit with the Chihuahua State Police. Absent that arrangement, the Chihuahua State Police had nothing to gain by obtaining appellant’s confession. Indeed, the Chihuahua State Police delivered appellant’s confession to the El Paso Police Department for use in their case. The majority’s holding sanctions the continuation of cooperative relationships between Mexico and Texas police departments pursuant to which Texas police can rely on Mexico police to obtain confessions on their behalf in circumvention of federal and state constitutions.
II. Independent Basis
For the safety and welfare of its citizens, Mexico has an interest in keeping foreign
The record reflects that Mexican law provides for deportation of United States citizens who are either suspected of having committed a crime in the United States or who do not have the proper documentation to be in Mexico. The record also reflects that appellant did not have such documentation — a fact the Chihuahua State Police were aware of before they obtained his confession. Therefore, once the Chihuahua State Police learned that appellant was in Mexico illegally, they could have deported him without any further inquiry. The Chihuahua State Police did not interrogate appellant in order to determine whether to deport him; rather, they obtained appellant’s confession to aid the El Paso Police who had requested their assistance pursuant to their cooperative relationship.
The majority wrongly concludes that the Court of Appeals determined that an agency did not exist. In determining the admissibility of appellant’s confession, the Court of Appeals wrote:
[Tjhe procedure by which Appellant was arrested and his confession taken would have occurred in the exact same manner regardless of any express or preexisting arrangement between the Mexican and American law enforcement agencies .... Given this independent, albeit concurrent, basis for the arrest and production of the challenged confession, the deterrent effect intended by the various federal and state exclusionary rules would not be served by the suppression of this Appellant’s confession.
Alvarado,
The Court of Appeals did not determine that the Chihuahua State Police acted independently from the El Paso Police and therefore no agency existed; rather, that court determined that the Chihuahua State Police could have acted independently. In so holding, the Court of Appeals implied that an agency did exist between the El Paso Police and the Chihuahua State Police.
Based on Arcila v. State,
In this case, the Court of Appeals essentially held that it doesn’t matter whether the Chihuahua State Police were acting as agents of the El Paso Police as long as the Chihuahua State Police could have obtained the confession for independent reasons. Alvarado,
By failing to determine whether the Chihuahua State Police were acting as agents of the El Paso Police, the Court of Appeals did not correctly apply the law to the facts; and by erroneously creating an independent basis exception to the state exclusionary rule, the Court of Appeals created new law contrary to existing law. Under these circumstances, Arcila does not preclude review.
. Miranda v. Arizona,
. Appellant does not challenge the voluntariness of his confession, nor does he claim that his confession was obtained in violation of Tex.Code Crim.Proc.Ann. arts. 15.17(a) or 38.22, § 2.
. The record reflects that the Chihuahua State Police released appellant to immigration officials who in turn released him into the custody of the El Paso Police. Despite the intervention of the immigration officials, Chief Rubalcaba knew that appellant would ultimately be released into the custody of the El Paso Police.
. The majority states that an agency relationship can be formed from a "joint venture arrangement,” but notes that the “mere notification of the potential existence of a criminal in another police’s jurisdiction is not enough to create such a relationship.” Alvarado, at 23. The record reflects that the El Paso Police specifically requested that the Chihuahua State Police apprehend appellant pursuant to a longstanding reciprocal arrangement. This is much more than the mere notification of appellant’s presence in Juarez.
. In concluding that the Chihuahua State Police were not acting on behalf of the El Paso Police, the majority writes:
The evidence at the suppression hearing indicated that when a Mexican citizen commits a crime in the United States and flees to Mexico, that person can be tried in Mexico under Mexican law. Mexican law does not recognize American traditions of venue. This unusual situation may have convinced the trial court as well as the court of appeals that the Mexican police acted on their own behalf, and not on behalf of their American counterparts. While appellant is not a Mexican citizen, it appears to be the Mexican procedure to obtain voluntary statements from all persons arrested. The evidence also indicates that the Mexican authorities would not deport an individual to U.S. authorities if they did not believe he was guilty of the crime, thereby necessitating an opportunity for the individual to make a statement to Mexican authorities.
Alvarado, at 24.
There are serious problems with the majority's analysis. First, since appellant is a United States citizen, Mexican laws regarding the apprehension of Mexican citizens are irrelevant. Second, the majority incorrectly implies that appellant would not have been deported if he were not a crime suspect in this country. As previously mentioned, the record reflects that appellant could have been deported once the Chihuahua State Police discovered that he was in Mexico illegally; a fact they were aware of before they obtained his confession.
. If the Court of Appeals had held that the Chihuahua State Police had acted independently in obtaining appellant’s confession, there would be no question of agency, and the Court of Appeals would not have addressed the state exclusionary rule. However, because the Court of Appeals rested its holding on the applicability of the exclusionary rule, it is clear that the court
. See Heller,
Neither the federal constitution nor any federal statute provides for redress if evidence is obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment. However, the United States Supreme Court created the federal exclusionary rule which prohibits the use of evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Weeks v. United States,
. See, e.g., United States v. Leon,
. The Texas exclusionary rule appears in article 38.23 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and provides in relevant part:
(a) No evidence obtained by an officer or other person in violation of any provisions of the Constitution or laws of the State of Texas, or of the Constitution or laws of the United States of America, shall be admitted in evidence against the accused on the trial of any criminal case.
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(b) It is an exception to the provisions of Subsection (a) of this Article that the evidence was obtained by a law enforcement officer acting in objective good faith reliance upon a warrant issued by a neutral magistrate based on probable cause.
TexCode Crim.ProcAnn. art. 38.23.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
The statutory exclusionary rule in Texas is quite specific:
(a) No evidence obtained by an officer or other person in violation of any provisions of the Constitution or laws of the State of Texas, or of the Constitution or laws of the United States of America, shall be admitted in evidence against the accused on the trial of any case.
Art. 38.23(a), V.A.C.C.P. It contains but one exception in subsection (b): “good faith.”
While the court of appeals may well have been correct in its determination that the Mexican authorities would have taken the confession because they had an independent and concurrent reason for doing so, that fact does not change the sanction imposed by Art. 38.23(a). It is more judicious to leave to the Legislature to incorporate exceptions into the plain wording of the statute as it did with the “good faith” exception. Certainly that is true in the case sub judice as the wording of the statute is plain and unambiguous and is not subject to differing interpretations concerning exceptions.
Thus, I would hold that the court of appeals erred in engrafting the “independent, concurrent basis” exception to the statute. See Garcia v. State,
