THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. BOZZIE BRYANT BURTON III, Defendant and Appellant.
Crim. No. 15823
In Bank
Dec. 28, 1971
375
COUNSEL
Patrick J. Sampson, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant.
Evelle J. Younger, Attorney General, William E. James, Assistant Attorney General, and Norman N. Flette, Deputy Attorney General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
OPINION
SULLIVAN, J.-Defendant Bozzie Bryant Burton III, a 16-year-old minor was charged by information with two counts of murder (
Defendant contends that his confession to the above charges was obtained in violation of the rules announced in Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 [16 L.Ed.2d 694, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 10 A.L.R.3d 974] and that its admission into evidence over his objection constitutes reversible error. We agree and, therefore, reverse the judgment.
Count Three (Assault on Vicky Price)
On December 13, 1968, at 9:15 p.m., Vicky Price was sitting in her car, which was parked in a parking lot at a shopping center in Compton. Defendant approached her car on the driver‘s side, put a gun to her head and ordered her to get out of the car. While she was attempting to comply with this order, she heard a voice addressing her from the other side of the car. The next thing she knew defendant‘s gun had gone off and wounded her. Defendant fled.
Counts One and Two (Murders of Joseph and Isabelle Diosdado)
Six days later on December 19, 1968, about noon, the dead bodies of Joseph and Isabelle Diosdado were discovered lying on the floor of the back
On February 14, 1969, at 7 a.m., defendant was arrested and taken to the Compton police station. Upon arrival at the police station, he was placed in a cell near the door, then underwent booking procedures for 30 to 40 minutes, and finally was removed to another cell for questioning. While he was being booked, his father arrived at the police station and asked to see him. The request was refused. The police thereafter advised defendant of his Miranda rights, interrogated him, and obtained a confession.
In fact, defendant made statements on three separate occasions in which he: (1) admitted shooting Vicky Price, but claimed he was strongly under the influence of marijuana; (2) admitted being present at the shooting of the Diosdados, but denied doing the shooting and (3) admitted shooting the Diosdados and explained the circumstances in detail.
When the case was called for trial, defendant moved, pursuant to
Defense counsel pointed out to the court in summation at the end of the hearing that “on several occasions he [defendant] asked to see his parents, and also has heard testimony from a parent, namely the father, that on several occasions he asked to see the minor, and on each occasion each was refused permission one to see the other,” but did not specifically urge the defendant‘s request to see his parents invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege under Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 436.1 Since defendant now raises that contention before us, we must first decide whether it was established that defendant did in fact request to see his parents.
The People urge, however, that the testimony of Officer Armstrong, quoted in the margin,2 adequately contradicted defendant‘s testimony, because the officer‘s testimony indicates he was not with defendant when defendant claimed to make the above statement. Defense counsel indicated to defendant in his questioning with respect to this matter that defendant‘s request had been directed to Officer Armstrong, that it was the latter who had denied the request and defendant agreed.
We think the above is inadequate to contradict defendant‘s testimony. At no time did Officer Armstrong or any other officer deny defendant requested to see his parents. We are persuaded, after a close reading of the testimony presented at the section 405 hearing, that whether defendant did or did not request to see his parents was not considered a major issue at that time. It has become so upon appeal. Defendant‘s testimony that he requested to see his parents was uncontradicted at that time, and stands unchallenged now when viewed upon review except for the quoted testimony of Officer Armstrong, which in itself is inadequate to meet the People‘s burden of showing that defendant did not say what he testified he did say. Therefore, we are satisfied that the record adequately establishes that defendant requested to see his parents and that this request was denied.
It is unclear from the record whether this request was made during transfer from the booking cell to the interview room or in the interview room itself. However, the request was made just prior to the commencement of interrogation and at a time when defendant‘s father was at the police station.
Defendant, although not claiming this confession to have been involuntary, contends that it was unlawfully obtained since his request to see his parents at or near the commencement of interrogation was an invocation of his Fifth Amendment privilege under the rules established in Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 436, and further elaborated in this state in People v. Fioritto (1968) 68 Cal.2d 714 [68 Cal.Rptr. 817, 441 P.2d 625]; People v. Ireland (1969) 70 Cal.2d 522 [75 Cal.Rptr. 188, 450 P.2d 580, 40 A.L.R.3d 1323] and People v. Randall (1970) 1 Cal.3d 948 [83 Cal.Rptr. 658, 464 P.2d 114]. We agree.
The United States Supreme Court in Miranda, noting that incommunicado interrogation is at odds with an individual‘s right not to be compelled to incriminate himself, stated: “Unless adequate protective devices are employed to dispel the compulsion inherent in custodial surroundings, no statement obtained from the defendant can truly be the product of his free choice.” (Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 436, 458 [16 L.Ed.2d 694, 714].) In Miranda, the Supreme Court set down four warnings which must be given persons in custodial surroundings, and then elaborated on the procedure subsequent to the giving of such warnings, as follows: “Once warnings have been given, the subsequent procedure is clear. If the individual indicates in any manner, at any time prior to or during questioning, that he wishes to remain silent, the interrogation must cease. [Fn. omitted.] At this point he has shown that he intends to exercise his Fifth Amendment privilege; any statement taken after the person invokes his privilege cannot be other than the product of compulsion, subtle or otherwise. . . . If the individual states that he wants an attorney, the interrogation must cease until an attorney is present.” (Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 436, 473-474 [16 L.Ed.2d 694, 723].) In People v. Randall, supra, 1 Cal.3d 948, 954, we observed that “This obligation on the police to entirely terminate custodial interrogation upon invocation of the Fifth Amendment privilege is one of the primary ‘protective devices’ fashioned by Miranda. [Fn. omitted.]”
In cases where the suspect makes no express assertion, the crucial question is what behavior is necessary to constitute an invocation of the Fifth Amendment privilege. We have stated several times that no particular
Any words or conduct which “reasonably appears inconsistent with a present willingness on the part of the suspect to discuss his case freely and completely with police at that time [fn. omitted]” (People v. Randall, supra, 1 Cal.3d 948, 956) must be held to amount to an invocation of the Fifth Amendment privilege. In Fioritto we held that a refusal by a suspect to sign a waiver of his constitutional rights amounted to an invocation of his Fifth Amendment privilege. In Ireland we held that when the suspect stated “Call my parents for my attorney” he thereby asserted the privilege. In Randall we held that a suspect‘s telephone call to his attorney in and of itself invoked the privilege.
In this case we are called upon to decide whether a minor‘s request to see his parents “reasonably appears inconsistent with a present willingness on the part of the suspect to discuss his case freely and completely with police at that time.” (People v. Randall, supra, 1 Cal.3d 948, 956.) It appears to us most likely and most normal that a minor who wants help on how to conduct himself with the police and wishes to indicate that he does not want to proceed without such help would express such desire by requesting to see his parents. For adults, removed from the protective ambit of parental guidance, the desire for help naturally manifests in a request for an attorney. For minors, it would seem that the desire for help naturally manifests in a request for parents. It would certainly severely restrict the “protective devices” required by Miranda in cases where the suspects are minors if the only call for help which is to be deemed an invocation of the privilege is the call for an attorney. It is fatuous to assume that a minor in custody will be in a position to call an attorney for assistance and it is unrealistic to attribute no significance to his call for help from the only person to whom he normally looks—a parent or guardian. It is common knowledge that this is the normal reaction of a youthful suspect who finds himself in trouble with the law.
The People advance two arguments in opposition. First, they contend that defendant‘s request to see his parents did not clearly give notice to the police that he was asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege, since such request could have been made for many purposes. We rejected the same argument in Randall. There the People argued that a telephone call to an attorney could manifest a desire to get bail, or merely inform him
Similarly here we are not disposed to assume as a general matter that a request by a minor at or near the inception of interrogation to see his parents is not an indication of that minor‘s unwillingness to continue talking with police or of a desire for help in how to conduct himself with police and thus not a manifestation of that minor‘s intention to assert his privilege. Therefore, the People have the burden of affirmatively demonstrating that such was not the desire on the part of defendant. Here, the People did not meet this burden.
Secondly, the People contend that because defendant‘s request occurred prior to the interrogation and prior to the giving of the Miranda warning, it was unlikely that the police would understand the request as an invocation of the privilege. The Supreme Court clearly stated in Miranda, as quoted, ante, page 381, that “[i]f the individual indicates . . . at any time prior to . . . questioning, that he wishes to remain silent, the interrogation must cease.” (Fn. omitted; italics added.) (Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 436, 473-474.) Indeed, this argument really seems to be a further elaboration of the lack of notice argument discussed above, and the short answer is that the People have offered nothing in the way of affirmative proof that defendant did not intend to assert his privilege.
Accordingly we hold that when, as in the instant case, a minor is taken into custody and is subjected to interrogation, without the presence of an attorney, his request to see one of his parents, made at any time prior to or during questioning, must, in the absence of evidence
We now turn to defendant‘s contention that it was error, in the circumstances of this case, to instruct the jury on first degree felony murder, because the underlying felony was armed robbery. He claims that armed robbery is an offense included in fact within the offense of murder and, therefore, under the rule announced in People v. Ireland, supra, 70 Cal.2d 522, 538-540 as applied in People v. Wilson (1969) 1 Cal.3d 431 [82 Cal.Rptr. 494, 462 P.2d 22], such offense cannot support a felony-murder instruction.3
“Murder,” as defined in
The net effect of this imputation of malice by means of the felony-murder rule is to eliminate the possibility of finding unlawful killings resulting from the commission of a felony to be manslaughter, rather than murder. Even intentional killings can be mitigated to voluntary manslaughter if the killing occurred with sufficient provocation to arouse the reasonable man to a fit of passion or sudden quarrel or if the defendant did not attain the mental state of malice due to mental illness, mental defect or intoxication. (People v. Stines (1969) 2 Cal.App.3d 970, 976 [82 Cal.Rptr. 850].) Unintentional killings in the appropriate circumstances may well be mitigated to involuntary manslaughter, or even not be subject to criminal penalty.
In Ireland the “defense . . . rested its entire case upon a contention that defendant‘s mental state at the time of his act—as affected by cumulative emotional pressure and the ingestion of alcohol and prescribed medications—was not that required for murder.” (People v. Ireland, supra, 70 Cal.2d 522, 531.) The defendant in that case shot his wife with a gun. The judge instructed the jury on the felony-murder rule, utilizing assault with a deadly weapon as the supporting felony. The effect of such instruction, as Ireland pointed out (70 Cal.2d at p. 539, fn. 13) was, therefore, to substantially eviscerate the defense of diminished capacity to negative malice, since malice was imputed. The net effect of this imputation would be to hold that all intentional killings accomplished by means of a deadly weapon were murder regardless of the circumstances and could never be mitigated to manslaughter, since all such killings included in fact an assault with a deadly weapon. We held that such effect was impermissible; “This kind of bootstrapping finds support neither in logic nor in law. We therefore hold that a second degree felony-murder instruction may not properly be given when it is based upon a felony which is an integral part of the homicide and which the evidence produced by the prosecution shows to be an offense included in fact within the offense charged.” (Fn. omitted.) (People v. Ireland, supra, 70 Cal.2d 522, 539.)
In Wilson the underlying felony which supported the felony-murder instruction was burglary—specifically entry coupled with the intent to commit assault with a deadly weapon. Since in Ireland we had held that assault with a deadly weapon could not support an instruction on second degree felony murder, in Wilson we were faced with the question whether
Defendant contends that the language and reasoning of Ireland and Wilson compel us to hold that armed robbery is included in fact within murder and, therefore, cannot support a felony-murder instruction.4 He argues that armed robbery includes as a necessary element assault with a deadly weapon by the following chain of reasoning: robbery “is the felonious taking of personal property in the possession of another, from his person or immediate presence, and against his will, accomplished by means of force or fear” (
The net effect of defendant‘s argument would be to eliminate the application of the felony-murder rule to all unlawful killings which were com-
We conclude that there is a very significant difference between deaths resulting from assaults with a deadly weapon, where the purpose of the conduct was the very assault which resulted in death, and deaths resulting from conduct for an independent felonious purpose, such as robbery or rape, which happened to be accomplished by a deadly weapon and therefore technically includes assault with a deadly weapon. Our inquiry cannot stop with the fact that death resulted from the use of a deadly weapon and, therefore, technically included an assault with a deadly weapon, but must extend to an investigation of the purpose of the conduct. In both Ireland and Wilson the purpose of the conduct which eventually resulted in a homicide was assault with a deadly weapon, namely the infliction of bodily injury upon the person of another. The desired infliction of bodily injury was in each case not satisfied short of death. Thus, there was a single course of conduct with a single purpose.
However, in the case of armed robbery, as well as the other felonies enumerated in
Wilson, when properly understood, does not eliminate this rule as urged by defendant, but merely excludes from its effect one small area of conduct, which would be irrationally included, due to the unusual nature of burglary. The key factor as indicated earlier in the enumerated felonies is that they are undertaken for a felonious purpose independent of the homicide. In the normal case, burglary is also undertaken with an independent felonious purpose, namely to acquire the property of another. In such instances the felony-murder rule would apply to burglary as well, even if the burglary were accomplished with a deadly weapon. However, in Wilson the entry was coupled with the intent to commit assault with a deadly weapon, the defendant in that case bursting through the bathroom door intending to do violent injury upon the body of his wife. We were there presented with the exact situation we faced in Ireland, namely a single purpose, a single course of conduct, except that in Wilson the single course of conduct happened to include an entry, and thus technically became burglary all of which brought the incident within the ambit of
Defendant in this case by embarking upon the venture of armed robbery brought himself within the class of persons who the Legislature has concluded must avoid causing death or bear the consequences of first degree murder. The trial judge quite correctly instructed on felony murder based on homicides directly resulting from the commission of armed robbery.
Prior to the enactment of
The Legislature by enacting
This procedure has received at least the tacit approval of the United States Supreme Court (see Jackson v. Denno (1963) 378 U.S. 368, 378 [12 L.Ed.2d 908, 916, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 1 A.L.R.3d 1205]). The identical procedure is utilized to determine the question whether evidence has been obtained in violation of the law of search and seizure and has been approved by this court. (People v. Gorg (1955) 45 Cal.2d 776, 780-781 [291 P.2d 469].) The Legislature‘s finding that a defendant will be better protected by thrusting the full responsibility upon the trial judge is en-
Defendant finally contends that the instruction given with respect to proof of intent (CALJIC No. 73)7 conflicted with and vitiated the instruction given on diminished capacity (CALJIC No. 305.1 (New) 1967 Pocket Part).8 The gist of the instruction on intent was to limit lack of sound mind to idiocy, lunacy, or insanity and thus order the jury to find the requisite sound mind supporting the requisite intent unless the defendant was an idiot, a lunatic or insane. Furthermore, this instruction directed the jury to assume defendant was sane. However, the instruction on diminished capacity quite correctly informed the jury that a “substantially reduced mental capacity, whether caused by mental illness, intoxication or any other cause” could negate the ability to form specific required mental states. There is certainly a potential conflict in the instruction which could well mislead the jury.
We need not now decide whether such a conflict would be fatal, but for purposes of guidance of the court upon retrial direct the trial court‘s at-
The judgment is reversed.
Wright, C. J., Peters, J., Tobriner, J., Mosk, J., and Burke, J., concurred.
McCOMB, J.—I dissent. I would affirm the judgment for the reasons ex-
