507 So. 2d 674 | Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | 1987
The State appeals from an order granting the defendant’s motion to suppress his confessions, admissions, and statements.
Where the defendant, after invoking his right to counsel, reinstituted contact with the police, there was no violation of his constitutional rights. Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 484-85, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 1885, 68 L.Ed.2d 378, 386 (1981). The defendant’s refusal to make a written statement without his attorney being present did not negate his willingness to speak after he had been given his Miranda rights again, which he fully understood. Connecticut v. Barrett, — U.S. -, 107 S.Ct. 828, 93 L.Ed.2d 920 (1987).
The defendant admitted to peripheral participation in the offense being investigated on a mistaken belief that as the driver of the getaway car he could not be convicted of the substantive offense. The fact that an accused misunderstands the legal consequences of certain actions, which he otherwise freely acknowledges to have been committed by him, makes the admission or confession no less willing or admissible as evidence. Connecticut v. Barrett, — U.S. at -, 107 S.Ct. at 833, 93 L.Ed.2d at 929 (defendant’s ignorance of the full consequences of his decisions does not vitiate their voluntariness).