State v. NelsonState v. Nelson
The writ of certiorari has issued in this cause pursuant to certificate of the District Court of Appeal, 1st District, under
The views expressed and the conclusion reached by the majority in the very able and thorough opinion of the appellate court, 202 So.2d 232, are in our opinion correct.
It is so ordered.
CALDWELL, C.J., and THOMAS, DREW and THORNAL, JJ., concur.
ERVIN, J., concurs specially with opinion.
ROBERTS and ADAMS, JJ., dissent.
ERVIN, Justice (specially concurring in the denial of certiorari):
The mandate of Miranda v. State of Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), is applicable to a custodial interrogation conducted pursuant to a grand jury investigation of suspected criminal activities. A properly constructed adversary system of criminal justice must contain safeguards against overzealous official attempts to compel evidence from the mouth of a person who stands “accused” of criminal activities, whether in a police or prosecuting attorney or grand jury interrogation. Miranda v. State of Arizona was designed to superimpose safeguards upon the state systems of criminal justice which would function in all custodial interrogations.
In the instant case, it appears that Petitioner was subpoenaed before the grand jury not as an ordinary witness but as a target of the investigation being conducted. Accordingly, the critical stage of due process was reached when the Petitioner virtually stood as a person accused before the grand jury and under the Miranda mandate he was entitled to the mantle of protection afforded thereby. In the event of a failure to apply the Miranda requirements, the rule is that the state may not introduce statements secured as a product of the custodial interrogation of the accused.
Because the state is prosecuting him for an offense concerning which he was questioned before the grand jury, Petitioner contends the state‘s failure to adhere to the Miranda safeguards when it obtained his waiver of immunity from prosecution preliminary to his testimony before the grand jury immunizes him completely from prosecution for such offense. The Petitioner has failed to properly distinguish the restraints and safeguards of Miranda and the immunity secured by
Briefly stated,
In the instant case, the record reveals that Petitioner executed a written waiver relinquishing the immunity granted by the statute. It appears that under the existing law of this state the voluntary nature of this waiver as evidenced by the record determines the extent of the effectiveness of such waiver so far as relinquishment of Petitioner‘s statutory right of immunity is concerned. The offer of counsel and other Miranda requirements were not critical prerequisites to the execution of a valid waiver of the statutory right of immunity. The Miranda safeguards embrace only the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and are not applicable to any statutory substitute of the privilege. Once it appears that the statutory substitute of immunity is intelligently relinquished, Petitioner is relegated
In summary, statutory immunity from prosecution and an intelligent waiver thereof are in a separate category from Miranda requirements. There is complete dichotomy between the two. Here, the Petitioner intelligently waived his statutory immunity from prosecution. The state was then free to prosecute Petitioner as if he had never appeared before the grand jury, but at the trial the Petitioner is entitled to the benefit of all rules relating to trial evidence and due process, including Miranda. Therefore, at trial in the prosecution of Petitioner, if it appears incriminating testimony was taken from him in the grand jury room and such testimony is sought to be introduced, it may be found inadmissible on timely objection if Miranda requirements were not complied with as a predicate to taking such testimony. Petitioner was entitled to the Miranda warnings if he became the criminal target of the grand jury interrogation. He also should have been advised of his right to counsel to represent him and, if not intelligently declined, he should have had counsel beside him in the grand jury room to advise him when he testified.
For the reasons stated, I see no justification for prohibiting prosecution of the Petitioner and accordingly would affirm the judgment denying the rule nisi.