State v. Durgan

Citations

• 2018 Ohio 2310

Syllabus

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW/CRIMINAL – MIRANDA – APPELLATE REVIEW/CRIMINAL – BATSON – COUNSEL: Where police believed defendant to be a witness to a murder and drove him to the police station in an unmarked car without restraints, defendant appeared eager to help and provided information voluntarily, and police drove him back to the scene of the crime to pick up his truck, defendant was not in custody, and no Miranda warnings were required. Where defendant was interviewed several days after the murder, came voluntarily in his own truck to the police station, was not handcuffed or searched, and provided more information on who may have wished to harm the victim, defendant was not in custody, and no Miranda warnings were required even though the police had suspicions about defendant and used the opportunity to put a GPS device on his car. The totality of the circumstances showed that defendant voluntarily waived his Miranda rights and made statements to the police where, even though the interrogation was lengthy, defendant was allowed to use the restroom and was given food, and defendant never stated that he did not wish to talk to the police, that he wanted to leave, or that he wanted a lawyer, and he never confessed to killing the victim. In reviewing the trial court's ruling on a motion to suppress, the appellate court may only consider evidence presented at the suppression hearing. The trial court's acceptance of the prosecutor's race-neutral reasons to excuse two African-American prospective jurors was not clearly erroneous where the first prospective juror stated that he had a pending theft charge and did not feel be was being treated fairly by the justice system and the second prospective juror said his religion would not permit him to sign a guilty verdict and that he worked at the same company as defense counsel's wife. Defendant was not denied the effective assistance of counsel where his counsel did not present expert testimony on police interrogation techniques and