State v. Marc Gouin

Citations

• 182 A.3d 28

Syllabus

The defendant, Marc Gouin, was indicted by a Providence County grand jury on four counts of child molestation. Prior to trial, he moved to suppress statements he made to a Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) investigator on grounds that he had rendered the statements involuntarily. The hearing justice granted his motion, and the state appealed. The defendant argued that he made the statements involuntarily in that the DCF investigator did not inform him that she was a mandatory reporter or that DCF policy permitted him to have an attorney present. The Supreme Court held that the DCF worker was acting as a state actor at the time of the interview. The Court determined that the defendant's interview with the DCF investigator did not have any indicia of coercion. It further held that the defendant's statements were made voluntarily. Accordingly, the Court vacated the Superior Court hearing justice's decision.