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Miranda suppression affirmed

By Randall Hodgkinson

Stephen Atherton won in State v. Bordeaux, No. 98,161 (Kan. App. Dec. 7, 2007), affirming Judge Wheeler's suppression of statements under Miranda. Here is the COA's summary of the case:

Anthony Bordeaux was ordered at gunpoint to come out of an open garden shed in which he was hiding. The shed was located behind a mobile home; an owner of a neighboring lot in the mobile-home park had called police to investigate a suspicious man wearing blue jeans, a black coat, and a black stocking cap. Once Bordeaux came out of the shed, the officer ordered him to put his hands on top of the shed so that the officer could conduct a pat-down for weapons. Bordeaux refused this order at least twice before complying, the officer's demands presumably becoming more and more insistent until Bordeaux complied. While one officer was conducting the pat-down--perhaps with Bordeaux already in handcuffs--another officer grabbed a black coat from inside the shed and asked Bordeaux whether it was his coat. Bordeaux admitted that it was. This case was in district court because drugs were found in the coat. The case is in the Court of Appeals because the district court suppressed Bordeaux's statement admitting ownership of the coat, and the State has appealed.

The COA did a review of the detailed facts found by the district court and held that, even if there was contradictory testimony at points, the record in total supported the district court's findings.

[Update: the state did not file a PR and the mandate issued on January 10, 2008].

Full post as published by Kansas Defenders on December 07, 2007 (boomark / email).