State v. Swindler

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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

No. 104,580

STATE OF KANSAS,
Appellee,

v.

JEFFERY SWINDLER,
Appellant.


SYLLABUS BY THE COURT

1.
Issues of statutory interpretation and construction, including issues of whether a
statute creates alternative means, raise questions of law reviewable de novo on appeal.

2.
"Sexual intercourse" as an element of the crime of rape is defined by K.S.A. 21-
3501(1) as "any penetration of the female sex organ by a finger, the male sex organ or
any object." The actus reus of the element of sexual intercourse in the rape statute is
"penetration of the female sex organ." The methods of penetrating the female sex organ
set forth in the statute—by a finger, the male sex organ, and/or an object—merely
describe factual circumstances by which a defendant might perpetrate the single actus
reus of the crime and do not constitute alternative means.

3.
When challenged, the prosecution bears the burden of proving, by a
preponderance of the evidence, that a confession was the product of the accused's free
and independent will. A court looks at the totality of the circumstances to determine the
question. Nonexclusive factors include: (1) the accused's mental condition; (2) the
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duration and manner of the interrogation; (3) the ability of the accused on request to
communicate with the outside world; (4) the accused's age, intellect, and background; (5)
the fairness of the officers in conducting the interrogation; and (6) the accused's fluency
with the English language. The factors are not to be weighed against one another, with
those favorable to a free and voluntary confession offsetting those tending to the contrary.
Instead, the situation surrounding the giving of a confession may dissipate the import of
an individual factor that might otherwise have a coercive effect. Even after analyzing
such dilution, if any, a single factor or a combination of factors considered together may
inevitably lead to a conclusion that under the totality of circumstances an accused's will
was overborne and the confession was not therefore a free and voluntary act.

4.
In this case, the coercive effect of the investigators' failure to honor their promise
that defendant could terminate an interview at any time compelled defendant's
confessions and inculpatory drawing in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United
States Constitution. Thus the district judge's refusal to suppress the confessions and
drawing was error.

5.
The safeguards of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d
694 (1966), are triggered only when an accused is subjected to custodial interrogation. In
this case, neither the allegedly custodial nature of the defendant's interrogation nor his
attempt to invoke his right to remain silent need be analyzed, because the attempt
coincided with the shift from his voluntary statements to coerced confessions and an
inculpatory drawing.



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6.
A constitutional error may be declared harmless where the party benefitting from
the error proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the error complained of will not or did
not affect the outcome of the trial in light of the entire record, i.e., where there is no
reasonable possibility that the error contributed to the verdict. The district judge's failure
to suppress in this case did not qualify as harmless error.

Appeal from Sumner District Court; WILLIAM R. MOTT, judge. Opinion filed February 15, 2013.
Reversed and remanded.

Lydia Krebs, of Capital Appellate Defender Office, argued the cause and was on the brief for
appellant.

Evan C. Watson, county attorney, argued the cause, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, was
with him on the brief for appellee.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

BEIER, J. Defendant Jeffery Swindler appeals his conviction for rape. He argues
his conviction should be reversed on two grounds: (1) rape is an alternative means crime,
and the State failed to present sufficient evidence to support each of the means upon
which the district court instructed the jury; and (2) the district court erred in denying
Swindler's motion to suppress incriminating statements and a drawing he provided law
enforcement officers. Swindler also contends that the journal entry of judgment wrongly
reflects that the district court imposed lifetime postrelease rather than lifetime parole and
that the district court erred in imposing lifetime parole with electronic monitoring.

We reverse his conviction because his motion to suppress should have been
granted, and we remand to the district court for further proceedings.

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FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Defendant Jeffery Swindler lived with his then girlfriend, M.M., and his two
daughters from a previous relationship in a rental home owned by M.M.'s aunt, J.C. J.C.'s
then-11-year-old daughter, L.C., M.M.'s cousin, occasionally spent the night at Swindler's
residence. One night in late 2008, Swindler, M.M., and L.C. were in bed watching a
movie in Swindler and M.M.'s bedroom. According to L.C., she fell asleep during the
movie and awoke to find Swindler's finger in her vagina. L.C. told her mother about the
incident in May 2009. Based on her allegation, the State charged Swindler with one count
of rape under K.S.A. 21-3502(a)(2) (sexual intercourse with a child under 14 years of
age).

Before trial, Swindler filed a motion to suppress incriminating statements, written
confessions, and a drawing he provided to investigators during an interview at the Kansas
Bureau of Investigation's Wichita office. In his memorandum in support of the motion to
suppress, Swindler argued that the interview was a custodial interrogation and that his
invocation of his right to remain silent was not honored by the officers conducting the
interview, KBI Agent Ricky Attebury and Jeff Hawkins of the Sumner County Sherriff's
office. Swindler argued that the statements he made after he invoked his right to remain
silent were involuntary and inadmissible.

During the hearing on the motion to suppress, Attebury and Hawkins testified
about the circumstances surrounding Swindler's interview. Hawkins testified that he had
interviewed Swindler as a suspect for the first time at the Southwest Wichita Police
Department Substation. At the conclusion of that interview, Hawkins invited Swindler to
the KBI's Wichita office to take a polygraph examination.

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Six days later, at a time scheduled to accommodate Swindler's work schedule,
M.M. drove Swindler and his two daughters to the KBI office. M.M. and the two girls
waited in a hallway while Swindler was interviewed, beginning at 8 a.m. Attebury
testified that the interview room measured 8' x 8'; Attebury sat in front of the exit during
the interview and examination. At the start of the interview, Attebury advised Swindler of
his Miranda rights. Attebury also provided Swindler a written form that indicated that the
polygraph examination was voluntary and that Swindler could terminate the examination
at any time. Attebury testified that the way for Swindler to terminate the interview was to
"get up and walk out." Neither Hawkins nor Attebury was armed, and both were dressed
in civilian clothes. No other officers were involved with the interview. Attebury testified
that there are 10 to 12 plain-clothes agents assigned to the Wichita office but that
typically there were fewer than 6 in the office at the time the interview occurred.
Swindler was not placed in any restraints during the interview; nor was any property,
such as a driver's license or wallet, taken from him.

Shortly after the interview began, Hawkins left the room but was able to watch the
interview on a monitor in another room. He testified that he did not watch the interview
in its entirety. After Hawkins left the room, Attebury started the interview. At 10:02 a.m.,
Swindler took an 8-minute unescorted break. After the break, Attebury connected
Swindler to the polygraph machine and conducted the examination, which lasted 46
minutes. Following the examination, Attebury informed Swindler that he failed the
examination questions about whether he had ever touched L.C. in her "vaginal area." At
that point, Attebury's questions became more direct and accusatory.

According to the video recording of the interview in the record on appeal, at about
11:20 a.m., the following exchange between Attebury and Swindler occurred:

"Attebury: Just tell me so we can move on. Ok. With the truth of it.

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"Swindler: You want me to say 'Yes. I did it' and . . . .

"Attebury: Well, yeah, the details, yeah . . . .

"Swindler: . . . go on . . . .

"Attebury: Yeah, the details, so I, so I can figure out how to ask the questions . . . .

"Swindler: I can't give you the details. I don't know when I did it. I'm done. I want to go
home. I'm done.

"Attebury: Let me, let me go ahead and talk, tell Jeff [Hawkins].

"Swindler: I can't give you the details of when it happened. You know. It's been so long. I
can't remember if I touched a little girl's vaginal area. You know. I didn't do it. You
know. I don't know what the heck's wrong, but I didn't do it. I know I didn't do it."

The video shows Attebury then left the room and 3 minutes passed before he and
Hawkins returned. Attebury testified at the suppression hearing that he suspended
Swindler's interview to consult with Hawkins because Attebury thought Swindler was
"close to invoking" his right to remain silent. When the two investigators re-entered the
interview room, Hawkins questioned Swindler about the incident with L.C. Hawkins'
questions were, like Attebury's, accusatory.

"Hawkins: Well what are we gonna do?

"Swindler: What are we gonna do?

"Hawkins: Well, I gotta, I gotta ask you [inaudible] Jeff. You know. Who am I dealing
with, you know, are you this guy that goes around taking advantage of younger girls? Or
is this something . . . .

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"Swindler: I don't, I don't do that stuff. I don't mess around with little girls. Since I've got
two daughters of my own. I've got to take care of my kids. I go to work. I bust my time. I
go to work.

"Hawkins: I understand that. But, you know, I need to know where I'm at here. Is this
something that just happened out of the blue, one-time thing, or is it something, you
know, that's more far reaching than that.

"Swindler: [stuttering] Ok. Just to get this over with so I can go home. It's out of the blue.
I need to go-I wanna go home. I gotta get work done. I gotta go to work so I can make
some money for my kids and stuff so . . . .

"Hawkins: Well, tell me what happened."

During the next 2 hours, Swindler made incriminating statements, signed two
written confessions, and drew a diagram of his hand to show how far his middle finger
had penetrated L.C.'s vagina. The entire interview and polygraph examination lasted from
8:21 a.m. until 1:35 p.m., at which point Swindler was arrested.

The district court judge denied Swindler's motion to suppress. The district court
ruled that (1) the interview was investigatory rather than a custodial interrogation; (2) law
enforcement was not required to "scrupulously honor" Swindler's assertion of his right to
remain silent in an investigatory setting; (3) Swindler did not "unequivocally invoke his
right to remain silent"; and (4) Swindler's statements were voluntary.

J.C., L.C., Attebury, and Hawkins testified for the prosecution at trial. Over
defense counsel's objections, the State offered Swindler's two written confessions and the
drawing and played the video of Swindler's interview in which he orally admitted to
inserting his finger into L.C.'s vagina. Attebury testified during cross-examination that, at
some point during the interview, after his oral confession, Swindler nevertheless again
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denied touching L.C.'s vagina and said that he had fabricated the confession so he could
go to work.

Swindler testified at trial that he had only admitted to touching L.C. during the
interview because he wanted to go home, and because he wanted to take his children
home. When asked why he wrote the confession, Swindler stated, "I was not getting
through to the law enforcement there that I was understanding that I could go home, so I
was doing this for them because they wanted to hear this, so I gave them a statement so I
can get out of there and take my children to their house, and then I can go to work."
Swindler denied ever touching L.C.'s vagina.

At the close of the evidence at trial, the district judge instructed Swindler's jury
that, in order to find Swindler guilty of rape, it had to find that he "had sexual intercourse
with L.C." The jury instructions defined "sexual intercourse" as "any penetration of the
female sex organ by a finger, the male sex organ[,] or any object."

The jury convicted Swindler of rape. The district court sentenced Swindler to life
in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years. While the transcript of the
sentencing hearing reflects that the district court imposed "lifetime parole with electronic
monitoring," the journal entry of sentencing indicates lifetime postrelease supervision.

DISCUSSION
Alternative Means

"Issues of statutory interpretation and construction, including issues of whether a
statute creates alternative means, raise questions of law reviewable de novo on appeal."
State v. Brown, 295 Kan. 181, 193-94, 284 P.3d 977 (2012).

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A criminal defendant has a statutory right to a unanimous jury verdict. See K.S.A.
22-3421; State v. Rojas-Marceleno, 295 Kan. 525, Syl. ¶ 13, 285 P.3d 361 (2012); State
v. Wright, 290 Kan. 194, 201, 224 P.3d 1159 (2010). In State v. Timley, 255 Kan. 286,
289, 875 P.2d 242 (1994), this court explained:

"'In an alternative means case, where a single offense may be committed in more than
one way, there must be jury unanimity as to guilt for the single crime charged. Unanimity
is not required, however, as to the means by which the crime was committed so long as
substantial evidence supports each alternative means.'"

"Because jury unanimity is not required as to the means by which an alternative
means crime is committed, unanimity instructions are not required in alternative means
cases." Rojas-Marceleno, 295 Kan. at 544. Nevertheless, the State must meet a "super-
sufficiency of the evidence" requirement, i.e., present sufficient evidence to permit a jury
to find each means of committing the crime upon which it is instructed beyond a
reasonable doubt. Rojas-Marceleno, 295 Kan. at 544. If the State fails to present
sufficient evidence to support each means, reversal is required. Rojas-Marceleno, 295
Kan. at 544.

In Brown, we clarified how courts are to identify statutes that underlie alternative
means instructions. 295 Kan. at 193 ("Identifying an alternative means statute is more
complicated than spotting the word 'or.'"). We summarized the alternative means analysis
as follows:

"[I]n determining if the legislature intended to state alternative means of committing a
crime, a court must analyze whether the legislature listed two or more alternative distinct,
material elements of a crime—that is, separate or distinct mens rea, actus reus, and, in
some statutes, causation elements. Or, did the legislature list options within a means, that
is, options that merely describe a material element or describe a factual circumstance that
would prove the element? The listing of alternative distinct, material elements, when
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incorporated into an elements instruction, creates an alternative means issue demanding
super-sufficiency of the evidence. Often this intent can be discerned from the structure of
the statute. On the other hand, the legislature generally does not intend to create
alternative means when it merely describes a material element or a factual circumstance
that would prove the crime. Such descriptions are secondary matters—options within a
means—that do not, even if included in a jury instruction, raise a sufficiency issue that
requires a court to examine whether the option is supported by evidence." Brown, 295
Kan. at 199-200.

Swindler argues that rape is an alternative means crime and that the State failed to
present sufficient evidence of each of the means in the elements jury instruction. Instead,
the evidence was limited to penetration with his finger. At the time of the offense, K.S.A.
21-3502(a)(2) provided: "Rape is . . . sexual intercourse with a child who is under 14
years of age." Sexual intercourse was defined under K.S.A. 21-3501(1) as "any
penetration of the female sex organ by a finger, the male sex organ or any object."
Swindler argues that K.S.A. 21-3501(1) provides three distinct ways of committing the
crime of rape: penetrating a female victim's sex organ with (1) a finger, (2) the male sex
organ, or (3) any object.

We recently addressed this same issue in State v. Britt, 295 Kan. 1018, 287 P.3d
905 (2012), and held that K.S.A. 21-3501(1) does not create alternative means for
committing rape. Rather, the language in the statute merely describes different factual
circumstances by which a defendant might perpetrate the single actus reus of the crime,
i.e., penetration of the female sex organ. Britt, 295 Kan. at 1027. Swindler's argument
lacks merit.

Motion to Suppress

Swindler's second issue on appeal is the denial of his motion to suppress his
statements, written confessions, and the drawing.
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Swindler has two distinct avenues of attack. First, under a Miranda analysis,
Swindler argues that the officers gave him Miranda warnings in what ended up as a
custodial interrogation and that he unequivocally invoked his right to remain silent.
Under this avenue, according to Swindler, everything he said after invoking his right was
per se inadmissible. The State's response to this line of argument is twofold: (1) the
interview was not custodial, and thus Swindler was not entitled to protections under
Miranda; and (2) even if Swindler was entitled to Miranda protections, he failed to
invoke his right to remain silent unequivocally.

Swindler's second avenue of attack is based on a Fifth Amendment Due Process
voluntariness analysis. He argues that, independent of the Miranda and invocation of his
right to remain silent, the investigators' conduct compelled his confessions. The State
responds that Swindler's statements were freely and voluntarily given.

We note at the outset that these two avenues run parallel to one another. Although
both may turn on "voluntariness," the voluntariness of Miranda analysis references the
voluntariness of the defendant's encounter with law enforcement, i.e., whether an
interview qualified as a custodial interrogation. Fifth Amendment Due Process analysis,
on the other hand, references the voluntariness of the interrogated individual's eventual
incriminating statements. See State v. Morton, 286 Kan. 632, 649, 186 P.3d 785 (2008)
("Unwarned inculpatory statements obtained through noncustodial interrogation,
although not barred by Miranda, may nevertheless be inadmissible if they were obtained
in violation of the due process voluntariness requirement.").

We address Swindler's arguments in reverse order because the Fifth Amendment
Due Process voluntariness analysis is dispositive of the bulk of his claim. This minimizes
the need for lengthy discussion of whether and when the interview evolved into a
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custodial interrogation and whether Swindler unequivocally invoked his right to remain
silent after having received Miranda warnings.

Fifth Amendment Due Process Voluntariness Analysis

The primary consideration to be given to a criminal defendant's inculpatory
statement is its voluntariness. State v. Lewis, 258 Kan. 24, 34, 899 P.2d 1027 (1995)
(citing Oregon v. Elstad, 470 U.S. 298, 318, 105 S. Ct. 1285, 84 L. Ed. 2d 222 [1985]). A
court looks at the totality of the circumstances to determine whether an accused's
confession was voluntary. State v. Robinson, 293 Kan. 1002, 1018, 270 P.3d 1183
(2012). Nonexclusive factors to be examined include:

"(1) the accused's mental condition; (2) the duration and manner of the interrogation; (3)
the ability of the accused on request to communicate with the outside world; (4) the
accused's age, intellect, and background; (5) the fairness of the officers in conducting the
interrogation; and (6) the accused's fluency with the English language. [Citations
omitted.].

. . . .

"'"[T]hese factors are not to be weighed against one another . . . , with those
favorable to a free and voluntary confession offsetting those tending to the contrary.
Instead, the situation surrounding the giving of a confession may dissipate the import of
an individual factor that might otherwise have a coercive effect. [Citation omitted.] Even
after analyzing such dilution, if any, a single factor or a combination of factors
considered together may inevitably lead to a conclusion that under the totality of
circumstances a suspect's will was overborne and the confession was not therefore a free
and voluntary act." [Citations omitted.]'" Gilliland, 294 Kan. 519, 528-29, 276 P.3d 165
(2012).

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K.S.A. 60-460(f) also governs the admissibility of confessions or statements by
the accused:

"In a criminal proceeding as against the accused, a previous statement by the
accused relative to the offense charged [is admissible], but only if the judge finds that the
accused (1) when making the statement was conscious and was capable of understanding
what the accused said and did and (2) was not induced to make the statement (A) under
compulsion or by infliction or threats of infliction of suffering upon the accused or
another, or by prolonged interrogation under such circumstances as to render the
statement involuntary or (B) by threats or promises concerning action to be taken by a
public official with reference to the crime, likely to cause the accused to make such a
statement falsely, and made by a person whom the accused reasonably believed to have
the power or authority to execute the same."

When challenged, the State has the burden to prove, by a preponderance of the
evidence, that a defendant's statements were voluntarily made, i.e., that the statements
were the product of the defendant's free and independent will. Gilliland, 294 Kan. at 528;
State v. Edwards, 291 Kan. 532, Syl. ¶ 5, 243 P.3d 683 (2010); State v. Brown, 286 Kan.
170, 172, 182 P.3d 1205 (2008).

The district judge's memorandum opinion primarily focused on Miranda analysis
questions of custodial interrogation and unequivocal invocation. As to voluntariness, he
simply stated that he had considered the voluntariness factors and the facts of the case
and determined that Swindler's confessions and drawing were the products of his free and
independent will. The judge also relied on a passage from United States v. Washington,
431 U.S. 181, 188, 97 S. Ct. 1814, 52 L. Ed. 2d 238 (1977): "[I]t seems self-evident that
one who is told he is free to refuse to answer questions is in a curious posture to later
complain that his answers were compelled."

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Swindler does not argue that the manner or duration of the interrogation; his
ability to communicate with the outside world; his mental condition; his age, intellect,
and background; or his proficiency with the English language negatively impacted on the
voluntariness of his statements. He relies solely on what he characterizes as the
unfairness of the officers in conducting the interrogation—specifically, their assurances
that he was free to terminate the interrogation and leave at any time contrasted with their
refusal to honor those assurances—to support his assertion that his statements were
compelled.

As stated, we must consider the totality of the circumstances in determining the
voluntariness of Swindler's confessions and drawing. In State v. Stone, 291 Kan. 13, 237
P.3d 1229 (2010), this court held that defendant Joshua Stone's incriminating statements
made during a custodial interview were involuntary based on the totality of the
circumstances, including:

"(1) the defendant appeared exhausted during the interrogation, which began at 1 a.m.,
and several of his responses were garbled and disorganized; (2) the detective made
misleading and ultimately untrue statements regarding finding the defendant's semen on
the pajamas of the 9-year-old victim; (3) the detective implied that if the defendant told
the truth, the length of his sentence could be affected; and (4) the detective said the
defendant would be viewed as a sexual predator unless he confessed." State v. Robinson,
293 Kan. 1002, 1020, 270 P.3d 1183 (2012) (citing Stone, 291 Kan. at 22-33).

In State v. Swanigan, 279 Kan. 18, 106 P.3d 39 (2005), this court held that
defendant Jami Del Swanigan's confession was involuntary. Again, the court applied the
totality of the circumstances test and relied on the following factors:

"(1) the law enforcement officers' repeated use of false information and evidence, (2) the
combination of the tactics used by law enforcement, including threats to convey
Swanigan's lack of cooperation to the county attorney and threatening to charge him with
15

additional robberies unless he confessed, and (3) evidence of the defendant's low intellect
and his susceptibility to anxiety." Robinson, 293 Kan. at 1019 (citing Swanigan, 279 Kan.
at 37-39).

Both the Stone and the Swanigan decisions cautioned lower courts against
extending their holdings beyond their particular facts. See Stone, 291 Kan. at 32
(indicating that any one of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation, standing
alone, might not have led the court to conclude the statements were coerced); Swanigan,
279 Kan. at 44 ("[A] broad reading of our opinion today is expressly discouraged."); cf.
Robinson, 293 Kan. at 1020 (confession voluntary; distinguishing Swanigan); State v.
Ransom, 288 Kan. 697, 706, 207 P.3d 208 (2009) (confession voluntary).

In this case, Swindler does not claim officers manufactured information or
evidence in order to get him to confess, as was the case in Stone and Swanigan. But he
argues that the investigators' bait and switch about his ability to terminate the interview
and leave had the same coercive effect.

The video in the appellate record makes it very clear that Swindler wanted to
exercise the power the investigators had initially guaranteed that he possessed. From the
time that he said "I'm done. I want to go home. I'm done," it is obvious that Swindler
wanted to terminate the interview and leave the KBI office. His girlfriend and two small
children were waiting for him in the hallway, and he expressed his desire to go to work to
provide for his children. He repeated that he was "done" and wanted to go home.

Swindler's first clearly inculpatory statement was not made until he had said that
he was confessing "just to get this over with so I can go home." Instead of being allowed
to leave, the investigators persisted in questioning him. In particular, we note that
Attebury admitted he left the room to consult with Hawkins to avoid an expected
invocation of Swindler's right to remain silent. Also, Hawkins met Swindler's repeated
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efforts to do what he had been told he was free to do with "Well, tell me what happened."
The message of these investigators was unmistakable: If Swindler wanted to stop talking
and leave, he needed to confess to raping L.C.

In short, the investigators set the rules of engagement and then did not hesitate to
break them as soon as they thought Swindler might slip away without telling them what
they wanted to hear. Under the totality of these circumstances, the State cannot carry its
burden to show that Swindler's resulting oral confession, written confessions, and
drawing were given voluntarily under the Fifth Amendment. The district judge's refusal
to suppress the confessions and drawing was error.

Miranda Analysis

Normally, when a motion seeks to suppress a confession obtained in an allegedly
custodial interrogation, the court must first determine whether the interrogation was, in
fact, custodial. If not, Miranda warnings are unnecessary.

"An appellate court reviewing a trial court's determination of whether an
interrogation is custodial, makes two discrete inquiries. Under the first inquiry, the court
determines the circumstances surrounding the interrogation, employing a substantial
competent evidence standard of review. In determining if there is substantial competent
evidence supporting the existence of the circumstances found by the trial court, an
appellate court does not reweigh evidence, assess the credibility of the witnesses, or
resolve conflicting evidence. [Citations omitted]. The second inquiry employs a de novo
standard of review to determine whether, under the totality of those circumstances, a
reasonable person would have felt free to terminate the interrogation and disengage from
the encounter." State v. Warrior, 294 Kan. 484, 497, 277 P.3d 1111 (2012).

17

In State v. Carson, 216 Kan. 711, Syl. ¶ 5, 533 P.2d 1342 (1975), this court
identified five circumstances bearing on whether a person questioned was subject to
custodial interrogation. This list of factors has since been modified and grown.

"Factors to be considered in determining if an interrogation is investigative or
custodial include: (1) the time and place of the interrogation; (2) the duration of the
interrogation; (3) the number of law enforcement officers present; (4) the conduct of the
officers and the person subject to the interrogation; (5) the presence or absence of actual
physical restraint or its functional equivalent, such as drawn firearms or a stationed
guard; (6) whether the person is being questioned as a suspect or a witness; (7) whether
the person being questioned was escorted by officers to the interrogation location or
arrived under his or her own power; and (8) the result of the interrogation, for instance,
whether the person was allowed to leave, was detained further, or was arrested after the
interrogation. No one factor outweighs another, nor do the factors bear equal weight.
Every case must be analyzed on its own particular facts." Warrior, 294 Kan. 484, Syl. ¶
2.

Swindler concedes that his encounter with Attebury and Hawkins started as
merely investigatory rather than as a custodial interrogation. He argues that the encounter
became a custodial interrogation either (1) when he was informed that he failed the
polygraph evaluation or (2) when he said "I'm done. I want to go home. I'm done."

Swindler may be right, but, under the unique circumstances of this case, it does
not matter. See State v. Schultz, 289 Kan. 334, 342, 212 P.3d 150 (2009); State v. Ninci,
262 Kan. 21, 38, 936 P.2d 1364 (1997).

There is no dispute between the parties here that Swindler received Miranda
warnings when his interview and the polygraph examination got under way. He need not
have been given them if what followed was not a custodial interrogation. But the fact that
he was given them in this situation, i.e., approximately 2 hours before in the same
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interview about the same crime conducted by the same investigators, inoculated any
evolution of a mere investigatory encounter into a custodial interrogation from challenge,
as long as he did not invoke any of the rights the warnings were designed to protect.
Compare State v. Grady, 317 Wis. 2d 344, 766 N.W.2d 729 (2009) (precustodial
Miranda warnings remained effective once encounter became custodial interrogation)
with State v. Appleby, 289 Kan. 1017, 1046-47, 221 P.3d 525 (2009) (Miranda rights
cannot be anticipatorily invoked in a context other than custodial interrogation); see also
United States v. Bautista, 145 F.3d 1140, 1151 (10th Cir.1998) (law enforcement officers
not free to give Miranda warnings and then ignore person's attempt to invoke any right
thereunder because encounter is merely investigatory).

We therefore need not analyze whether the interview up until Swindler's "I'm
done. I want to go home. I'm done" statement was, in fact, a custodial interrogation. We
may simply assume that all or part of it was and note that he received the warnings the
law required him to be given in such a situation.

The next question in a Miranda analysis would ordinarily be whether the
defendant unequivocally invoked his or her right to remain silent. This question also need
not be answered here.

In short, Swindler's first attempt to invoke his right to remain silent also marked
the line we have identified above between his voluntary statements and involuntary
statements under the Fifth Amendment. We need not decide whether Swindler's
statement "I'm done. I want to go home. I'm done" was an unequivocal invocation of his
right to remain silent, because we have already decided that anything after that statement
was inadmissible as involuntary under the Fifth Amendment. Swindler does not contend
that anything he said before that point constituted an invocation of his right to remain
silent, much less an unequivocal invocation of that right.
19


Harmlessness Analysis

Having decided that the district judge erred in refusing to suppress Swindler's
confessions and drawing, we turn to whether that violation of Swindler's Fifth
Amendment right to remain silent was harmless. A constitutional error may be declared
harmless where the party benefitting from the error proves beyond a reasonable doubt
that the error complained of will not or did not affect the outcome of the trial in light of
the entire record, i.e., where there is no reasonable possibility that the error contributed to
the verdict. State v. Ward, 292 Kan. 541, Syl. ¶ 6, 256 P.3d 801 (2011), cert. denied 132
S. Ct. 1594 (2012).

Here, there was no physical evidence offered at trial. The entire case turned on
whom the jury believed, L.C. or Swindler. This means that the admission of Swindler's
confessions and drawing was indescribably prejudicial. The erroneous admission of this
evidence cannot be ruled harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, a point the State
essentially conceded during oral argument. Swindler's conviction of rape must be
reversed.

Sentencing Arguments

Because we determine that Swindler's conviction must be reversed, we do not
reach his sentencing arguments.

20

CONCLUSION

For all of the reasons detailed above, we reverse defendant Jeffery Swindler's
conviction for rape and remand this case to the district court for further proceedings
consistent with this opinion.