People v. Newsome

This is an interlocutory appeal by the State from an order of the circuit court of Vermilion County suppressing statements of the defendant which were taken in alleged violation of his Miranda rights. The question presented for our decision is whether the defendant was in custody so as to require Miranda warnings precedent to on-the-scene questioning. We reverse. At approximately 5 p.m. on April 8, 1982, two Danville police officers on routine patrol observed defendant walking in front of the Bank of Danville looking suspiciously in all directions. The officers decided to watch the defendant and pulled into a parking lot nearby. The officers next observed defendant walk into a small grocery store for a few seconds and then exit, empty handed. Defendant left the building and walked alongside the store in an alley until he reached the back of the building at which point the officers lost sight of defendant for approximately 45 seconds. When defendant reappeared he was carrying a carton of soda and walking away from the store. The officers were able to observe the checkout counter during the brief period that defendant was out of their view and noticed that he had not purchased the merchandise he was carrying. When defendant was approximately 25 yards north of the store the officers drove up the alley and stopped the squad car within five feet of him. Both officers exited the vehicle and one asked defendant for identification. The officers then asked defendant where he had gotten the soda and defendant responded that he had purchased it at the store. The conversation then ended, defendant was placed in the back of the squad car, and the officers returned to the front of the store to ask the cashier if the defendant had purchased the soda. The cashier recognized defendant as previously being in the store but denied that any purchases had been made. The statement of defendant which was suppressed by the trial court was his response that he had purchased the soda at the grocery store.