The Southern District Court of Appeals today rejected at Pittsburg, Kansas woman's effort to have a new trial because of what her lawyer said was an illegally obtained confession.
Jasper County Circuit Court Judge Gayle Crane sentenced Tiffany Anne Lukasiewicz to three consecutive life sentences for second degree murder, and first degree arson and domestic assault in connection with the December 4, 2020 fire that killed her father, David Crowder, 68, Joplin and injured her stepmother.
The crime was detailed in the appellate panel's opinion:
Around 3:30 a.m. on December 4, Stepmother woke up and saw that her chair in the living room was on fire. She yelled “fire” and went to where she normally kept the fire extinguisher, but it was no longer there. She then retrieved water from the kitchen and threw it on the fire but the fire had “gotten a lot bigger.”
As Stepmother was going to her bedroom to get her phone to call 911, she saw Defendant and Father standing in the hallway. Stepmother then heard Defendant and her twin sister (Twin Sister) outside, yelling for Father.
Stepmother had “no idea” why Twin Sister would be at the house at such an early hour. The house had gotten “very smoky” and Stepmother tried to crawl toward Father, who was still in the hallway, but the fire prevented her from reaching him. She found herself by the kitchen side door, at which point a police officer grabbed her and carried her out of the house.
Stepmother suffered severe injuries from the fire. Father died in the fire.
An investigation of the home after the fire led the fire marshal to believe the fire was not accidental, but rather set intentionally under suspicious circumstances. Outside of the home, law enforcement found a backpack and a laptop case containing various personal items belonging to Defendant located under Defendant’s open bedroom window.
On December 8, Defendant voluntarily went to the Joplin Police Department to pick up her personal belongings. Officer Wes Massey requested an interview and she agreed. When Defendant returned the next day, December 9, to pick up more of her personal belongings, Officer Massey administered Miranda warnings and recorded his interview with Defendant.
Officer Massey informed Defendant that she could “decide at any time to exercise these rights, not answer any questions or make any statements.” Defendant stated that the night of the fire Twin Sister told her that Stepmother had an “ass whooping coming to her.”
After Officer Luke Stahl joined the interview and asked Defendant some questions, Defendant told the officers she was “overwhelmed.” The following conversation took place between Officer Stahl and Defendant:
Officer Stahl: I have a feeling you know exactly what happened.
Defendant: Listen, [Stepmother] was supposed to have her butt beat.
Officer Stahl: And somehow that was going to affect the garage?
Defendant: No, will you please stop?
Officer Stahl: As long as it’s the truth I’ll let you tell it to me.
Defendant: Will you stop.
Officer Stahl: As long as you tell me the truth, I’ll stop.
Defendant: [Stepmother] was supposed to have her ass beat and I guess they were, yeah, setting a fire in the back. I don’t know who they are, they were going to set a fire in the alley to cause a diversion to get [Stepmother] out so she can get her ass beat and [Father] wouldn’t get hurt.
Defendant voluntarily left the police department at the end of the interview. Defendant was arrested on December 10, placed in custody at the Newton County Jail and was interviewed by Officer Chip Root.
After Officer Root re-administered Miranda warnings to Defendant, she told him that Twin Sister was supposed to start the fire in the alley and two other girls were supposed to start a fire in the basement. Defendant further told Officer Root that she texted Twin Sister the night of December 3 and told her that she wanted Stepmother’s “ass beat.”
Defendant stated that Twin Sister formulated the plan to start a fire in the alley to create a diversion to draw Stepmother out of the house.
On December 11, Officer Root received a message from Defendant indicating that she wanted to speak with him again. Officer Root once again re-administered Miranda warnings to Defendant and she told him that after she texted Twin Sister, Defendant snuck Twin Sister into the house and Twin Sister eventually threw something towards the living room, catching the living room on fire. Both the interviews on December 10 and December 11 were audio recorded.
Defendant was charged with second-degree murder under section 565.021, first-degree arson under section 569.040, and first-degree domestic assault under section 565.072.
Defendant filed a motion to suppress, arguing that law enforcement violated Defendant’s Fifth Amendment rights by continuing the interrogation after she asked them to stop. Defendant further argued that the subsequent interrogations at the jail on December 10 and 11 should be suppressed because they were the “fruit of the poisonous tree” and tainted by Defendant’s incriminating statements on December 9.
At a pre-trial hearing on Defendant’s motion, Officer Stahl testified that law enforcement administered Miranda warnings on December 9 “just out of an abundance of caution.” He further testified he continued to question Defendant after she said “will you stop” because he believed she was telling him to “stop the way [he] was asking the question in the interview” and he had no reason to believe she was terminating the interview at that point or exercising her Miranda rights.
Officer Massey testified that although the interview room was “a secured area” and locked from the outside, anyone could have exited the interview room without assistance from the inside. He further testified that Defendant was free to leave and walk out of the interview room at the police department at any time.
At trial, Defendant’s December 9 interview was marked as State’s Exhibit 33, and Defendant’s December 10 and 11 interviews were marked as State’s Exhibit 34. Officer Massey testified concerning the statements Defendant made in the December 9 interview, and defense counsel made no objection.
When the State offered both exhibits into evidence, defense counsel objected, raising the same arguments that he raised in his motion to suppress. The trial court in both instances overruled the objections and admitted the exhibits into evidence. The jury convicted Defendant on all counts.
The trial court sentenced Defendant as a prior and persistent offender to life in prison on each count, with each sentence running consecutively to the other sentences. Defendant filed a motion for new trial, arguing that admission of the statements Defendant made in all three interviews violated Defendant’s right to be free from self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment. Defendant appealed.
In the opinion, the judges noted Lukasiewicz was not under arrest during the questioning and was able to leave at any time.
Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney Theresa Kenney dropped all charges against Lukasiewicz' twin sister, Elizabeth Marie Baez in January 2024, saying her office could not make a case against Baez since her sister testified during the trial that Baez had nothing to do with the fire.
1 comment:
Casenet = wow!
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