People v. Dacy

Opinion

FLEMING, J.

By information Robert Lee Dacy was charged with kidnaping for ransom Mrs. Joanne Stafford (count I) and her four-year-old son Stanley (count II). (Pen. Code, § 209.) The information also charged that Stanley had been subjected to bodily harm, that defendant had been armed, with a concealable deadly weapon, and that defendant had' four prior felony convictions (three were admitted and one was subsequently dismissed).

The kidnaping began with the kidnaper’s entry into the Staffords’ house under false pretenses, his movement of Mrs. Stafford at gun point into a walk-in closet, where she was left bound and gagged with tape, the disappearance of the kidnaper with young Stanley, and his demand for $250,000 ransom; and it ended with an abortive attempt to collect the ransom, a high-speed automobile chase by FBI agents, exchanges of gunfire, the ramming of the kidnaper’s car, and the capture of the kidnaper and the rescue of young Stanley. Defendant was identified as the kidnaper by Mrs. Stafford, by the Stafford gardeners, and by the FBI agents who captured him. Defendant also, fully confessed the kidnaping.

The jury found defendant guilty on both counts, and on count II he was

[220]

sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Execution of sentence on count 1 was stayed.

On appeal, defendant contends his confession should have been excluded from evidence because at the time he gave it he had been incapable of knowingly and intelligently waiving his right to silence and to counsel. Immediately after his capture defendant was taken to a hospital with a broken leg and facial cuts. En route to the hospital and twice after his arrival he was advised of his rights, and his replies indicated he fully understood them. He was questioned by FBI agents from 7:10 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., and questioning was then suspended so he could be treated by Dr. Robert Nelson, a hospital physician. Dr. Nelson gave defendant a Darvon tablet and a 10-milligram injection of morphine. (Darvon is an analgesic, non-narcotic pain reliever which may make the patient a little drowsy; 10 milligrams of morphine is half a full therapeutic dose.) Questioning resumed at 8 a.m. and continued until 9:04 a.m. All witnesses, including Dr. Nelson, testified that after defendant had been treated he seemed calm, coherent, and lucid, and exhibited neither sluggishness nor euphoria. Defendant himself testified he was under the effects of sedation, but in view of the evidence that his dosage was mild and that he did not appear sedated, his testimony is insufficient to establish as a matter of law that he was incapable of intelligently waiving his rights. The mere fact of ministration of drugs does not establish an impairment of capacity so as to render a confession inadmissible.