OPINION OF THE COURT
PAULA J. HEPNER, J. Respondent filed an omnibus motion pursuant to sections 330.2, 332.1 (7) and section 332.2 of the Family Court Act seeking suppression (
People v Huntley, 15 NY2d 72 [1965]) of a statement given by the respondent on the grounds that it was involuntarily made, without a knowing and intelligent waiver of the rights enunciated in
Miranda v Arizona (384 US 436 [1966]). Respondent's challenge is based upon his mother's inability to serve as his adult representative and to exercise his constitutional rights due to a conflict of interest: (a) because the victim is Ms. L.'s daughter and the respondent is her son, she cannot protect her daughter's rights without simultaneously jeopardizing her son's rights, and (b) since Ms. L. was the subject of a child welfare investigation, she could not assert the respondent's rights without jeopardizing her own.
Findings of Fact
Around 6:45 P.M. two police officers came to the respondent's home and informed his mother that they received a report of sexual abuse. Ms. L. admitted the officers to her home. They spoke with her and her daughter, Deena, in the living room. The respondent came out of his room. One of the police officers asked if he could take the respondent into another room to speak with him. Ms. L. did not object. The officer took the respondent into the mother's bedroom. Ms. L. could not hear what they were saying. Thereafter the officers told Ms. L. she and her son would have to go to the Child Advocacy Center to be interviewed by the sex abuse squad and they drove her and her children to the Center. About 9:00 P.M. on December 14, 2001 Detective John Fox of the sex abuse squad at the Child Advocacy Center was assigned to investigate the case of alleged sex abuse between the respondent and his eight-year-old sister. When they arrived at the Child Advocacy Center, Detective Fox seated the respondent in the juvenile interview room and then spoke with Ms. L. and her daughter. When Detective Fox returned from interviewing Deena, he told Ms. L. that "he believed her." Ms. L. testified that her immediate thought was that she would be charged with neglect and the children removed because she knew Deena said to the school authorities that she told her mother of the abuse and nothing was done about it. At 11:45 P.M. Detective Fox brought Ms. L. into the juvenile room. Also present was a caseworker from the Administration she "took over from the detective because [she] was just interested to hear what happened." She became "very aggressive with Omar," and told him to tell the truth "so we could just deal with this situation." At one point Detective Fox looked at Ms. L. but she said she "didn't care if he [thought she] was doing his job." When she stopped talking, the respondent began to speak and the detective began to ask him questions. As the respondent spoke, Ms. L. stood to the left side of the detective with her hands folded, listening to what the respondent was saying. In all, Ms. L. said that she admonished her son at least three times to tell her the truth. When the interview concluded, Detective Fox told the respondent his sister was disappointed with him and that he should write her a letter of apology. Detective Fox left the room and Ms. L. remained to speak with the ACS caseworker, whom she then learned was involved in the case because of the possibility of parental neglect. They spoke for 10 minutes and then Ms. L. returned to the waiting room where Deena was sitting. Detective Fox told her they were going to hold the respondent overnight but that she and her daughter could go home. Ms. L. asked to see her son. They returned to the interview room and the letter the respondent wrote was on the table in front of him. Ms. L. asked to see the letter and Detective Fox showed it to her. The ACS caseworker arranged transportation for Ms. L. and Deena. They arrived home around 2:00 A.M. Forty-five minutes passed from the giving of the Miranda warnings to the completion of the written statement.
Conclusions of Law
At a Huntley hearing, the People have the burden of proving, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a statement was voluntarily made (People v Huntley, 15 NY2d at 78). If the statement was made during a custodial interrogation, the presentment agency has the burden of showing that the respondent knowingly and intelligently waived those constitutional rights enunciated under Miranda. The purpose of the Miranda rule is to counteract the coercive pressure of the custodial setting; therefore, those rights apply only to custodial interrogations (People v Deary, 212 AD2d 960 [4th Dept 1995], lv denied 85 NY2d 971 [1995]; Matter of Darryl T., 210 AD2d 120 [1st Dept 1994], lv denied 85 NY2d 954 [1995]). Absent such a showing the exclusionary rule, a judicially created tool to deter illegal [2000]). The record does not contain any evidence to show that Ms. L. "took over the Detective's job" at the suggestion or direction of the police or under duress. From the record her conduct was initiated wholly by herself and motivated solely by her own temperament. Ms. L. recognized she was serving in a dual role, as protector of her son as well as her daughter, when she said she was "caught between [her] two children." As the case law cited above demonstrates, that recognition alone does not deprive a parent of the objectivity required to perform each function. Parents are called upon to protect and defend multiple children at the same time whenever they settle sibling squabbles and playground fights. The evidence shows the respondent's mother was the subject of a child abuse or maltreatment investigation. Admittedly, she was worried about the fate of both of her children and her family, but the record does not show that either the police or the ACS caseworker sought to capitalize on Ms. L.'s fears or her vulnerability by threatening to bring her to court on charges of abuse or neglect if she did not get her son to talk. Neither does the record show that at the time the warnings were administered, Ms. L. had any awareness that she was the subject of any such investigation. While Ms. L. had her own suspicions that she might be considered neglectful, she did not learn of the caseworker's purpose or function until Detective Fox's interrogation of her son was over. Moreover, it would not be in the mother's interest to have her son admit to the acts alleged in order to have the abuse/neglect charges dropped against her. On the contrary, any admission by the respondent would most likely increase the probability of a child protective case being filed against her and the possibility of having the children removed. Therefore the mother would not have a conflict of interest in asserting the respondent's rights to remain silent, to refuse to answer questions or to have an attorney present to advise him. Finally, the respondent's mother testified she did not pay attention to the warnings when they were read and said she did not understand their full import until Detective Fox testified in this hearing. This court does not find this testimony credible because of the obvious level of sophistication and intellectual acumen Ms. L. has.
Decision
The presentment agency has met its burden of showing, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the respondent's statement was made after a knowing, voluntary and intelligent waiver of his rights. The respondent has not demonstrated that either the oral or written statement made at the Child Advocacy Center was the result of improper police tactics or strategies nor were they taken in violation of his constitutional rights. Accordingly, the motion to suppress the respondent's oral and written statements is denied. [*] All quotations are to the transcript of March 20, 2002. Citations are omitted for publication purposes.