South Dakota’s highest court says a confession can be used against a woman at trial. The decision stems from the killing of a 16-year-old Mitchell girl in November of 2009. A man pleaded guilty to the murder; now his former girlfriend’s case is moving to trial.
More than five years ago, 16-year-old Jasmine Guevara’s body was found in the trunk of a car set on fire in rural Hanson County. She suffered stab wounds, and an autopsy says she was burned alive.
Police brought then-15-year-old Maricela Diaz to the Mitchell Police Station for questioning, where she eventually confessed to the killing. Diaz doesn’t want that confession admitted at her trial, and a lower court agrees that some law enforcement actions make the confession inadmissible.
Thursday, a 3-to-1 decision from the South Dakota Supreme Court overturns the lower court. The Supreme Court justices say Diaz voluntarily, knowingly, and willingly waived her rights. The court cites transcripts that an officer read Diaz her rights in English twice, and an officer from Sioux Falls advised her of her rights in Spanish, confirming Diaz understood.
The majority acknowledges that one officer should not have downplayed the seriousness of the Miranda rights. The court says the confession stands because Diaz said she fully understood her rights in Spanish and said she wanted to talk with officers. The court notes the officers got permission from Diaz’s mother to interrogate the girl, and they told Diaz any potential charges could weigh against her as an adult.
The opinion includes several factors. It reads:
Diaz was young, immature, a victim of abuse, and limited in English, but she possessed average intelligence and had some experience with authority. Her repeated attempts to deceive law enforcement before and during questioning, her fabrication and orchestration of a false story, and her attempts to align her story with Salgado’s through the wall of the interview rooms exhibit her understanding of the gravity of the situation.
Salgado is Alexander Salgado. He was Diaz’s boyfriend at the time, and they have a child together. Salgado is now 25 years old. He’s serving life without parole at the state penitentiary after he pleaded guilty to second degree murder.
A trial for Maricela Diaz isn’t scheduled yet, but it is slated for Minnehaha County. Diaz faces charges ranging from felony kidnapping to arson and first degree murder.
You can readthe court's full 50-page opinion online at this link.