MADISON - A state appeals court Thursday rejected a rural Argyle's man claim that he was coerced into confessing about his involvement in a house fire that killed his three sons and the fetus his wife carried.
Armin J. Wand III, who is cognitively disabled and legally blind, was interviewed by police six times in the days after the Sept. 7, 2012 fire. Investigators said Wand, with the help of his 18-year-old brother Jeremy Wand, locked the three boys, then ages 3 to 7, in a bedroom before setting fire to the home the family rented so he could cash out their life insurance. Wand's wife and toddler daughter survived the fire.
During more than 15 hours of interrogations spanning three days, state investigators encouraged Wand to implicate his brother in the crimes, said Jeremy would get a better deal unless Wand began cooperating, and promised to help Wand so it would not look like he killed his family.
On Sept. 8, 2012, Wand, 37, finally said he helped Jeremy start the fatal fire. Agents arrested Wand and read him his Miranda rights.
The next day, Wand confessed again to assisting Jeremy start the fire. Jeremy confessed to helping Armin start the fire.
Before trial, Green County Circuit Judge Thomas Vale threw out statements Wand made to authorities on Sept. 8, 2012, finding they were based on false promises of leniency. However, Vale refused to throw the following day's statement finding it was made voluntarily.
Both Wand brothers pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree intentional homicide, one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, one count of arson and one count of felony murder.
Armin Wand was given three consecutive life sentences without parole in 2013. Jeremy Wand was sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility within 35 years.
Armin Wand appealed the convictions, contending that Vale should also have thrown out the Sept. 9, 2012 confession as it was tainted from the investigators' coercive tactics at previous day's interview.
In a brief written by Wand's appeals attorney Patricia Fitzgerald:
Lawrence White, a psychology and legal studies professor at Beloit College, watched recordings of Wand's interrogations and concluded that Wand's statements to law enforcement were likely coerced.
Wand's "borderline mentally retard(ation)" made him unusually suggestible to leading questions and compliant to authority figures. Coupled with the physical fatigue and emotional exhaustion following the lengthy interrogation sessions would have caused Wand to say what the investigators wanted to hear in order to end the questioning.
"In short, Armin Wand's confession per se appears to have little, if any, evidentiary value," White wrote.
The District IV Court of Appeals rejected the coercion argument as undeveloped on appeal and said it had not been properly raised before Vale. White had not viewed the interrogation recordings when he testified before Vale at a post-conviction hearing and could not offer an opinion whether investigators used coercive tactics.
Also, Fitzgerald did not specify what the particular tactics the investigators engaged in that would have coerced cooperation from Wand, according to the appeals opinion.
"(Fitzgerald) makes no developed argument about particular conduct of the agents at the Sept. 9 interview that could have rendered his statements involuntary in light of his personal characteristics," wrote Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg in the 15-page opinion.
A call to Fitzgerald for comment on the opinion was not returned by deadline.
Wand is incarcerated at the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility, formerly known as Supermax Correctional Institution, in Boscobel.
Jeremy Wand is incarcerated at Green Bay Correctional Institution. The District IV Court rejected his appeal last month.
Armin J. Wand III, who is cognitively disabled and legally blind, was interviewed by police six times in the days after the Sept. 7, 2012 fire. Investigators said Wand, with the help of his 18-year-old brother Jeremy Wand, locked the three boys, then ages 3 to 7, in a bedroom before setting fire to the home the family rented so he could cash out their life insurance. Wand's wife and toddler daughter survived the fire.
During more than 15 hours of interrogations spanning three days, state investigators encouraged Wand to implicate his brother in the crimes, said Jeremy would get a better deal unless Wand began cooperating, and promised to help Wand so it would not look like he killed his family.
On Sept. 8, 2012, Wand, 37, finally said he helped Jeremy start the fatal fire. Agents arrested Wand and read him his Miranda rights.
The next day, Wand confessed again to assisting Jeremy start the fire. Jeremy confessed to helping Armin start the fire.
Before trial, Green County Circuit Judge Thomas Vale threw out statements Wand made to authorities on Sept. 8, 2012, finding they were based on false promises of leniency. However, Vale refused to throw the following day's statement finding it was made voluntarily.
Both Wand brothers pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree intentional homicide, one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, one count of arson and one count of felony murder.
Armin Wand was given three consecutive life sentences without parole in 2013. Jeremy Wand was sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility within 35 years.
Armin Wand appealed the convictions, contending that Vale should also have thrown out the Sept. 9, 2012 confession as it was tainted from the investigators' coercive tactics at previous day's interview.
In a brief written by Wand's appeals attorney Patricia Fitzgerald:
Lawrence White, a psychology and legal studies professor at Beloit College, watched recordings of Wand's interrogations and concluded that Wand's statements to law enforcement were likely coerced.
Wand's "borderline mentally retard(ation)" made him unusually suggestible to leading questions and compliant to authority figures. Coupled with the physical fatigue and emotional exhaustion following the lengthy interrogation sessions would have caused Wand to say what the investigators wanted to hear in order to end the questioning.
"In short, Armin Wand's confession per se appears to have little, if any, evidentiary value," White wrote.
The District IV Court of Appeals rejected the coercion argument as undeveloped on appeal and said it had not been properly raised before Vale. White had not viewed the interrogation recordings when he testified before Vale at a post-conviction hearing and could not offer an opinion whether investigators used coercive tactics.
Also, Fitzgerald did not specify what the particular tactics the investigators engaged in that would have coerced cooperation from Wand, according to the appeals opinion.
"(Fitzgerald) makes no developed argument about particular conduct of the agents at the Sept. 9 interview that could have rendered his statements involuntary in light of his personal characteristics," wrote Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg in the 15-page opinion.
A call to Fitzgerald for comment on the opinion was not returned by deadline.
Wand is incarcerated at the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility, formerly known as Supermax Correctional Institution, in Boscobel.
Jeremy Wand is incarcerated at Green Bay Correctional Institution. The District IV Court rejected his appeal last month.