State of Idaho v. Thomas B. Rowley

── State of Idaho v. Thomas B. Rowley ── Court: Idaho Court of Appeals Date: May 20, 2026 Category: General IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Docket No. 50816 STATE OF IDAHO, ) ) Filed: May 20, 2026 Plaintiff-Respondent, ) ) Melanie Gagnepain, Clerk v. ) ) THIS IS AN UNPUBLISHED THOMAS B. ROWLEY, ) OPINION AND SHALL NOT ) BE CITED AS AUTHORITY Defendant-Appellant. ) ) Appeal from the District Court of the Fourth Judicial District, State of Idaho, Ada County. Hon. James S. Cawthon, District Judge. Judgment of conviction for first degree murder, affirmed; denial of motion to suppress, affirmed. Erik R. Lehtinen, State Appellate Public Defender; Elizabeth A. Allred, Deputy Appellate Public Defender, and Jenny C. Swinford, Deputy Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant. Hon. Raúl R. Labrador, Attorney General; Kale D. Gans, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. ________________________________________________ HUSKEY, Judge Thomas B. Rowley appeals from his judgment of conviction for first degree murder. Rowley argues the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress his confession to killing his four-month-old child because Rowley’s emotional state, combined with coercive police interview tactics, resulted in an involuntary confession. The State argues the district court did not err because Rowley’s confession was voluntary, and nothing about the interview demonstrates any coercion. We hold the district court did not err in denying Rowley’s motion to suppress his confession because the confession was not coerced and, therefore, was not involuntary. The district court’s order denying Rowley’s motion to suppress and Rowley’s judgment of conviction are affirmed. 1  I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Around 3:30 p.m. on June 20, 2020, four-month-old M.R. was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and placed on life support because he had no brain activity. According to the treating doctor, M.R. was suffering from multiple injuries including a “brain bleed, retinal bleeding, and fractured ribs.” The rib fractures had begun to heal, indicating they were likely the result of prior injuries. M.R.’s injuries were “consistent with a persistent and aggressive shaking motion” so forceful that M.R.’s retinas had detached from his eyeballs. Around 1:00 a.m. on June 21, 2020, two Boise Police Department officers, Detectives Ian Seavey and Jason Pietrzak, interviewed Rowley in a waiting room at the hospital. Rowley was given his Miranda1 warnings. The interview lasted about one and one-half hours, with a break. During the interview, Rowley confessed that throughout the morning of June 20, M.R. was fussy. At one point, M.R. was sitting in an infant seat but would not stop “leaning over” so Rowley tipped the infant seat over and left M.R. like that for a minute or two, thinking, “if you want to be sideways, you can be sideways.” M.R. continued to fuss and because M.R. had not stopped crying, Rowley admitted he shook M.R. for 15-20 seconds before dropping him face-down onto his crib mattress from approximately three feet above the mattress. After an unusually long nap, M.R. was still fussing and spitting up. Rowley gave M.R. a bath, during which M.R. quit breathing and became non-responsive. Rowley called 911. Emergency medical personnel responded but M.R. never recovered. Following his confession, Rowley was arr