GEORGE J. HAZEL, United States District Judge.
An interrogation of an individual suspected of serious criminal activity will often consist of something other than a polite exchange of questions and answers. Law enforcement is also not obligated to identify and use the location that would be most appealing to the subject of the interrogation or to provide the subject with every accommodation that the subject might desire. But when the environment in which the interrogation is conducted becomes one in which a reasonable person would not believe that he could terminate the interrogation and leave, the subject must be advised of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Here, law enforcement interrogated the Defendant for over two hours, in an area of the Westlake Post Office they controlled, confronted
In this case, the Government has charged Defendant James Thomas Woodland, a United States Postal Service ("USPS") mail carrier, with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. ECF No. 1 at 1.
On July 12, 2017, the Government filed the Indictment in this case, charging Defendant with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. ECF No. 1 at 1. On November 8, 2017, Defendant filed motions to suppress any statements he made during his April 25, 2017, interview with law enforcement, arguing that the interview amounted to a custodial interrogation requiring that he be read his Miranda rights, ECF No. 23, and evidence obtained from searches of his phone, car, and residence, arguing that he did not give valid consent to these warrantless searches, ECF No. 24. The Government opposed these motions, ECF No. 27, and an evidentiary hearing was held on December 11, 2017. ECF No. 30. At that hearing, the Government presented two witnesses: Hugo Aldana, the USPS Postmaster of Bethesda, Maryland, and Special Agent Ivan Balaguer, a USPS Postal Inspector who was in charge of the investigation and interview of Defendant. Postmaster Aldana testified regarding the circumstances leading up to Defendant's interview with law enforcement, and Balaguer testified as to the content of the interview. The Government also provided the Court with an audio recording of the interview of Defendant, which the Court reviewed multiple times in chambers.
Postmaster Aldana testified that he began his career with USPS in 1988 and has held the position of Postmaster for two and a half years. As Postmaster, Aldana is responsible for all postal-related activities in Bethesda, Maryland including the collection
Aldana was present when the Defendant returned to the post office. Two Postal Inspectors, Balaguer and Special Agent Steven Scully, were there and said they would like to ask the Defendant some questions if he did not mind. They read him his Garrity rights from a pre-printed document while they were all sitting in the manager's office.
Balaguer testified that he is a Postal Inspector and has been in that position for five years. He works at the Westlake Post Office in Bethesda. On April 25, 2017, he had been doing surveillance on the Defendant as the Defendant delivered mail on his route. Between 12:45 and 1:00 PM, he was informed that a call had been made to have Defendant return to the post office. He followed Defendant back to the Westlake Post Office and saw him enter the facility. Balaguer entered through a different entrance, and contacted Scully who met them there. Balaguer next saw the Defendant when Aldana brought him into a manager's officer where Scully and Balaguer were waiting. The door was closed behind them and there were four of them in the room. Scully identified himself and
A total of five law enforcement personnel were in the OIG office with the Defendant: Scully, Balaguer, another Postal Inspector and two Montgomery County Police Department detectives. Everyone was in plain clothes and their weapons were concealed within their jackets. No officer sat between the Defendant and the door at any time. Recording began almost as soon as the Defendant entered the room. The door remained open for most of the interview, although it was closed about 60-90 minutes into the interview because of 3-5 agents who arrived outside of the interview room. Those agents were also involved in the instant case. The door was closed at that point to minimize distraction. Defendant had a cellphone in his possession during the interview and, at some point, Balaguer asked for consent to search the cellphone. According to Balaguer's testimony on direct examination, the Defendant gave verbal consent, unlocked the phone and handed it to Balaguer.
Thirty minutes into the interview, the Defendant asked for a cigarette break and, eventually, he was provided one. The Defendant was accompanied by Balaguer and a detective during the smoke break. Balaguer testified that he accompanied the Defendant on the smoke break "to be friendly." He continued recording the conversation during the smoke break. When going out for the smoke break, they went downstairs into a rear gated area, stepped out and walked to the Defendant's postal vehicle; from there, the Defendant retrieved his cigarettes. They began talking about his personal vehicle, which was 20 yards away. Balaguer asked for consent to search the vehicle and it was provided. A search of the vehicle revealed a small amount of marijuana. They walked back upstairs and continued the interview.
The officers found incriminating messages on the Defendant's phone, and Balaguer advised the Defendant that the phone was evidence and asked for consent to image the phone. The Defendant agreed and Balaguer had him sign a consent-to-search form after explaining the contents of the form. The Defendant was told that the inspectors would get a search warrant if consent was not provided.
At the end of the interview, Balaguer asked for consent to search Defendant's home after reading a consent to search form. Balaguer transported him to his residence where a consent-search of his residence took place. The reason Balaguer drove the Defendant home was concern over comments that Defendant had made regarding suicide. Defendant was not placed under arrest after the search of his home and, in fact, he was not arrested until months later.
Defendant asks the Court to suppress any statements that he made during his interview with law enforcement on April 25, 2017. ECF No. 23 at 1. While the Defendant was advised of his Garrity rights, the parties agree that he was not advised of his Miranda rights before being interviewed by law enforcement. Defendant argues that he was in custody at the time and should have been advised of his Miranda rights. Id. at 4. The Government, however, argues that Defendant was never in custody, was always free to end the interview and leave the Westlake Post Office, and that the Miranda warnings were therefore not necessary. ECF No. 27 at 8.
The Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination provides that "[n]o person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." U.S. Const., Amendment V. In Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), the Supreme Court established a prophylactic, procedural mechanism that safeguards a defendant's Fifth Amendment privilege when that defendant is subject to custodial interrogation. 384 U.S. at 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602. Before conducting a custodial interrogation of a suspect, law enforcement officials must inform the suspect that he has the right to remain silent, that his statements may be used against him at trial, and that he has the right to an attorney during questioning. Id. The Government does not dispute that the Defendant was interrogated; thus, the Court must determine only if the Defendant was in custody. In determining whether an individual is in custody for purposes of Miranda, courts determine whether, viewed objectively, "a reasonable man in the suspect's position would have understood his situation" to be one of custody. Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 442, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 82 L.Ed.2d 317 (1984). In making this determination, courts consider factors such as "the time, place and purpose of the encounter, the words used by the officer, the officer's tone of voice and general demeanor, the presence of multiple officers, the potential display of a weapon by an officer, and whether there was any physical contact between the officer and the defendant." United States v. Hashime, 734 F.3d 278, 282, 283(4th Cir. 2013) (quoting United States v. Day, 591 F.3d 679, 696 (4th Cir. 2010)).
Here, the "time, place and purpose of the encounter" weigh in favor of a finding of custody. Defendant was interviewed for approximately two and a half hours, with only one meaningful break where he was accompanied as he smoked a cigarette and the officers gained consent to search his car.
The "words used by the officer, the officer's tone of voice and general demeanor" strongly support a finding that Defendant was in custody at the time he was questioned. Although Aldana and Balaguer testified that the officers' initial demeanor was casual, the audio recording reveals that the law enforcement officers continuously and aggressively talked over Defendant and questioned him in a manner that was, at many points, hostile for over two hours. For instance, relatively early in the interview, the Defendant is confronted by Balaguer in this exchange:
Transcript at 16-19.
In this exchange, the inspectors confronted Defendant with evidence that he was guilty, walking him through geolocation scans that purportedly demonstrated his illegal activity, and rejected his attempts to deny the allegations, both of which could further an objective belief that he was not free to leave. See Tankleff v. Senkowski, 135 F.3d 235, 244 (2d Cir. 1998) (finding custody existed where "[for the last two hours, [the defendant] had been subjected to increasingly hostile questioning at the police station, during which the detectives had accused him of showing insufficient grief, had said that his story was `ridiculous' and `absurd,' and had added that they simply `could not accept' his explanations.").
And throughout the interrogation, the inspectors repeatedly indicate their certainty that the Defendant is guilty of criminal activity and reference the extent of their investigation. See Transcript at 22 ("we've got detectives and agents at each one of these addresses —"); Transcript at 23 ("I am very convinced that you do play a part in this, okay?"); Id. ("Because we've got video"); Transcript at 24 ("do you think it's probable that a drug-trafficking organization has found — miraculously found five businesses with dirty employees willing to receive drug parcels, and that all five of these employees and addresses just happen to be on the same postal route?"). These expressions of the inspector's belief in the guilt of the Defendant provide even further support for a finding of custody. See United States v. James, 113 F.3d 721, 728 (7th Cir. 1997) ("An officer's beliefs concerning the potential culpability of the individual being questioned may be one among many factors that bear upon the assessment [of] whether that individual was in custody, but only if the officer's views or beliefs were somehow manifested to the individual under interrogation and would have affected how a reasonable person in that position would perceive his or her freedom to leave." (internal quotations omitted)); United States v. Jayyousi, 657 F.3d 1085, 1110 (11th Cir. 2011) (reasoning that objective person would not have felt free to leave after being accused of illegal activities).
Furthermore, as captured in the recording and conceded by Balaguer, the officers repeatedly pressured Defendant by informing him that he was facing significant jail time and would be fired from his job if he did not cooperate. See Transcript at 30 ("You've gotta get out in front of this ... You don't want to lose your job."); Transcript at 31 ("We don't want to put you in federal prison. We — we also have a job to do"); Transcript at 32-32 ("There's a kilo of cocaine in each one of these ... that's like a whole lot of time in federal prison"); Transcript at 42 ("Either talk or you're going to be on the hook for ... five kilos"); Transcript at 46 ("once we leave, it could turn real bad for you because ... your
Finally, "the presence of multiple officers, the potential display of a weapon by an officer, and whether there was any physical contact between the officer and the defendant" also slightly weigh in favor of a finding of custody. Although no weapons were displayed and there was no physical contact with the defendant, the questioning occurred in a room with at least five members of law enforcement, including two detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department. Defendant was aware that he was in an area of the building that was access-controlled, and at one point in the interview the door to the room he was in was closed.
The Government points to evidence that the Defendant was provided with a break to smoke a cigarette as indicative of the fact that the Defendant had the freedom to leave; but this break, the only one given between the initiation of questioning and his incriminating statements, actually proves the opposite. The first time the Defendant asks for a break to smoke a cigarette is at the 21:12 mark of the recording. Transcript at 39 ("I need a cigarette. Man, ya'll have me fucking blown right now."). In response, the interviewers simply continue to question him. At the 23:19-23:23 mark, the Defendant twice asks "Can I smoke a cigarette?" and the response is that he cannot smoke there and he is asked to "give us a minute." Transcript at 44.
And rather than being granted "some thinking time" during the "break," the Defendant was accompanied by two officers who continued to record their conversation with him and subsequently searched his car.
In their brief and at the motions hearing, the Government argued that United States v. Maldonado, 562 Fed.Appx. 859, 861-62 (11th Cir. 2014), should guide the Court's decision. See ECF No. 27 at 10. Maldonado, an out-of-circuit, unreported opinion, is not persuasive. In Maldonado, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of the defendant's motion to suppress certain statements. 562 Fed. Appx. at 860. Some of the facts in Maldonado are quite similar to this case: the defendant, a postal worker, was stopped during her mail route, returned to her office, and questioned about misconduct in a closed room. Id. The Eleventh Circuit agreed with the district court that while "there were some factors to suggest the interview was custodial in nature," based on "the totality of the circumstances ... [defendant's] interrogation was non-custodial." Id. at 861. However, there are stark differences between Maldonado and this case. In Maldonado, the defendant "was told several times that it was a voluntary interview and that she could leave at any time," United States v. Maldonado, No. 12-60316, 2013 WL 12080744, *1 (S.D. Fla. March 4, 2013); here, Defendant was told initially that he was free to leave, but hours of aggressive questioning then occurred in a different location without him being reminded of the voluntary nature of the interview. There, "[t]he questioning lasted about twenty minutes," id.; here, the questioning lasted over two hours. There, "[n]o threats were made to her." and the agent "did not raise his voice," id.; here, Defendant was repeatedly threatened with losing his job and being sent to federal prison, by numerous officers who talked over him and at times raised their voices. As such, Maldonado is distinguishable from this case.
And to the extent that the Government relies heavily on the fact that Defendant was told he was free to leave, "such a statement `is not `talismanic' or sufficient in and of itself to show a lack of custody.'" Hashime, 734 F.3d at 284 (quoting United States v. Hargrove, 625 F.3d 170, 180 (4th Cir. 2010)). Defendant was told once that he was free to leave, while on a different floor from where the interview was held, but was then subjected to aggressive questioning for over two hours, with five officers present, in a law-enforcement controlled area, was confronted with evidence of his guilt, accompanied by law enforcement on a "break" wherein they continued
Defendant also asks the Court to suppress evidence that the Government obtained following consented-to searches of his phone, car, and home. ECF No. 25 at 4. Defendant argues that (1) "there is no record in the Interview recording" that Defendant gave consent to search his phone or vehicle, ECF No. 29 at 5; (2) that Defendant was not read his Miranda warnings before offering his consent, ECF No. 25 at 5; and, (3) that Defendant did not give consent voluntarily, Id. at 6.
First, the lack of a record regarding Defendant's spoken consent to search his phone or car does not require the Court to suppress evidence gained from subsequent searches. A defendant need not give consent verbally for there to be valid consent. Where a suspect responds to law enforcement's requests to search his person or belongings with an act that affirmatively facilitates the search, the suspect has validly consented to the search. See United States v. Smith, 30 F.3d 568 (4th Cir. 1994) (in response to request to search his car, defendant approached the car and unlocked it); United States v. Wilson, 895 F.2d 168 (4th Cir. 1990) (in response to an agent's request to search him, defendant shrugged his shoulders and extended his arms); United States v. Gordon, 173 F.3d 761, 766 (10th Cir. 1999) (finding that, by voluntarily handing over his keys, defendant consented to the search of a locked container located inside of a larger bag that defendant was allowing police to search). At the motions hearing, Balaguer testified that, in response to the officers' request to search his phone, Defendant entered his passcode to unlock the phone and handed it to the officers. Similarly, in response to the officers' request to search his car, Defendant handed over the keys to his car. While the audio recording may not have captured Defendant's verbal consent to search his phone and car, his non-verbal conduct provided sufficient consent for the officers to go forward with their searches.
Second, the fact that Defendant was not given his Miranda warnings does not mean that his consent was involuntary, or that the fruits of such a search should be suppressed. In United States v. Patane, 542 U.S. 630, 124 S.Ct. 2620, 159 L.Ed.2d 667 (2004), the Supreme Court considered "whether a failure to give a suspect the warnings prescribed by Miranda ... requires suppression of the physical fruits of the suspect's unwarned but voluntary statements." Id. at 634, 124 S.Ct. 2620. The Court found that a Miranda violation did not require the suppression of such evidence, and concluded that "the Miranda rule protects against violations of the Self-Incrimination Clause, which ... is not implicated by the introduction at trial of physical evidence resulting from voluntary statements." Id. See also United States v. Nichols, 438 F.3d 437, 442 (4th Cir. 2006) ("the Fifth Amendment does not bar the admission at trial of the testimony of witnesses discovered through a defendant's unwarned but otherwise voluntary statements, nor does it bar the introduction of physical evidence discovered as a result of such statements." (internal citations omitted)). As such, as long as Defendant's statements of consent were voluntary, the fact that he was not given Miranda warnings will not preclude the admission of evidence obtained from such searches.
For the foregoing reasons, Defendant's Motion to Suppress All Alleged Government Interrogation Statements, ECF No. 23, is granted, and Defendant's Motion to Suppress All Alleged Evidence Obtained Through Consent Searches, ECF No. 24 (supplemented by ECF No. 25) is denied. A separate Order shall issue.