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United States v. Agbosasa, 92-1747 (1994)

Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Number: 92-1747 Visitors: 7
Filed: Feb. 14, 1994
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: February 14, 1994 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT ___________________ No. 92-1747 UNITED STATES, Appellee, v. SAMSON O. AGBOSASA, Defendant, Appellant. In fact, the answer -2- defendant gave did not implicate defendant in the filing false income tax claims charges.
USCA1 Opinion









February 14, 1994 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

___________________




No. 92-1747


UNITED STATES,
Appellee,

v.

SAMSON O. AGBOSASA,
Defendant, Appellant.

____________________

ERRATA SHEET

The opinion of this court issued on February 11, 1994, is
amended as follows.

Page 2, line 25, please insert after the word defendant
"gave did not implicate defendant in the filing".








































February 11, 1994 [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
___________________


No. 92-1747




UNITED STATES,

Appellee,

v.

SAMSON O. AGBOSASA,

Defendant, Appellant.


__________________

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND


[Hon. Francis J. Boyle, Senior U.S. District Judge]
__________________________

___________________

Before

Breyer, Chief Judge,
___________
Boudin and Stahl, Circuit Judges.
______________

___________________

Francis R. Williams on brief for appellant.
___________________
Edwin J. Gale, United States Attorney, and Charles A.
______________ ___________
Tamuleviz, Assistant United States Attorney, on brief for
_________
appellee.



__________________

__________________



















Per Curiam. The defendant, in the course of being
__________

arrested and booked in connection with fraudulent income tax

claims, was asked routine booking question including his social

security number. He gave a false one and, despite his effort to

suppress the statement, was charged and convicted of deceptively

misrepresenting his social security number.

We find no merit in defendant's argument that asking

defendant his social security number "related directly to an

element of the crime the agents had reason to suspect" and

therefore was "designed to elicit incriminatory admissions"

within the meaning of Pennsylvania v. Muniz, 496 U.S. 582, 602
____________ _____

n.14 (1990). When defendant was arrested at the post office, he

was suspected of involvement in the submission of false tax

refund claims in the names of Micheal M. Lerner and Jose A. Silva

in violation of 18 U.S.C. 287. So far as appears, however,

defendant did not represent himself to be Lerner or Silva or to

have their social security numbers. Instead, after being advised

of his Miranda rights, defendant denied the post office box to
_______

which the decoy refund checks had been sent was his, claimed the

box belonged to a friend, and said he did not know anything about

the refund checks. Consequently, by the time the IRS agent and

deputy marshal asked defendant his social security number, they

would not have reasonably expected that question, or its answer,

to implicate defendant in the offenses then under investigation

(the filing of false income tax claims). In fact, the answer


-2-














defendant gave did not implicate defendant in the filing false

income tax claims charges. Instead, defendant committed a

completely separate offense -- giving a false social security

number with intent to deceive, 42 U.S.C. 408(g)(2)(1988).

Nor was asking defendant his social security number

designed to goad defendant into violating 42 U.S.C.

408(g)(2)(1988). There is no evidence the IRS agent or deputy

marshal knew defendant was an illegal alien, 20 C.F.R. 422.104
_______

(indicating that certain legal aliens may obtain a social

security number), and, in any event, had defendant answered the

question truthfully, he would have neither implicated himself in

the offenses then under investigation (filing false refund

claims) nor violated 42 U.S.C. 408 (g)(2)(1988).

Finding no merit in defendant's argument, we

summarily affirm the judgment below. Loc. R. 27.1.
























-3-







Source:  CourtListener

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