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WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

United States of America,

Plaintiff,

v. 

Douglas Allen Jones,

Defendant.

No. CR-18-08040-001-PCT-SMB

ORDER 

Pending before the Court is Defendant’s Motion to Suppress Statements (Doc. 79.) 

The Government filed a response (Doc. 81), Defendant filed a reply (Doc. 96), and an 

evidentiary hearing was held on June 7, 2021. At the hearing, the parties stipulated to the 

admission of the recorded interviews and the matter was taken under advisement. The 

Court has now had the opportunity to consider the pleadings, testimony from the hearing, 

audio recordings, and relevant case law and will deny the motion to suppress.

On January 23, 2018, a search warrant was executed at Jones’ residence in Prescott, 

Arizona. Jones came to the door in his boxers, he was removed from the residence and 

placed in a marked police vehicle with the heat on but the windows open. After 

approximately 10 – 25 minutes, an agent brought Jones some clothes. He was then moved 

to an unmarked FBI SUV (Ford Edge, a mid-size SUV) vehicle near the residence. Jones 

sat in the front passenger seat. While other agents executed the search warrant, Jones was 

interviewed while inside the FBI’s SUV vehicle by FBI Agents Candace Rose and Charles 

Davis. The heat was on in the vehicle and the interview was recorded. The recorded 

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interview with Jones was conducted in two parts, referred to in this Response as “Part 1” 

(42 minutes, 51 seconds) and “Part 2” (29 minutes, 54 seconds) for a total interview time 

of about 73 minutes. The interview was separated because at the end of Part 1, Agent Rose 

left the vehicle to speak to law enforcement officers on scene and Agent Davis stayed with 

Jones in the vehicle. Jones was told that he could leave to go to work after the first 

interview, but he wanted to stay while the FBI was at the house.

Law enforcement has an obligation to give a suspect Miranda warnings before 

interrogation if the individual is “in custody.” Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492, 495, 

97 S.Ct. 711, 50 L.Ed.2d 714 (1977) (per curiam). To determine if a person is in custody 

for purposes of Miranda, one must first look at the objective circumstances of the 

interrogation. Howes v. Fields, 565 U.S. 499, 509, 132 S. Ct. 1181, 1189, 182 L. Ed. 2d 

17 (2012). The judge should then consider whether, under the circumstances, a “reasonable 

person [would] have felt he or she was not at liberty to terminate the interrogation and 

leave.” Id.

Here, the Court finds that Defendant was not in custody during the first interview 

because although he was questioned inside of an FBI vehicle, he was seated in the front 

seat, he was not handcuffed, and was free to leave. Additionally, he was not confronted 

with any evidence of guilt during this first interview and the agents’ questions were not 

overtly accusatory. The Court finds that Defendant was in custody during the second 

interview. Although Defendant was still seated in the front seat and was not handcuffed, 

it is not clear that he was still free to leave. Agent Rose returned to the car and during the 

second interview and began to confront him about child pornography found on his 

computer.

Additionally, regardless of whether he was in custody or not, Defendant was advised 

of his Miranda warnings at the start of the first interview. He then knowingly, intelligently, 

and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights. 

I. Defendant’s Waiver of his Right to Remain Silent

For a Defendant’s waiver of rights to be valid it must be voluntarily, knowingly, 

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and intelligently given. Whether there has been a valid waiver depends on the totality of 

the circumstances, including the background, experience, and conduct of defendant. United 

States v. Rodriguez-Preciado, 399 F.3d 1118, 1127 (9th Cir. 2005) (other citations omitted) 

A waiver is knowing and intelligent if, under the totality of the circumstances, it is “made 

with a full awareness of both the nature of the right being abandoned and the consequences 

of the decision to abandon it.” Moran v. Burbine, 475 U. S. 412, 321-23 (1986); RodriguezPreciado, at 1127 (citations and quotations omitted). There is a presumption against 

waiver, and the government bears the burden of proving a valid waiver by a preponderance 

of the evidence. See Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 168 (1986). The government also 

must show by a preponderance of the evidence that a defendant’s statement was voluntary. 

Connelly, 472 U.S. at 168; affirming Lego v. Twomey, 404 U.S. 477, 489 (1972). A 

voluntariness inquiry considers all the circumstances of the interrogation. Mincey v. 

Arizona, 437 U.S. 385, 401 (1978). Relevant circumstances may include a suspect’s age, 

education, intelligence, physical health, and prior experience with the criminal system; the 

length, location, and conditions of detention; the length and nature of questioning; and the 

use by law enforcement of any threats, punishments, or inducements. Bradford v. Davis, 

923 F.3d 599, 615-16 (9th Cir. 2019) (citing Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 226 

(1973).

The Court finds that the Government has shown by a preponderance of the evidence 

that Jones’ waiver was valid. There was no evidence of any police coercion. Agent Rose 

read Jones his Miranda warnings, asked him, “Do you understand your –those rights?” to 

which Jones answered, “I guess so;” and asked Jones to sign a written Miranda waiver 

which he did.1 Defendant was thirty-three years old at the time, was not under the influence 

of any drugs or alcohol and had prior experience with the criminal system. Additionally, 

1Although not in the original motion, Counsel argued at the hearing that Jones could not 

read the written warnings because he did not have his glasses. This argument is rejected 

because there was no evidence presented that he couldn’t read the form and earlier in the 

interview, Jones could be heard reading from the search warrant. That suggests that Jones 

could read the Miranda waiver form.

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Jones repeated several times throughout the interview that he understood he did not have 

to talk to the FBI agents. 

Defendant’s argument that his waiver was invalid is based on claims that he was in 

an “impaired mental and emotional state.” (Doc. 81 at 5.) However, the Court does not 

believe the evidence supports finding the Defendant’s waiver invalid. Indeed, other courts 

in this circuit have routinely upheld a defendant’s wavier in similar circumstances. See e.g.,

Seng Yang v. Fisher, No. 1:16-cv-01863-DAD-MJS (HC), 2018 WL 1392895 *5, (E.D.

Cal. Mar. 19, 2018); Garrett v. Beard, No. 14CV1572 BEN (PCL), 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS

49715 (S.D. Cal. Apr. 14, 2015) (finding a valid waiver by a defendant with history of 

mental illness who was interrogated while on painkillers and recovering from life 

threatening injuries).

Further, the Court has listened to the audio recordings of the interviews between 

Defendant and the agents. While Defendant’s tone reflects the tension of his circumstances, 

it does not convey any sort of descension into hysteria. Additionally, Defendant at various 

times reaffirms to the officers that he understands his rights and understands that he need 

not speak with them during the interview. (Doc. 79-2 at 25.) This reaffirmation by the 

Defendant that he knew he could remain silent shows that during the course of his interview

he knew what his rights under the law were and was voluntarily continuing to speak. 

II. Invocation of the Right to Remain Silent

Jones argues that agents should have terminated the interview when, during the 

second interview, he said “[i]t does help you, maybe, but other than that, I just want to be 

taken to jail. If that’s how this is going to go down today, I don’t mind.” The Defendant

Claims that by this statement he invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and 

the agents should have immediately stopped speaking to him. See Berghuis v. Thompkins, 

560 U.S. 370, 388 (2010) (“If...the right to remain silent is invoked at any point during 

questioning, further interrogation must cease.”) However, the Court finds that Defendant’s 

statement was not an unambiguous invocation of his Fifth Amendment right to remain 

silent. 

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In Berghuis v. Thompkins, the Supreme Court found "no principled reason to adopt 

different standards for determining when an accused has invoked the Miranda right to 

remain silent and the Miranda right to counsel." Id. at 2260. Thus, it held that, like the right 

to counsel, the right to remain silent must be invoked unambiguously. Id.; accord, Lopez 

v. Janda, 742 Fed. Appx. 211, 214 (9th Cir. 2018) (“it is not his intent that matters; it is 

whether his statement would have been unambiguous to a reasonable officer.”) Defendant 

points to his statement “I just want to be taken to jail” as an invocation of his Fifth 

Amendment right. The exchange between Special Agent Rose and the Defendant went as 

follows:

S.A. ROSE: I do. I do want to hear your side of the story. Okay?

MR. JONES: There's no side to my story though.

S.A. ROSE: You don't have any side of your story.

MR. JONES: What side can I possibly have?

S.A. ROSE: I mean, there's things we'd like to know

MR. JONES: I mean --

S.A. ROSE: Like, how long have you been doing it?

MR. JONES: Absolutely. But I can tell you right now that none of which is 

helping at all. Period. Not me. Not you.

S.A. ROSE: It does help us.

MR. JONES: It does help you, maybe, but other than that, I just want to be 

taken to jail. If that's how this is going to go down today, I don't mind. I 

appreciate you guys being the way you are right now. You're treating me like 

a person.

(Doc. 79-2 at 20.) 

The exchange begins with Agent Rose asking for the Defendant’s explanation of 

evidence found on his laptop. (Doc. 79-2 at 20.) After a bit of back and forth the Defendant 

suggests that nothing, he can tell them will be of help either to the agents or himself. (Id.) 

Agent Rose then suggests that Defendant’s cooperation could help the agents, to which the 

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Defendant responds, “It does help you, maybe, but other than that, I just want to be taken 

to jail.” (Id.) See., Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 879 (11th ed. 2003) (defining 

“other than” as meaning “with the exception of, EXCEPT FOR, BESIDES”). Thus, 

Defendant’s actual statement could be construed as an admission he could help the agents, 

and a statement that “except for” his desire to be of help, the only thing he would want to 

do was go to jail. This does not equate to an unambiguous statement of his unwillingness 

to continue speaking. 

Even apart from the above, as the Government notes multiple courts have found that 

similar statements were not unambiguous invocations of a Defendant’s Fifth Amendment 

rights. Compare (Doc. 79-2 at 20 (“I just want to be taken to jail.”)) with, Deweaver v.

Runnels, 556 F.3d 995, 999 (9th Cir. 2009) (finding defendant “did ask to go back to jail”

but the state court’s ruling that such a statement was ambiguous did not violate binding

precedent); United States v. Farley, No. 18-cr-00400-TSH-1, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 

44169, at *16 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 18, 2019)) (noting a defendant’s request to “put [him] back 

in the cell” was ambiguous); accord, Hernandez v. McDonald, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 

180204, at *4-5, *13 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 3, 2014). As such, Defendant’s mere statement that 

he just wanted to be taken to jail was, even standing alone, not an unambiguous invocation 

of his right to remain silent. 

III. Conclusion

Accordingly, 

IT IS ORDERED denying Defendant’s Motion to Suppress Statements (Doc. 79)

Dated this 10th day of June, 2021.

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