Opinion ID: 200612
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: FBI Questioning

Text: 20 On the morning of April 6, 1999, two New York FBI agents and a New York City Police Department detective went to the Manhattan apartment where Nishnianidze was staying. FBI agents in Boston had requested that they locate Nishnianidze, interview him and obtain any photographs or videotapes in his possession of children whose adoptions he had processed. 21 When they arrived at the apartment between 8:00 and 8:30 a.m., the agents knocked and identified themselves. Nishnianidze opened the door and they entered into a one-room apartment with a bed and two additional mattresses on the floor. Nishnianidze appeared to have been sleeping when he answered the door, and the agents observed Nishnianidze's son on a mattress on the floor where he had been sleeping and where he remained throughout the interview. 22 The agents (including one Russian speaker) informed Nishnianidze that they were investigating his contacts with a Massachusetts family and interviewed him for thirty to forty-five minutes. Nishnianidze talked about his involvement in international adoptions and his contacts with Finfer and Shea, and then answered follow-up questions. The agents asked Nishnianidze if he had any photographs or videotapes of the adopted children. An agent accompanied Nishnianidze as he searched the apartment and produced the video of Alexander. The agents and detective were all armed, and while Nishnianidze searched for the video, the detective removed his snub-nosed handgun from its holster and held it behind his back, reholstering it when the search was complete. 23 At some point during the interview, Nishnianidze's roommate arrived at the apartment. The detective asked him to wait in the hallway while the interview was completed and he agreed to do so. After giving Nishnianidze a receipt for the videotape and a birth announcement relating to another adoption, the interview ended.