Opinion ID: 2320924
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Muhammad's Claim of Coercion

Text: Muhammad contends that his waiver of rights was coerced because he was deprived of food for ten hours and was unable to walk around for nearly nine hours. The flaw in this argument is that there was no evidence that Muhammad waived his rights as a result of any coercion. After Muhammad was arrested at approximately 7:30 a.m., he was taken to the police station and placed in an interview room. Shortly after 9:00 a.m. two detectives entered the room, read Muhammad his rights, and gave him a waiver of rights form to fill out. Muhammad waived his rights and gave a statement denying knowledge of the events associated with the charges. He was then left alone in the interview room for several hours. During this lengthy break in Muhammad's interrogation, the police periodically checked on him. Muhammad never said he was hungry or in any kind of distress; he was also escorted to the bathroom at least once. We are satisfied that this delay in Muhammad's interrogation did not, in itself, give rise to a coercive atmosphere. In the first place, Muhammad waived his rights at the outset. See United States v. Bell, 740 A.2d 958, 964-966 (D.C.1999); Byrd v. United States, 618 A.2d 596, 598-599 (D.C. 1992). There was no evidence that the police threatened Muhammad or used physical force on him; in fact, Muhammad confirmed that no such abuse occurred. Muhammad knew how to read and write, had attended school through the tenth grade, and stated that he understood his rights. In addition, he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at any time during the interrogation. Overall, Muhammad never gave any indication that he was unhappy with the way he was treated following his arrest. Nor was there any evidence to suggest that, after the interrogation resumed later in the day, Muhammad's confessions were coerced. Detective Irwin entered the interview room at 3:00 p.m. to resume his earlier conversation with Muhammad. The detective told him that other persons had admitted their involvement in the murders and had given up their weapons; he simply asked Muhammad if he would do the same. Muhammad agreed, and on the way to his mother's house to retrieve the weapon, he reaffirmed that he knew his rights and that he had waived them. After the gun was recovered, Detective Irwin took Muhammad to a fast-food restaurant at 4:30 p.m. to get something to eat. Upon their return to the police station, Muhammad gave videotaped and written confessions. Before making these confessions, he was again read his rights, and again he confirmed that he understood and waived them. The evidence shows that Muhammad was not subjected to any coercion that might render his statements inadmissible. His interrogation cannot be characterized as coercive simply because it extended  intermittently  over a period of several hours. See, e.g., Everetts v. United States, 627 A.2d 981, 986 (D.C.1993) (sixteen-year-old defendant voluntarily, intelligently, and knowingly waived his rights, though he was detained for a lengthy period of time prior to questioning). Taking all of the circumstances into account, we hold that the trial court properly determined that Muhammad's confessions were not coerced. See Byrd, 618 A.2d at 599.