Opinion ID: 752168
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Statements to Kevin Beier

Text: 45 Kevin Beier is a jailer at the Noble County jail. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals found the following with respect to Mr. Castro's statement to Beier: On June 29, 1984, while incarcerated in the Noble County jail, at about 11:00 p.m., [Castro] began to create a disturbance. When the jailer went to investigate, [Castro] was emotionally upset. Without any Miranda warnings being given, [Castro] admitted to the jailer that he killed Beulah Cox. Castro, 844 P.2d at 171. 8 The court held the statement was the product of [Castro's] free and unconstrained choice. Id. The federal district court found no indication in the record that Castro ever asked Beier to call his counsel. Memorandum Op. and Order at 47, R. Vol. I at Tab 24. 46 Mr. Castro argues Beier conducted the functional equivalent of an interrogation, with respect to which Mr. Castro never received his Miranda rights nor affirmatively waived his right to an attorney. Even if we assume, for the sake of argument, that the admission of Mr. Castro's statement to Beier was error, we conclude it is harmless error, in light of the other confessions properly admitted and Mr. Castro's own testimony detailing the crime. See United States v. McCullah, 76 F.3d 1087, 1101 (10th Cir.1996) (after reciting that the erroneous admission of a coerced confession is subject to harmless error analysis under Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 310, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 1265, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991), we concluded such admission was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence to convict [the defendant] of the crimes charged even in the absence of his coerced statements), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 1699, 137 L.Ed.2d 825 (1997).