Opinion ID: 750617
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: district court's ruling and issues presented

Text: 18 The District Court ruled that Salvo's October 1995 statements to the FBI agents should be suppressed because of the agents' failure to give Salvo his Miranda warnings before questioning him. The Court explained its ruling as follows: 19 A reasonable person in the suspect's shoes would believe that he was in custody when these statements were made, that he was being accused of committing a crime and was not free to go. This is so even if the Defendant was told that he was free to go and would not be arrested at the end of the interview. Here, the agents had substantial information that this Defendant was engaged in illegal activity and had some evidence of it for significant period of time--first from the Ashland County Prosecutor and the Ashland County Sheriff and then from Ashland College officials. They coordinated with the Boy Scout leader who terminated him on the morning of October 27, 1995, for conduct related to the alleged illegal activity so that they could approach the Defendant immediately after receiving what to him was devastating news. This situation, together with agents telling him that they knew about some of his alleged illegal activity and that he should cooperate with them could lead him to reasonably believe that he was indeed not free to go despite the possible assertions by the officers to the contrary. Their conduct spoke otherwise. 20