Opinion ID: 789255
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Suppression of Pruden's Confession

Text: 14 Pruden timely objected to the introduction of his statements at trial, and a suppression hearing was held. In an appeal from the denial of a suppression motion, this Court reviews the District Court's factual findings for clear error, and exercises plenary review of the District Court's legal conclusions based on those facts. United States v. Perez, 280 F.3d 318, 336 (3d Cir.2002). The ultimate question of voluntariness of a Miranda waiver is subject to plenary review, cf. Ahmad v. Redman, 782 F.2d 409, 413 (3d Cir.1986); United States v. Martin, 369 F.3d 1046, 1055 (8th Cir.2004), although we review the historical facts supporting that conclusion for clear error. 15 A defendant may waive his Miranda rights if the waiver is made knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Two factors affect this determination: 16 First, the relinquishment of the right must have been voluntary in the sense that it was the product of a free and deliberate choice rather than intimidation, coercion, or deception. Second, the waiver must have been made with a full awareness of both the nature of the right being abandoned and the consequences of the decision to abandon it. Only if the totality of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation reveal both an uncoerced choice and the requisite level of comprehension may a court properly conclude that the Miranda rights have been waived. 17 Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 421, 106 S.Ct. 1135, 89 L.Ed.2d 410 (1986). 18 While Pruden objected at trial to the admission of both his January 14 and January 15 statements, he now concedes, as we think he must, that the January 14 statement was the product of a voluntary Miranda waiver. Agent Kusheba read Pruden his rights and asked if he was willing to talk; Pruden said that he understood his rights and agreed to talk. Pruden was familiar with his rights, having been involved in the justice system on numerous previous occasions. Cf. United States v. Palmer, 203 F.3d 55, 60 (1st Cir.2000) (Because he had a record of sixteen prior arrests, the district court found that Palmer comprehended the significance of a Miranda waiver.). The circumstances of his interrogation do not provide any reason to think that the waiver was involuntary: Pruden was questioned in the probation office, with nothing to indicate coercion or discomfort. 19 Pruden argues, however, that his (second) January 15 waiver was not knowing, intelligent, and voluntary, because Agent Kusheba did not re-read the Miranda rights, but only asked Pruden if he remembered his rights and if he was willing to talk again. Miranda, however, does not necessarily require that a suspect be warned anew each time he is questioned. See, e.g., Guam v. Dela Pena, 72 F.3d 767, 769-70 (9th Cir.1995) (finding that a fifteen-hour delay between waiver and statement does not require new warning and waiver). 2 20 Instead, the question whether a suspect needs to be warned when questioning resumes boils down to whether the suspect can and does effectively waive his Miranda rights at the second questioning. As Judge McClure has aptly put it, 21 the question of whether a time lapse renders Miranda warnings stale may be reduced to answering two questions: (1) At the time the Miranda warnings were provided, did the defendant know and understand his rights? (2) Did anything occur between the warnings and the statement, whether the passage of time or other intervening event, which rendered the defendant unable to consider fully and properly the effect of an exercise or waiver of those rights before making a statement to law enforcement officers? 22 United States v. Vasquez, 889 F.Supp. 171, 177 (M.D.Pa.1995). We now adopt this eminently sensible framework for analyzing the effect of delays between Miranda warnings and custodial statements. 23 The first question is whether Pruden knew and understood his rights at the time the Miranda warnings were given on January 14. As explained above, we think that the answer to this question must be yes. The second question is whether the passage of time or an intervening event rendered Pruden unable to effectively waive his Miranda rights when he was questioned again the following morning. A significant amount of time passed between the Miranda warnings and Pruden's January 15 statement: the record does not reflect the exact amount, but it seems that Pruden was arrested in the afternoon on January 14 and questioned again in the morning of January 15, suggesting a time lapse of perhaps twenty hours. This is longer than the periods involved in Dela Pena (fifteen hours) and Vasquez (three hours), and does seem to be at the upper end of the permissible range. On the other hand, Agent Kusheba specifically reminded Pruden of his rights before resuming questions, and Pruden responded that he understood his rights, did not ask Kusheba to repeat them, and was willing to answer questions. 24 Beyond the passage of time, we can find no other relevant event that could have lessened the effectiveness of Pruden's Miranda waiver. There are no allegations of mistreatment, intimidation, or deprivation of food or sleep during the intervening detention. On both January 14 and January 15, Pruden was questioned by the same ATF Agent, Kusheba, about the same offenses. The charges were not escalating, see United States v. Marc, Crim. No. 96-76-SLR, 1997 WL 129324,  (D.Del.1997) (suppressing statement taken 10 hours after Miranda warnings when suspect was arrested and warned for misdemeanor drug possession, but later questioned about felony firearm charges), and there were no surprises that might have confused Pruden. Nor is there any reason to think that the circumstances of the questioning — in a police car on the way to court — were particularly intimidating. Pruden points out that he had literally no choice but to stay with the agents during this questioning. That is true, but we cannot see how that fact distinguishes this questioning from any other custodial interrogation. 25 Finally, Pruden alleges that Agent Kusheba deceived him into waiving his rights by suggesting that he should make a statement before the initial appearance, at which point it would be too late. Agent Kusheba apparently meant that, if Pruden had nothing else to say before the appearance, the prosecutor would move to have him detained before trial. As this appears to have been true, it is difficult to see how it constitutes deception. Furthermore, there is no evidence that Kusheba's statement coerced Pruden, who unhesitatingly agreed to talk. 26 The relatively long time between the Miranda warnings and the statement at issue, the change of location, the differences between Pruden's January 14 and 15 statements, and the lack of independent corroboration of Pruden's waiver are considerations that might counsel against finding an effective Miranda waiver during the January 15 questioning. These factors make this a fairly close case. Ultimately, however, we think that the changed circumstances were not enough to impair Pruden's ability to make a knowing and voluntary Miranda waiver. Because Agent Kusheba reminded Pruden of his Miranda rights, albeit without repeating those rights in full, and because Pruden plainly remembered the warnings and unhesitatingly agreed to talk, we hold that his statement was made pursuant to an effective Miranda waiver, and should not have been suppressed. 27