Opinion ID: 3047130
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: July 16, 2009 Interview and Written Confession

Text: Agent Eversman and NCIS Special Agent Noah Williams interviewed Woods for a second time on July 16, 2009. This interview took place at the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division office at Fort Gordon. 4 For example, names of child pornography files found on Woods’s computers and introduced at trial included, in relevant part, “LittlePreteenBoys8YOplus7YOKissingNakedInShower-Pedo . . .” (Exhibit 10-C); and “Vickiepedophilia13anos” (Exhibit 9-E). 7 Before the interview, Agent Eversman again read the “Military Suspect’s Acknowledgment and Waiver of Rights” form to Woods. The waiver form acknowledged that the agents advised Woods that he was suspected of “receipt and/or transfer of child pornography.” After agreeing to waive his rights, Woods signed the form and initialed each paragraph of the form. The waiver form was identical to the one Woods signed on May 12, 2009. Woods did not ask any questions about the waiver and never asked for a lawyer. The agents did not tell Woods that he was under arrest before the interview and did not restrain Woods. The interview lasted approximately two hours. According to Agent Eversman, the tone of the interview was professional and non-confrontational. After the interview, Agent Eversman told Woods that she needed to document their discussion, and invited Woods to help her prepare a written statement to ensure its accuracy. Woods agreed, and Agent Eversman typed the statement on a laptop computer as Woods sat beside her. Woods could see what Agent Eversman was typing, and at times Woods provided input with respect to the substance and language of the statement. Woods then edited a printed copy of the four-page statement. The printed statement shows that Woods struck and replaced certain words and added phrases to the statement. Woods initialed beside each paragraph and signed the bottom. In the statement, Woods acknowledged 8 making the statement “of [his] own free will and without any threats made to [him] or promises extended.” Woods’s statement affirmed that he had searched for and downloaded child pornography and estimated that he had “a couple hundred images of nude children on [his] computer, and these children were either posed in a sexually provocative manner or engaged in sexual acts.” Woods stated that he used the child pornography “for both reference, and [his] sexual arousal.” Woods’s statement also acknowledged “several incidents” of his rubbing his sleeping niece’s “legs, buttocks, and vagina.” Woods was 16 to 17 years old at the time of these incidents.5 Woods stated that he had not engaged in similar activity since that time because he had concluded that he had only “envious admiration as opposed to a direct desire for such interaction with minors.”