Opinion ID: 413377
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Voluntariness of Appellant's Statement

Text: 31 Robinson argues that his confession made at the FBI field office was involuntary. He claims that the statement was somehow elicited by the government's promises to inform the prosecutor of his cooperation and not to arrest and charge him that very day. Under Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 225, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 2046, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973), the court must look to see if the confession is the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice by its maker. The confession may not be extracted by any sort of threats or violence, [or] obtained by any direct or implied promises, however slight, [or] by the exertion of any improper influence. Hutto v. Ross, 429 U.S. 28, 30, 97 S.Ct. 202, 203, 50 L.Ed.2d 194 (1976) (brackets in original), quoting Bram v. United States, 168 U.S. 532, 542-543, 18 S.Ct. 183, 187, 42 L.Ed. 568 (1897). This determination must be reached in light of the totality of all the surrounding circumstances--both the characteristics of the accused and the details of the interrogation. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, supra, 412 U.S. at 226, 93 S.Ct. at 2047. 32 Robinson's statement is clearly voluntary under this test. Looking at the factors established by this circuit in Pettyjohn v. United States, 419 F.2d 651 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1058, 90 S.Ct. 1383, 25 L.Ed.2d 676 (1970), appellant was 30 years old, possessed an eleventh-grade education, and had been convicted twice before of serious felonies. He had the maturity, education, and experience with the police to understand the waiver of his Miranda rights. Appellant can point to no threats or any use of force that might render his statement involuntary. Instead, he claims only that two promises were made to him. The first promise was that his cooperation would be made known to the prosecutor. This promise alone is not sufficient to overbear his free will under Schneckloth. See United States v. Fera, 616 F.2d 590, 594 (1st Cir.1980); see also United States v. Pomares, 499 F.2d 1220, 1222 (2d Cir.) (en banc ), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1032, 95 S.Ct. 514, 42 L.Ed.2d 307 (1974) (even with additional promise that appellant would be let out on bail, confession still held to be voluntary). In fact, even when a confession is made subsequent to a plea bargain, the confession will not be deemed involuntary on that account. Hutto v. Ross, supra. 33 Appellant also asserts that he was led to believe that he would not be arrested and charged that very day. FBI Agent Kerr has admitted that such was his intent, but that a superior officer overruled his decision and instructed Kerr to place appellant under arrest. Appellant argues that this promise was important to him because it provided him with a period of time to straighten out his personal affairs. (Transcript of Nov. 13th Hearing at 84.) However, it would be extraordinary to say that this promise was sufficiently critical to overbear his will. At most, Kerr promised a delay of the arrest. The trial judge had no problem in determining that the confession was voluntary despite these two promises. While this court must make an independent determination on the issue of voluntariness, Davis v. North Carolina, 384 U.S. 737, 86 S.Ct. 1761, 16 L.Ed.2d 895 (1966), we affirm the District Court on this issue.