Opinion ID: 686730
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Government's Use of an Informant

Text: 55 Defendant Holmes contends that his fifth and sixth amendment privileges against self-incrimination and right to counsel were violated by the government's use of Joyce Robidoux, a former clerk who agreed to tape-record her conversations with Holmes. The defendant claims that through Robidoux, the government deliberately elicited statements against his penal interest at a time when it knew (1) that the Nassau County District Attorney was investigating him, and (2) that counsel was representing Holmes in resisting subpoenas issued in connection with the investigation of the matters that eventually led to the indictment in this case. 56 Preliminarily, Holmes's claim is not properly before us, because Holmes's counsel did not move to suppress the tape-recorded conversations before trial. See United States v. Ulloa, 882 F.2d 41, 43 (2d Cir.1989) (under Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, a motion to suppress evidence must be made prior to trial and failure to make the motion is equivalent to waiver); United States v. Rollins, 522 F.2d 160, 165 (1975), cert. denied, 424 U.S. 918, 96 S.Ct. 1122, 47 L.Ed.2d 324 (1976). 57 Even if we were to entertain Holmes's argument on its merits, however, we would reject it because, at the time, Holmes's conversations with Robidoux were not protected by either the fifth amendment's privilege against self-incrimination or the sixth amendment right to counsel. As to the fifth amendment, in Illinois v. Perkins, 496 U.S. 292, 110 S.Ct. 2394, 110 L.Ed.2d 243 (1990), an undercover officer, disguised as a fellow cellmate, was not compelled to give Miranda warnings to an imprisoned defendant prior to asking questions that could elicit incriminating statements. The Court reasoned that the suspect's fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination was not violated, because when the accused made incriminating statements there was no danger of coercion or compulsion, nor was there a police-dominated atmosphere. Id. at 296, 110 S.Ct. at 2397 (internal quotes omitted). The court further explained that statements that are the result of [p]loys to mislead a suspect or lull him into a false sense of security are admissible into evidence as long as they do not rise to the level of compulsion or coercion. Id. at 297, 110 S.Ct. at 2397. 58 At the time of his conversations with Robidoux, Holmes was neither in the custody of the police nor being subjected to an interrogation, defined as questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1612, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). He was a free citizen and was unaware of the investigation; he was never placed in a position that required him to decide whether to waive his right to an attorney or choose to communicate with the government solely through counsel; he did not even know that Robidoux was a cooperating government agent. 59 Thus, his discussions with Robidoux did not generate inherently compelling pressures which work to undermine the individual's will to resist and to compel him to speak where he would not otherwise do so freely. Id. at 467, 86 S.Ct. at 1624. In short, Holmes was entitled to no fifth amendment protection for his conversations with Robidoux. 60 Holmes also argues that his sixth amendment rights were violated because the government knew that he was represented by counsel and intentionally interrogated him through Robidoux without presence of counsel. Holmes relies primarily on the Supreme Court's decision in Maine v. Moulton, 474 U.S. 159, 106 S.Ct. 477, 88 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985), where the state had used an undercover agent to record conversations between the defendant and the agent. There, the Court held, the defendant's sixth amendment rights were violated, because the state had knowingly exploited the opportunity to confront the accused without presence of counsel. Id. at 176, 106 S.Ct. at 487. 61 However, in Moulton, the state used the agent after the defendant had already been criminally charged. Id. at 162-63, 106 S.Ct. at 480. In this case, by contrast, the government employed Robidoux before Holmes was charged; thus, no sixth amendment violation occurred. During the investigation of an unindicted target, sixth amendment rights do not attach until the time that adversary judicial proceedings have been initiated against him. Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 688, 92 S.Ct. 1877, 1881, 32 L.Ed.2d 411 (1972); see also In re Grand Jury Subpoena Served Upon Doe, 781 F.2d 238, 244 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 475 U.S. 1108, 106 S.Ct. 1515, 89 L.Ed.2d 914 (1986). Because there were no charges pending against Holmes when the government used Robidoux, and adversarial proceedings had not been initiated against him, there was no interference with Holmes's right to counsel. Thus, Holmes's reliance on Moulton is misplaced. 62 Moreover, although Agent Mazzella knew that counsel for the union had moved to quash the subpoenas for its records, there is nothing in the record to show that Holmes and Frasca, individually, were represented by counsel at the time of the conversations. Mazzella, himself, denied any knowledge that the defendants were then represented by counsel, and he was not required to presume that the same attorneys that represented the union, the party whose funds were being unlawfully taken, were also representing Holmes and Frasca, the very people suspected of taking those funds. 63 In sum, defendants' challenges to the recordings of the Robidoux conversations also fail.