Opinion ID: 1401670
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Voluntariness of Stewart's Pre-Miranda Statement

Text: Finally, Stewart argues that his pre- Miranda statement was involuntary and that the coercive taint carried over to his post- Miranda statement, making it inadmissible under Elstad. In Stewart I, we affirmed the district court's conclusion that Stewart's postwarning confession was voluntary and remanded for findings on whether the police deliberately used a two-step interrogation process designed to circumvent Miranda, and if so, for a further inquiry into the sufficiency of the separation in time and circumstances between the warned and unwarned confessions. 388 F.3d at 1091-92. Our remand instructions also told the district court that if it found that the interrogation process used here was not a deliberate end run around Miranda, it should determine whether the initial unwarned confession would flunk the voluntariness standard of Elstad such that the taint would carry over to the second warned confession. Id. at 1091. The district court found no evidence of any coercive police activity relative to [Stewart's] pre- Miranda statement. Stewart points to the fact that he began to cry when the FBI agents entered the interrogation room and argues that this undercuts the district court's voluntariness finding. His emotional reaction to the entry of the FBI into the investigation is hardly evidence of coercive interrogation tactics and does not by itself call into question the voluntariness of his pre- Miranda statement. The voluntariness inquiry asks whether the confession is the product of a rational intellect and free will and not the result of physical abuse, psychological intimidation, or deceptive interrogation tactics that have overcome the defendant's free will. United States v. Gillaum, 372 F.3d 848, 856 (7th Cir.2004) (internal quotation marks omitted). We agree with the district court that there is no evidence of any form of police coercion at work here. Stewart's Mirandized and voluntary videotaped confession was properly admitted at trial. AFFIRMED.