Opinion ID: 714954
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Motion To Suppress the August 19 Statements

Text: 9 Prior to trial, Ramirez moved to suppress, inter alia, the statements he had made to Kruskall and Hornyak on August 19 (the August 19 statements), arguing that those statements had been taken in violation of his right to remain silent because they were responses to questions asked after he had invoked that right. The district court held an evidentiary hearing at which the government produced the testimony of Blanco, Kruskall, and Hornyak. 10 Blanco described his August 18 questioning and Ramirez's responses in the car and at the DEA office. In the car, Blanco, a native speaker of Spanish, advised Ramirez in Spanish of his constitutional rights. After advising Ramirez of each right, and again after having advised him of all of his rights, Blanco asked Ramirez if he understood. Each time, Ramirez answered si. (Suppression Hearing Transcript, October 27, 1994, at 19.) Blanco asked whether Ramirez was willing to answer questions, and once again Ramirez answered si. (Id. 19-20.) Blanco then asked questions in English, and Ramirez responded in English. Blanco asked Ramirez's name; Ramirez answered,  'You know my name.'  (Id. at 20) Blanco asked to whom the cocaine belonged; Ramirez answered  'Your friend knows who the cocaine belong[ ]s to.'  (Id.) Blanco asked to whom Ramirez was supposed to give the cocaine; Ramirez made no response. Blanco testified that no further questions were asked in the car because, I felt that the defendant was being sarcastic, and I saw that I was not going anywhere at that point with the defendant. (Id. at 21). 11 After they arrived at the DEA office and Ramirez had been photographed and fingerprinted, Blanco again advised him in Spanish of his rights, as he had done in the car. Ramirez again stated that he understood each of his rights and again he agreed to answer questions. Blanco testified about the exchange, which was in English, that followed: 12 Q What, if anything, did you ask the defendant? 13 A Well, I asked him the personality [sic ] information: 14 Name, address, question[s] regarding his family, but then I asked him more specific questions regarding the cocaine, the drug deal. And I asked him who did the cocaine belong to the second time. Again, he answered the second time my friend knew who the cocaine belonged to. 15 .... 16 THE COURT: Did you understand that to be a reference to the [confidential informant]? 17 THE WITNESS: No, Your Honor. 18 THE COURT: That is not who you thought he was referring to? 19 THE WITNESS: I didn't have any idea who he was referring to. 20 Q .... Did you ask him anything else other than who did the cocaine belong to? 21 A Yes, I asked him question[s] such as who was he going to give the cocaine to, [to] which he did not give me a reply. 22 I asked him questions as to who he was working for. Again, he didn't answer--give me a--excuse me. 23 And then I asked him how much was a kilo of cocaine going for on the street, and to that he did give me an[ ] answer. He stated that it was $18,000 for one kilo of cocaine. 24 Q Now, in order to convince the defendant to cooperate further did you say anything to the defendant about the possible penalties that he was facing?A Yes. 25 Q What did you say, if anything? 26 A I told him he was facing a minimum of ten years in prison due to the volume of cocaine. 27 .... 28 Q Did the defendant say anything in response to this? 29 A No. 30 Q At this point did you cease questioning him? 31 A Yes, I did. 32 Q Why was that? 33 A Again, I felt that I was not getting anywhere with the defendant, so I didn't see any need for me to continue questioning the defendant. 34 (Id. 24-25.) 35 Kruskall confirmed Blanco's testimony as to the August 18 questioning, and he testified as follows with respect to questioning by himself and Hornyak on the morning of August 19, after Ramirez was taken to the courthouse: 36 Q While you were ... in that Marshal's waiting area, did you ask Mr. Ramirez anything? 37 A I asked him whose kilos were in the house. 38 Q Was this question in English? 39 A In English. 40 Q What did Mr. Ramirez say in response to this question? 41 A Said that they were his. 42 Q Did you then ask Mr. Ramirez anything else? 43 A I said the kilos we seized last night were your kilos. 44 Q What, if anything, did Mr. Ramirez say? 45 A Yes, they were mine. 46 Q Did you hear Special Agent Hornyak then ask Mr. Ramirez anything? 47 A Special Agent Hornyak, for a third time to clarify, said 75 kilos we seized in your house last night were your kilos. He said, yes, they were mine. 48 .... 49 Q Did Special Agent Hornyak then tell Mr. Ramirez--with respect to his possible penalties did he tell him anything? 50 A Special Agent Hornyak said that he would go to jail for a long time and Mr. Ramirez responded it was his life. 51 Q Can you tell the Court why you and Special Agent Hornyak asked essentially the same question three times? 52 A I wanted to be clear as to his answer. I couldn't believe what he said. 53 Q Was it because you were afraid that Mr. Ramirez had not understood you the first time or the first two times? 54 A No. I just wanted to make sure--absolutely sure that was his answer. 55 (Id. 67-68.) 56 Hornyak described Ramirez's August 19 statements in the same way. When asked why he and Kruskall had asked the same question repeatedly, Hornyak stated, I was just surprised that he would claim all the kilos were his. (Id. 81.) 57 Blanco, Kruskall, and Hornyak all testified that Ramirez never indicated that he had an attorney or wanted to consult with an attorney. Ramirez did not testify at the suppression hearing.