Opinion ID: 567665
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendant's Incriminating Statements

Text: 16 Defendant argues that although he was twice given his Miranda rights before making his statements to the police, his waiver of his rights was not voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently made as mandated by the Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444-45, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1612, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Therefore, according to defendant, the district court erred in admitting statements that he made to law enforcement officers while in custody at the Van Buren County jail. We find no merit in this argument. 17 The government argues that our standard of review of defendant's claim is clearly erroneous. The government characterizes defendant's claim as raising an evidentiary issue. However, where a confession is alleged to have been involuntary because of some element of police coercion, the defendant's due process rights under the fourteenth amendment are implicated. See Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 167, 107 S.Ct. 515, 521, 93 L.Ed.2d 473 (1986); United States v. Newman, 889 F.2d 88, 95 (6th Cir.1989), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 110 S.Ct. 2566, 109 L.Ed.2d 748 (1990). The admissibility of a confession is governed by evidentiary rules only if there is no allegation of police coercion. Connelly, 479 U.S. at 159, 107 S.Ct. at 518. 18 Defendant alleges that he was mentally coerced into confessing. Defendant implies that the alleged coercion was partly attributable to the fact that he was in custody at the time he made the statements. He also alleges that at the time of arrest, while he was in handcuffs, the police threatened that defendant's head would be busted in if he turned around. Defendant further argues that he could not comprehend the import of his statements or the waiver of his rights. Based on these statements, we conclude that defendant alleges a violation of his due process rights. Our review of his claim is, therefore, de novo. 19 In determining the voluntariness of a confession, we must examine the totality of the circumstances surrounding the confession, both the characteristics of the accused and the details of the interrogation, and determine[ ] their psychological impact on an accused's ability to resist pressures to confess. United States v. Brown, 557 F.2d 541, 546 (6th Cir.1977). To support a determination that a confession was coerced, the evidence must establish that: (1) the police activity was objectively coercive; (2) the coercion in question was sufficient to overbear defendant's will; and (3) defendant's will was, in fact, overborne as a result of the coercive police activity. McCall v. Dutton, 863 F.2d 454, 459 (6th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1020, 109 S.Ct. 1744, 104 L.Ed.2d 181 (1989). 20 Defendant has not presented evidence sufficient to satisfy these elements. Although defendant was in a custodial environment at the time of his statements, we do not believe that the environment was oppressive or coercive. Defendant was clearly advised of his Miranda rights. At the agents' suggestion, defendant's mother joined him in the interview. Both defendant and his mother reviewed and signed the notes which had been transcribed during the interview. While defendant's education was limited, the district court found that he could read and write, and that he understood the nature of the waiver. 21 The district court did not mention defendant's allegation that he was physically threatened, but, even assuming defendant's allegation to be true, we conclude that the alleged threat was not coercive. The alleged threat that defendant's head would be busted in if he turned around was made at the time of his arrest. It concerned his physical actions, not his statements. Moreover, he was not interviewed by the agents until later in the day. Defendant does not allege that at any time during the interview he was physically threatened. In fact, the agents offered to and did include defendant's mother in the interview. Therefore, we do not believe that defendant was coerced to confess during the interview as a result of the alleged conduct. We agree with the district court and hold that defendant's confession was voluntarily and knowingly made.