Opinion ID: 472583
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: coerced testimony

Text: 42 The appellants timely moved to dismiss the indictment based on government coercion and misconduct. On appeal, the appellants contend that their fifth amendment right to due process was violated when the district court failed to hold an evidentiary hearing on the voluntariness of the testimony of the alien witnesses. 43 It is established in this Circuit that the admission at trial of a coerced out-of-court statement from a non-defendant may violate the defendant's right to a fair trial as guaranteed by the due process clause of the fifth amendment. Merkt, 764 F.2d at 274. See also United States v. Chiavola, 744 F.2d 1271, 1273 (7th Cir.1984); LaFrance v. Bohlinger, 499 F.2d 29, 35 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1080, 95 S.Ct. 669, 42 L.Ed.2d 674 (1974). The voluntariness of the statement of a witness is generally determined in a pretrial suppression hearing. See, e.g., Merkt, 764 F.2d at 273; LaFrance, 499 F.2d at 36. Here, however, defense counsel indicated that he wished to carry the motion with the case, and testimony was presented at trial regarding the voluntariness of the statements of Mendez-Valle and Rosales-Cruz. 44 The appellants first assert that Mendez-Valle's testimony was coerced with promises that he and the children would be sent to Washington, D.C., if he testified favorably to the government. At the outset of his testimony, Mendez-Valle stated that he wanted to request a condition from the government. At that point, the jury was excused and the proceedings continued. Mendez-Valle stated that, when he was detained, the government promised him that the children would be reunited with their parents in Washington, D.C. The government denied making any such promise but acknowledged that, when Mendez-Valle had asked what would happen to the children, he had been told that the children would be held until their parents could be located. At the time of trial, the children remained in the government's custody because no one had come forward to accept responsibility for them. Mendez-Valle stated that no other promises or threats had been made and the court ordered him to testify. On cross-examination, Mendez-Valle stated his belief that if he gave the Border Patrol agents answers that they liked, they would let them go to Washington, D.C. However, Mendez-Valle elsewhere indicated that, despite this belief, he nevertheless told the truth. 45 Appellants assert, based on the fact that the border patrol agents told the alien witnesses the names of the appellants, that the government impermissibly suggested specific testimony. While the agents did inform the alien witnesses of the names of the appellants, this was done only after the witnesses had described the appellants, after Mendez-Valle had picked both of the suspects from the photographic arrays, and after the aliens had both given the agents their phonetic understanding of the names of the individuals who had helped them. 46 The facts presented at trial did not warrant an evidentiary hearing. Neither witness claimed that he or she was threatened or coerced into making untrue statements. Other than concern for the children, both witnesses testified that no promises were made in exchange for their testimony. Furthermore, even if one of the government agents did bang his fist on the table twice while questioning Rosales-Cruz, as suggested by defense counsel, such actions would not lead this court to conclude that the entire trial testimony of the aliens should be excluded. In United States v. Fredericks, 586 F.2d 470 (5th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 962, 99 S.Ct. 1507, 59 L.Ed.2d 776 (1979), the defendant moved to exclude the testimony of an unindicted co-defendant. The witness' testimony was obtained in violation of her Miranda rights and, according to the witness' uncontroverted testimony, only after being subjected to threatening and heavy-handed interrogation. Id. at 477. Refusing to exclude the witness' testimony, this court held that the actions of the government officials, even if viewed in the worst possible light, were a far cry from the sort of third-degree physical or psychological coercion that might prompt us to disregard altogether the societal interest in law enforcement by excluding the highly probative testimony of a nondefendant. Id. at 481. In this case, we can find no reason to exclude the trial testimony of the alien witnesses.