Opinion ID: 2442105
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Inception: Appellant Waives His Rights and Agrees to Answer Questions About A Different Alleged Offense

Text: Appellant was arrested initially for an alleged assault on his girlfriend, not for the robbery of Ms. Fotopoulous in Foggy Bottom. Detectives Ross and Tabron did not mention that robbery when they advised appellant of his Miranda rights, nor for some time thereafter. Appellant read through the standard PD-47 waiver-of-rights card, commented that he was used to it, [3] and agreed to answer the detectives' questions without a lawyer present. Over the next two hours, Detective Ross questioned appellant persistently about his whereabouts at the time of the robbery (which, coincidentally, was close in time to the assault on appellant's girlfriend). Appellant steadfastly denied having been in Foggy Bottom, however, even when Ross told him witnesses had seen him there, showed him a surveillance photograph of a man who looked like him, and said his DNA had been found in the vicinity of the photograph. Ross repeatedly accused appellant of lying. When Ross observed that appellant was sweating, appellant explained that he was an alcoholic and had not had anything to drink. At one point, the two detectives left the room. [4] While they were out, Detective Crespo came in and chatted with appellant for a few minutes. Crespo reminded appellant how he had helped him in the past and stated that if there's somebody that you're going to talk to, I hope it would be me. Crespo added that he and appellant had a mutual respect, and I honestly think you made a mistake. I honestly think that if you're going to try to feel better about what's probably going on in your head, if there's someone you're going to talk to, it should be me.