Opinion ID: 727344
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Waiver as a matter of fact

Text: 25 Based on the evidence of record, we also find no reason to disturb the state courts' determination that Henderson made a voluntary, knowing, and intelligent decision to waive his Miranda rights notwithstanding the apparent limits of his intellect. Again, this was a factual determination that we treat as presumptively correct. See Jones, 76 F.3d at 852; Perri, 817 F.2d at 451-52; Bryan, 820 F.2d at 219. Henderson's purportedly low I.Q. and limited reading and comprehension capabilities obviously call for caution in assessing the uncounseled waiver of his constitutional rights. See Sims v. Georgia, 389 U.S. 404, 407, 88 S.Ct. 523, 525, 19 L.Ed.2d 634 (1967) (per curiam); Miller v. Dugger, 838 F.2d 1530, 1539 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1061, 108 S.Ct. 2832, 100 L.Ed.2d 933 (1988); Moore v. Ballone, 658 F.2d 218, 229-30 (4th Cir.1981); Cooper v. Griffin, 455 F.2d 1142, 1145-46 (5th Cir.1972). Yet, as both the Illinois appellate court and the district court recognized, such limitations, at least of the degree presented here, do not preclude a finding that Henderson could and in fact did make a reasoned and independent decision to speak with the authorities. See Toste v. Lopes, 861 F.2d 782, 783 (2d Cir.1988) (per curiam), cert. denied sub nom. Toste v. Meachum, 490 U.S. 1112, 109 S.Ct. 3170, 104 L.Ed.2d 1032 (1989); Winfrey v. Wyrick, 836 F.2d 406, 411 (8th Cir.1987), cert. denied sub nom. Winfrey v. Armontrout, 488 U.S. 833, 109 S.Ct. 91, 102 L.Ed.2d 67 (1988); United States v. Glover, 596 F.2d 857, 866 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 860, 100 S.Ct. 124, 62 L.Ed.2d 81 (1979), and cert. denied sub nom. Morrow v. United States, 444 U.S. 857, 100 S.Ct. 117, 62 L.Ed.2d 76 (1979); see also United States v. Bad Hand, 926 F.Supp. 891, 899-900 (D.S.D.1996) (collecting cases). Here, in addition to the testimony of a psychologist who documented Henderson's below-average I.Q. and limited reading abilities, the state court had other evidence suggesting that Henderson was able to comprehend what his rights were and to waive them knowingly and voluntarily. The state's forensic psychiatrist had deemed him fit for trial, finding, among other things, that Henderson was able to appreciate the nature of the charges against him. The police officers who observed Henderson on the day of his arrest described him as cooperative and understanding of what was transpiring. According to those officers, Henderson had acknowledged his rights on each of the several occasions that they were explained to him. Henderson himself testified at the suppression hearing that he had been read his rights, that he had heard them many times before, and that he had told the police that he understood them. Indeed, he declined to make a statement on the first two of these occasions, and later began to speak, according to Officer Underwood, of his own accord and at his own initiative. He then gave a statement to Kardas, according to the state's witnesses, knowing full well who Kardas was. This was not, finally, Henderson's first encounter with the authorities. At age eighteen, Henderson already had a significant criminal record and in fact had, by the state's account, already encountered Kardas in the context of a juvenile prosecution. Under all of these circumstances, we must accept the state courts' determination that Henderson was able to make a valid decision to forego his Miranda rights and speak with the police and with Kardas and that he in fact did so.