Opinion ID: 545558
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Pre-Miranda Statements

Text: 10 Boucher next asserts that he was in custody long before Cooper formally arrested him, therefore his pre-arrest statements made in the patrol car regarding weapons, drugs, and cash, as well as his consent to search the truck, were tainted. We hold that Boucher was not in custody prior to the formal arrest which took place after Cooper's routine questioning in the patrol car and prior to the search of the trunk, and thus no waiver of Boucher's fifth amendment rights was required pursuant to Miranda until that time. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Miranda warnings are not imposed because the questioning is conducted in a certain place, i.e., a patrol car, or because the person being questioned is suspected of having committed some offense. Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492, 495, 97 S.Ct. 711, 714, 50 L.Ed.2d 714 (1977). The relevant inquiry is how a reasonable [person] in the suspect's position would have understood [the] situation. Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 442, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 3151, 82 L.Ed.2d 317 (1984). This objective standard outweighs the suspect's subjective beliefs. 11 A reasonable person in Boucher's position would not have considered Cooper's questions in the patrol car a custodial interrogation. Boucher was unaware that Cooper had seen the gun in the seat. Boucher had no reason to suspect that Cooper knew of the gun or anything else in the pickup at that point and had no reason to believe that he was suspected of anything other than speeding. The observation of the weapon by Cooper and the non-custodial questioning based on his observations were lawful as incidental to the processing of a routine traffic stop. Texas v. Brown, 460 U.S. 730, 739, 103 S.Ct. 1535, 1541, 75 L.Ed.2d 502 (1983). The fifth amendment protections offered by Miranda are designed to eliminate those situations where the person questioned could be induced to speak where he would not otherwise do so freely. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. at 467, 86 S.Ct. at 1624. In a routine traffic stop, detention of an individual is usually temporary and public. The atmosphere of a traffic stop is substantially less 'police dominated' than that surrounding the kinds of interrogation at issue in Miranda itself. Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. at 439, 104 S.Ct. at 3149. Furthermore, as noted above, Cooper was already aware of the gun in the pickup and it was reasonable for him to question Boucher about it prior to Miranda warnings. United States v. Harris, 611 F.2d 170, 173 (6th Cir.1979) (questioning of suspect in his hotel room as to whether he had a weapon did not require Miranda warnings); United States v. Harris, 528 F.2d 914, 915 (4th Cir.1975) (inquiry by federal agents as to whether suspect had a gun was not a custodial interrogation requiring Miranda warnings because agents had previously observed the gun and exercised no control over the suspect other than temporary detention and search), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1075, 96 S.Ct. 860, 47 L.Ed.2d 86 (1976). 12 Boucher further contends that the questioning in the patrol car was a deliberate attempt by Cooper to elicit incriminating statements through a backdoor interrogation when Cooper could have arrested him initially upon seeing the gun and given Miranda warnings at that time. Boucher argues that Cooper's plan effectively placed him in custody. However, the objective test set out in Berkemer v. McCarty dismisses this argument because Boucher was unaware of Cooper's intentions at the time. A police [officer's] unarticulated plan has no bearing on the question whether a suspect was 'in custody' at a particular time. Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. at 442, 104 S.Ct. at 3151. For the reasons stated above we hold that the district court did not err in admitting Boucher's pre-arrest statements concerning guns, drugs, and cash. Boucher's claim that his consent to search the pickup was the result of an illegal detention and a pretextual stop consequently fails as well.