Opinion ID: 783322
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Miranda argument

Text: 11 Swanson argues that he was in custody at the time that he made his statements to Fleming and was thus entitled to a Miranda warning. He argues that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress these statements. When reviewing suppression issues, we review a district court's factual findings for clear error, and its legal conclusions de novo. United States v. Crossley, 224 F.3d 847, 860 (6th Cir.2000); United States v. Salvo, 133 F.3d 943, 948 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1122, 118 S.Ct. 1805, 140 L.Ed.2d 943 (1998). The question of whether a defendant was in custody is a mixed question of fact and law, and is thus reviewed de novo. Salvo, 133 F.3d at 948 (citing Thompson v. Keohane, 516 U.S. 99, 100-03, 116 S.Ct. 457, 460, 133 L.Ed.2d 383 (1995)). 12 A defendant may not be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. U.S. Const. amend. V. The Supreme Court held in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 478-79, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1630, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) that a suspect subject to custodial interrogation must first be given notice of his or her right against self-incrimination. Statements obtained during custodial interrogation in violation of Miranda may not be admitted for certain purposes in a criminal trial. Id. at 479, 86 S.Ct. 1602. However, the obligation to administer a Miranda warning to a suspect only arises where there has been such a restriction on a person's freedom as to render him `in custody.' Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492, 495, 97 S.Ct. 711, 714, 50 L.Ed.2d 714 (1977) (per curiam). 13 As Swanson does not challenge the validity of the investigatory stop that led to his questioning, we assume for the purposes of this appeal that the agents conducted a lawful detention of Swanson, analogous to a Terry stop. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). A Terry stop is a `narrowly drawn' exception to the probable cause requirement of the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Richardson, 949 F.2d 851, 856 (6th Cir.1991) (quoting United States v. Sharpe, 470 U.S. 675, 689, 105 S.Ct. 1568, 1577, 84 L.Ed.2d 605 (1985) (Marshall, J., concurring in the judgment)). An officer may stop a person upon reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. Ibid. The officer may ask the detainee a moderate number of questions to determine his identity and to try to obtain information confirming or dispelling the officer's suspicions. But the detainee is not obliged to respond. And, unless the encounter provides the officer with probable cause to arrest him, he must then be released. Ibid. The very nature of a Terry stop means that a detainee is not free to leave during the investigation, yet is not entitled to Miranda rights. Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 439-41, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 3150-51, 82 L.Ed.2d 317 (1984). Therefore, the pertinent question is whether Swanson was in custody during the investigatory detention for the purposes of determining whether his Fifth Amendment rights were violated. 14 In determining whether a defendant was subject to custodial interrogation we look to the totality of the circumstances to determine `how a reasonable man in the suspect's position would have understood the situation.' Salvo, 133 F.3d at 948 (quoting United States v. Phillip, 948 F.2d 241, 247 (6th Cir.1991), cert. denied, 504 U.S. 930, 112 S.Ct. 1994, 118 L.Ed.2d 590 (1992)). The ultimate inquiry is simply whether there is a formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement of the degree associated with a formal arrest. United States v. Knox, 839 F.2d 285, 291 (6th Cir.1988) (quoting California v. Beheler, 463 U.S. 1121, 1125, 103 S.Ct. 3517, 3520, 77 L.Ed.2d 1275 (1983) (per curiam) (internal quotation marks omitted)). 15 After considering the totality of the circumstances of this investigatory detention, we conclude that Swanson was not subject to custodial interrogation. Although Swanson was not free to leave during the questioning, the restraint exercised never reached the level associated with formal arrest or a coercive context tantamount to custody. Salvo, 133 F.3d at 953. 16 The first factor this court considers is whether a reasonable person in the defendant's position would feel free to leave. Crossley, 224 F.3d at 861. However, as noted above, in the context of a Terry -style investigatory detention, a person is not free to leave, at least temporarily. Thus, the first factor in the determination weighs in favor of defining Swanson's detention and questioning as a custodial interrogation. Other factors we take into consideration include: 17 (1) the purpose of the questioning; (2) whether the place of the questioning was hostile or coercive; (3) the length of the questioning; and (4) other indicia of custody such as whether the suspect was informed at the time that the questioning was voluntary or that the suspect was free to leave or to request the officers to do so; whether the suspect possessed unrestrained freedom of movement during questioning; and whether the suspect initiated contact with the police ... [or] acquiesced to their requests to answer some questions. 18 Ibid. (quoting Salvo, 133 F.3d at 950). 19 The place of the questioning was not hostile or coercive. The questioning took place outside, in a public space, with other agents and at least seven or eight other people from inside the shop nearby. The Supreme Court addressed detentions in public spaces in Berkemer in the context of detentions during traffic stops. Berkemer, 468 U.S. at 438-39, 104 S.Ct. at 3149-50. The Court noted that exposure to public view both reduces the ability of an unscrupulous policeman to use illegitimate means to elicit self-incriminating statements and diminishes the [detainee's] fear that, if he does not cooperate, he will be subjected to abuse. Id. at 438, 104 S.Ct. at 3149. 20 The place of the questioning in the present case is substantially less hostile or coercive than in other cases in which this court or the Supreme Court has held that a detainee was not entitled to a Miranda warning. See Beheler, 463 U.S. at 1125-26, 103 S.Ct. at 3520 (detainee not in custody although questioning took place in a police station); Mathiason, 429 U.S. at 495-96, 97 S.Ct. at 714 (questioning at State Police offices behind closed doors not a custodial interrogation where defendant was informed he was not under arrest and was allowed to leave at the conclusion of the interview); Mason v. Mitchell, 320 F.3d 604, 632 (6th Cir.2003) (defendant not in custody although transported to police station in police car as defendant voluntarily agreed to answer questions, was told he was free to leave, and was not under arrest during interview). Moreover, this case is analogous to Salvo, in which this court noted that the locations of defendant's interviews, his dormitory computer room and a Burger King parking lot, were not hostile or coercive environments. Salvo, 133 F.3d at 950-51. 21 Swanson also possessed unrestrained freedom of movement during the questioning by Fleming. While he was not free to leave until his name was cleared through the LEIN, he was not in handcuffs or in any other way restrained. Moreover, he was not arrested at the conclusion of the interview. While it is unclear from the testimony how long the questioning lasted, it is clear that the questioning only lasted as long as the time that it took to clear Swanson's name through the LEIN. It was not a prolonged interrogation, and Swanson was told that he would be free to leave as soon as his name was cleared. 22 Most important to our analysis, though, is that Swanson was explicitly told by Fleming that he was not under arrest and that he did not have so speak with him if he did not choose to. Swanson readily acquiesced, and seemed very cooperative and willing to talk. As noted in Salvo, a statement by a law enforcement officer to a suspect that he is not under arrest is an important part of the analysis of whether the suspect was in custody. Salvo, 133 F.3d at 951 (suspect not in custody where he was advised he was not under arrest and was free to leave at any time); see also Mathiason, 429 U.S. at 495, 97 S.Ct. at 713-14 (defendant who was questioned at police station was not in custody where officer informed him that he was not under arrest and was free to leave at the end of the interview); United States v. Sivils, 960 F.2d 587, 598 (6th Cir.1992) (defendant not in custody where he was informed before questioning that he was not under arrest); United States v. Macklin, 900 F.2d 948, 951 (6th Cir.) (record would not support finding that defendants were in custody where told that they were not under arrest and were free to terminate questioning at any time), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 840, 111 S.Ct. 116, 112 L.Ed.2d 86 (1990). 23 Swanson argues that the facts in his case are analogous to the facts in United States v. Jones, 846 F.2d 358 (6th Cir.1988). In Jones, the defendant was stopped by three police cars after the police received a call from a citizen who reported that he had witnessed a man place a long-barreled rifle or gun in the front seat of his car. Id. at 359. According to the witness, the man appeared to be angry or was arguing with his female companion. Ibid. The witness gave the police a description of the car and a license plate number. Ibid. One unmarked and two marked police cars, all with lights flashing, stopped Jones in a way that his car was physically prevented from leaving the scene. Ibid. During the brief encounter with the police, Jones, a convicted felon, admitted that he had a gun back at his apartment. Ibid. He then followed the police back to his apartment in his own car. Id. at 360. After a policeman looked for the gun in the apartment and could not find it, Jones showed them where it was and he was arrested. Ibid. 24 The issue on appeal in Jones was whether Jones gave voluntary consent to the search of his apartment. The court held that he did not. Id. at 362. It also held, unnecessarily, that Jones was in custody when questioned and brought back to his apartment, because the police had deprived Jones of his freedom of action in a significant way. Id. at 361. First, this holding might be considered dicta in that it was not necessary to the determination of the issue on appeal. Second, a bare conclusion that Jones was in custody because he had been deprived of his freedom of action in a significant way would be in direct contradiction to the Supreme Court's holding in Berkemer. In Berkemer, the Court held that a motorist temporarily detained in a traffic stop does not have the right to a Miranda warning even though a traffic stop significantly curtails the `freedom of action' of the driver.... Berkemer, 468 U.S. at 436, 441, 104 S.Ct. at 3148, 3150. 25 Therefore, the court in Jones must have concluded that the stop at issue was something more than the routine traffic stop addressed in Berkemer. Indeed, a routine traffic stop does not usually involve three police cars blocking the stopped vehicle. In comparing Jones to the present case, however, it is clear that there are significant differences. In Jones, the questioning took place in a coercive atmosphere because Jones was surrounded by three police cars with lights flashing. There is also no indication that he was told that the questioning was voluntary, or that he would be free to leave at the end of it, although he was told that he did not have to let the police officers search his car. Contrary to Swanson's assertion, the test for whether a person is in custody for Miranda purposes is not simply whether a reasonable person would have felt free to leave in the circumstances surrounding the interrogation. Although the felt free to leave inquiry may be a factor for consideration, see Crossley, 224 F.3d at 861; Salvo, 133 F.3d at 949-50, the ultimate inquiry is simply whether there is a formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement of the degree associated with a formal arrest. Knox, 839 F.2d at 291 (quoting California v. Beheler, 463 U.S. 1121, 1125, 103 S.Ct. 3517, 3520, 77 L.Ed.2d 1275 (1983) (per curiam) (internal quotation marks omitted)). 26 The court in Jones concluded that based on the totality of the circumstances, there was a restraint of movement of the degree associated with formal arrest. In reviewing the totality of the circumstances, we conclude that Swanson was not in custody for Miranda purposes, and that the district court did not err when it denied the motion to suppress his statements.