Opinion ID: 772375
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Kahl's statements

Text: 11 Kahl was injured in the February 13 shoot-out when he was shot in the abdomen with a shotgun. He underwent surgery that day, and woke the following day. Though he was sedated, he spoke to Special Deputy Sheriff Ronald Perleberg. At 6:00 a.m. on February 14, Kahl asked to speak to Perleberg in order to tell his story. He was informed that he did not have to speak, but elected to do so nevertheless. At 9:00 a.m., FBI agents read Kahl his Miranda rights, and listened to Kahl's story. On the morning of February 21, Kahl again asked to speak to the agents. The agents read Kahl his Miranda rights a second time, and Kahl again spoke. 12 After a hearing that included testimony from Kahl's physician and two assistant professors of pharmacy, the district court suppressed Kahl's February 14 statements, but declined to suppress his statements of February 16 and 21. The court concluded the later statements were voluntarily and knowingly initiated and uninfluenced by coercion or medication. On direct appeal, we affirmed, concluding that Kahl had failed to show the district court's factual findings were clearly erroneous, and that the totality of the circumstances indicate[d] that the statements were a product of a rational intellect and a free will. Faul, 748 F.2d at 1220 (internal quotation omitted). 13 In denying Kahl's § 2255 motion, the district court rejected Kahl's argument that counsel was ineffective for failing to present his testimony at the suppression hearing, noting that Kahl had testified at trial, and that his testimony there failed to establish that his statements were coerced. On appeal, Kahl urges his statements resulted from being held incommunicado and being denied the opportunity to speak with an attorney, in addition to other psychological factors. He asserts not only that counsel was ineffective for failing to present his testimony at the suppression hearing, but that we may not fairly judge the prejudice of that failure by examining his trial testimony on the issue, as his trial attorney also failed to competently question him on the issue. 14 Kahl has submitted a supporting declaration in which he presents facts that he claims his testimony--at trial and at the suppression hearing--should have brought out; little of it is relevant to the voluntariness of his statements. Much of Kahl's declaration consists of his theories regarding the validity of the warrant for his father's arrest and allegations that law enforcement officers interfered with his medical care. Kahl also recounts that he repeatedly asked to use a telephone to contact his family to secure legal assistance, and repeatedly asked for information about proceedings against him. Kahl states, however, that he was told that he was not allowed to call, write, watch television, or read newspapers, and that his only contact could be with the FBI. Kahl adds that as a result of the powerful pain-killing drugs he was prescribed while hospitalized, he was physically and mentally exhausted and experienced difficulty concentrating, and was therefore unable to voluntarily and knowingly waive any rights or sign any statements. 15 For Kahl's ineffective-assistance claim to succeed, he must demonstrate both that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that he was thereby prejudiced. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687-88 (1984). Assuming for the sake of argument that counsel's decision not to present Kahl's testimony at the suppression hearing could be characterized as deficient performance, we believe Kahl's declaration fails to demonstrate that he was thereby prejudiced. Even if Kahl had invoked his right to the presence of an attorney, there is nothing in his declaration that calls into question the district court's conclusion--upheld by this court on appeal--that the February 14 and 21 contacts were initiated by the defendant. Simply stated, Kahl's isolated hospital stay 2 hardly presents the sort of police-dominated coercive atmosphere that would cause us to doubt the intelligence or voluntariness of his waiver of his Miranda rights, and our review of the suppression hearing record indicates that the issue of Kahl's physical and mental states was thoroughly developed through medical testimony. 16 Kahl asserts that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to counsel while in the hospital because he was not allowed to contact an attorney from the hospital and because authorities did not permit Gerald LaFountain, a Montana attorney hired by friends to represent Kahl, to see him in the hospital. In a supporting affidavit, LaFountain attests that he was hired by M.J. Red Beckman to represent Kahl and co-defendant Faul, and that he traveled to North Dakota for this purpose. According to LaFountain, however, between February 17 and 20, he was twice denied access to Kahl in the hospital despite presenting himself as Kahl's attorney. Further, LaFountain attests that he and an investigator were constantly followed and harassed by local and federal law enforcement officials. (Appellant's App. at 57.) 17 We are, from the outset, highly skeptical of Kahl's claim that his rights were somehow violated when LaFountain was denied access. Although LaFountain attests that he considered Kahl to be his client at the time, the record strongly suggests that LaFountain's visit was more in the nature of an attempt to solicit Kahl as a client. Moreover, the Sixth Amendment right to counsel does not attach until a prosecution is commenced, that is, at or after the initiation of adversary judicial criminal proceedings--whether by way of formal charge, preliminary hearing, indictment, information, or arraignment. McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. 171, 175 (1991) (internal quotations omitted). The filing of a criminal complaint and the issuance of an arrest warrant do not constitute the initiation of an adverse judicial proceeding for purposes of McNeil. See United States v. Moore, 122 F.3d 1154, 1155-56 (8th Cir. 1997). Not until his preliminary hearing on March 9, 1983 did Kahl's Sixth Amendment right to counsel attach; accordingly, his Sixth Amendment claim must fail. See Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 429-31 (1986) (rejecting Sixth Amendment challenge to alleged police interference with attorney's attempts to contact defendant).