Opinion ID: 1208887
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Roll call room discussion

Text: Riddle informed Desmond Williams, another detective with the East St. Louis Police Department, that Montgomery did not wish to make a statement. Riddle also told Williams that, based upon the information they had on hand, Montgomery may have been a felon in possession of a firearm, and thus subject to federal criminal charges. Williams then called in Paul Heiser, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to assist with Montgomery's case. Heiser went to the police department building, where Williams briefed him on the case and ran Montgomery's criminal history through a database. Heiser, along with Williams, conducted interviews with Sean Bell and Nathaniel Holmes, two other passengers in the car with Montgomery at the time of the traffic stop. Sometime between 2:30 and 3:00, Heiser and Williams then went down to the department's jail, where Montgomery was present in a cell with some of the other people arrested during that morning's traffic stop. Because they could not speak to him with his cellmates present, Williams and Heiser walked Montgomery up to the roll call room at the station. Williams introduced Heiser to Montgomery and explained why he was in the police station. Williams said that they wanted to talk to Montgomery, but not directly about the facts of his case. Heiser testified that the discussion touched on Montgomery's marital problems and his drinking, and Montgomery also asked why federal authorities were getting involved. The two investigators claimed that because they did not intend to speak with Montgomery about the specifics of his case, they did not give him a set of Miranda warnings before this discussion. When Heiser told Montgomery that he was present at the station because the police had reviewed his criminal history report and suspected he was a felon in possession of a firearm, Montgomery told the two investigators, Well, that's not my firearm. Heiser responded that the other two passengers in the car had given statements, and that the police would examine the gun for fingerprints and would trace the gun back to Montgomery if they found his fingerprints on it. Montgomery again said that the weapon was not his, and Heiser said that if Montgomery wanted to explain [his] side of the story, Heiser could take him upstairs, advise him of his rights, and let him give a statement. During this conversation in the roll call room, Montgomery asked Heiser what sort of jail time he could expect if the case went federal. Heiser replied that the statutory maximum was ten years. (Heiser claims that he was unaware at this time that Montgomery would be sentenced under an Armed Career Criminal provision of the sentencing guidelines, resulting in a longer prison sentence than ten years.) Montgomery told Heiser, I don't want ten years. After some additional back-and-forth on the consequences of state versus federal charges, Montgomery agreed to accompany the officers upstairs for a videotaped interview.