Opinion ID: 450747
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Fruit of Miranda

Text: 36 At the suppression hearing before Cherry's second trial, the sole basis the government asserted for the admission of the pistol, bullets, and pistol case discovered above Cherry's ceiling was the inevitable discovery exception to the exclusionary rule. This may have been so because in Cherry I we stated that Cherry's consent to the second search was the unlawful product of the government's inquiry regarding the gun. 733 F.2d at 1132 n. 15. On remand, this statement--clearly implying that Cherry's consent was tainted as the fruit of the Miranda violation--became the law of the case and prevented the parties from reconsidering the effect of the consent apart from that taint. Similarly, since the second search was clearly conducted in response to Cherry's description of the location of the evidence supplied immediately following the Miranda violation, the application of the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine to the Miranda violation no doubt discouraged the parties from arguing that consent was not needed to perfect the search. On appeal, the government for the first time defends the district court's admission of the pistol and other items on the additional ground that, contrary to our statement in Cherry I, the search of the ceiling above Cherry's barracks was (1) not tainted by the Miranda violation and (2) conducted pursuant to Cherry's valid consent under the fourth amendment. Although it is our practice to treat as conclusive the prior determinations by this court of issues presented in earlier appeals of the same case, we have stated that such a rule is not an inexorable command and should not be followed when  'controlling authority has since made a contrary decision of the law applicable to such issues.'  Daly v. Sprague, 742 F.2d 896, 900 (5th Cir.1984) (quoting White v. Murtha, 377 F.2d 428, 431-32 (5th Cir.1967)); see also United States v. McClain, 593 F.2d 658, 664 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 918, 100 S.Ct. 234, 62 L.Ed.2d 173 (1979). Because we find that, in light of the recent Supreme Court case of Oregon v. Elstad, --- U.S. ----, 105 S.Ct. 1285, 84 L.Ed.2d 222 (1985), our statement in Cherry I no longer reflects the current state of the law, we are compelled at this juncture to reconsider the validity of Cherry's consent to the second search under both the fourth and the fifth amendments and remand for appropriate findings of fact and conclusions of law. 17 37 Oregon v. Elstad concerned whether a confession made after the police gave a suspect proper Miranda warnings is inadmissible on the ground that the police had earlier obtained an unwarned admission from the suspect. In considering the issue with respect to the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine, 18 the Supreme Court initially noted that a violation of Miranda is not a violation of the fifth amendment itself. Rather, Miranda established a nonconstitutional prophylactic rule, the violation of which creates an irrebutable presumption of coercion that is applicable in only a limited number of circumstances. For instance, while the presumption requires suppression of unwarned statements for purposes of the prosecution's case-in-chief, the presumption does not bar introduction of the incriminating statements for impeachment purposes on cross-examination. 19 When an unwarned statement is used in situations where the presumption does not apply, the primary criterion of admissibility [remains] the 'old' due process voluntary test. Id. at ----, 105 S.Ct. at 1293 (citations & quotations omitted). Based on the foregoing and relying heavily on Michigan v. Tucker, 417 U.S. 433, 94 S.Ct. 2357, 41 L.Ed.2d 182 (1974), the Court then held that, where there is no actual infringement of a suspect's constitutional rights, mere departures from the Miranda rule did not require the exclusion of derivative evidence. 20 This principle was stated to be applicable regardless of whether the alleged fruit of a noncoercive Miranda violation is an article of evidence or the accused's own voluntary testimony. Said the Court: 38 Because Miranda warnings may inhibit persons from giving information, this Court has determined that they need be administered only after the person is taken into custody or his freedom has otherwise been significantly restrained. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S., at 478 [86 S.Ct., at 1630]. Unfortunately, the task of defining custody is a slippery one, and policemen investigating serious crimes [cannot realistically be expected to] make no errors whatsoever. Michigan v. Tucker, supra, [417 U.S.,] at 446 [94 S.Ct., at 2364]. If errors are made by law enforcement officers in administering the prophylactic Miranda procedures, they should not breed the same irremediable consequences as police infringement of the Fifth Amendment itself. It is an unwarranted extension of Miranda to hold that a simple failure to administer the warnings, unaccompanied by any actual coercion or other circumstances calculated to undermine the suspect's ability to exercise his free will so taints the investigatory process that a subsequent voluntary and informed waiver is ineffective for some indeterminate period. Though Miranda requires that the unwarned admission must be suppressed, the admissibility of any subsequent statement should turn in these circumstances solely on whether it is knowingly and voluntarily made. 39 Id. at ----, 105 S.Ct. at 1292. 40 Our statement in Cherry I that Cherry's consent to the second search was the tainted product of the violation of his Miranda rights does not survive the Supreme Court's holding in Elstad. While Cherry's confession and other incriminating statements remain inadmissible under the prophylactic rule, the validity of Cherry's consent and the admissibility of the derivative evidence depend solely on whether they are the product of an actual violation of a constitutional right. With respect to the fourth amendment, the government asserts that Cherry's consent was voluntary and not causally related to Cherry's initial illegal arrest. We discuss this argument infra and remand for appropriate fact findings. With respect to the fifth amendment, the government is silent, perhaps in reliance on the district court's finding at the first suppression hearing that Cherry's incriminating statements were voluntary and thus not violative of the fifth amendment. 21 However, because the district court did not adopt or even refer to this finding at the second suppression hearing, we also remand the issue whether Cherry's description of the location of the pistol or confession were violative of the fifth amendment. If the district court finds such a violation, it must then determine whether the violation tainted the subsequent consent or, if consent was unnecessary, whether the violation otherwise tainted the evidence found in Cherry's ceiling. 22