Opinion ID: 196263
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Pagan-San-Miguel's Incriminating Statement.

Text: 49 Pagan-San-Miguel argues that the district court erred by not conducting a hearing out of the jury's presence, pursuant to Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 12 L.Ed.2d 908 (1964), and 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3501(a), 5 to determine the voluntariness of his incriminating statements. Police Officer Samuel Jusino testified that Pagan-San-Miguel, while being held following his arrest, told Jusino that he would make three hundred thousand dollars out of [the drug venture] and, once the arrest signals were given, that he ran and hid himself underneath a metal plank, and if he had found a hole he would have gone through that place. 50 Before the issue of a Jackson v. Denno hearing may be raised on appeal, the issue of voluntariness must have been placed before the district court in a timely and coherent manner. See United States v. Santiago Soto, 871 F.2d 200, 201 (1st Cir.) (failure to raise the issue of voluntariness in a way that would have alerted the trial judge that a Jackson v. Denno hearing was desirable waives right to hearing), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 831, 110 S.Ct. 103, 107 L.Ed.2d 66 (1989); see also United States v. Berry, 977 F.2d 915, 918 (5th Cir.1992) (a generic objection to the admissibility of the confession was insufficient to put the court on notice that defendant sought a Jackson v. Denno hearing and therefore the court's ruling was reviewed for plain error). Pagan-San-Miguel failed to place the issue properly before the trial court here. 51 Pagan-San-Miguel did not specifically object to the admissibility of the statements on voluntariness grounds. He never specifically requested a voluntariness hearing during trial. He never raised the voluntariness issue in his pre-trial motion to suppress statements made to law enforcement personnel. He never raised voluntariness in his objection to the statement at trial. His objection was a narrow foundational one not going to voluntariness--that at the time of Officer Jusino's testimony no one had yet testified that Miranda warnings had been given to Pagan-San-Miguel before he made the incriminating statements. The court specifically asked Pagan-San-Miguel whether his objection as to foundation was a suppression request and Pagan-San-Miguel informed the court that it was not. Indeed during the colloquy with the district court over the testimony, Pagan-San-Miguel conceded that there [was] evidence that [Miranda ] warnings were properly made and there was a waiver. Given his disclaimer that he was seeking suppression of the statement and the total absence of any evidence that the statements were made involuntarily, Pagan-San-Miguel did not sufficiently apprise the district court that voluntariness was an issue. Thus, Pagan-San-Miguel's claim to a Jackson v. Denno hearing has been waived. 52 There also is no colorable claim here that the district court was nevertheless obliged to hold a voluntariness hearing sua sponte. See Santiago Soto, 871 F.2d at 202 (recognizing, without adopting, a rule that such a hearing must be given sua sponte under circumstances, such as a defendant's apparent abnormal mental or physical condition, obvious ignorance or lack of awareness, raising a serious question over voluntariness). At best, Pagan-San-Miguel's argument is that he was so shell-shocked by the events that transpired on the beach that the court must have been alerted to the possibility that he did not understand the Miranda warnings that were given to him and that, as a result, his statements made hours later were involuntary. Undoubtedly a defendant who suddenly becomes aware the police are on to him suffers a jolt, but that jolt does not incapacity make. 53