Opinion ID: 362346
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Miranda Contentions

Text: 100 The defendants argue that Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), was violated in several instances. First, they claim that they were entitled to receive Miranda warnings from CPO Lewis when first boarded because that boarding created a custodial situation. Seeid. at 444, 86 S.Ct. at 1612. This boarding was a routine boarding under the well-established maritime doctrine of right of approach, and was intended merely to ascertain the nationality of the La Rosa. Indeed, when that task was accomplished, CPO Lewis, who had boarded alone, was recalled to the Cape York. This circuit, sitting en banc, recently held that a routine Coast Guard boarding does not in and of itself create a custodial situation calling for the reading of Miranda rights. United States v. Warren, 578 F.2d 1058, 1070 (5th Cir. 1978) (en banc). Moreover, nothing that CPO Lewis did after he boarded required that he give the warnings. Postal's statement Can you be bought? was apparently volunteered without any prompting on the part of CPO Lewis, who had merely asked to see the La Rosa's papers. Therefore, we find Warren controlling here. 101 Second, it is argued that the statements made by the defendants to Lt. Beardsworth and Chief Gaskill aboard the Cape York after their arrest were barred by Miranda. By this time the defendants had been read their rights twice once on board the La Rosa by CPO Lewis upon the second boarding and again by Lt. Beardsworth when the defendants were brought aboard the Cape York. The unrefuted testimony of Chief Gaskill was that the statements were volunteered and that he asked absolutely no questions of any of the defendants during the period when they uttered the incriminating statements. Record, vol. 3, at 247. Miranda, by its own terms, does not exclude such statements: Volunteered statements of any kind are not barred by the Fifth Amendment and their admissibility is not affected by our holding today. 384 U.S. at 478, 86 S.Ct. at 1630; United States v. Garcia-Godos, 541 F.2d 1123 (5th Cir. 1976) (per curiam) (voluntary post-Miranda-warning statements admissible). Similarly, the record does not indicate that the statement made by Postal to Lt. Beardsworth that the La Rosa was low on fuel was anything but voluntary. Therefore, we hold the defendants' statements not to have been admitted in violation of Miranda.4. The Bruton Issue 102 The defendants question the admissibility of their postarrest statements against those not uttering them on the dual basis that they are hearsay and violative of Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), which holds that one codefendant's confession implicating another is inadmissible if the confessor refuses to testify. Since we find these statements properly admissible for nonhearsay purposes, we find that their admission did not contravene Bruton. 103 We start with the observation that the postarrest utterances of coconspirators do not qualify as nonhearsay under Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(2)(E), which removes from the realm of hearsay statements made by a coconspirator during and in furtherance of the conspiracy. A coconspirator's participation in a conspiracy ends with his arrest, and therefore his postarrest statements are not made during the course of the conspiracy. United States v. Arias-Diaz, 497 F.2d 165, 171 (5th Cir. 1974), Cert. denied, 420 U.S. 1003,95 S.Ct. 1446, 43 L.Ed.2d 761 (1975). See United States v. Warren,578 F.2d at 1058. It does not follow, however, that because a coconspirator statement does not come within rule 801(d)(2)(E) it is inadmissible for any purpose. The statement may be probative of an issue at trial apart from the truth or falsity of its contents, and if so it may be admissible as nonhearsay because it is not offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. See Fed.R.Evid. 801(c). We think the postarrest statements made here are of substantial probity with respect to several significant issues regardless of whether the matters they assert are in fact true. 104 The questioned statements include that of Chitty made to Chief Gaskill, We made a mistake by throwing the papers overboard and not laying (Sic ) offshore until a pickup. Also contested is the statement attributed by Gaskill to both Postal and Forsythe, It was to be an $80,000 one-time shot for $80,000. Finally, the defendants dispute the admissibility of the statement made by Postal to Lt. Beardsworth that the La Rosa was low on fuel. We shall take up the statements made to Gaskill first. 105 Chitty's statement is highly probative of a crucial issue in the case, the intent of the defendants to import the marijuana into the United States. This is an essential element of the crime under 21 U.S.C. § 963 (1976). The statement is probative independent of the truth-value of the matter asserted. It is irrelevant whether in fact boats were coming to pick up the marijuana from the La Rosa while she hovered beyond the twelve-mile limit. The probity of the statement derives wholly from the fact that Chitty Thought that they were, thereby tending to show that he intended that the marijuana be introduced into the United States. By the same reasoning, the utterance is probative of the defendants' intent to distribute the marijuana, an element of the conspiracy charged under 21 U.S.C. § 846 (1976). Moreover, the mere fact that he made the statement is relevant to the issues of Chitty's knowledge of the conspiracy and his participation in it. Cf. United States v. Bobo, 586 F.2d 355, 371-72 (5th Cir. 1978). 106 Similarly, the statements of Postal and Forsythe made to each other in the presence of Chief Gaskill tend to prove their participation in the conspiracy and their knowledge of it, wholly apart from whether the deal was in fact one-shot or for $80,000. The relevance of the assertions derives from their shared conception that the cruise was designed to accomplish that end. These statements, like Chitty's, are probative of the defendants' intent to distribute the marijuana. 107 Postal's statement to Lt. Beardsworth has nonhearsay significance because the termination of the voyage in the United States would be a probable consequence of Postal's belief whether well-founded or not that the La Rosa was low on fuel. That Postal thought the La Rosa was low on fuel was clearly inconsistent with his statement that the La Rosa was en route to Belize. For these reasons, we find the statements admissible for nonhearsay purposes. 108 We now turn to the Bruton problem, which evaporates by virtue of our conclusion that the statements are admissible for nonhearsay purposes. Bruton concerned a postarrest Confession of one codefendant sought to be introduced against the other. Confessions characteristically have little, if any, probative value for purposes other than the truth of the matter asserted in them, and therefore they generally fall within the heartland of hearsay. It is precisely the inability of a codefendant effectively to dispute the truth of a confession that led the court in Bruton to hold its introduction violative of the confrontation clause. 391 U.S. at 136 & n.12, 58 S.Ct. at 1628. But when the statement has probity independent of its truth, to that extent there is no confrontation issue. The only question is whether the declarant in fact uttered the statement, and the witness who relates the statement is fully subject to all the rigors of cross-examination. 109 (A defendant is) not deprived of any right of confrontation on the issue of whether (the codefendant) actually made the statement related by (the witness). Neither a hearsay nor a confrontation question would arise had (the witness's) testimony been used to prove merely that the statement had been made. The hearsay rule does not prevent a witness from testifying as to what he has heard; it is rather a restriction on the proof of fact through extrajudicial statements. From the viewpoint of the Confrontation Clause, a witness under oath, subject to cross-examination, and whose demeanor can be observed by the trier of fact, is a reliable informant not only as to what he has seen but also as to what he has heard. 110 Dutton v. Evans, 400 U.S. 74, 88, 91 S.Ct. 210, 219, 27 L.Ed.2d 213 (1970) (footnote omitted). We find no Bruton error here. 5. The Fourth Amendment Issues 111 As we noted above, see note 15, the initial boarding of the La Rosa, occurring within the twelve-mile limit, was authorized by 19 U.S.C. § 1581(a) (1976) and 19 C.F.R. § 162.3(a)(1) (1978). 43 These provisions authorize routine documentary checks without probable cause or articulable suspicion, and they apply equally to foreign and domestic vessels. United States v. Freeman, 579 F.2d 942, 945 (5th Cir. 1978); Cf. United States v. Warren, 578 F.2d 1058, 1067-70 (5th Cir. 1978) (en banc) (construing analogous provisions in 14 U.S.C. § 89(a) (1976)). In Freeman we analyzed the fourth amendment ramifications of section 1581(a) and concluded that boardings pursuant to its provisions for the purpose of making documentary checks are both statutorily authorized and constitutionally permissible. 579 F.2d at 947. Therefore, we find the first boarding constitutionally unimpeachable. 112 A concomitant to the prerogative to board is the authority, indeed the duty, to act upon suspicions aroused during the boarding. Id. at 947-48. As we said in Warren, (i)f, during the course of such an inspection, circumstances arise that generate probable cause to believe that a violation of United States law has occurred, the Coast Guard may conduct searches, seize evidence, and make arrests. 578 F.2d at 1065 (citing United States v. Odom, 526 F.2d 339, 342 (5th Cir. 1976)). We think it abundantly clear that probable cause to believe that a crime was being perpetrated or contemplated by the defendants arose on the first boarding and wholly as a result of the legitimate exercise of Coast Guard authority. 113 The most telling circumstance supporting this conclusion is, of course, the statement made by Postal during the first boarding asking CPO Lewis if he could be bought. There are other facts as well: Postal refused to allow the initial boarding; the La Rosa maneuvered so as to make the boarding difficult; the logbook pages showing positions in South America were thrown overboard; the La Rosa's hatches, which had been open prior to the first boarding, were closed when CPO Lewis went aboard; and the La Rosa changed course after the first boarding to a heading taking her out of United States Customs waters. The district judge expressly found probable cause for the second boarding, Record, vol. 2, at 335, and we think these circumstances were more than ample to create probable cause and therefore provide constitutional justification for the second boarding and the seizure of the La Rosa. United States v. Weinrich, 586 F.2d 481, 492 (5th Cir. 1978); United States v. Cadena, 585 F.2d 1252, 1263 (5th Cir. 1978). Certainly the trial judge's finding was not clearly erroneous; therefore, it stands. Campbell v. United States, 373 U.S. 487, 493, 83 S.Ct. 1356, 1360, 10 L.Ed.2d 501 (1963). 114 We think the search of the La Rosa following the defendants' arrest well within constitutional limits because it was consented to by Forsythe. The record indicates that Forsythe opened the hatch of his own accord, revealing the marijuana. Record, vol. 3, at 205. Considering all the circumstances as we must, Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 227, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 2048, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973), we find the search consensual. Forsythe had been given Miranda warnings at this point, 44 and although he had been arrested there is absolutely nothing in the record to support the inference that the search was coerced in any way. (T)he fact of custody alone has never been enough to demonstrate a coerced confession or consent to search. United States v. Watson, 423 U.S. 411, 424, 96 S.Ct. 820, 828, 46 L.Ed.2d 598 (1976); Accord, United States v. Hall, 565 F.2d 917, 920 (5th Cir. 1978). We think the validity of this search follows a fortiori from the search upheld in Hall, 45 where the defendant had been arrested but no Miranda warnings had been given: 115 In sum there is no evidence in the record of any intimidation, physical or psychological abuse, or threats tending to invalidate the consent. The absence of a Miranda warning prior to the search is only one factor in assessing voluntariness. In light of the surrounding facts and circumstances, we are convinced that the consent was voluntary. 116 Id. at 921; See United States v. Villarreal, 565 F.2d 932, 937 (5th Cir. 1978). 117 We hold, therefore, that the first boarding was valid even without articulable suspicion as a documentary inquiry sanctioned by international custom and domestic legislation. The second boarding and seizure was premised on probable cause, and the search that ensued was consensual. We find no fourth amendment infirmity. 6. Sufficiency of the Evidence 118 The defendants' attack on the sufficiency of the evidence is addressed to the importation element of the conspiracy charged under 21 U.S.C. § 963 (1976). We think the evidence adduced at trial amply demonstrates that the defendants intended to import the marijuana seized on board the La Rosa. According to the testimony of Chief Gaskill, Chitty stated that they, the defendants, had made a mistake in not waiting beyond the twelve-mile limit until the pickup boats had come. This statement, whether true or not, unequivocally demonstrates that it was the understood objective of the conspiracy to introduce the marijuana into the United States and to sell it there. Postal stated to Lt. Beardsworth that the La Rosa was low on fuel, and Forsythe answered no to CPO Lewis's question whether the defendants were really going to Belize. These statements as well tend to prove, independently of the truth of the matters they assert, that the defendants intended to import the marijuana. One additional fact of relevance is a statement in the La Rosa's logbook, 46 made the day before she was sighted by the Cape York. The statement reads as follows: 32 hours and 95 miles to go. Record, vol. 3, at 82. It was the testimony of Lt. Beardsworth, who had been qualified as an expert, that, given the time the entry was made and the position and course indicated, ninety-five miles would have put the La Rosa at American Shoal, near Key West. Id. at 92. Reviewing all these facts in the light most favorable to the Government, we find them more than sufficient to support the finding beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants intended to import the marijuana.