Court Opinion

ID: 9480442
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 07:48:14.224891+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:47:41.720443
License: Public Domain

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
Although the concerns of United States v. Wolf, 879 F.2d 1320 (6th Cir.1989) and Arizona v. Roberson, 486 U.S. 675, 108 S.Ct. 2093, 100 L.Ed.2d 704 (1988) are present to a lesser degree in this case, defendant was in custody. He had requested an attorney on another pending charge and one had been provided. He thus falls under the stricture of Roberson. The fact that he had been in custody for a substantial length of time may or may not have increased the “pressures of custodial interrogation.” Most importantly, Roberson was intended to provide a bright line for members of the law enforcement community as to when they could interrogate suspects and when they could not. The bright line rule is for the benefit of the courts as well.
I concur in the judgment of the court since I believe the admission of the confession was harmless. The statute under which defendant was convicted makes it a crime to mail a letter threatening the President or Vice President of the United States. The handwriting expert testified that “it’s a strong probability which is virtually certain that he [defendant] wrote it.” The fingerprint expert testified that 22 of the 27 fingerprints on the letter were defendant’s. Further, Hall’s name appears as one of the signatures to the letter and his first name in the contents of the letter. “[Ajbsent the improperly admitted, confession, it is clear beyond a reasonable doubt that the jury would have returned a verdict of guilty.” Wolf, 879 F.2d at 1324.