U.S. v. Colonna, 06-5237 (4^th Cir., Dec. 20, 2007)

U.S. v. Revels, 06-5223 (10^th Cir., Dec. 20, 2007)

U.S. v. Williams, 06-5036 (10^th Cir., Dec. 20, 2007)

U.S. v. Valenzuela, 05-61130 (5^th Cir., Dec. 19, 2007)

A criminal defendant getting a dismissal from the Fifth? Another defendant getting a new trial from the Fourth? And two criminal reversals in one day from the Tenth? Christmas has come a little early this year, at least in these circuits.

In Colonna, the Fourth Circuit tosses out the confession of a defendant who admitted possessing child pornography while agents were searching his house. From the opinion:

Colonna was awakened by armed agents and guarded by agents until the search and interview concluded.The home was inundated with approximately 24 officers who gave Colonna and his family members instructions; that is, they told them where to sit and restricted their access to the home. Colonna did not voluntarily request to speak with Agent Kahn. Instead, Agent Kahn requested that Colonna accompany him to a FBI vehicle to answer questions, wherein a full-fledged interrogation took place. Agent Kahn questioned Colonna for almost three hours, albeit with breaks. But, even during these breaks, Colonna was constantly guarded. Although Colonna was not placed under formal arrest, he was told twice that lying to a federal agent was a federal offense. And, at no time was he given Miranda warnings or informed that he was free to leave.

Still, the district court denied Colonna’s motion to suppress, relying on the fact that the FBI agent had advised Colonna that he was not under arrest. On appeal, the Fourth reverses, concluding that the agent’s statements are not dispositive, and that the totality of the circumstances indicates that Colonna would not have felt free to leave. Accordingly, his un-Mirandized statements should have been suppressed.

The Tenth faced a similar issue in Revels, where the defendant was roused from bed in her underwear, handcuffed, and placed face down on the floor as officers executed a search warrant in her home. After ten minutes, she was uncuffed so that she could get dressed and feed her infant. Then, she was taken into a bedroom, questioned, and confronted with a bag of cocaine that officers had found. The district court decided to suppress her incriminating statements, and the Tenth affirms.

The Tenth gives an even better Christmas gift to the defendant in Williams, vacating his life sentence and ordering dismissal of his drug and gun indictment due to a Speedy Trial Act violation. Speedy Trial Act dismissals must be the gift of choice this year, as the Fifth also handed out one yesterday in Valenzuela, an illegal reentry case. 

Posted Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:58:55 and filed under Fifth Amendment, Decision of the Day. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.