United States v. Daniel G. Rederth

872 F.2d 255, 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 4872, 1989 WL 33740
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedApril 12, 1989
Docket88-5115
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 872 F.2d 255 (United States v. Daniel G. Rederth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Daniel G. Rederth, 872 F.2d 255, 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 4872, 1989 WL 33740 (8th Cir. 1989).

Opinion

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Daniel G. Rederth appeals from the district court’s 1 judgment entered on a jury verdict convicting him of aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 and conspiracy to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. We affirm.

During 1986, Rederth’s brother-in-law, Michael Elsasser, was actively engaged in the distribution of cocaine. Elsasser’s only other income was his annual salary of $16,- *257 000 from his job as a mechanic. Between February 1986 and September 1986 Re-derth made four separate loans of money to Elsasser. The first loan, made in February of 1986, was for $2,000. Elsasser repaid the loan within two weeks. He also paid Rederth $200 in interest and gave him one gram of cocaine. A second loan, for $4,000, was repaid within one month. El-sasser paid $500 in interest on this loan and again gave Rederth one gram of cocaine. The third loan, also for $4,000, was repaid in the same manner as the second loan. The fourth and final loan was made on September 29,1986, and was in the amount of $7,000. Although he had promised to repay Rederth within two weeks, along with $1,000 in interest, Elsasser was arrested before he could do so.

The grand jury returned an indictment charging Rederth with four counts of aiding and abetting the distribution of cocaine —one count for each loan — and one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Re-derth’s position at trial was that he made the first two loans without knowledge that Elsasser was distributing cocaine. He contended that he made the third and fourth loans to allow Elsasser to pay off drug debts and to thus protect Elsasser and his family from Elsasser’s cocaine supplier. The jury found Rederth guilty on the conspiracy count and on the aiding and abetting count premised on the third loan.

I.

After Elsasser was arrested, Detective Dan Peterson of the Rapid City Police Department and Agent Kevin Thom of the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation traveled to Sheridan, Wyoming, to interview Rederth. An officer of the Sheridan Police Department called Rederth and asked him to come to the police station to speak with Peterson and Thom. Rederth complied, and during the interview allegedly stated that he knew Elsasser was going to purchase “a bunch of cocaine” with the $7,000 Rederth had loaned him. Prior to trial, Rederth moved to suppress the statement as involuntary. After a hearing on the motion, the district court determined that the statement was voluntarily given.

Detective Peterson testified during the government’s case in chief. He described the circumstances surrounding the interview and recounted Rederth’s statement. The district court sustained Rederth’s objection to testimony that the interview ended when the officers suggested to Rederth that he obtain an attorney, and the court instructed the jury to disregard the statement. On cross-examination, defense counsel elicited testimony from Detective Peterson that Rederth was not given the Miranda warnings prior to questioning. On redirect examination, Peterson testified that after approximately thirty minutes Re-derth indicated that he wished to end the interview and then asked the officers, “What would you guys do?” The officers responded that perhaps he should consult with an attorney, whereupon Rederth left the police station. The district court overruled Rederth’s objection to the admission of this testimony and denied a subsequent mistrial motion.

Rederth argues that admission of Detective Peterson’s testimony regarding Rederth’s termination of the interview was an improper use of Rederth’s silence in violation of Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976). We do not agree.

Doyle held that the use of a defendant’s post-Miranda warnings silence for impeachment purposes is fundamentally unfair “because Miranda warnings inform a person of his right to remain silent and assure him, at least implicitly, that his silence will not be used against him.” Anderson v. Charles, 447 U.S. 404, 407-08, 100 S.Ct. 2180, 2181-82, 65 L.Ed.2d 222 (1980) (per curiam); see also Greer v. Miller, 483 U.S. 756, 107 S.Ct. 3102, 3107, 97 L.Ed.2d 618 (1987); Wainwright v. Greenfield, 474 U.S. 284, 290, 106 S.Ct. 634, 638, 88 L.Ed.2d 623 (1986); Fletcher v. Weir, 455 U.S. 603, 606, 102 S.Ct. 1309, 1311, 71 L.Ed.2d 490 (1982) (per curiam); Jenkins v. Anderson, 447 U.S. 231, 240, 100 S.Ct. 2124, 2130, 65 L.Ed.2d 86 (1980). Rederth was not under arrest and had not been *258 given the standard Miranda warnings. He was told that he did not have to talk to the officers and that he could terminate the interview at any time. When he asked the officers what they would do, they suggested that he consult an attorney. Noticeably absent from the warnings given to Rederth was the explanation that anything said by him could and would be used against him in court. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 469, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1625, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). The Supreme Court has indicated that it is this component of the Miranda warnings which is the source of the implicit affirmative assurance that a suspect’s silence will not be used against him. See South Dakota v. Neville, 459 U.S. 553, 565, 103 S.Ct. 916, 923, 74 L.Ed.2d 748 (1983) (dictum); see also Greenfield, 474 U.S. at 298, 106 S.Ct. at 642 (Rehnquist, J., concurring) (“The logical corollary of this warning — that what respondent does say can be used against him — is that what he does not say cannot.” (Emphasis in original)). Thus, Rederth was not given affirmative governmental assurances that his silence would not be used against him. The strictures of Doyle and its progeny were therefore not violated. See Weir, 455 U.S. at 607, 102 S.Ct. at 1312.

II.

Rederth next asserts that the district court improperly refused his requested theory of defense instruction, which stated:

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Bluebook (online)
872 F.2d 255, 1989 U.S. App. LEXIS 4872, 1989 WL 33740, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-daniel-g-rederth-ca8-1989.