United States v. Freeman

61 F. Supp. 3d 534, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161511, 2014 WL 6473691
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedNovember 18, 2014
DocketNo. 1:14-CR-322 (JCC)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 61 F. Supp. 3d 534 (United States v. Freeman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Freeman, 61 F. Supp. 3d 534, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161511, 2014 WL 6473691 (E.D. Va. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JAMES C. CACHERIS, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Defendant Ralph Freeman’s Motion to Suppress Evidence [Dkt. 28]. For the following reasons, the motion will be granted and the Defendant’s statements will be suppressed.

I. Background

Beginning in April of 2013, federal law enforcement agents with Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI Agents”) identified an IP address with suspected child pornography files available for sharing. After additional investigation, HSI Agents determined the subject IP address was assigned to a house in Falls Church, Virginia, where Defendant Ralph Freeman (“Defendant” or “Freeman”) resides with his wife and their children.

On July 30, 2013, HSI Agents executed a federal search warrant at Freeman’s house to search for evidence related to violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251, 2252, and 2252A, which criminalizes the production, advertisement, distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography. During the execution of the search warrant, two HSI Agents interviewed Freeman in an upstairs bedroom. The circumstances surrounding the execution of the search warrant, and the subsequent interview of Freeman by HSI Agents, are now at issue in this motion to suppress.

Over a year -later, on September 25, 2014, a federal grand jury indicted Freeman with one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. [Dkt. 16.] Freeman appeared with counsel for arraignment on October 2, 2014, entered a plea of not guilty, and requested a trial by jury, which is currently scheduled for November 24,2014. [Dkt. 22.]

Presently before the Court is Freeman’s Motion to Suppress. Freeman asks the Court to preclude all statements he made during the interview with HSI Agents. (Def.’s Mem. in Supp. [Dkt. 29] at 2.) Freeman contends that the statements should be suppressed from use at trial because the statements were taken in violation of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. (Id.) The Gov[536]*536ernment filed an opposition brief on November 4, 2014, contesting Freeman’s arguments. (Gov’t Opp’n [Dkt. 33].)

The sole issue before the Court is whether the interview of Freeman constituted “custodial interrogation” by law enforcement, and more specifically, whether he was in custody, such that Freeman should have been informed of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). The Court conducted an evidentiary hearing on November 13, 2014, and thus, the motion is ripe for disposition. (Hr’g Tr. [Dkt. 39].)

II. Standard of Review

“A person subjected to custodial interrogation is entitled to the procedural safeguards prescribed by Miranda.” United States v. Leshuk, 65 F.3d 1105, 1110 (4th Cir.1995) (citations omitted); see also Miranda, 384 U.S. at 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602 (defining custodial interrogation as “questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.”). Consequently, “any statements a suspect makes during custodial interrogation are inadmissible in the prosecution’s case in chief unless prior Miranda warnings have been given.” Leshuk, 65 F.3d at 1110; see also Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 434-35, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 82 L.Ed.2d 317 (1984).

Initially, the burden of proof is on the defendant who seeks to suppress the evidence. United States v. Dickerson, 655 F.2d 559, 561 (4th Cir.1981). However, once the defendant establishes a basis for the motion to suppress, the burden shifts to the Government, which then bears the burden of establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that the statement was not the product of custodial interrogation conducted in the absence of Miranda warnings. Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 168, 107 S.Ct. 515, 93 L.Ed.2d 473 (1986); United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 178, 94 S.Ct. 988, 39 L.Ed.2d 242 (1974).

A person is “in custody” for Miranda purposes when he is formally arrested or questioned under circumstances in which his freedom of action is curtailed “of the degree associated with a formal arrest.” Leshuk, 65 F.3d at 1110 (quoting Stansbury v. California, 511 U.S. 318, 322, 114 S.Ct. 1526, 128 L.Ed.2d 293 (1994)). To determine whether ah individual was in custody, a court must examine all of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation, Stansbury, 511 U.S. at 322, 114 S.Ct. 1526, and determine whether “a reasonable person [would] have felt he or she was not at liberty to terminate the interrogation and leave.” Thompson v. Keohane, 516 U.S. 99, 112, 116 S.Ct. 457, 133 L.Ed.2d 383 (1995); see also United States v. Hashime, 734 F.3d 278, 283 (4th Cir.2013) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted) (“When deciding whether a defendant not under formal arrest was in custody — and thus if the Miranda requirements apply — a court asks whether, under the totality of the circumstances, a suspect’s freedom of action was curtailed to a degree associated with formal arrest.”).

The Court objectively views the totality of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation and asks “how a reasonable person in the position of the individual being questioned would gauge the breadth of his or her ‘freedom of action.’.” United States v. Hargrove, 625 F.3d 170, 178 (4th Cir.2010) (quoting Stansbury, 511 U.S. at 322, 114 S.Ct. 1526 (quoting Berkemer, 468 U.S. at 440, 104 S.Ct. 3138)). Facts relevant to this objective custodial inquiry include, but are not limited to: “the time, place and purpose of the encounter, the words used by the officer, the officer’s tone of voice and general demeanor, the [537]*537presence of multiple officers, the potential display of a weapon by an officer, and whether there was any physical contact between the officer, and the defendant.... Also pertinent are- the suspect’s isolation and separation from family ... and physical restrictions[.]” Hashime, 734 F.3d at 283 (quoting United States v. Day, 591 F.3d 679, 686 (4th Cir.2010) (additional citation omitted)).

III. Analysis

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Bluebook (online)
61 F. Supp. 3d 534, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161511, 2014 WL 6473691, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-freeman-vaed-2014.