United States v. Lafferty

372 F. Supp. 2d 446, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17028, 2005 WL 1330378
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 6, 2005
Docket1:04-cr-00002
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 372 F. Supp. 2d 446 (United States v. Lafferty) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Lafferty, 372 F. Supp. 2d 446, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17028, 2005 WL 1330378 (W.D. Pa. 2005).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION and ORDER OF COURT

GIBSON, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on four motions of the Defendant: Motion for Severance of Defendants with Citation of Authority (Document No. 29), Motion to Suppress Statements with Citation of Authority (Document No. 30), Motion to *450 Produce Evidence which the Government Intends to Use Under Federal Rules of Evidence 404(b) and 609 with Citation of Authority (Document No. 31) and Motion for Discovery of Taped Statement with Citation of Authority (Document No. 32). The Court has been informed that the Government will provide the taped statement sought in the latter discovery motion, and therefore, the Court finds that this motion is moot. The Court also notes that the co-defendant in this matter, David W. Mitchell, has plead guilty and has been sentenced subsequent to the filing of Defendant Amy L. Lafferty’s (Defendant) Motion for Severance and, therefore, that motion has been rendered moot as well. Therefore, the Court must resolve only two of the four original motions filed by the Defendant. 1 The Court will first analyze the Motion to Suppress and then proceed to analyze the Motion to Produce Evidence.

The Defendant has been indicted for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(u) and § 924(i)(l) and (2). 2 It is alleged that the Defendant along with her co-defendant burglarized a federally licensed firearms dealer in order to trade the stolen weapons from the burglary for illegal substances, including heroin, for their personal use.

I.MOTION TO SUPPRESS STATEMENTS WITH CITATION OF AUTHORITY

It is noted that the Court held a hearing at which testimony was received in regard to the Motion to Suppress on January 31, 2005. The Court’s findings of fact are based upon the testimony and exhibits admitted in that Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(3)(C) hearing.

A. FOURTH AND FIFTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS

The Court sets forth the following findings of fact and conclusions of law in order to resolve the Fourth and Fifth Amendment issues raised by the Defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT
THE JANUARY 10, 2003 INTERVIEW OF THE DEFENDANT
1. On January 10, 2003, the Defendant along with her co-defendant, David W. Mitchell, (“Mitchell”) were contacted by telephone by Special Agent Mark Willgohs (“Willgohs”) of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (“ATF”) and were requested to be interviewed by Willgohs at the Pennsylvania State Police Barracks in Somerset, Pennsylvania (“Barracks”) regarding “an incident”; both the Defendant and Mitchell voluntarily agreed to come to the Barracks and be interviewed.
2. Mitchell and the Defendant were driven to the Barracks by Mitchell’s mother and step-father.
3. On January 10, 2003, beginning at approximately 12:30 P.M., the Defendant was interviewed by both Willgohs and Pennsylvania State Trooper Ed Thomas (“Thomas”); Mitchell was interviewed separately in another office by different law enforcement officers.
*451 4. Willgohs and Thomas were not in police uniforms, did not carry sidearms, did not touch the Defendant or yell and scream at her, did not use any “psychological ploys” on the Defendant, did not threaten or promise anything to the Defendant and did not handcuff the Defendant at any time during this interview.
5. Willgohs informed the Defendant at the outset of the interview that there was no warrant for the Defendant’s arrest and that the authorities present had no plans to arrest her.
6. The room in which the Defendant was interviewed was eight feet by eight feet in dimension, and contained three chairs and a table at the time of the interview; the Defendant sat next to the door and the door was closed during most of the interview, but was left open slightly during the latter part of the interview.
7. The Defendant was informed at the time of this interview that she was free to leave whenever she wished.
8. The Defendant was read the “Statement of Rights” portion of an ATF Department of Treasury Waiver of Right to Remain Silent and of Right to Advice of Counsel form (Government’s Exhibit No. 1) concerning which she had no questions and subsequently she signed said form at 12:50 P.M. indicating that she understood her rights; Willgohs did not read to the Defendant the “Waiver” portion of the form, which indicates that she is waiving her right to remain silent and her right to consult an attorney and have him present during questioning, but the Defendant read this portion of the waiver on her own and also signed this “Waiver”.
9. Prior to the signing of this form, Willgohs indicated to the Defendant that he wanted to question her regarding the burglary of the Mountain Man Sports Shop.
10. The Defendant had not used heroin ■ for three days; the symptoms of heroin withdrawal peak at thirty-six to seventy-two hours after use.
11. During this interview, the Defendant was “dope sick”, that is to say she was in withdrawal from using heroin three days before and was non-responsive to about eighty percent of the questions in the interview; the Defendant requested and was given four or five smoke breaks outside of the building during this interview and also at one point was given soda to drink.
12. During the course of this interview, the Defendant did not admit to committing any criminal conduct.
13. The Defendant did not request to speak with an attorney during this interview.
14. The interview lasted approximately four hours.
15. The Defendant requested to leave to return home to take a shower, but the interview continued for another fifteen minutes regarding only the issue of whether the Defendant would return voluntarily to be interviewed again, and during these fifteen minutes Willgohs and Thomas did not attempt to elicit any substantive information regarding the burglary from the Defendant and the Defendant did not admit to any involvement in the burglary.
16. The interview was finally terminated by Willgohs and Thomas after the Defendant agreed to return *452 within two days to speak with her interviewers again.
THE FIRST JANUARY 15, 2003 INTERVIEW
17.

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Related

United States v. Lafferty
Third Circuit, 2007
United States v. Lafferty
387 F. Supp. 2d 500 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
372 F. Supp. 2d 446, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17028, 2005 WL 1330378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-lafferty-pawd-2005.