United States v. Magana

70 F. App'x 859
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJuly 25, 2003
DocketNo. 02-5208
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 70 F. App'x 859 (United States v. Magana) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Magana, 70 F. App'x 859 (6th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

KENNEDY, Circuit Judge.

Defendant Antonio Rodriguez Magana was indicted for one count of knowingly “attempting to possess, obtain, and receive ... [counterfeit] alien registration receipts cards, commonly called ‘green cards,” ’ in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 1546(a) and for two counts of knowingly and willfully making materially false statements and representations to both a United States Post Office clerk and postal inspector in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §§ 2 and 1001. The United States appeals the district court’s order holding that Miranda warnings were necessary because agents seized the Defendant under the Fourth Amendment at the time that they asked him to accompany them voluntarily for a show-up and suppressing the evidentiary fruits from that illegal seizure. For the reasons explained below, we reverse the district court’s suppression order.

I. Facts

On Monday, August 13, 2000, a man entered the Franklin Post Office and asked a postal clerk about a package that he was expecting. The man identified himself as “Andreas Mayer.” 1 and provided information regarding the parcel number, the sender, and the apartment number to which the post office should deliver the package. On Tuesday, August 14th, the government discovered that the package in question2 contained over 600 counterfeit social security and alien registration cards. On that same day, the government executed a controlled delivery of the package to Royal Oaks Apartments, number 1603, in Franklin, Tennessee-the residence of Defendant Magana and some other individuals. Federal authorities arrested two individuals who were at the apartment at the time of the delivery, one of whom was the Defendant’s relative.

On Thursday, August 16th, acting on the postal clerk’s information concerning “Andreas Mayer,” Secret Service Agent Colby Biggers, Postal Inspector Gordon Wilson, and Immigration and Naturalization Service (hereafter “I.N.S.”) Agent Robert Kinghorn went to apartment 1603 at the Royal Oaks complex-the apartment that “Andreas Mayer” indicated for delivery. Upon approaching, Agent Biggers saw two Hispanic males and one Caucasian male standing in the breezeway in front of the apartment. Agent Biggers saw that one of the Hispanic males-later identified as Defendant Magana-readily matched the physical description of “Andreas Mayer” that the postal clerk had given.

After “focusing his attention” on Defendant Magana and “casually approaching” the three individuals, Agent Biggers identified himself as a Secret Service Agent. Agent Biggers asked the three individuals if any of them lived in apartment 1603. Defendant Magana answered “yes.” The Defendant stated that one of the other individuals present stayed there as well. The Defendant also volunteered that his sister lives two apartments over in the same complex. After Agent Biggers [861]*861asked Defendant Magana his name, the Defendant stated that it was “Antonio Rodriguez Magana.” producing his driver’s license for which Agent Biggers asked. Answering Agent Biggers’ question about whether Defendant Magana drives, the Defendant stated that his car had a flat tire, and that he and the Hispanic companion there were going to change it. Defendant Magana asked Agent Biggers if he had any information on why agents had arrested one of the Defendant’s relatives at the apartment earlier. Agent Biggers told the Defendant that Biggers had participated in the arrest, which was for receiving a package of counterfeit documents. Defendant Magana volunteered that he had visited that relative in county jail. Agent Biggers asked the Defendant whether he had ever been to the Franklin Post Office. Defendant Magana stated that he had been there about a month before.

Around that time, Postal Inspector Wilson and-sometime later-I.N.S. Agent King-horn joined the group, having taken another route to the apartment. I.N.S. Agent Kinghorn asked the Defendant if he would willingly go to the post office concerning “the package to see if he had been there.” After Defendant Magana stated that he would go, he asked what it was about. Agent Biggers told the Defendant that an individual had gone to the post office to try to obtain a package of illegal documents and gave that address. After Agent Biggers asked Defendant Magana whether he had been that individual, the Defendant stated that he had not.3 Agent Biggers told the Defendant that “if he wanted to clear his name, the best thing to do was to go down there and if the clerk didn’t recognize him[,] he’d be cleared.” Agent Kinghorn suggested that Defendant Magana voluntarily go down to the post office with them for a show-up to determine whether it was him. As all three agents testified, the Defendant was told several times that he was not under arrest, that he did not have to go with them if he did not want to, and that it was completely voluntary. Defendant Magana agreed to go to the post office with the agents.

The agents’ conversation with Defendant Magana outside of the apartment, to which Agent Biggers testified as being casual, lasted about ten minutes. The record does not show that Postal Inspector Wilson ever spoke during this time. All three agents then walked with the Defendant to where they had parked their vehicles. Defendant Magana sat in the front seat of Agent Biggers’ car, which Biggers drove, while Agent Kinghorn sat in the backseat; Postal Inspector Wilson drove his own vehicle. No conversations with the Defendant occurred on the drive to the post office. None of the agents touched or placed handcuffs on Defendant Magana at any time. Moreover, none of the agents’ weapons were visible. After the postal clerk identified Defendant Magana as “Andreas Mayer,” the agents placed the Defendant under formal arrest and administered Miranda warnings to him. After waiving such Miranda rights, Defendant Magana confessed to having tried to obtain the package at the post office.

Defendant Magana is a native of Mexico, and is an illegal alien. The agents’ entire conversation with the Defendant was in English although Agent Kinghorn speaks Spanish. According to the agents and the postal clerk, the Defendant was fluent in English and spoke with little or no accent. Defendant Magana never testified concerning the suppression issue.

[862]*862II. Procedural History

Initially, the district court partly granted and denied Defendant Magana’s motion to suppress his oral statements. The district court held that Defendant Magana voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently waived his Miranda rights at the post office, holding that the admissibility of any statements that the Defendant made after that time would survive such a challenge. The district court also held that the agents “seized” Defendant Magana under the Fourth Amendment at the time that they asked him to accompany them voluntarily from outside of the apartment to the post office on the ground that a “reasonable person would not have believed that he was free to leave.” The district court then suppressed any statements that the Defendant made from that time until the Defendant received Miranda warnings at the post office.

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Bluebook (online)
70 F. App'x 859, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-magana-ca6-2003.