United States v. Nagle

257 F. App'x 518
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedDecember 13, 2007
Docket05-2851
StatusUnpublished

This text of 257 F. App'x 518 (United States v. Nagle) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third 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. Nagle, 257 F. App'x 518 (3d Cir. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

GARTH, Circuit Judge:

Nikole Nagle (“Nagle”) appeals from the final judgment of conviction and sentence for conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and for making false distress signals to the U.S. Coast Guard, entered by the District Court on May 25, 2005. Nagle argues that the District Court erred in finding that her confession was voluntary and therefore admissible for impeachment. In addition, she claims that her sentence was unreasonable. We affirm both the conviction and the sentence.

I.

On August 19, 2004, a federal grand jury charged Nagle and her common-law husband Derek Nicholson (“Nicholson”) in a two-count indictment with conspiracy to defraud an insurance company and making false distress signals to the U.S. Coast Guard. On December 1, 2004, a jury returned guilty verdicts with respects to both defendants on all counts.

The convictions arose out of the defendants’ conspiracy to defraud State Farm Insurance Company by faking Nicholson’s death. On July 22, 2003, Nicholson took out a $1 million policy on his life, after being denied an application for a $3 million policy. Four days later, Nicholson disappeared and Nagle claimed that he had drowned while swimming in the ocean.

On August 1, 2003, Nagle filed a claim with State Farm for $1 million. However, the insurance company informed her that it would take several years to dispense the insurance benefits without physical proof of Nicholson’s death. Having realized that the fraud conspiracy would be unsuccessful without his dead body, Nicholson decided to reemerge a few days later on August 4, claiming memory loss and that he was kidnapped.

As a result of a federal investigation, both Nicholson and Nagle were arrested on May 12, 2004. Within a few hours of the arrest and having been informed of their rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602,16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), both defendants submitted written confessions. At trial, Nagle claimed that her confession was coerced and thus involuntary. The District Court held three hearings on this issue and found that the confession was given voluntarily and therefore admissible. Though Nagle’s confession was not introduced in the trial, the Government reserved the right to use her confession as impeachment if she testified in her defense.

On May 25, 2005, Nagle was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, which was a substantial downgrade from the 41-51 month range under the Sentencing *520 Guidelines. The District Court found that Nagle had extraordinary family circumstances justifying a lower sentence, because Nagle had three young children, one of whom suffered from autism. However, the court declined to reduce the sentence any further, citing the need to promote respect for the law, to provide just punishment, to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct, and to protect the public.

Nagle filed a timely notice of appeal on June 2, 2005, arguing that the District Court erred in finding her confession to be voluntary and that her sentence was unreasonable, ■ given her family obligations.

II.

We have jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a)(1), which provides appellate jurisdiction over sentences imposed in violation of law, and under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, which provides appellate jurisdiction from all final decisions of U.S. district courts. The District Court had subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231, which confers jurisdiction over all offenses against federal law.

We exercise plenary review over questions of law and accept a district court’s findings of fact unless clearly erroneous. See Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991); United States v. Swint, 15 F.3d 286 (3d Cir.1994). We review sentences for reasonableness, applying the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). See United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 261-62, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). A sentence is reasonable if the record demonstrates that the sentencing court gave meaningful consideration to these factors. See United States v. Cooper, 437 F.3d 324, 329 (3d Cir.2006).

However, we lack jurisdiction to review the extent of a district court’s downward departure from the Sentencing Guidelines. See Cooper, 437 F.3d at 333; United States v. Khalil, 132 F.3d 897, 898 (3d Cir.1997).

III.

The two issues in this appeal are (1) whether Nagle’s confession was voluntary and (2) whether her sentence was reasonable.

A.

Nagle argues that her confession was involuntary because it resulted from psychological coercion. Def. Br. at 11. After she was arrested and informed of her Miranda rights, Nagle asserted her right to counsel. Nicholson was also arrested and detained in another room, where he submitted a written confession incriminating himself.

A postal inspector, who was in the room with Nagle told her, among other things, that Nicholson should “tell[] the truth to protect his family” and referred to the N.J. Division of Youth and Family Services. Def. Br. at 16. These statements occurred after Nagle requested to see an attorney.

Approximately two hours after Nagle’s arrest, Nicholson (accompanied by a special agent) entered the room where Nagle was detained. Nicholson proceeded to plead with Nagle to “tell the truth [and d]o the right thing.” Def. Br. at 14; App. at 13. The District Court found that Nagle “then looked up and said to the agents,. I want to talk, can I write everything, yes, if it’s the truth and she proceeded to do so.” App. at 13. As a result of Nicholson’s intervention, Nagle wrote a confession incriminating herself.

Nagle argues that these two factors— the postal inspector’s statements after she invoked her right to counsel and Nicholson’s emotional plea—constituted coercive *521 interrogation under the totality of circumstances. Def. Br. at 20.

The District Court held three suppression hearings on whether Nagle’s confession was voluntary and issued rulings on two motions for reconsideration. Among other things, the court found that “merely placing suspects together does not constitute interrogation.” App. at 15. Since “[t]his was Mr.

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Related

Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Arizona v. Mauro
481 U.S. 520 (Supreme Court, 1987)
Arizona v. Fulminante
499 U.S. 279 (Supreme Court, 1991)
United States v. Booker
543 U.S. 220 (Supreme Court, 2004)
United States v. Patrick William Swint
15 F.3d 286 (Third Circuit, 1994)
United States v. Charles Kissinger
309 F.3d 179 (Third Circuit, 2002)
United States v. Lydia Cooper
437 F.3d 324 (Third Circuit, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
257 F. App'x 518, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-nagle-ca3-2007.