United States v. Woodland

285 F. Supp. 3d 864
District Court, D. Maryland·Decided January 2, 2018·No. Case No. GJH–17–371·Published

Opinion

GEORGE J. HAZEL, United States District Judge

An interrogation of an individual suspected of serious criminal activity will often consist of something other than a polite exchange of questions and answers. Law enforcement is also not obligated to identify and use the location that would be most appealing to the subject of the interrogation or to provide the subject with every accommodation that the subject might desire. But when the environment in which the interrogation is conducted becomes one in which a reasonable person would not believe that he could terminate the interrogation and leave, the subject must be advised of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona , 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Here, law enforcement interrogated the Defendant for over two hours, in an area of the Westlake Post Office they controlled, confronted *866him with evidence of his guilt, interrupted him frequently using an increasingly hostile tone when he denied the allegations, repeatedly threatened him with a lengthy prison sentence, and accompanied and continued recording him during his "break." Although the Court finds that the consent that Defendant gave to search his phone was voluntary, because the Court finds that the Defendant was in custody for purposes of Miranda and he was not advised of his Miranda rights, the statements made by the Defendant during the interrogation will be suppressed.

In this case, the Government has charged Defendant James Thomas Woodland, a United States Postal Service ("USPS") mail carrier, with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. ECF No. 1 at 1.1 Presently pending before the Court are Defendant's Motions to Suppress All Alleged Government Interrogation Statements, ECF No. 23, and All Alleged Evidence Obtained Through Consent Searches, ECF No. 24 (supplemented by ECF No. 25). The motions have been fully briefed, and an evidentiary hearing was held on December 11, 2017. ECF No. 30. For reasons explained in more detail below, Defendant's Motion to Suppress All Alleged Government Interrogation Statements, ECF No. 23, is granted and Defendant's Motion to Suppress All Alleged Evidence Obtained Through Consent Searches, ECF No. 24, is denied.

I. BACKGROUND

On July 12, 2017, the Government filed the Indictment in this case, charging Defendant with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. ECF No. 1 at 1. On November 8, 2017, Defendant filed motions to suppress any statements he made during his April 25, 2017, interview with law enforcement, arguing that the interview amounted to a custodial interrogation requiring that he be read his Miranda rights, ECF No. 23, and evidence obtained from searches of his phone, car, and residence, arguing that he did not give valid consent to these warrantless searches, ECF No. 24. The Government opposed these motions, ECF No. 27, and an evidentiary hearing was held on December 11, 2017. ECF No. 30. At that hearing, the Government presented two witnesses: Hugo Aldana, the USPS Postmaster of Bethesda, Maryland, and Special Agent Ivan Balaguer, a USPS Postal Inspector who was in charge of the investigation and interview of Defendant. Postmaster Aldana testified regarding the circumstances leading up to Defendant's interview with law enforcement, and Balaguer testified as to the content of the interview. The Government also provided the Court with an audio recording of the interview of Defendant, which the Court reviewed multiple times in chambers.2 Unless otherwise stated, the Court found the witnesses to be credible, but see infra n.10, and finds the facts to be consistent with the testimony summarized below and in the discussion that follows.

Postmaster Aldana testified that he began his career with USPS in 1988 and has held the position of Postmaster for two and a half years. As Postmaster, Aldana is responsible for all postal-related activities in Bethesda, Maryland including the collection *867and delivery of the mail. Defendant was one of his employees. On April 25, 2017, Aldana received a phone call from the Office of Inspector General3 ("OIG") regarding certain unusual packages. The OIG inspector asked questions about the letter carrier responsible for the deliveries and the addresses for the packages. Aldana identified Defendant as the responsible letter carrier. Multiple postal inspectors subsequently came to the Westlake Post Office as well as officers from the Montgomery County Police Department; upon arrival, they indicated that they wanted to speak to the Defendant about questionable packages, possibly involving narcotics. At Aldana's direction, a supervisor called the Defendant, who was then on his route delivering mail, and instructed him to return to the post office. Aldana testified that asking a letter carrier to return to the post office was not unusual because there was often additional mail that needed to be picked up by the carrier for delivery.

Aldana was present when the Defendant returned to the post office. Two Postal Inspectors, Balaguer and Special Agent Steven Scully, were there and said they would like to ask the Defendant some questions if he did not mind. They read him his Garrity rights from a pre-printed document while they were all sitting in the manager's office.4 Defendant initialed and signed the document, indicating that he understood his rights and agreed to speak to the inspectors. Aldana described the inspectors' demeanor during this time as casual. Defendant was not told that he had to speak to law enforcement or that he had to accompany them to another room but he agreed to do so. The Defendant, Scully and Balaguer all then left the manager's office and went upstairs to the OIG office. Aldana stayed behind but later spoke to the Defendant about being suspended after the conversation upstairs was completed. Aldana believes it was a "couple of hours or an hour or two" between the time Balaguer and Scully took the Defendant upstairs and when they brought Defendant back downstairs.5

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United States v. Woodland, 285 F. Supp. 3d 864 (D. Md. 2018).

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