U.S. v. Revels

• Citation: 510 F.3d 1269
• Decision Date: 20 December 2007
• Docket Number: No. 06-5223.,06-5223.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Shequita REVELS, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

510 F.3d 1269

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Shequita REVELS, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 06-5223.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

December 20, 2007.

Richard A. Friedman, Appellate Section, Criminal Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. (David E. O'Meilia, United States Attorney; Janet S. Reincke, Assistant United States Attorney, Tulsa, OK, with him on the briefs), for Plaintiff-Appellant.

J. Lance Hopkins, CJA Panel Member, Tahlequah, OK, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before LUCERO, BALDOCK, and GORSUCH, Circuit Judges.

LUCERO, Circuit Judge.

In this interlocutory appeal, the United States seeks review of a district court's pretrial order suppressing several incriminating statements made by Shequita Revels as having been obtained in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). The sole issue before us is whether Revels was "in custody" at the time she made the statements at issue. Because we conclude that a reasonable person in Revels' position would have considered her freedom of movement to be restricted to a degree consistent with formal arrest, we hold that Revels was in custody for Fifth Amendment purposes and that she should have been advised of her Miranda rights. Exercising jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3731, we take the district court's view of the matter and AFFIRM its decision to suppress the incriminating statements.

I

A

Based on information provided by a confidential informant, officers from the Tulsa, Oklahoma Police Department ("TPD") and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives ("ATF") obtained a warrant to search a residence belonging to Marco Dewon Murphy and his girlfriend, Shequita Revels. The informant indicated that Murphy possessed a large amount of cocaine and that he was selling the drug from the joint residence.¹ On August 2, 2006, at approximately 6:00 a.m., seven officers from TPD and ATF gathered to execute the search warrant at the couple's home. When no one answered the door after officers knocked and announced their presence, the police forcibly entered the residence. Once inside, the officers encountered Murphy and Revels, whom they immediately handcuffed and placed face down on the floor in the hall near the main living room. The officers then found a young girl and a small infant in separate bedrooms in the house. As soon as the officers had located all of the occupants of the home and otherwise secured the scene, they began their search for contraband.

Having been roused from her bedroom in the early hours of the morning, Revels was dressed only in her underwear when officers first detained her. After approximately ten minutes of searching the home, however, the police removed Revels' handcuffs and escorted her to a rear bedroom where they permitted her to dress. They also allowed Revels to care temporarily for her infant, who required feeding through a tube inserted into his stomach. Once Revels had dressed herself and cared for the child, an officer escorted her back to the living room, where she remained with Murphy and the two children for a short time while the officers continued their search of the residence. Revels was not again placed in handcuffs at this point in time.

During the course of the search, officers seized several items of potential evidence. They found 251 grams of cocaine powder and $6,014 in cash in an open safe located in one of the rooms. They also discovered approximately 45 grams of crack cocaine hidden in a coffee can with a false bottom, as well as paraphernalia used in manufacturing crack cocaine. Finally, officers found a loaded semiautomatic handgun "lying on the headboard" of the bed that Revels and Murphy shared.

After approximately 30 minutes, the officers had substantially completed their search efforts and uncovered all of the material evidence. At that time, the officers decided to separate the two adults in order to interview each. According to ATF Special Agent McFadden, the police intended to interview Revels and Murphy to determine whether they "would be willing to cooperate with the investigation." Revels was interviewed first. Agent McFadden and TPD Detectives Hickey and Henderson escorted her to a bedroom in the rear of the home, and closed the door behind them. Murphy and the two children remained in the main living room under the supervision of the other officers. Revels was free from handcuffs at this time, and had not been told by any of the officers whether she was under arrest. Each of three officers who took Revels to the back bedroom was armed, but none had a weapon drawn. Inside the bedroom, there were no chairs or other places to sit; Revels and the officers stood during the ten to twelve minutes of questioning.

Revels' questioning began with Agent McFadden's explanation that the police were executing a state search warrant at the residence and that, during their search, they had discovered narcotics and a loaded firearm. Agent McFadden then asked Revels whether she "would be willing to cooperate" with their investigation. Revels answered the agent's question with several incriminating statements. She stated that she knew Murphy was selling drugs from the residence and that Murphy had recently obtained the handgun to protect her and the children from the threat of robbery.² After Revels offered these initial responses to the officer's question, Agent McFadden and Detective Henderson left the rear bedroom for a short time; both Revels and Detective Hickey remained behind. Detective Henderson then returned to the room a few moments later, conspicuously carrying a bag of cocaine that had been seized during the officers' search of the residence. According to Detective Henderson, Revels responded to this action by making another incriminating statement. She stated: "Oh, my god I didn't know he had that much."³ Indisputably, the officers did not advise Revels of her Miranda rights at any time before or during this questioning.

Once the officers had completed their interview with Revels, they escorted her back to the main living room and took Murphy to the bedroom for a similar interview. Around that same time, a family member arrived and was asked to care for the two young children. The officers then told Revels that she was under arrest, handcuffed her, and transported her, along with Murphy, to the police station. Only upon arriving at the station was Revels advised of her rights under Miranda, which prompted her to immediately request legal counsel.

B

On September 7, 2006, a federal grand jury indicted Revels on three counts: (1) possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) & (b)(1)(B)(iii); (2) possession of cocaine with intent to manufacture crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) & (b)(1)(C); and (3) possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i). Revels entered a plea of not guilty to all charges.

Prior to her scheduled trial, Revels filed a motion to suppress the incriminating statements that she made while officers interviewed her in the rear bedroom of her home on the day of her arrest. She argued that the government had obtained the statements in violation of her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, as articulated by the Supreme Court in Miranda. Specifically, Revels contended that because she had been subjected to a custodial interrogation and had not been advised of her rights under Miranda prior to the interview, the statements she made were not voluntary within the meaning of the Fifth Amendment. See 384 U.S. at 444-45, 86 S.Ct. 1602. The government responded to the motion by asserting that Revels was not in custody at the time of the interview and that she had not been interrogated by the officers.

At the suppression hearing, the district court received testimony from both Agent McFadden and Detective Henderson. Finding that the search had been completed and the incriminating evidence uncovered before the officers escorted Revels to the rear bedroom for an interview, the court concluded that Revels was subjected to a custodial interrogation for purposes of the Fifth Amendment. It ordered that because the officers had not advised Revels of her rights under Miranda, her incriminating statements would be suppressed and could not be admitted at trial.

In seeking reconsideration, the government argued that Revels was subject only to an "investigative detention" at the time of her interview, and that she was therefore not "in custody" for Fifth Amendment purposes. The district court denied the government's motion for reconsideration, and the government subsequently brought this timely interlocutory appeal under 18 U.S.C. § 3731.

II

"It is well established that `police officers are not required to administer Miranda warnings to everyone whom they question.'" United States v. Erving L., 147 F.3d 1240, 1246 (10th Cir.1998) (quoting Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492, 495, 97 S.Ct. 711, 50 L.Ed.2d 714 (1977)). Rather, as the Supreme Court held in Miranda, police officers must so advise individuals only when they are subject to a "custodial interrogation." 384 U.S. at 444-45, 86 S.Ct. 1602. Miranda thus established a two-part analysis for determining when the prescribed procedural safeguards must be provided: (1) the individual must be in custody, and (2) the individual must be subjected to questioning that meets the legal definition of interrogation. United States v. Perdue, 8 F.3d 1455, 1463 (10th Cir.1993). Because the government concedes on appeal that the police "interrogated" Revels when they questioned her in the rear bedroom, we need only determine whether Revels was "in custody" when she made the incriminating statements at issue.

A suspect is in custody for purposes of Miranda if the suspect has been "deprived of [her] freedom...