999 F.2d 1282 (8th Cir. 1993), 93-1269, United States v. Chadwick

• Docket Nº: 93-1269.
• Citation: 999 F.2d 1282
• Party Name: UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. Bendle CHADWICK, Appellee.
• Case Date: July 29, 1993
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals, Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

Page 1282

999 F.2d 1282 (8th Cir. 1993)

UNITED STATES of America, Appellant,

v.

Bendle CHADWICK, Appellee.

No. 93-1269.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit

July 29, 1993

Submitted June 18, 1993.

Page 1283

Michael D. Johnson, Asst. U.S. Atty., Little Rock, AR, argued, for appellant.

Craig Lambert, Little Rock, AR, argued (Wayne Davis, on brief), for appellee.

Before WOLLMAN and LOKEN, Circuit Judges, and HUNTER, ^[*] Senior District Judge.

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

The United States appeals from the district court's order granting Bendle Chadwick's motion to suppress. We reverse.

I.

In April 1992, a United States Forest Service employee discovered two patches of marijuana on Forest Service land in Arkansas. Upon closer inspection, the employee determined that someone had been actively cultivating the patches. In response, the Forest Service, in conjunction with the Stone County, Arkansas Sheriff's Department, set up concealed, movement-activated video cameras to survey the plots. Some time later, on April 21, 1992, the video cameras recorded two individuals tending the patches. Upon viewing the video tape, the officers determined that the individuals were Chadwick and his father-in-law, George McClanahan.

Sometime during the spring of 1992, the exact time being in dispute, Chadwick contacted Stone County Deputy Sheriff Jerry Fletcher, his brother-in-law, and offered to reveal the whereabouts of several marijuana patches to him. During the next few months, Chadwick revealed the locations of several patches, most of which were on Forest Service Land.

In June, it was determined to bring the case against Chadwick and McClanahan in federal rather than state court, and, on July 21, 1992, the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas presented

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the case to a federal grand jury. Doug Ryan, a special agent in the United States Forest Service, testified at the grand jury proceeding. Following his testimony, superiors asked him to contact Chadwick and McClanahan, advise them of their rights and the evidence against them, and interview them. Ryan left the grand jury proceedings and travelled some 125 miles to interview Chadwick.

Agent Ryan interviewed Chadwick at the latter's house on July 23, 1992. Ryan was accompanied by Stone County Sheriff Billy Don Long and Forest Service Officer Don Shipman. Ryan commenced the interview by reading Chadwick the Miranda warnings and obtaining a written waiver of rights from Chadwick. Ryan did not inform Chadwick that he had been indicted by the grand jury, Ryan himself being unaware of this fact at the time he conducted the interview. Ryan informed Chadwick about the video tape revealing Chadwick's participation in the cultivation of the two marijuana patches on April 21, 1992, and asked Chadwick if he wanted to make a statement. Chadwick stated that he had helped his father-in-law cultivate the patches, but that they belonged to McClanahan, who had originally planted the patches...