U.S. v. Benton, 92-7674

• Decision Date: 07 June 1993
• Docket Number: No. 92-7674,92-7674
• Citation: 996 F.2d 642
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. Brian E. BENTON. . Submitted under Third Circuit Rule 12(6)
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Page 642

996 F.2d 642

UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. Brian E. BENTON.

No. 92-7674.

United States Court of Appeals Third Circuit.

Submitted under Third Circuit Rule 12(6) June 7, 1993.

Decided June 23, 1993.

James J. West, U.S. Atty., Theodore B. Smith, III, Asst. U.S. Atty., Office of U.S. Atty., Harrisburg, PA, for appellant.

James V. Wade, Federal Public Defender, Daniel I. Siegel, Asst. Federal Public Defender, Office of Federal Public Defender, Harrisburg, PA, for appellee.

Before: GREENBERG, NYGAARD, and LEWIS, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

GREENBERG, Circuit Judge.

The United States appeals from an order of December 2, 1992, suppressing a statement of the appellee Brian E. Benton from introduction into evidence by the prosecution in his forthcoming trial for possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).

The facts of the case as developed at an evidentiary hearing on the motion to suppress are not in dispute. On September 19, 1991, Officer Norman Patterson of the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, police department received a radio communication that Benton had robbed someone at a tavern in Harrisburg. Patterson, who knew Benton, went to the scene as did other police officers. One of the other officers, Joseph Cesari, who arrived separately, saw Benton look at him and then run away onto Sixth Street and then into Peffer Street where Cesari lost him from view.

At about that time Patterson, who had approached from a different direction, saw Benton on Peffer Street. Patterson observed Benton bend down along a wooden door which opened into Peffer Street from the storage area of another tavern. Benton then stood up and walked back in the direction from which he had come. At that point Cesari came up, drew his gun, and ordered Benton to stand up against the wall. Patterson then searched Benton for weapons with negative results. During that search, Benton asked Patterson what was going on. Patterson told Benton that the police had received a call that he had robbed someone with a gun and that they were looking for the gun. Patterson then handcuffed Benton and took him to the patrol car, locking him in the back seat.

Patterson then started searching for the gun. This was not a difficult undertaking, as he found it simply by looking under the wooden door where Benton had bent down. Another officer then opened the door and Patterson picked up the gun, which was a loaded semi-automatic.

Patterson then went back to the patrol car, at which time Benton again asked what was going on. Patterson told Benton that he was going to be charged and that he had seen Benton bend over, a reference to Benton's conduct near the door where Patterson found the gun. At that point Benton made the statement which the district court suppressed, that no one had seen him throw away the gun. The government concedes that the officers had not given Benton Miranda warnings before he made this statement and it further agrees that he was in custody when he made the remark.

The district court reached its conclusion on the grounds that under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), as applied in Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 64 L.Ed.2d 297 (1982), a suspect in custody is protected from the " 'functional equivalent' of interrogation, that is [from] 'any words or actions on the part of the police (other than those normally attendant upon arrest and custody) that the police should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from the suspect.' " (Quoting Innis, Id. at 301, 100 S.Ct. at 1689-90; emphasis by the district court). The district court explained that "[a]nalysis of whether particular words or conduct are likely to elicit incriminating statements 'focuses primarily upon the perceptions of the suspect, rather than on the intent of the police.' " (quoting Innis, Id. at 301, 100 S.Ct. at 1690). The district court indicated that it was "unnecessary to the arrest for Officer Patterson to tell [Benton] that he saw him bend over at the door." Furthermore, in the court's view, Patterson's statement was not an answer to Benton's question of what was going on. Rather, it was a declaration to Benton that the police had evidence ...