U.S. v. Brave Heart

• Citation: 397 F.3d 1035
• Decision Date: 04 February 2005
• Docket Number: No. 03-2888.,03-2888.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. Randall Dewey BRAVE HEART, Jr., also known as Dewey Randall Brave Heart, Appellee.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)

397 F.3d 1035 UNITED STATES of America, Appellant,
v.
Randall Dewey BRAVE HEART, Jr., also known as Dewey Randall Brave Heart, Appellee. No. 03-2888. United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit. Submitted: May 11, 2004. Filed: February 4, 2005.

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U.S. Atty., James E. McMahon, argued, Sioux Falls, SD (Asst. U.S. Atty., Jay Miller, Pierre, SD; and Asst. U.S. Atty., Judith K. Grunewaldth, Sioux Falls, SD, on the brief), for appellant.

Asst. Federal Public Defender, Edward G. Albright, argued, Pierre, SD, for appellee.

Before WOLLMAN, HANSEN, and BYE, Circuit Judges.

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

During the course of a two-hour interrogation, Randall Dewey Brave Heart, Jr. (Brave Heart), confessed to the murder of his infant nephew. He was indicted for murder in the second degree under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1153 and 1111, and subsequently moved to suppress his confession. The district court granted the motion, finding first that Brave Heart was "in custody" during questioning but was not informed of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and, second, that coercive interview tactics and false promises overbore Brave Heart's will and rendered his confession involuntary. We reverse.

I.

Brave Heart called 911 on January 7, 2003, and told the dispatcher that his ten-month-old nephew, Zane Bruguier, had stopped breathing. The dispatcher talked Brave Heart through the administration of CPR, but neither Brave Heart nor the paramedics could save the infant. Brave Heart, who had been babysitting Bruguier and his own two children, informed officers on the scene that Bruguier became unresponsive after Brave Heart's one-year-old son struck him in the head with a toy.

The following day, FBI Special Agent C. Andrew de la Rocha learned from a forensic pathologist that Bruguier had died due to bleeding on both sides of his brain caused by two areas of blunt force head trauma. These injuries were inconsistent with Brave Heart's proffered explanation of the cause of Bruguier's death. Because Brave Heart was the only adult present when Bruguier was injured, de la Rocha believed that Brave Heart had caused the infant's death and he wished to interview Brave Heart to determine how the injuries had occurred. De La Rocha discussed the best way to question Brave Heart with Cheyenne River Tribal Officer Larry LeBeau, and LeBeau ultimately placed a phone call to the Brave Heart residence.¹ Brave Heart drove to the police station with his wife and children later that afternoon.

De La Rocha and LeBeau first questioned Brave Heart's wife, while Brave Heart waited in the lobby with the couple's children. The questioning lasted around ninety minutes, following which Brave Heart's wife undertook care of the children. At approximately 5:40 p.m., Brave

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Heart was led to a conference room approximately thirty feet by forty feet, with two adjacently placed tables in the middle and two doors, each leading to interior hallways. Brave Heart sat at the head of one of the tables, with LeBeau and de la Rocha seated a few feet away on either side of the tables. One of the doors was behind Brave Heart and to his right, and it remained closed at all times. The second door, through which Brave Heart and the officers entered, was located behind de la Rocha, and was closed only during questioning.

De La Rocha introduced himself, thanked Brave Heart for coming, and stated that the officers had some questions about Bruguier's death. He then advised Brave Heart that he was not under arrest, that de la Rocha did not intend to arrest him, and, finally, that the interview was voluntary and that Brave Heart could leave through either door if he wished. Brave Heart remained and, during the first hour of questioning, recited a version of events essentially consistent with the one that he had provided the previous day.

De La Rocha and LeBeau took a break from questioning at approximately 6:40 p.m., informing Brave Heart that they needed to make some phone calls. They asked Brave Heart if he would like anything to drink, but he declined. The officers then left the conference room via the door behind de la Rocha, leaving it ajar. Brave Heart remained alone in the room until the officers returned about ten minutes later.

Upon re-entering the room, de la Rocha adopted a more accusatory tone, telling Brave Heart that "the evidence in the case clearly shows that you were directly responsible for the injuries suffered by [Bruguier] and that you were responsible for his death." De La Rocha then explained that he had just spoken with a forensic pathologist who had discovered two trauma areas on the infant's head instead of the one that Brave Heart claimed that his young son had inflicted.² De La Rocha suggested that he understood "the stress and pressure that [Brave Heart] was under ... taking care of three small children" and indicated that he did not think it was fair that Brave Heart's son would bear the burden of thinking that he was responsible for Bruguier's death.

Brave Heart became visibly upset during de la Rocha's comments, and began to cry. Upon de la Rocha's suggestion "that [Bruguier's] biological mother (Brave Heart's sister-in-law) shared some responsibility for what had happened," Brave Heart stated that he was the one who was responsible. De La Rocha mentioned the "burden" that Brave Heart must be carrying and stated that he "needed to know the truth," suggesting that doing so would make Brave Heart feel better. Brave Heart then admitted that he had struck Bruguier's head against a window frame when the child would not stop crying. When de la Rocha then pointed out that striking the window frame would explain only one of the infant's injuries, Brave Heart admitted that he had also "head-butted" Bruguier.

After discussing what Brave Heart meant by a "head-butt," de la Rocha requested that Brave Heart make a written or taped statement summarizing their discussion, suggesting that Brave Heart could express his sorrow in his own words on the tape. Brave Heart agreed. Near the beginning of the eleven-minute taped interview, de la Rocha asked Brave Heart if he and LeBeau had been polite and respectful

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during the questioning, and Brave Heart responded, "Yes." De La Rocha then asked if the officers made any threats or promises to Brave Heart, to which Brave Heart replied that they had not. De La Rocha next asked if the officers had forced Brave Heart to talk in any way, and Brave Heart responded, "No, I came in on my own free will." The following colloquy then occurred:

De La Rocha: At the beginning of the interview, I advised you that you were not under arrest, and it was not the intention, nor was it my intention, to arrest you at the outset of the interview. Do you remember me telling you that?

Brave Heart: Yes.

De La Rocha: Do you remember me telling you that this interview is completely voluntary, and that if you didn't want to talk to us, you could've walked out either one of the doors if you wanted to?

Brave Heart: Yes.

Brave Heart completed a tape-recorded confession at approximately 7:36 p.m., recounting how he had struck and then head-butted Bruguier. Upon completion of the tape, the officers again left the room, stating that they had to make more phone calls. It is undisputed that they did not inform Brave...