United States v. Lindgren

Decision Date03 October 2011
Docket NumberNo. CR11–4076–MWB.,CR11–4076–MWB.
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Daniel LINDGREN, Defendant.
CourtU.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

Mark A. Tremmel, U.S. Attorney's Office, Cedar Rapids, IA, for Plaintiff.

Michael L. Smart, Federal Public Defender's Office, Sioux City, IA, for Defendant.

ORDER CONCERNING MAGISTRATE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION REGARDING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS

MARK W. BENNETT, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

On January 19, 2011, defendant Daniel Lindgren was charged in an indictment with possessing child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(5)(B) and 2252A(b)(2). Defendant Lindgren filed a Motion to Suppress in which he seeks to suppress statements he made to law enforcement officers on the ground that his statements were obtained without his having been informed of his constitutional rights as required by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). The prosecution filed a timely resistance to defendants' motion.

Defendant Linsgren's Motion to Suppress was referred to Chief United States Magistrate Judge Paul A. Zoss, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b). Judge Zoss conducted a hearing and then filed a Report and Recommendation in which he recommends Lindgren's motion to suppress be denied. Judge Zoss concluded defendant Lindgren was not in custody at the time of the questioning and, therefore, the fact that Miranda warning were not given does not bar the use of defendant Lindgren's statements at trial. Judge Zoss recommended that defendant Lindgren's Motion to Suppress be denied. Neither the prosecution nor Lindgren have filed objections to Judge Zoss's Report and Recommendation.

II. LEGAL ANALYSIS

The court reviews the magistrate judge's report and recommendation pursuant to the statutory standards found in 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1):

A judge of the court shall make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made. A judge of the court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge. The judge may also receive further evidence or recommit the matter to the magistrate judge with instructions.

28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1) (2006); seeFed.R.Civ.P. 72(b) (stating identical requirements); N.D. IA. L.R. 7.1 (allowing the referral of dispositive matters to a magistrate judge but not articulating any standards to review the magistrate judge's report and recommendation). While examining these statutory standards, the United States Supreme Court explained:

Any party that desires plenary consideration by the Article III judge of any issue need only ask. Moreover, while the statute does not require the judge to review an issue de novo if no objections are filed, it does not preclude further review by the district judge, sua sponte or at the request of a party, under a de novo or any other standard.

Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 154, 106 S.Ct. 466, 88 L.Ed.2d 435 (1985). Thus, a district court may review de novo any issue in a magistrate judge's report and recommendation at any time. Id. If a party files an objection to the magistrate judge's report and recommendation, however, the district court must “make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). In the absence of an objection, the district court is not required “to give any more consideration to the magistrate's report than the court considers appropriate.” Thomas, 474 U.S. at 150, 106 S.Ct. 466.

In this case, no objections have been filed. As a result, the court has reviewed the magistrate judge's report and recommendation under a clearly erroneous standard of review. See Grinder v. Gammon, 73 F.3d 793, 795 (8th Cir.1996) (noting when no objections are filed and the time for filing objections has expired, [the district court judge] would only have to review the findings of the magistrate judge for clear error”); Taylor v. Farrier, 910 F.2d 518, 520 (8th Cir.1990) (noting the advisory committee's note to Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b) indicates “when no timely objection is filed the court need only satisfy itself that there is no clear error on the face of the record”). After conducting its review, the court is not ‘left with [a] definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed,’ and finds no reason to reject or modify the magistrate judge's recommendation. Anderson v. City of Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 573–74, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985) (quoting United States v. U.S. Gypsum Co., 333 U.S. 364, 395, 68 S.Ct. 525, 92 L.Ed. 746 (1948)). Therefore, the court accepts Judge Zoss's Report and Recommendation and orders that defendant Lindgren's Motion to Suppress is denied.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ON MOTION TO SUPPRESS
PAUL A. ZOSS, United States Chief Magistrate Judge.

The defendant Daniel Lindgren is charged in an indictment with knowingly possessing and attempting to possess visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252A(a)(5)(B) and 2252A(b)(2). See Doc. No. 2. Lindgren has filed a motion to suppress (Doc. No. 10) in which he asserts that statements he made to law enforcement officers during two interrogations, one in 2008 and a second in 2010, should be suppressed because he was not given Miranda1 warnings before the interrogations. Doc. No. 10–1 at 3. The plaintiff (the “Government”) has resisted the motion. Doc. No. 18. The Trial Management Order assigns motions to suppress to the undersigned to conduct any necessary evidentiary hearing, and to prepare a report on, and recommended disposition of, the motion. See Doc. No. 8, § IV.A.

On August 22, 2011, the court held a hearing on the motion. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Duax appeared on behalf of the Government, and Lindgren appeared personally with his attorney, Michael Smart. The Government offered the testimony of Buena Vista County Deputy Sheriff Jeff Hansen and Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) Special Agent Jonathan Moeller. Two exhibits were admitted into evidence: Gov't Ex. 1, a CD containing an audio recording of a part of Agent Moeller's interview of Lindgren on December 30, 2010, and Gov't Ex. 2, a partial transcript of that interview.2 The motion now is now fully submitted.

BACKGROUND

In September 2008, Lindgren left his computer with a friend who had agreed to download some music onto the computer. While working on the computer, the friend came across what he believed to be child pornography. He immediately called law enforcement, and Jeff Hansen, the then Chief of the Schaller, Iowa, Police Department, responded to the call and took possession of the computer. Hansen looked at images stored on the computer and concluded that they might be child pornography, so he sent the computer to the Iowa state lab for analysis.

On September 23, 2008, Lindgren saw Hansen at a grocery store in Schaller and inquired about when the computer would be returned to him. Hansen asked him to come to City Hall later that day so they could talk about it, and Lindgren agreed. That evening, Lindgren came to City Hall and spoke with Hansen. Lindgren and Hansen were the only people present. Hansen was in uniform and was wearing his gun. He sat behind a desk. Lindgren sat about 12 to 15 feet away. No Miranda warnings were given. At the outset, Hansen told Lindgren that he was not under arrest, but that he wanted to know about the child pornography on Lindgren's computer. Lindgren responded that he knew the images were on the computer, but they were in files that he had not viewed in a long time. At the end of the interview, Lindgren left. The interview lasted about ten minutes.

In 2010, the FBI became involved in the investigation, and Agent Moeller asked Hansen, now a deputy sheriff with the Buena Vista County Sheriff's Department, to arrange for Lindgren to come in for an interview. On December 30, 2010, Hansen called Lindgren and asked him to come to the volunteer fire department adjacent to the city hall building to talk. Hansen did not inform Lindgren of the reason for the meeting or that Agent Moeller would be present. Lindgren agreed to meet at the fire station later that day.

The meeting took place in the back room of the fire station. Lindgren sat closest to the door, which remained open during the interview, while Hansen and Moeller sat facing the door across from him. No one else was present. Moeller was casually dressed and not armed. Hansen was dressed in uniform, and also was unarmed. Moeller informed Lindgren that he was an FBI agent. Lindgren was not informed that the interview was being recorded, and he was not given the Miranda warnings.

At the beginning of the interview, Moeller said to Lindgren, “I want you to understand is [sic] that you are not under arrest and I just want to have a chance to sit and chat with you.” Gov't Ex. 1 at 00:01:46; Gov't Ex. 2 at REP_0027. Moeller told Lindgren that images of child pornography had been found on his computer and wanted to find out how the images got there. Moeller also told Lindgren, “You're not under arrest and when we're done, when it's all said and done here tonight, you're gonna walk right back out that door.” Gov't Ex. 1 at 00:14:41; Gov't Ex. 2 at REP_0033. At the end of the interview two hours later, Lindgren was allowed to leave the building. Throughout the interview, Lindgren was never handcuffed or physically restrained in any way, and was free to move about the room.

DISCUSSION

Lindgren contends the statements he made to Officer Hansen on September 23, 2008, and to Agent Moeller on December 30, 2010, resulted from custodial interrogations conducted without his first being advised of his Miranda rights. Doc. No. 10–1, p. 3–5. The Government concedes Lindgren was not given the Miranda w...

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