United States v. Monroe, Cr. No. 16–055 WES

• Decision Date: 11 September 2017
• Docket Number: Cr. No. 16–055 WES
• Citation: 264 F.Supp.3d 376
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Jordan MONROE, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island

264 F.Supp.3d 376

UNITED STATES of America

v.Jordan MONROE, Defendant.

Cr. No. 16–055 WES

United States District Court, D. Rhode Island.

Signed September 11, 2017

John P. McAdams, U.S. Attorney's Office Providence, RI, for United States of America.

Olin W. Thompson, Federal Defender's Office, Providence, RI, for Defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

WILLIAM E. SMITH, Chief Judge.

Before the Court is Defendant Jordan Monroe's Motion To Suppress Statement (ECF No. 20 ), and the Government's Response in Opposition (ECF No. 23 ).¹ The Court conducted an evidentiary hearing on June 1, 2017, and heard argument the following day. After considering the evidence and arguments presented by the parties, for the reasons set forth herein, Defendant's motion is DENIED in part and GRANTED in part.

I. Background

The facts underlying this Motion are largely not in dispute. The Court gleans the following facts from the testimony at the evidentiary hearing and recordings of Monroe's police interviews.

On May 12, 2016, at approximately 6:00 a.m., law enforcement arrived at Jordan Monroe's residence to execute a search warrant for evidence of child pornography-related crimes.² Monroe answered the door wearing a bathrobe after agents knocked and announced their presence.³ About fifteen to twenty officers entered the home to execute the search warrant.⁴ Special Agent James V. Richardson ("Special Agent Richardson") of Homeland Security Investigations, and Detective Adam Houston ("Detective Houston") of the Rhode Island State Police, brought Monroe to the home's finished basement.⁵ Law enforcement began questioning Monroe at 6:24 a.m. in his home. Questioning continued at the State Police Barracks in Scituate, Rhode Island and ended sometime after 12:50 p.m.⁶ Monroe complains of multiple Miranda and Due Process violations over the course of these interrogations.⁷

At the beginning of the first interview, which occurred at Monroe's home at 6:24 a.m., Special Agent Richardson told Monroe that he was not under arrest, but that Special Agent Richardson was going to read Monroe his rights.⁸ Special Agent Richardson did so, but Monroe refused to sign the form indicating he understood those rights.⁹ Monroe, however, did acknowledge his understanding by stating, "I get it."¹⁰ Just after this acknowledgement, Monroe, in hospitable fashion, expressed his regret that the officers had not called ahead, stating that if they had, he "woulda ordered pizza."¹¹ Monroe then admitted to downloading to his computer a large volume of child pornography from the internet.¹²

The interview continued and, after giving the officers a password to his server, Monroe stated, "I don't even have a [l]awyer, I don't know if I should be giving you passwords."¹³

Later in the same interview, after Detective Houston accused Monroe of being sexually attracted to children, Monroe stated, "Oh ok conversation's over."¹⁴ Because Monroe and Detective Houston were speaking concurrently when Monroe said this, Special Agent Richardson testified that he did not hear Monroe say, "conversation's over."¹⁵

The interview continued until 6:59 a.m.¹⁶ At this time, Special Agent Richardson told Monroe, "let's end the interview for now ... I'll go speak to somebody and uh maybe they're gonna let you go outside right there and smoke a butt."¹⁷ A short time later, Defendant was permitted to smoke in his side yard and patio area.¹⁸

Law enforcement recommenced questioning at Monroe's home at 7:34 a.m., and Monroe was not re-informed of his Miranda rights.¹⁹ During this interview, Monroe consented to taking a polygraph test about the information he had provided.²⁰ The interview at Monroe's home concluded at 8:01 a.m.²¹ Monroe was then formally arrested and taken to the State Police Scituate Barracks.²²

After arriving at the Barracks, Special Agent Christopher Braga ("Special Agent Braga") of the FBI, and Special Agent Richardson, conducted a so-called "pre-polygraph" interview with Monroe, beginning at approximately 9:27 a.m.²³ Within minutes, Monroe stated, "I'm nervous now, because that other State Police Detective was a douche bag to me, so, now I'm thinking, maybe lawyer."²⁴

Shortly after this interaction, Special Agent Braga began to create a narrative for the interview that reassured Monroe that his job was simply to determine whether Monroe was a "predator" or "monster," while reassuring Monroe that what Monroe did was "not the end of the world."²⁵

Special Agent Braga then read Monroe his Miranda rights at approximately 9:50 a.m.²⁶ Monroe did not sign the Miranda acknowledgement form but when asked if he understood the rights, he answered in the affirmative.²⁷ Shortly thereafter, Monroe stated, "Because even if I ask for a lawyer at this point that could [be] next fucking week before somebody showed up, who knows?"²⁸ Special Agent Braga responded to this statement by saying, "Well, I mean, it's your, it's your right, but this makes it uhh, this makes [it] quicker."²⁹ To this, Monroe replied, "It's my right to not have Mexican[s] take seven dollar an hour jobs," and, moments later stated, "I'll just vote for Donald, he'll build a wall."³⁰

After the pre–polygraph interview proceeded for a while, Monroe stated: "I'm still thinking in the back of my mind, lawyer, lawyer, these guys are going to fuck you."³¹ Questioning again continued.³² Later in the interview, at approximately 11:25 a.m., Monroe said: "[H]ave you ever heard of the term, hypoglycemia

? ... I haven't eaten all day."³³ Special Agent Braga and Special Agent Richardson told Monroe they would get him food before the polygraph and after they finished the current interview.³⁴ Shortly after this interaction, Monroe admitted to having sex with his step-daughter when she was fifteen years old.³⁵ Monroe received food between fifteen and thirty-five minutes after requesting it, and the interview concluded at approximately 12:15 p.m.³⁶

Monroe then submitted to an unrecorded polygraph examination, followed by a recorded post-polygraph examination.³⁷ The Government does not seek to admit any of Monroe's statements during the post-polygraph interview in its case in chief, but contends that such statements may be used if Monroe chooses to testify at trial.³⁸ Defendant seeks to exclude all of the post-polygraph statements, regardless of their use.

During the post-polygraph interview, Special Agent Braga told Monroe that he failed the polygraph examination "in regards to additional sexual contact ... with minors[,]" and if he did not tell the truth, "people are going to draw their own conclusions."³⁹ Special Agent Braga also told Monroe that if he was not a "predator" Monroe should tell the agents what he was keeping from them and they would not get mad at him.⁴⁰ Monroe stated, "Lawyer."⁴¹ Special Agent Braga responded by stating, "Right, you can have a lawyer anytime you want. We, we advised you of that," and continued the questioning.⁴²

Shortly after this interaction, Monroe then stated, "[L]awyer, this, this is done."⁴³ Nonetheless, Special Agent Braga again continued the questioning.⁴⁴ At the evidentiary hearing on this motion, Special Agent Richardson conceded that he should have stepped in at this point, stopped the interview, and clarified whether Monroe wanted to continue.⁴⁵

Defendant alleges additional violations of his Miranda rights after this point in the interrogation.⁴⁶ The Court need not address these violations as the Court suppresses all statements after this point, as discussed further below.

II. Discussion

A. The Interrogation at Monroe's Home

1. Whether the Interrogation at Monroe's Home Was Custodial

Monroe argues that the interrogation at his home was custodial because he was separated from his family and he was not free to leave.⁴⁷ Specifically, Monroe argues that when he was permitted to go outside to smoke a cigarette and Special Agent Richardson said, "maybe they're gonna let you go outside ... and smoke a butt," a reasonable person in Monroe's situation would not have believed he was in fact free to leave.⁴⁸ The Government counters that the control exercised over Monroe in this interaction was "a simple officer safety situation" and that officers "have every right to control that environment and to control for their own safety who is in the house and where they are and where they're going and what they're doing" during a search.⁴⁹ Additionally, according to the Government, the interrogation at Monroe's home was not custodial because they were in his home, Monroe was not handcuffed or restrained, and Monroe had been advised that he was not under arrest.⁵⁰

Law enforcement need only respect Miranda rights during custodial interrogations.⁵¹ "The determination [of whether an interrogation is custodial] involves two distinct inquiries: ‘first, what were the circumstances surrounding the interrogation; and second, given those circumstances, would a reasonable person have felt he or she was not at liberty to terminate the interrogation and leave.’ "⁵² While the Court must examine the totality of the circumstances to determine custody for Miranda purposes,

[the First Circuit has] identified several factors that guide the analysis. Those factors include "whether the suspect was questioned in familiar or at least neutral surroundings, the number of law enforcement officers present at the scene, the degree of physical restraint placed upon the suspect, and the duration and character of the interrogation."⁵³

The original interrogation of Monroe occurred at his home, he was not handcuffed, and the questioning lasted approximately an hour and a half; it began at 6:24 a.m. and ended at 8:01 a.m. with a roughly thirty-minute break midway, which qualifies as a relatively short interview.⁵⁴ These facts weigh in favor of finding the interview non-custodial.⁵⁵ Conversely, while only Special Agent Richardson and Detective Houston conducted the questioning, fifteen to twenty officers were present at the scene.⁵⁶ Additionally, the questioning occurred...