US v. Prentice

• Decision Date: 04 February 2010
• Docket Number: Criminal No. 09-343(1) (DWF/RLE).
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Charles William PRENTICE, Jr., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota

683 F.Supp.2d 991

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Charles William PRENTICE, Jr., Defendant.

Criminal No. 09-343(1) (DWF/RLE).

United States District Court, D. Minnesota.

February 4, 2010.

Clifford B. Wardlaw, Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney's Office, for Plaintiff.

Aaron J. Morrison, Esq., Peter B. Wold, PA, for Defendant.

ORDER

DONOVAN W. FRANK, District Judge.

Based upon the Report and Recommendation of Chief United States Magistrate Judge Raymond L. Erickson, and after an independent review of the files, records and proceedings in the above-entitled matter,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:

1. That the Defendant's Motion to Suppress Confessions or Statements in the Nature of Confessions (Doc. No. 11) is DENIED.

2. That the Defendant's Motion to Suppress (Doc. No. 18) is DENIED.

3. That the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss the Indictment on the Grounds that the Court does not Have Subject Matter Jurisdiction (Doc. No. 19) is DENIED.

4. That the Defendant's Motion to Dismiss the Indictment on duplicity grounds (Doc. No. 22) is DENIED.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

RAYMOND L. ERICKSON, United States Chief Magistrate Judge.

I. Introduction

This matter came before the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to a general assignment, made in accordance with the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B), upon the following Pretrial Motions of the Defendant:

1. The Defendant's Motion to Suppress Confessions or Statements in the Nature of Confessions.

2. The Defendant's Motion to Suppress.

3. The Defendant's Motion to Dismiss the Indictment on the Grounds that the Court does not have Subject Matter Jurisdiction.

4. The Defendant's Motion to Suppress the Indictment as Duplicitous.

A Hearing on the Motions was conducted on December 21, 2009, at which time, the Defendant appeared personally, and by Aaron J. Morrison, Esq., and the Government appeared by Clifford P. Wardlaw, Assistant United States Attorney.

For reasons which follow, we recommend that the Defendant's Motions be denied.¹

II. Factual Background

In an Indictment that was filed on November 10, 2009, the Defendant was charged with one (1) Count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §§ 113(a)(6), 1151, and 1153(a), see, Docket No. 1, and on January 13, 2010, before our ruling on the parties' pretrial Motions, the Government filed a Superseding Indictment. See, Superseding Indictment, Docket No. 33. As to the Defendant, the Superseding Indictment realleges one (1) Count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and adds one (1) Count of Child Endangerment in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §§ 1151, 1153(a), 1153(b), and Minnesota Statutes Section 609.378, Subdivision 1(2)(b)(1). In addition, the Superseding Indictment charges a co-Defendant, Showy Shalette Johnson ("Johnson"), with one (1) Count of Child Endangerment, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §§ 1151, 1153(a), 1153(b), and Minnesota Statutes Section 609.378, Subdivision 1(2)(b)(1).²

The Government alleges that the Defendant, and Johnson, are the parents and legal guardians of the alleged victim. The alleged violations are said to have occurred between September 23, 2008, and November 3, 2008, on the Red Lake Indian Reservation ("Red Lake"), which is located within the territorial boundaries of this State and District. As pertinent to the charges, and to the Motions now before us, the operative facts may be briefly summarized.³

At the Hearing on the Defendant's Motions, the Government presented the testimony of Michael J. Iverson ("Iverson"), who is a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), in the Bemidji Resident Agency, and who was involved in the investigation of the events that gave rise to the pending charges. The investigation and resulting charges relate to child abuse allegations against the Defendant.

Iverson testified that, on November 5, 2008, he interviewed the Defendant, along with Special Agent Timothy Ball ("Ball"), also a Special Agent with the FBI, at the Juvenile Detention Center, on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. As related by Iverson, the Detention Center is not currently operating as a detention facility, as nobody is currently housed there, and the FBI, and the Red Lake Law Enforcement Officers, generally use the facility for meetings and interviews. Iverson averred that, at the time of the interview, the Defendant was employed at the Red Lake Detention Center, which is located within a few meters of the Juvenile Detention Center.

Iverson testified that he did not arrange the meeting with the Defendant, but that either Ball, or Officer Leonard Red Cloud ("Red Cloud"), who is a Criminal Investigator with Red Lake Law Enforcement, contacted the Defendant in order to request an interview for the purposes of obtaining the Defendant's statement. The Defendant agreed to the interview. Iverson did not know what Ball, or Red Cloud, said when they spoke with the Defendant for the purpose of arranging the meeting.

Iverson stated that, at the time of the interview, the Defendant was not informed that he did not have to talk to the FBI, and that he was not aware whether Red Cloud or Ball told the Defendant that he did not have to participate in the interview at the time that the meeting was arranged. Iverson further averred that, based upon his interactions with the Defendant, it was clear to him that the Defendant knew that he was not in custody at the time of the interview, and that the interview was not mandatory. The Defendant was not placed into custody, and he was never told that he was in custody. Iverson related that he viewed the Defendant as a person of interest in the investigation, although, as far as he was aware, nobody specifically informed the Defendant that he was a person of interest.

The Defendant transported himself to the Detention Center in his own vehicle, and Iverson and Ball met the Defendant in the parking lot upon his arrival. Iverson recounted that both he and Ball were in plainclothes at the time of the interview. Iverson was armed, but his weapon was not visible. Iverson testified that no weapon was visible on Ball, although he was not aware if Ball was armed. The interview was conducted in a meeting room within the Detention Center.

Iverson testified that the Defendant was not read his Miranda rights at any time prior to, or during, the interview, because he was not under arrest, and they had no intention of arresting him at that time. According to Iverson, the Defendant did not refuse to answer any questions, he was able to understand the Defendant, it appeared to Iverson that the Defendant understood the Agents, and that the Defendant did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Following the interview, the Defendant left in his own vehicle.

As related by Iverson, the FBI, United States Attorney's Office, Red Lake Family and Children Services ("Children Services"), Red Lake Courts, Red Lake Indian Health Services Hospital, and the Red Lake Women's Shelter, comprise a multi-disciplinary team for Red Lake, which meets once a month to collaborate and exchange information concerning the welfare of victims within Red Lake. Iverson testified that the present case was the subject of collaboration by the multi-disciplinary team. Iverson related that, during the course of the investigation of the Defendant, the FBI received medical records from Children Services, and that Children Services had taken custody of the Defendant's child, pursuant to a temporary hold resulting from the child abuse allegations. As a result of Children Services taking custody of the child, it also received the pertinent medical records, which were eventually disclosed to the FBI. Iverson testified that he has been working in the FBI's Bemidji Resident Agency for two (2) years and, during that time, he has been involved in family violence cases. According to Iverson, medical records are routinely exchanged between Children Services, and the FBI, in family violence cases on the Red Lake Indian Reservation.

III. Discussion

A. The Defendant's Motion to Suppress Statements.

1. Standard of Review. Government agents are not required to administer Miranda warnings to everyone they question. See, Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492, 495, 97 S.Ct. 711, 50 L.Ed.2d 714 (1977). Rather, Miranda warnings are required for official interrogations where a person has been "`taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.'" Stansbury v. California, 511 U.S. 318, 322, 114 S.Ct. 1526, 128 L.Ed.2d 293 (1994), quoting Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966); United States v. Helmel, 769 F.2d 1306, 1320 (8th Cir.1985); Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420, 428-29, 104 S.Ct. 3138, 82 L.Ed.2d 317 (1984). Once a suspect is in police custody and subject to interrogation, the suspect must be informed of his constitutional right to remain silent, and to be represented by legal counsel during questioning. See, Miranda v. Arizona, supra at 473, 86 S.Ct. 1602; see also, Dormire v. Wilkinson, 249 F.3d 801, 803-804 (8th Cir.2001), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 962, 122 S.Ct. 370, 151 L.Ed.2d 281 (2001).

"In determining whether an individual was in custody, a court must examine all of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation, but `the ultimate inquiry is simply whether there was a formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement of the degree associated with a formal arrest.'" Stansbury v. California, supra at 322, 114 S.Ct. 1526, quoting California v. Beheler, 463 U.S. 1121, 1125, 103 S.Ct. 3517, 77 L.Ed.2d 1275 (1983). As the Court explained, in United States v. Griffin, 922 F.2d 1343, 1347 (8th Cir.1990), "if the Defendant believed his freedom of action had been curtailed to a `degree associated with formal arrest,' and that belief was reasonable from an objective viewpoint, then the Defendant was being...