USA v. Coleman

• Decision Date: 03 April 2000
• Docket Number: No. 99-30104,99-30104
• Citation: 208 F.3d 786
• Parties: (9th Cir. 2000) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ROLLAND TERRY COLEMAN,OPINION Defendant-Appellant
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 786

208 F.3d 786 (9th Cir. 2000)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ROLLAND TERRY COLEMAN,OPINION Defendant-Appellant.

No. 99-30104

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

Argued and Submitted March 7, 2000

Filed April 3, 2000

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

COUNSEL: William S. LaBahn, Law Offices of William S. LaBahn, Eugene, Oregon, for the defendant-appellant.

Johnathan S. Haub, Assistant United States Attorney, Portland, Oregon, for the plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon; Robert E. Jones, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-98-00398-2-REJ

Before: Alfred T. Goodwin, Susan P. Graber, and Raymond C. Fisher, Circuit Judges.

GRABER, Circuit Judge:

After a bench trial, defendant Rolland Coleman was convicted of armed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. S 2113(a) and (d) and 18 U.S.C. S 2. Defendant appeals his conviction on three grounds: (1) the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress certain evidence; (2) the government breached the jury waiver agreement; and (3) there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction for armed bank robbery. We are not persuaded by Defendant's first two arguments but conclude that his third is well taken. Accordingly, we reverse Defendant's conviction for armed bank robbery, vacate his sentence, and return the case to the district court for entry of a judgment of conviction for unarmed bank robbery and for appropriate resentencing.

BACKGROUND

On August 19, 1998, three black men robbed the Pacific Northwest Ironworkers Federal Credit Union located in Portland, Oregon. Witnesses gave the police a general description of the robbers and a partial license plate number of the car in which the robbers had made their getaway.

One of the bundles of money that the robbers had taken contained an electronic tracking device, or "tag." Later that same day, police officers used electronic equipment to track the tag to a local motel. The tracking equipment led the police to believe that the tag was in the immediate vicinity of a telephone booth in which co-defendant Ernest Johnson was standing. Police arrested Johnson and found a bag in the telephone booth. The bag contained, among other things, money from the bank robbery.

After officers arrested Johnson, they searched the area surrounding the motel. During the search, officers found a car matching the witnesses' description of the one used in the bank robbery and clothing in a trash dumpster matching the witnesses' description of the clothing worn by the bank robbers.

While the officers were arresting Johnson, they noticed Defendant, a black man, moving between his room and the rear of the motel. During the foregoing investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents summoned Defendant from his motel room. One of the agents advised Defendant of his Miranda rights and asked Defendant if he would accompany them to the scene of the robbery. At that time, Defendant denied that he had any involvement in the robbery, but he agreed to go with the officers to the credit union. At the credit union, witnesses to the robbery did not positively identify Defendant as one of the robbers. FBI agents then took Defendant to the police station.

At the police station, before interrogating Defendant, FBI agents again advised him of his Miranda rights. After signing an advice-of-rights form, Defendant described the events of his day leading up to his arrest. He told the agents that Johnson and another co-defendant, Michael Ferguson, had awakened him at about 11 a.m. The three men then left Defendant's motel in Ferguson's car to buy heroin. At approximately 12:15 p.m., they bought heroin and used it while in the car. Agents then showed Defendant pictures of Ferguson and showed him mail with Ferguson's name on it that had been recovered from the car found at the motel. At that point, Defendant requested a lawyer. One of the FBI agents asked Defendant why he was choosing to invoke his right to counsel at that time. Defendant responded that he did not know anything about the bank robbery, was not a "snitch," and had his family to think about. The agents did not ask any further questions of Defendant, and Defendant did not say anything further to the agents. Defendant was released the following day when the State of Oregon declined to prosecute Defendant on state robbery charges.

Two days later, on August 22, FBI Special Agents Frazier and Howell went to Defendant's motel room. Frazier testified that they knocked on Defendant's door and asked if they could come in and talk with him regarding his contacts with Ferguson and Johnson on the day of the robbery. Frazier also testified that he did not advise Defendant of his Miranda rights before questioning him because, at that time, Defendant was neither a suspect nor in custody, and the agents had no intention of arresting him.

During the meeting on August 22, Defendant gave the agents a detailed statement regarding his contacts with Ferguson and Johnson on the day of the robbery, including a description of the clothing that Ferguson and Johnson were wearing. Defendant, however, again denied that he had any involvement in the robbery. During that interview, Defendant also told the agents that he had been a drug addict for most of his life and that he had been addicted to heroin for about the last 13 years. Defendant admitted that he had used heroin about an hour before the agents arrived to speak with him. Defendant said that he believed that he could kick his heroin habit by sleeping through the withdrawal.

Two days later, on August 24, Frazier returned to Defendant's apartment. Frazier brought with him several items of clothing that had been found in the trash dumpster at the motel. Frazier wanted to see whether Defendant could identify the clothing as that worn by Ferguson and Johnson on the day of the robbery. Frazier testified that, at that time, he still did not consider Defendant to be a suspect.

Frazier testified that he knocked on the door of Defendant's apartment, but that Defendant failed to answer. A window, located next to Defendant's front door, was covered only by some sheets. Frazier pulled the sheets aside and saw Defendant lying in bed, "kinda half asleep." Frazier asked Defendant if he could talk to him and show him the items of clothing that he had brought with him. Defendant let Frazier into the apartment and identified a shirt and hat as having been worn by Ferguson on the day of the robbery. Defendant could not identify any of the other items of clothing.

During their meeting on August 24, Defendant again told Frazier that he did not take part in the planning or execution of the robbery. Defendant also told Frazier that he had not used heroin in the past two days and was suffering heroin withdrawal. Frazier testified that Defendant appeared coherent, but more lethargic than he had been two days earlier.

The following day, August 25, Frazier and Howell returned to Defendant's motel. By that time, Ferguson had implicated Defendant in the robbery. Therefore, the agents now considered Defendant a suspect. Before going to the motel, Frazier had spoken with an Assistant United States Attorney, who advised Frazier that the agents would not likely have "authorization to arrest" Defendant unless Defendant made incriminating admissions.

The agents knocked on Defendant's door and asked to speak with him regarding statements that Ferguson had made about the planning and execution of the credit union robbery. Defendant allowed the agents to enter his motel room. After the agents advised Defendant of his Miranda rights, they gave him a more detailed description of Ferguson's statements and told him that, based on those statements, they considered Defendant a suspect. Defendant then gave the agents several admissions and statements regarding his participation in the robbery.

The agents arrested Defendant for the federal credit union robbery and took him to jail. Immediately after arriving at the jail, Defendant began to experience convulsions and was taken to a hospital. Two days later, Defendant was released from the hospital and returned to the jail.

Defendant, Ferguson, and Johnson were charged with armed bank robbery. Defendant pleaded not guilty. Defendant later moved to suppress all statements that he had made to agents after he invoked his right to counsel on August 19. After a hearing, the district court denied that motion.

Ferguson, pursuant to a plea agreement, testified at Johnson's trial and implicated himself, Defendant, and Johnson in the planning and commission of the robbery. The jury convicted Johnson of armed bank robbery. Defendant waived trial by jury and agreed to a bench trial based in part on stipulated facts, including all the evidence adduced at Johnson's trial. The district court found Defendant guilty of armed bank robbery and sentenced him to 70 months' imprisonment.

DISCUSSION

1. Motion to Suppress

Defendant first contends that, under Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477 (1981), the district court erred by not suppressing certain inculpatory statements that he made after invoking his right to counsel on August 19. We review de novo whether a defendant was entitled to Miranda warnings. See United States v. Montero-Camargo, 177 F.3d 1113, 1121 (9th Cir. 1999). We also review de novo the district court's determination that a defendant's statements were voluntary. See United States v. Wolf, 813 F.2d 970, 974 (9th Cir. 1987).

As noted above, Defendant was arrested and interrogated on August 19. During that interrogation, Defendant invoked his right to counsel. The agents did not question him further on substantive matters. Defendant was not provided a lawyer, but was not questioned further and was released the following day.

The statements that Defendant sought to have suppressed were made after he was released from custody. Because Defend...