United States v. Zapien, No. 14-10224 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress his confession, holding that the booking exception can apply to questioning even after a defendant has invoked his right to counsel. In this case, the booking exception applied to the questioning of defendant where the questions asked were biographical questions and were not reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response.
Court Description: Criminal Law The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of the defendant’s motion to suppress his confession volunteered after he was arrested for alleged involvement in an illegal drug sale, Mirandized, and accused by DEA agents of being a drug dealer. The panel disagreed with the defendant’s argument that the agents’ questioning following the invocation of his right to counsel constituted interrogation, and concluded that the questioning was covered by the booking exception, which is an exemption from Miranda’s coverage for questions posed to secure the biographical data necessary to complete booking or pretrial services. The panel agreed with the district court that the questions asked of the defendant were biographical questions and were not reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response.
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