United States v. Tracy Jones, No. 22-2776 (8th Cir. 2023)
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A grand jury indicted Defendant for conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sections 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(A). Arrested on November 17, she was detained for 37 days before appearing before a magistrate judge on December 23. Defendant moved to dismiss the indictment and suppress her statements from a post-arrest interview. The district court denied both motions.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed. The court explained the 37-day delay between Jones’s arrest and her initial appearance before a magistrate judge violated Rule 5(a). However, to determine whether a delay in presentment violates substantive due process, this court determines whether, based on the totality of the circumstances, the government’s conduct “offends the standards of substantive due process” and “shocks the conscience.” Defendant asserted that law enforcement officers in South Dakota have a “pattern” of delaying defendants’ initial appearances, citing two cases where defendants moved to dismiss indictments based on delays in their initial appearance. However, the court held two mistakes do not establish a pattern of outrageousness sufficient to show deliberate indifference and support a due process violation.
Further, Defendant argued that her Miranda waiver was involuntary because the agent’s pre-warning statements were an unlawful two-step interrogation under Missouri v. Seibert and that her confession was involuntary under United States v. Aguilar. The court held the district court properly concluded that these brief, narrow-scope pre-warning statements were not a two-step interrogation in violation of Seibert and that Defendant’s statements were voluntary.
Court Description: [Benton, Author, with Colloton and Wollman, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. Defendant sought dismissal of her indictment based on a violation of Fed. R. Crim. P. 5(a)(1)(A) as she was detained for 37 days before being arraigned before a magistrate judge; the delay violated the rule, but dismissal of the indictment is not a proper remedy for a Rule 5(a) violation; with respect to defendant's argument that dismissal is warranted because of the violation of her substantive due process rights, considering the totality of the circumstances, the delay did not violate her due process rights as there was not the quite high level of outrageousness needed to shock the conscience and create a substantive due process violation; the brief, narrow-scope pre-warning statements investigators made were not a two-step interrogation in violation of Missouri v. Siebert, 542 U.S. 600 (2004), and the district court did not err in denying defendant's motion to suppress her post-arrest interview statements. [ June 14, 2023 ]
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