01-1620 U.S. v. Abdulla

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“[W]ithout deciding whether the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine can ever apply to a Miranda violation, we turn to whether Elstad’s underlying logic (a first confession that is voluntary, but that violates Miranda, will not bar the admission of a second voluntary confession) can apply to bar the use of the fruits doctrine… In determining whether Abdulla’s first confession was coerced or whether it was voluntary, we note that a ‘confession is voluntary if, in light of the totality of the circumstances, the confession is the product of a rational intellect and free will and not the result of physical abuse, psychological intimidation, or deceptive interrogation tactics that have overcome the defendant’s free will.’ United States v. Dillon, 150 F.3d 754, 757 (7th Cir. 1998). Further, ‘coercive police activity is a necessary predicate to the finding that a confession is not voluntary.’ Id. (quotation omitted). We have no problem concluding that even if Abdulla’s initial statement violated Miranda, it was voluntary and not coerced. The agents merely asked him a simple question, and he gave an elaborated, volunteered answer. As the district court observed, ‘the agents had only been with Mr. Abdulla for a very short time [before his initial statement], there is no indication that any pressure was put on him.’ Turning, therefore, to whether Abdulla’s subsequent statements were voluntary despite the initial Miranda violation, we ‘examine the surrounding circumstances and the entire course of police conduct.’ Elstad, 470 U.S. at 318. … Abdulla spontaneously made his subsequent statements, which were not made in response to a question. Further, he made his statements over a fifty-minute period in two locations-at the customs area in the airport and in the agents’ car on the way to the FBI office. Therefore, because of the specific facts in this case, we conclude that Abdulla’s subsequent statements were voluntary, and thus were properly admitted.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Gottschall, J., Kanne, J.