Criminal Procedure – Miranda warnings — public safety exception

Listen to this article

U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Criminal

Criminal Procedure – Miranda warnings — public safety exception

Where a police officer asked a suspect what was in a bag he had just abandoned, the question was within the public safety exception to Miranda.

“Whatever was in the red bag had prompted its owner to put it by a garbage can in an alley, had prompted Hernandez to run when he had it, and had prompted him to drop it when he saw police officers. Hernandez had already turned over what appeared to be heroin to the officers—a drug often administered by a (sometimes used) syringe and, therefore, associated with blood-borne disease. See United States v. Carrillo, 16 F.3d 1046, 1049 (9th Cir. 1994) (stating that ‘the danger of transmission of disease or contact with harmful substances is real and serious enough’). Further, ‘drug dealers are known to arm themselves’ so the officers could have reasonably suspected a firearm might be in the bag. See United States v. Are, 590 F.3d at 506 (citing United States v. Edwards, 885 F.2d 377, 384 (7th Cir. 1989)). Thus, the officers could not ignore it, see Quarles, 467 U.S. at 657 (firearm left unattended was a public safety concern), but grabbing or opening the red bag would place the officers at risk of harm (impalement on a heroin needle or bumping a loaded gun). See Carrillo, 16 F.3d at 1049 (holding that asking a suspect whether he ‘had any drugs or needles on his person’ was within the public safety exception because ‘the danger of transmission of disease or contact with harmful substances is real and serious enough; a pressing need for haste is not essential.’); see also United States v. McDaniel, 182 F.3d 923 at *3 (7th Cir. 1999) (unpublished table decision) (‘The need to determine whether McDaniel was armed or carrying potentially harmful drug paraphernalia falls squarely within the Quarles exception.’). That the officers did not articulate these concerns is no matter; the public safety exception applies based on objective facts, not subjective motivations. See Quarles, 467 U.S. at 655–56. Accordingly, Officer Pierri’s question about what the red bag contained was within the public safety exception to Miranda.”

Affirmed.

13-2879 U.S. v. Hernandez

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Der-Yeghiayan, J., Manion, J.