Suppression of Statements – Miranda Rights

7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Mario O. Bailon

Case No.: 22-1793

Officials: Easterbrook, St. Eve, and Kirsch, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Suppression of Statements – Miranda Rights

Olivas Bailon accompanied a friend on a road trip from Aurora, Illinois to Chicago for a drug transaction. At the meetup point, agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) arrested the individuals involved in the drug deal, including Olivas Bailon, and searched the vehicle, finding a .38-caliber pistol on the floor of the car. Olivas Bailon was charged with being an alien unlawfully in the United States in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5). He filed a motion to suppress the incriminating statements he made to DEA agents, which the district court granted in part and denied in part. The parties consented to a bench trial, and the district court found Olivas Bailon guilty. He now appeals the district court’s partial denial of his motion to suppress.

The district court properly denied Olivas Bailon’s motion to suppress his statements because he knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily executed a valid waiver of his Miranda rights.

Affirmed.

Decided 02/23/23

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