Lopez-Chamu

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO SUPPRESS

I, INTRODUCTION

Defendant Jose Andres Lopez-Chamu is charged with three counts of illegal re entry following deportation in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326 . Mr. Lopez now seeks to suppress two incriminating statements he made to agents of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or its predecessor, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (collectively referred to as “ICE”) in response to their questioning while he was in custody at the Anaheim, California jail on unrelated state charges. Mr. Lopez contends his statements were unlawfully obtained because he was never advised of his Miranda rights. The Court agrees. Incriminating statements regarding a crime made by a person in custody during the course of an interrogation are inadmissible in a subsequent criminal prosecution unless the person was advised of his Miranda rights prior to making the incriminating statements. Mr. Lopez was not so advised. Accordingly, such incriminating statements were not “voluntary” as determined by the United States Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona and its progeny.

II. RELEVANT BACKGROUND

On March 16, 2005, Mr. Lopez was indicted by a…