United States v. Lambert David Noa

Appellant appeals his convictions of theft of mailed matter, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1708 , on the ground that (1) no adequate Miranda warning of the right to appointed counsel prior to questioning was given to him before his confession to Federal Postal Authorities and (2) no warning of the right to refuse to permit a warrantless search was given to him prior to his consent to a search of his vehicle. We affirm.

The parties agree on the underlying facts. On February 27, 1970, appellant, who worked as a mail clerk at Queen’s Hospital in Honolulu, was called into the office of his superior, where two Federal Postal Inspectors, Townley and Hargrove, introduced themselves, stated that they were investigating reports of losses of mail, and advised appellant that they wished to question him. Prior to questioning appellant, Inspector Townley gave him the following warnings:

These warnings were also presented to appellant in written form. After reading them, appellant signified that he was willing to answer questions at that time and answered various questions of Inspector Townley, leading Townley to suspect appellant of the offenses under investigation. Townley then asked…