United States v. Pedro Alvarez-Sanchez

975 F.2d 1396 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Pedro ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, Defendant-Appellant. No. 89-50060. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Nov. 9, 1990. Decided Sept. 15, 1992. Carol A. Klauschie, Deputy Federal Public Defender, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendant-appellant. Robert L. Brosio and Michael W. Fitzgerald, Asst. U.S. Attys., Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiff-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before D.W. NELSON and REINHARDT, Circuit Judges, and PRICE, * Senior District Judge. REINHARDT, Circuit Judge: 1 The defendant, Pedro Alvarez-Sanchez, was convicted after a jury trial of possession of counterfeit government obligations in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 472 . During the trial, the government introduced in evidence a confession obtained while the defendant was in custody. The defendant had moved to suppress his confession on the ground that it was inadmissible under 18 U.S.C. § 3501 due to the delay between his arrest and arraignment. The district court denied the defendant's motion, and he appeals that denial. We review de novo the district court's…

The defendant, Pedro Alvarez-Sanehez, was convicted after a jury trial of possession of counterfeit government obligations in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 472 . During the trial, the government introduced in evidence a confession obtained while the defendant was in custody. The defendant had moved to suppress his confession on the ground that it was inadmissible under 18 U.S.C. § 3501 due to the delay between his arrest and arraignment. The district court denied the defendant’s motion, and he appeals that denial. ' We review de novo the district court’s decision to admit the confession. See United States v. Gonzalez-Sandoval, 894 F.2d 1043, 1048 (9th Cir.1990); United States v. Wilson, 838 F.2d 1081, 1085-86 (9th Cir.1988). We reverse and remand.

I

The facts, as found by the district court in its denial of the defendant’s suppression motion, are relatively simple. On Friday, *1398 August 5, 1988, Alvarez-Sanchez was arrested by Los Angeles Sheriffs deputies on narcotics charges during the execution of a search warrant on his residence. During the search, the deputies recovered $2,260 in counterfeit money; the Secret Service was notified. Although the state never pursued any…

dissenting:

I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion in this matter.

After conviction by trial, the defendant appeals the order of the district court that denied his motion to suppress statements made to federal officers obtained in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 3501 . The facts as found and relied upon by the district court are as follows.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Defendant Pedro Alvarez-Sanchez was arrested by Los Angeles Sheriffs Deputies on narcotics charges on August 5, 1988, during the execution of a search warrant on defendant’s residence. It is not clear whether the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department was told that the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office would decline prosecution (Declaration of Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Deputy Abraham Hernandez), or if the case was never presented to the District Attorney for a prosecutorial decision (Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Detective John McCann). However, because counterfeit money totaling $2,260.00 was recovered from defendant’s residence, the Secret Service was notified on Monday, August 8, 1988.

At about 11:30 a.m. on August 8, 1988, defendant, while still in state police custody, was interviewed by United…