Jenkins
United States v. Jenkins
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
William Dean Jenkins and his wife Sharon Ann Jenkins appeal their convictions and sentences for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 , and for importation of mari *680 juana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952 and 960. We affirm their convictions and sentences. Because the parties are familiar with the facts and procedural background, we do not recite them here.
I. William Jenkins’s Confession
A confession is involuntary when, “considering the totality of the circumstances, the government obtained the statement by physical or psychological coercion or by improper inducement so that the suspect’s will was overborne.” United States v. Leon Guerrero, 847 F.2d 1363, 1365-66 (9th Cir.1988). Under this test, we have held that promises to report the defendant’s cooperation to the prosecutor are not coercive. United States v. Okafor, 285 F.3d 842, 847 (9th Cir.2002). While we generally disapprove, however, of an interrogator’s threats to tell the prosecutor about a defendant’s refusal to cooperate, see United States v. Tingle, 658 F.2d 1332 , 1336 n. 5 (9th Cir.1981), this disapproval does not amount to a categorical rule.