FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION JAN 25 2011
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 09-50617
Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 2:08-cr-01300-GW-1
v.
MEMORANDUM *
CHRISTOPHER JOHN TOBIE,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
George H. Wu, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted January 11, 2011
Pasadena, California
Before: McKEOWN, W. FLETCHER, and CLIFTON, Circuit Judges.
Defendant/Appellant Christopher Tobie pled guilty to possession of child
pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B). He appeals his
conditional plea, arguing that the FBI obtained self-incriminating statements
during a custodial interview that were used against him in violation of Miranda v.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), and that he was coerced into a confession. We
agree with the district court that Tobie was not in custody. Two F.B.I. agents
asked politely if they could enter Tobie’s home, and the interview lasted about 45
minutes. He was never physically restrained. Only the two agents were present,
and neither showed Tobie their gun. They never raised their voices. Tobie sat on
the couch, and the agents sat across from him. He was told twice that he was not
under arrest. Although Tobie’s girlfriend was asked to stay out of the room, this
did not turn Tobie’s own home into such a “police dominated environment” that he
was in custody. Compare U.S. v. Craighead, 539 F.3d 1073, 1078 (9th Cir. 2008)
(suspect subjected to custodial interrogation at his home where eight officers from
three different law enforcement agencies were present; suspect was isolated from
one of his superior, meant to provide moral support; suspect was interrogated in a
storage room; and officer in a flak-jacket stood guard with his back to the room’s
only exit during interrogation).
We also agree with the district court that Tobie was not subjected to such
extreme psychological pressure that his admission was rendered involuntary. The
tone of the conversation was quiet and reasonable. Although officers applied a
modest amount of psychological pressure to Tobie by coming to his house at an
early hour and saying that they knew he possessed child pornography, this is
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insufficient to find that his confession was involuntary. We have held confessions
under much more extreme circumstances to be voluntary. See, e.g. U.S. v.
Crawford, 372 F.3d 1048, 1051-52, 1060-61 (9th Cir. 2004) (en banc); U.S. v.
Haswood, 350 F.3d 1024, 1027-29 (9th Cir. 2003).
AFFIRMED.
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