United States v. Cruz

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 92-2631

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

versus

GERMAN CRUZ, JOSE HELI-MEJIA
and DAVID RAMOS,

Defendants-Appellants.

Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas

(May 18, 1994)

Before KING and WIENER, Circuit Judges, and DOHERTY,* District
Judge.

PER CURIAM:

Defendants-Appellants David Ramos, Jose Heli-Mejia, and German

Cruz appeal their convictions for conspiracy to possess with intent

to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1),

(b)(1)(A), 846; and aiding and abetting the possession with intent

to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1),

*
District Judge of the Western District of Louisiana,
sitting by designation.
(b)(1)(A), and 18 U.S.C. § 2. After carefully considering the

facts and legal arguments advanced by counsel in their briefs to

this court and in their oral arguments to this panel, and having

reviewed the record from the district court, we conclude that the

majority of the cited points of error1))while not necessarily

frivolous))lack sufficient factual and legal substance to justify

reversal of Defendants-Appellants' convictions. Whether Cruz's

right to counsel was violated, however, merits more discussion.

We, therefore, confine our factual review and legal analysis in

this opinion to that issue.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Cruz was arrested by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

agents after an indictment was returned charging him with

complicity in a cocaine conspiracy. Cruz was promptly given

Miranda2 warnings; however, as Cruz was not proficient in English,

the agents employed Cruz's wife as an interpreter. Cruz had no

questions and did not request an attorney. Cruz was taken to

1
Cruz, Ramos, and Heli-Mejia all challenge the sufficiency
of the evidence. Cruz challenges the admission of certain
inculpatory statements as violative of his Fifth and Sixth
Amendment rights to counsel. Cruz also challenges the district
court's refusal to declare a mistrial on the basis of testimony
elicited from a government agent on cross-examination. Ramos
challenges the restriction of the scope of his cross-examination.
Heli-Mejia challenges the denial of his requests for disclosure
of evidence held by the government, and the district court's
finding that he was a manager or supervisor of criminal activity
for purposes of the sentencing guidelines. Both Ramos and Heli-
Mejia challenge the admittance of evidence of extraneous acts.
2
384 U.S. 436 (1966).

2
another location where several agents had left their vehicles. A

Spanish-speaking officer then repeated the Miranda warnings in

Spanish. Cruz was asked if he understood the warnings and replied

that he did. Cruz was then asked if he had a lawyer. Cruz replied

that he was a "working man" and "couldn't afford an attorney." The

agents then proceeded to conduct a cursory interrogation. Shortly

thereafter, Cruz was transported to the DEA field office and again

was given Miranda warnings in Spanish. Cruz indicated that he

understood his rights, but he did not request counsel. DEA agents

then questioned Cruz for twenty minutes. In response to their

questions, Cruz gave several inculpatory statements to the agents.

Later that day, Cruz was arraigned, at which time he requested

the appointment of counsel. With benefit of counsel, Cruz moved to

suppress his inculpatory statements on the grounds that he had

invoked his right to counsel when he stated that he was a "working

man" and "couldn't afford an attorney." Cruz argued that, as he

had not waived his right to counsel at any time after making those

comments, his statements to the DEA agents should be suppressed as

the product of improper questioning.3 The district court rejected

Cruz's motion, reasoning, in part, that Cruz's comments were not "a

positive affirmation of the right to counsel." At trial, the

government introduced the inculpatory statements into evidence.

The jury convicted Cruz, and he timely filed a notice of appeal.

II.

3
Neither party disputes the words spoken by Cruz. The only
dispute is the effect to be given to those words.

3
 ANALYSIS

"An accused in custody, `having expressed his desire to deal

with the police only through counsel, is not subject to further

interrogation by the authorities until counsel has been made

available to him,' unless he validly waives his earlier request for

the assistance of counsel."4 "If the interrogation continues

without the presence of an attorney and a statement is taken, a

heavy burden rests on the government to demonstrate that the

[accused] knowingly and intelligently waived his privilege against

self-incrimination and his right to retained or appointed

counsel."5 "[A] valid waiver of that right cannot be established

by showing only that [the accused] responded to further police-

initiated custodial interrogation even if [the accused] has been

advised of his rights."6

Cruz contends that he invoked his right to counsel, thus

rendering the fruits of subsequent questioning inadmissible, when

he stated that he was a "working man" and "couldn't afford an

4
Smith v. Illinois, 469 U.S. 91, 94-95 (1984) (quoting
Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 484-85 (1981)); accord Miranda
v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 474 (1966); United States v. Cherry,
733 F.2d 1124, 1130 (5th Cir. 1984).
5
Miranda, 384 U.S. at 75.
6
Edwards, 451 U.S. at 484; see Smith, 469 U.S. at 95 ("This
`rigid' prophylactic rule embodies two distinct inquiries.
First, courts must determine whether the accused actually invoked
his right to counsel. Second, if the accused invoked his right
to counsel, courts may admit his responses to further questioning
only on finding that he (a) initiated further discussions with
the police, and (b) knowingly and intelligently waived the right
he had invoked." (citations omitted)).

4
attorney."7 But "[t]he word `attorney' has no talismanic

qualities. A defendant does not invoke his right to counsel any

time the word falls from his lips."8 Viewing Cruz's comments in

context of the officer's question and giving his words their

ordinary meaning, Cruz did not evince "a desire to deal with the

police only though counsel."9

Given the officer's inquiry whether Cruz had a lawyer, his

response could only be construed as a statement of fact))equivalent

to, "No, I don't have an attorney."10 Cruz's response could not

7
Cruz had both a Fifth Amendment and Sixth Amendment right
to counsel. The Fifth Amendment right to counsel arises when, as
here, an individual is subject to custodial interrogation.
Edwards, 451 U.S. at 482; Miranda, 384 U.S. at 470; United States
v. Berisha, 925 F.2d 791, 797 (5th Cir. 1991). The Sixth
Amendment right to counsel attaches upon the initiation of
judicial proceedings against an individual. See Michigan v.
Jackson, 475 U.S. 625, 629 (1986); Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S.
387, 398 (1977). Cruz was under indictment at the time that he
was questioned, so his Sixth Amendment right to counsel had
attached. See Patterson v. Illinois, 487 U.S. 285, 290 (1988).
8
United States v. Jardina, 747 F.2d 945, 949 (5th Cir.
1984), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1058 (1985); accord Thompson v.
Wainwright, 601 F.2d 768, 772 (5th Cir. 1979); Nash v. Estelle,
597 F.2d 513, 519 (5th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 444 U.S.
981 (1979).
9
Edwards, 451 U.S. at 484. "[W]hile an accused is not
required to use any magic language to invoke the right to
counsel, we do not ignore the plain meaning of his words in order
to find invocation of the right to counsel." Griffin v. Lynaugh,
823 F.2d 856, 863 n.3 (5th Cir. 1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S.
1079 (1988).
10
Cruz contends his comments were made in response to the
Miranda warnings; however, the uncontested testimony at the
suppression hearing establishes that his comments were made in
response to an inquiry whether he had a lawyer. Under cross-
examination, the officer giving the Miranda warnings testified:
"Well, during when I was reading the Miranda warning to him, at
that time I asked him if he had a lawyer, and he answered back
that, no, he didn't have a lawyer." Later the officer clarified

5
reasonably be construed as a request for counsel.11 We are

satisfied that, under the instant circumstances, Cruz did not

evince a desire for counsel; and, as there is no suggestion that

his subsequent statements were involuntary, we conclude that the

district court did not err in denying the motion to suppress on the

basis of Cruz's statement that he was a working man who could not

afford an attorney.

Cruz nevertheless argues in the alternative that his response

was at least an ambiguous or equivocal request for counsel, thereby

limiting further questioning to a clarification of his desires. In

United States v. Cherry12 we reaffirmed the principle that, when an

accused expresses an ambiguous or equivocal request for counsel,

further interrogation is limited to clarification of the accused's

desires.13 Here, though, we find no ambiguity or equivocation in

Cruz's response: He had been asked not if he wanted a lawyer, but

if he had one; and he answered that question in the negative. That

answer can not be stretched to constitute an unresponsive request

this testimony: "I remember him also telling me in Spanish when
I asked him about if he had an attorney or whatever, and he said,
`No.' He said he was just a working man. He couldn't afford an
attorney."
11
A different case would have been presented had the officer
asked Cruz whether he wanted a lawyer. Given such a context,
Cruz's response would arguably have been an ambiguous or
equivocal request. However, we are not presented with such
facts.
12
733 F.2d 1124 (5th Cir. 1984).
13
See id. at 1130-31; accord Thompson v. Wainwright, 601
F.2d 768, 771-72 (5th Cir. 1979); Nash v. Estelle, 597 F.2d 513,
517-18 (5th Cir. 1979) (en banc), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 981
(1979).

6
for counsel, even an ambiguous or equivocal one.

This case is thus unlike prior cases in which we found an

equivocal or ambiguous request for counsel. For example, in

Cherry, the accused stated, "Maybe I should talk to an attorney

before I make a further statement," then added rhetorically, "Why

should I not get an attorney?"14 We found that, as the accused's

statements suggested conflicting desires to talk to an attorney and

to talk to the authorities, his utterances constituted a request,

albeit an equivocal one.15 Unlike the comments in Cherry, though,

Cruz's comments did not suggest a desire for counsel; to the

contrary, they unambiguously and unequivocally stated a matter of

fact. Hence, as Cruz's comments could not be construed as an

ambiguous or equivocal request, subsequent questioning was not

limited to mere clarification of his desires. Denial of the motion

to suppress was not error.

III.

CONCLUSION

Having found no reversible error as to any of the Defendants-

Appellants' assignments of error, their convictions and sentences

are in all respects

AFFIRMED.

14
Cherry, 733 F.2d at 1127.
15
See id. at 1130. Likewise, in Thompson v. Wainwright, 601
F.2d at 769, and Nash v. Estelle, 597 F.2d at 516-17, the accused
expressed both a desire to talk to authorities and a desire to
talk to an attorney.

7