United States v. Khoa Dang Vu Hoang
United States v. Khoa Dang Vu Hoang
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OPINION
Defendant Khoa Dang Vu Hoang .is named in two counts in an eight-count
I.
The second superseding indictment alleges the following:
Nam began dating a woman (“the Victim”) around May 2013. Nam lives in Fair-fax County, Virginia, and the Victim lives in Montgomery County, Maryland. During their relationship, Nam allegedly took sexually explicit photos of the Victim with his cellphone. Nam and the Victim also allegedly used crack cocaine together. Shortly after Nam and the Victim broke up in December 2013, Nam began harassing the Victim. As part of this harassment, Nam and defendant allegedly drove to the Victim’s house to stalk her. The Victim also allegedly talked to defendant about Nam and told defendant that she was afraid of Nam. In late December 2013, Nam threatened the Victim that he would spread the sexually explicit photos of her unless she paid him money.
In January 2014, defendant drove Nam to the Victim’s house to stalk the Victim. After they determined the Victim was not home, Nam and defendant broke into the Victim’s house and stole some of her possessions. On January 25, 2014, Nam then posted the sexually, explicit photos of the Victim on Nam’s Facebook page, which a number of people viewed. That same day, the Victim posted on her Facebook page that she would be going with her friends that night to a club in the. District of Columbia. Nam saw the Victim’s Facebook post and asked defendant to drive him to the club to watch for the Victim and stalk her. Defendant agreed to do so. Once Nam and defendant arrived at the club, they parked outside the club and waited for the Victim to emerge from the club. Nam had a handgun on his person for the purpose of harassing and frightening the Victim. When the Victim left the club and got into her car, Nam instructed defendant to follow her, which defendant did. When the Victim stopped her car at a traffic light, Nam got out of defendant’s car, approached the Victim’s car with his gun out, and demanded that the Victim let him into her car. She complied, and Nam then forced the Victim at gunpoint to drive to Maryland. While Nam was in the Victim’s car, Nam and defendant maintained contact via cellphone, and Nam directed defendant to follow the Victim to Maryland, which defendant did; Nam released the Victim in Maryland.
• Defendant was born in Vietnam and is 46 years old. He completed high school in Vietnam but has no other formal education. He is a naturalized United States citizen. By his own admission, defendant does not speak English well and reads and writes only a little English. Defendant had never been arrested before.
• After his arrest, defendant was taken to an interview room at a police station in Montgomery County, Maryland. Because of defendant’s limited English proficiency, Maryland detectives called in FBI Special Agent Joseph Hoang. Special Agent Hoang grew up in the United States speaking both Vietnamese and English. FBI testing of his language skills shows that he speaks Vietnamese at a two-plus level and reads Vietnamese at a level three, which means that he is proficient.
• Special Agent Hoang was present during the entire interview, serving as both translator and as an interviewer. Maryland Detective Alyson Dupouy and Detective Sergeant Robert Grimes also questioned defendant. No more than two people—Special Agent Hoang and one of the detectives— questioned defendant at any one time.
• The video recording of the interview begins at approximately 9:10 p.m. Interview Video Recording (Aug. 5, 2016). Defendant was sitting alone in the room eating a snack with one hand cuffed to a table. Someone entered the room and gave defendant a bottle of water. Special Agent Hoang and Detective Dupouy entered the room at approximately 9:46 p.m.
• Special Agent Hoang testified at the hearing that defendant appeared “normal and friendly” throughout the interview, and did not appear to be under the influence of any drugs or alcohol. United States v. Hoang, No. 1-16-cr-193 (E.D. Va. Feb. 10, 2017) (Hr’g Tr. at 27).
• Special Agent Hoang introduced himself to defendant and informed defendant that Special Agent Hoang spoke and understood Vietnamese. Special Agent Hoang also advised defendant to ask any questions defendant had.
• Immediately after introducing himself, Special Agent Hoang told defendant that “the first thing we need to [do is] go over your rights.” United States v. Hoang, No. 1-16-cr-193 (E.D. Va. Feb. 6, 2017) (Interview Tr. at 3). Special Agent Hoang asked defendant whether defendant would*780 prefer going over defendant’s rights in Vietnamese or English, and defendant requested Vietnamese. Special Agent Hoang testified at the hearing that he had previously advised suspects of their Miranda rights in Vietnamese on approximately 20 to 30 occasions. .
• Special Agent Hoang reviewed defendant’s Miranda rights using the FBI’s official waiver form FD-S95.17, which lists the Miranda rights in Vietnamese. Special Agent Hoang fluently translated the FBI waiver form from Vietnamese into English during the hearing, thereby demonstrating the facility and ease with which he could translate from Vietnamese into English.
• Special- Agent Hoang explained that the FBI waiver form is titled in Vietnamese with , the phrase “[t]hese are your rights,” and the form also includes a space to enter the location, date, and time of the interview. Hr’g Tr. at 29. The form then states that defendant has (1) the right to remain silent, and that anything defendant says can be used against him in a court of law, and (2) the right to an attorney before and during the interview, and that if defendant cannot hire an-attorney then an attorney will be provided before the interview begins. Id. The form then asks defendant if defendant agrees to speak without an attorney. Id. Finally, next to the Vietnamese phrase for “I consent,” there is a line for defendant to sign the form and consent to questioning. Id.; Gov’t Ex. 4C.
• The video recording and interview transcript, which Special ' Agent Hoang confirmed was accurate, show that defendant read the FBI waiver form in Vietnamese as Special Agent Hoang explained each right in-Viet-, ñámese. The translation of that process is as follows:
Special Agent Hoang: You read [the waiver form] for me ok?
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: We can read together.
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: Okay. This is an advisement of your rights.
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: Ok, before we interview you, you must know ábout yoúr rights, okay.
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: You have the right to know of your rights, okay?
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: You have the right to remain silent. Okay?
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: You have the right to know that anything that you said [sic] may be used against you in the court of law, okay?
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: Okay. You have the'right to ask for counsel by a lawyer before and' during the interview.
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: If you do not have the ability to hire a lawyer,
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: A lawyer will be appointed to [] help you okay?
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: Here, this is what you must understand, '
Defendant: Yes.
*781 Special Agent Hoang: Before the interview begins, if you agree to talk with us,—
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: ... and then you do not want to provide any answers later on, you may stop the interview at [any time].
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: Do you understand that?
Defendant: Yes, yes.
Special Agent Hoang: These are your rights, ok.
Defendant: Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: You have to read this—this portion that is for you ok, okay? You read it out loud ok.
Defendant (reading from the waiver form): I have read this Advisory of Rights and I clearly understand my rights.
Special Agent Hoang: Okay.
Defendant: ... At this time, I agree to answer questions in this interview without the presence] of a lawyer.
Special Agent Hoang: Okay, you understand completely, right? Defendant (nodding): Yes.
Special Agent Hoang: Right now, do you agree to talk to ... me—to this lady and to me?
Defendant: Please go ahead with your questions. I am alright with whatever questions that you have, please ask me.
Interview Tr. at 3-6.
• Special Agent Hoang testified that defendant appeared to understand everything he was told. The video recording confirms that defendant appeared relaxed and cooperative while Special Agent Hoang reviewed defendant’s Miranda rights and indeed throughout the entire interview. After reviewing his rights, defendant signed the FBI waiver form.
• After reviewing the FBI waiver form with defendant, Special Agent Hoang reviewed Montgomery County’s “Advice of Rights” form with defendant. Gov’t Exhibit 4B. Montgomery County’s Advice of Rights form, which is written in English, lists the Miranda rights and an additional right under Maryland law, namely defendant’s right to be taken before a judicial officer who would inform defendant of the charges against him and the penalties for each charge, provide a copy of the charges to defendant, make a pretrial custody determination, and advise defendant of his right to counsel and the right to a preliminary hearing before a judge. As the video recording and interview transcript indicates, defendant stated that he did not understand all aspects of this right. After Special Agent Hoang clarified this right, defendant stated that he understood it. Interview Tr. at 12-13.
• After Special Agent Hoang translated the Montgomery County Advice of Rights form into Vietnamese, defendant signed the form. Special Agent Hoang testified at the hearing that his review of defendant’s Miranda rights and the Montgomery County Advice of Rights form consumed about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Defendant himself testified at the hearing that when he asked Special Agent Hoang to clarify something in Vietnamese, Special Agent Hoang did so and defendant was then able to understand fully.
*782 • Special Agent Hoang first questioned defendant about the night he drove - Nam to the club to stalk the Victim and Nam forced his way into the Victim’s car. Defendant stated that Nam called defendant and asked defendant to take Nam from Virginia to the District of Columbia to see if the Victim had a boyfriend. Defendant then made incriminating statements about the kidnapping,4 as well as the burglary , that Nam committed with defendant.
• -After discussing the kidnapping and burglary, Special Agent Hoang interviewed defendant regarding narcotics activities, as Special Agent Hoang had information that defendant was dealing drugs.
• At approximately 11:06 p.m., in the course of questioning defendant about narcotics activities, Special Agent Hoang engaged in the following conversation with defendant regarding defendant’s immigration status:
Special Agent Hoang: What year did you arrive in [the] United States?
Defendant: I came over in 2001.
Special Agent Hoang: Okay. Do you know that they can deport you back to Viet Nam? Do you [know] that?
Defendant: Yes, I understand.
Special Agent Hoang: You have to remember .., whatever that you confessed to me, if you lie to me—
Defendant: Yes, sir.
Special Agent Hoang: I have authority; there are ways to deport you back to Viet Nam, okay?
Defendant: Yeah, yeah. I—
Special Agent Hoang: I know that you have children.
Defendant: Yes, yes.
Special Agent Hoang: And you have to find a way to take care of them, okay?
Defendant: Yes, yes.
Interview Tr. at 130-31.
• Special Agent Hoang then continued to question defendant about narcotics activities. At approximately 11:12 p.m., Special Agent Hoang again raised the subject of deportation:
Special Agent Hoang: This whole purse theft thing is nothing [in comparison to narcotics activity]. When you [are] charged with a federal crime, you’re looking at least 15 years ok.
Defendant: Yes, sir.
Special Agent Hoang: After you finish serving your sentence, it’ll be deportation back to Vietnam. What do you think your wife and kids will be thinking? They won’t love you anymore.
Defendant: Yes, sir.
Special Agent Hoang: [She’ll] look for a new husband, [they’ll] look[] for a new father.
Defendant: Yes sir.
*783 Special Agent Hoang: I am just telling you the truth, okay!
Defendant: Yes sir.
Special Agent Hoang: That is the reason why you should tell me what it is that you know. I have a way to help you.
[Defendant then asked to use the restroom. Special Agent Hoang took defendant out of the interview room, and Detective Sergeant Grimes escorted defendant to the restroom. Defendant and Special Agent Hoang returned to the room, and Special Agent Hoang resumed his questioning]
Special Agent Hoang: I was just telling it to you straight. I have ways to help you. All I need is the truth ok.
Defendant: Yeah.
[Special Agent Hoang re-handcuffed defendant’s wrist to the table]
Special Agent Hoang: But once you lie to me, then I will negate everything ok? I will be charging you with all crimes.
Defendant: Yes sir.
Special Agent Hoang: I don’t care.
Defendant: Yes sir.
Interview Tr. at 137-38.
• The video recording shows that defendant appeared calm and composed during both conversations relating to deportation. Interview Video Recording (Aug. 5, 2016). Significantly, the video reflects that defendant did not become agitated or express any concern at the mention of deportation, nor did he become more forthcoming and cooperative about his alleged narcotics activities after Special Agent Hoang raised the prospect of deportation.
• Special Agent Hoang testified that he did not learn that defendant is an American citizen until later in the interview.
• The interview continued for approximately another thirty minutes. Defendant was given more food to eat. At about 11:31 p.m., Special Agent Hoang asked defendant if defendant had ever heard about Nam posting photos of the Victim on the Internet. Defendant replied that Nam had posted photos of the Victim on Nam’s Facebook page, which in defendant’s view was “a very dirty thing to do.” Interview Tr. at 169. Defendant admitted that the Victim spoke to defendant and cried to defendant about her troubles with Nam. Defendant further admitted that he did not repeat these conversations to Nam.
• The interview ended at approximately 11:35 p.m.
II.
No principle of constitutional law is more familiar or well-established than that a person in custody must be given his Miranda rights before he can be questioned. As the Fourth Circuit has explained, the Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona
Defendant contends that his statements must be suppressed on the grounds (i) that his Miranda waiver was neither voluntary nor knowing and (ii) that, even if his waiver passes constitutional muster, Special Agent Hoang’s questioning tactics and references to deportation, defendant’s family, and a potential prison sentence render defendant’s statements involuntary. As a result, the first question presented is whether defendant validly waived his Miranda rights, and the second question is whether any of Special Agent Hoang’s remarks in the course of the interview rendered defendant’s statements involuntary.
A.
Supreme Court precedent makes clear that there are “two distinct dimensions” to determining whether a defendant validly waived his Miranda rights: “First, the relinquishment of the right must have been voluntary in the sense that it was the product of a free and deliberate choice rather than intimidation, coercion, or deception.” Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 421, 106 S.Ct. 1135, 89 L.Ed.2d 410 (1986). Second, it is also clear that “the waiver must have been made with a full awareness of both the nature of the right being abandoned and the consequences of the decision tp abandon it.” Id, A waiver of Miranda rights is valid “[o]nly if the totality of the circumstances súrroundíng the interrogation reveal both an uncoerced choice and the requisite level of comprehension.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Accordingly, defendant’s arguments on voluntariness—whether defendant’s choice to waive his rights was coerced—and on the requisite level of comprehension—whether defendant understood the rights he was waiving—must be separately addressed.
With respect to whether defendant voluntarily waived his Miranda rights, the Fourth Circuit has made clear that “[c]oer-cive police activity is a necessary predicate to a finding that ... a waiver of Miranda rights is not voluntary.” Cristobal, 293 F.3d at 140-41. .Defendant argues that Special Agent Hoang’s use of the.official FBI waiver form to secure defendant’s waiver was coercive because the form allowed defendant to indicate only his consent to waiving his rights, but did not allow defendant to refuse consent or request an attorney. The fatal flaw in this argument is as simple as it is obvious; the form is not coercive, as defendant could simply have refused to sign the form if he did not wish to waive his rights. Indeed, a signed waiver form is not even necessary to establish a valid waiver, inasmuch as the
Because defendant’s waiver of his Miranda rights was voluntary, the next issue is whether the waiver was knowing and intelligent. A waiver is knowing and intelligent if it was “made with full awareness of both the nature of the right being abandoned and the consequences of the decision to abandon it.” Cristobal, 293 F.3d at 140 (internal quotation marks omitted). Whether defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his rights depends on the totality of the circumstances surrounding the waiver. Id. at 142. Relevant circumstances include defendant’s “intelligence and education, age and familiarity with the criminal justice system, and the proximity of the waiver to the giving of Miranda warnings.” Cornil v. Thompson, 63 F.3d 1279,1288 (4th Cir. 1995) (internal quotation marks and brackets omitted). Defendant argues that his waiver was neither knowing nor intelligent because: (1) defendant has only a limited understanding of English and had never been arrested before, (2) Special Agent Hoang did not adequately explain his rights, and (3) Special Agent Hoang inaccurately paraphrased some of the rights when translating them.
This argument is meritless. A careful review of the video recording and an assessment of the hearing testimony confirm that defendant, a 46-year-old naturalized American citizen who completed the twelfth grade, adequately understood his Miranda rights as accurately explained to him in Vietnamese. Compare id. (holding that a 24-year-old defendant with an I.Q. of 68 validly waived his Miranda rights). Furthermore, defendant’s argument that his limited grasp of English renders his waiver unknowing fails for the simple reason that defendant was not Mirandized in English, but in Vietnamese. As the video recording and hearing testimony make clear, Special Agent Hoang, who speaks and reads Vietnamese and English fluently, painstakingly reviewed each of defendant’s Miranda rights with defendant in Vietnamese using the FBI’s official Vietnamese language waiver form, which defendant read as Special Agent Hoang explained his rights in Vietnamese.
The record contradicts defendant’s argument that Special Agent Hoang failed to explain fully each Miranda right or inaccurately paraphrased the rights. Special Agent Hoang methodically reviewed each and every Miranda right with defendant, asking defendant after each question if defendant understood each right, and defendant repeatedly confirmed that he understood each right. Interview Tr. at 3-6. Special Agent Hoang succeeded in “convey[ing] the general rights enumerated in Miranda" to defendant, which is all he was required to do. United States v. Frankson, 83 F.3d 79, 82 (4th Cir. 1996). The argument that defendant did not comprehend his Miranda rights is belied by the fact that, when Special Agent Hoang asked defendant if defendant would speak to the agents, defendant replied: “Please go ahead with your questions. I am alright with whatever questions that you have, please ask me.” Interview Tr. at 6.
Defendant’s testimony and demeanor during the evidentiary hearing confirm that he understood his rights. Indeed, when defendant was asked at the hearing what he believed Special Agent Hoang meant by the right to remain silent, defendant made clear his understanding by answering that “[Special Agent Hoang] could ask but I don’t have to answer the question.” Hr’g. Tr. at 68. This response reflects that defendant adequately understood his rights, and in this respect it is important to recall that the “Constitution does not require that a criminal suspect know and understand every possible consequence of a waiver of the Fifth Amend
Finally, the only allegedly inaccurate paraphrasing of his rights that defendant points to in his brief is when Special Agent Hoang explained defendant’s right under the Montgomery County Advice of Rights form to appear before a judicial officer, which is not a Miranda right. Interview Tr. at 12. Defendant’s argument in this respect is irrelevant; under the Fifth Amendment defendant was entitled only to be informed of his federal Miranda rights, not his Maryland rights.
In sum, all of the circumstances surrounding defendant’s waiver point convincingly to the conclusion that his Miranda waiver was the product of a “free and deliberate choice”
B.
The second issue raised by defendant’s motion to suppress is whether Special Agent Hoang’s questioning tactics and references to the prospect of deportation, defendant’s family, and a potential prison sentence rendered defendant’s statements involuntary, despite the valid Miranda waiver. In this respect, a “statement is involuntary under the Fifth Amendment only if it is involuntary within the meaning of the Due Process Clause.” United States v. Braxton, 112 F.3d 777, 780 (4th Cir. 1997) (en banc) (internal quotation marks omitted). A statement is involuntary under the Due Process Clause if the statement was “extracted by any sort of threats or violence, or obtained by any direct or implied promises, however slight, or by the exertion of any improper influence.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Although “coercive police activity is a necessary predicate to the finding that a [statement] is not ‘voluntary’ within the meaning of the Due Process Clause,”
Defendant argues (1) that Special Agent Hoang’s use of suggestive, leading questions was sufficiently coercive that all of defendant’s statements must be suppressed and (2) that Special Agent Hoang’s comments regarding deportation, defendant’s family, and a potential prison sentence toward the end of the interview require suppression of an incriminating statement that followed those comments.
Defendant identifies only ten short exchanges spanning eleven pages out of a 164-page transcript that he claims are problematic because of Special Agent Hoang’s allegedly leading and suggestive questioning,
There is no question that the prospect of deportation is significant for criminal defendants. See Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356, 365, 368, 130 S.Ct. 1473, 176 L,Ed.2d 284 (2010) (stating that “[w]e have long recognized that deportation is a particularly severe penalty” and that defendants may care more about remaining in the United States than being incarcerated) (internal quotation marks omitted).
When assessing whether police conduct renders an admission involuntary, the Fourth Circuit has emphasized that the “proper inquiry is whether the [admission] was extracted by the threats or implied promises.” Id. at 783 (internal quotation marks omitted). The timeline of the interview shows that defendant did not make his statement about the Facebook photos because of Special Agent Hoang’s references to deportation. Defendant made all but one of his incriminating statements with respect to the stalking, kidnapping, and burglary before Special Agent Hoang mentioned the subject of deportation. When Special Agent Hoang mentioned the subject of deportation at 11:06 p.m. and again at 11:12 p.m., defendant said nothing about the stalking, kidnapping, burglary, or Facebook photos; the conversation was limited to defendant’s alleged narcotics activities. Defendant did not mention the Fa-cebook photos until 11:31 p.m., approximately 20 minutes after . Special Agent
The other circumstances surrounding the interview support this conclusion. As stated above, defendant “was given his Miranda rights before he gave” the incriminating statement, he indicated that he understood his rights, and he “signed a form indicating that he understood his rights and that he was waiving them.” United States v. Gray, 137 F.3d 765, 771 (4th Cir. 1998). Special Agent Hoang mentioned the word “deportation” only three times during the last half hour of a two-hour interview. Significantly, the video recording shows that defendant did not exhibit concern or become agitated when Special Agent Hoang mentioned deportation, but instead remained calm and composed. The video recording further reflects that Special Agent Hoang did not raise his voice or berate defendant; indeed, immediately after Special Agent Hoang mentioned the issue of deportation at 11:12 p.m., Special Agent Hoang told defendant that defendant should eat something and allowed defendant to use the bathroom after defendant requested to do so. Interview Tr. at 138. Despite Special Agent Hoang’s references to deportation, defendant’s family, and a prison sentence, defendant did not admit to any involvement in narcotics activities, which was the subject of the interview at the time of Special Agent Hoang’s comments. This confirms that defendant’s will was not overborne by those comments. See United States v. Breeden, 149 Fed.Appx. 197, 202 (4th Cir. 2005) (unpublished) (“The. federal agents’ misrepresentations did not make [the defendant’s] confession involuntary because he repeatedly denied any role in the murder ... after each of those misrepresenta
Although defendant may have felt some intimidation during the course of the interview, the Fourth Circuit has sensibly made clear that “[v]oluntariness is not ... to be equated with the absolute absence of intimidation, for under this test virtually no statement would be voluntary.” Id. Instead, the totality of the circumstances shows defendant’s will was not overborne by Special Agent Hoang’s references to deportation, defendant’s family, and a potential prison sentence. As a result, defendant’s statement concerning the Facebook photos is admissible. See Braxton, 112 F.3d at 781.
III.
For the foregoing reasons, defendant’s motion to suppress his statements during the interview is appropriately denied.
An appropriate order has issued.
. Named in all eight counts is defendant’s co-defendant, Nam Quoc Hoang ("Nam”). Because defendant’s admissions at issue here implicate his co-defendant, defendant’s trial has been severed from the trial of his co-defendant. See Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968); see also United States v. Hoang, No, 1-16-cr-193 (E.D. Va. Feb. 10, 2017) (Order).
. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).
. Federal Bureau of Investigation Vietnamese Language Specialist Chris Vu translated the interview transcript from Vietnamese into English. FBI Special Agent Joseph Hoang, who served as translator during the entire interview, is an experienced translator who fluently speaks Vietnamese and English. He testified at the hearing that he reviewed the video recording and transcript and that both are accurate.
. Nam is charged with a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2261, which prohibits a person from traveling in interstate commerce "with the intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate a spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner, and who, in the course of or as a result of such travel or presence, commits or attempts to commit a crime of violence against that spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner.” The government alleges that -Nam committed a "crime of violence” under that statute by kidnapping, assaulting, and threatening the Victim by forcing his way into her car and demanding at gunpoint that she drive to Maryland.
. 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).
. The use of the term ‘'intelligent’' in this part of the analysis may give rise to a misunderstanding, What the caselaw means by intelligent is that the suspect is fully aware of the consequences of his decision to abandon Miranda rights, Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 421, 106 S.Ct. 1135, 89 L.Ed.2d 410 (1986). In common parlance,. however, an “intelligent” decision refers to a smart or sensible choice. See Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1175 (1993), But the Fifth Amendment' does not require that a suspect's decision to waive his Miranda rights be either smart or sensible, nor does the Fifth Amendment require “that a criminal suspect know and understand every possible consequence of a waiver of the Fifth Amendment privilege.” Colorado v. Spring, 479 U.S. 564, 574, 107 S.Ct. 851, 93 L.Ed.2d 954 (1987).
. Obvious examples of coercive police behavior include subjecting the suspect to "severe physical abuse," holding the suspect "incommunicado and questioning him] for over 36 hours without sleep or rest,” giving the suspect truth serums, and threatening a wounded suspect with a loaded gun. Cristobal, 293 F.3d at 140 (collecting several Supreme Court cases).
. The decisions defendant relies on to argue that his limited command of English invalidates his waiver are inapposite because those decisions involved defendants with limited understanding of English who were given their Miranda rights only in English, not their native languages, yet even in those scenarios courts found the Miranda waivers were still valid. See United States v. Guay, 108 F.3d 545, 548-50 (4th Cir. 1997) (concluding that defen
. See Oregon v. Hass, 420 U.S. 714, 719, 95 S.Ct. 1215, 43 L.Ed.2d 570 (1975) (‘‘[A] State is free as a matter of its own law to impose greater restrictions [on] police activity than those this Court holds to be necessary upon federal constitutional standards.").
. The Court: "When you asked [Special Agent Hoang] to explain something in Vietnamese, did he do so?”
Defendant: Yes, he did.
The Court: And once he did so, did you then understand his Vietnamese? Defendant: Yes, I did.
. Moran, 475 U.S. at 421, 106 S.Ct 1135.
. And it is worth repeating here that the Constitution does not require a suspect to know and understand every possible consequence of a waiver in order for the waiver to be knowing and intelligent. See Spring, 479 U.S. at 574, 107 S.Ct. 851.
. Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 167, 107 S.Ct. 515, 93 L.Ed.2d 473 (1986).
. Defendant also argues that because of his upbringing in Vietnam, where police allegedly torture suspects, he was subject to unlawful coercion because he feared he would be beaten or shot if he disobeyed his interviewers. A recent decision in this district persuasively rejected this argument. In United States v. Doan, the defendant there argued that “because of defendant’s experiences in Vietnam, defendant felt a psychological pressure to cooperate fully with law enforcement.” 184 F.Supp.3d 271, 280 (E.D, Va. 2016). As noted in Doan, "there is no sound legal basis for the argument that a psychological pressure rooted in an individual’s past experience in another country—rather than the government’s conduct—implicates the Fifth Amendment,” as the Fifth Amendment is “not concerned 'with moral and psychological pressures to confess emanating from sources other than official coercion.’ ” Id. (quoting Colorado, 479 U.S. at 170, 107 S.Ct. 515).
. For example, defendant points to Special Agent Hoang's question that "[wjhen Nam asked you to meet, to follow a lady, and kidnap her then put her in a vehicle, do you remember that incident, do you remember that event?” Interview Tr. at 17.
, See also United States v. Feliz, 794 F.3d 123, 132—33 (1st Cir. 2015) (holding that the district court committed plain error where the court excluded from a suppression hearing evidence that a police officer threatened a suspect with the deportation of his mother and state custody of the suspect's children, as the evidence was not hearsay and was “plausible and significant,” and remanding the case for a new suppression hearing to determine whether the confession was voluntary).
. Compare Grades v. Boles, 398 F.2d 409, 411-14 (4th Cir. 1968) (holding that a confession was involuntary because the prosecutor’s statement that the prosecutor would not press certain charges against the defendant, which "immediately” prompted defendant to sign a prepared confession, amounted to an implied promise that was the "principal and determinative factor motivating” the defendant to sign the confession).
. Defendant relies on the Supreme Court of Colorado’s decision in People v. Ramadon to argue that Special Agent Hoang’s references to deportation rendered his statement involuntary. In that case, die court concluded that an officer’s threat to deport the suspect to Iraq rendered the suspect’s statements involuntary, given that the suspect was a U.S. military informant who had been brought to the United States from Iraq for his safety after the Iraqi military killed members of his family. 314 P.3d 836, 844 (Colo. 2013). The threat of deportation in that case was a "uniquely terrifying prospect” for the suspect given his own history in Iraq, thus making him vulnerable to such a threat. Id. The officer also knew of the suspect's history and deliberately used that information in his interview. Id. Those unique circumstances are obviously not present in this case, as Special Agent Hoang mistakenly raised the prospect of deportation and defendant is a naturalized U.S. citizen who has lived here since 2001. Moreover, it is significant to note that the Colorado court noted that “advising a defendant of immigration consequences alone would likely not demonstrate coercion absent other evidence demonstrating involuntariness under the totality of the circumstances.” Id.
. See also United States v. Shears, 762 F.2d 397, 401 (4th Cir. 1985) ("[G]overnment agents may validly make some representations to a defendant or may discuss cooperation without rendering the resulting confession involuntary.”).
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