DENVER — A suspect who spoke to a federal agent while sitting in an unmarked car could have her statements used against her because Miranda warnings do not apply to those technically not in custody.
Tamara Yvonne Jones' federal public defenders had asked a judge to throw out her statements made to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who questioned her at a Salt Lake City gas station parking lot on April 7, 2005.
Two agents sat in the front seats of the car and another stood guard outside while an agent sitting on the back seat with Jones asked questions about the alleged purchase of a methamphetamine ingredient. A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel said Jones was not in custody because, among other things, she was able to freely leave afterward.
She was later charged with possessing iodine knowing it could be used for methamphetamine production.
The agent had told Jones she did not have to talk to him, but added he could arrest her based on a package of iodine that was addressed to her. Jones' public defender, Scott Wilson, argued that amounted to Jones being in custody.
"I think when an officer tells you you're free to go but then turns around and tells you, 'we can arrest you,' that that person is not going to walk away," Wilson told The Associated Press.
"They're saying, 'You're not going anywhere unless you talk to us,"' he said.
In its ruling, the panel conceded that the question is a close one, but said it could not agree that "could be arrested" undercut the "objective force" of the agent telling Jones she was not under arrest.
Denver defense attorney David Lane say the ruling doesn't break new ground as the courts have given police the same right as citizens to simply walk up and talk to people.
"It's a common police tactic to all but arrest somebody, question them and not read them their Miranda rights," Lane said. "The trick is not to arrest them."