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United States v. Redfield

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Oct 17, 1968
402 F.2d 454 (4th Cir. 1968)

Summary

finding an inmate's incriminating statement made at a prison disciplinary hearing without the benefit of Miranda warnings inadmissible at trial

Summary of this case from Bostic v. Ebbert

Opinion

No. 12266.

Argued October 7, 1968.

Decided October 17, 1968.

Raymond D. Clark, Arlington, Va., (Court-appointed counsel), for appellant.

John D. Schmidtlein, Asst. U.S. Atty. (C.V. Spratley, Jr., U.S. Atty., on brief), for appellee.

Before SOBELOFF, BOREMAN and BUTZNER, Circuit Judges.


Roland B. Redfield was convicted of obtaining marijuana without paying a transfer tax in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 4744(a)(1) while he was an inmate at Lorton Reformatory. The district court allowed a warden to testify that when Redfield was questioned at a prison disciplinary hearing he admitted ownership of the marijuana. In this appeal we do not pass upon the disciplinary board's use of Redfield's admission. Our inquiry is limited to the admissibility of the incriminating statement in Redfield's criminal trial. Before he was questioned, Redfield was not cautioned of his right to be silent and his right to counsel, as prescribed by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Mathis v. United States, 391 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct 1503, 20 L.Ed.2d 381 (1968), decided after Redfield's trial, applied Miranda to the questioning of a person in prison for a crime that was not connected with the tax delinquencies under investigation. The role of Redfield's interrogator did not differ significantly from that of the internal revenue agent in Mathis. In both instances the immediate objective of the officials was not to obtain evidence for use in criminal trials. Only later did the government decide to use the defendant's self-incriminatory answers in prosecutions under the revenue laws. For these reasons we believe Mathis requires the exclusion of Redfield's admission. Redfield's other contentions are without merit.

The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded for a new trial.


Summaries of

United States v. Redfield

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
Oct 17, 1968
402 F.2d 454 (4th Cir. 1968)

finding an inmate's incriminating statement made at a prison disciplinary hearing without the benefit of Miranda warnings inadmissible at trial

Summary of this case from Bostic v. Ebbert

finding an inmate's incriminating statement made at a prison disciplinary hearing without the benefit of Miranda warnings inadmissible at trial

Summary of this case from Makanani v. Wagutsuma

finding an inmate's incriminating statement made at a prison disciplinary hearing without the benefit of Miranda warnings inadmissible at trial

Summary of this case from United States v. Boyce

prohibiting the use of statements at trial that were obtained when a prison warden questioned an inmate without giving proper Miranda warnings

Summary of this case from Shatzer v. State
Case details for

United States v. Redfield

Case Details

Full title:UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Roland Bobby REDFIELD, Appellant

Court:United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit

Date published: Oct 17, 1968

Citations

402 F.2d 454 (4th Cir. 1968)

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