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445 F.2d 304

Docket No. 71-1083.

United States v. Stevens

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

Decided July 9, 1971.

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals · decided 1971-07-09

2 counsel of record

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“hearing is required only if the issue of voluntariness is raised”

quoted by 1 later decision, including United States v. Hart

“determine any issue as to voluntariness.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including United States v. Hart

Applies 18 U.S.C. § 3501 · 18 U.S.C. § 659

Relies on Miranda v. State of Arizona Vignera · Presbyterian Church in the United States v. Mary Elizabeth Blue Hull Memorial Presbyterian Church · Pettyjohn v. United States

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Opinion by (per_curiam) · Decided 1971-07-09

How this case has been cited

Cited by 14 later decisions — most recently November 2017

12 federal appellate · 1 state decisions

7019711980199020002010decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1*305Matthew B. Quinn, Jr., court appointed, Louisville, Ky., for appellant.

¶2Duane Schwartz, Asst. U. S. Atty., Louisville, Ky., for appellee; George J. Long, U. S. Atty., Louisville, Ky., on brief.

¶3Before WEICK, EDWARDS and Mc-CREE, Circuit Judges.

¶4PER CURIAM.

¶5 Appellant was convicted by a jury of stealing from an interstate shipment of freight in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 659, and was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment, to be served concurrently with a state sentence. On appeal, he claims that evidence of three confessions was improperly admitted at trial, because he had not signed a statement indicating that he had been advised of his rights in accordance with Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). But there was evidence in the record that he was so advised, and there is no requirement that Miranda rights can be waived only in writing. See, e. g., Pettyjohn v. United States, 136 U.S.App.D.C. 69, 419 F.2d 651, 655 (1969); United States v. Thompson, 417 F.2d 196, 197 (4th Cir. 1969), cert. denied, 396 U.S. 1047, 90 S. Ct. 699, 24 L.Ed.2d 692 (1970).

¶6 Appellant also complains that the voluntariness of his confessions was not considered by the District Judge out of the presence of the jury in accordance with 18 U.S.C. § 3501. But that statute provides only that

Before such confession is received in evidence, the trial judge shall determine any issue as to voluntariness.

¶718 U.S.C. § 3501(a) (emphasis added). We interpret the italicized language to indicate, contrary to appellant’s contention, that a hearing is required only if the issue of voluntariness is raised. In this case, that issue has been raised neither at trial nor on appeal. The only objection made to the testimony concerning the confessions related to the lack of written acknowledgement or waiver of Miranda rights. Accordingly, we see no reason to disturb the jury’s verdict on this ground. The other contentions raised by appellant are without merit.

¶8The judgment of the District Court is affirmed.

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