CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL DEFENSE: NO "CUSTODY" FOR MIRANDA PURPOSES AT WORK
The Defendant was instructed to follow police to room in office space where he worked while his office, home and car were being searched (with a warrant).
He was questioned with the door closed, but specifically told he was not under arrest, and that he would walk out when "we're done," but was not told he was free to leave.
The questioning was mostly friendly, though at one point the defendant asked the officer not to yell. Held, he was not in custody.
Was he really free to leave having been instructed (otherwise known as "ordered") to go to the office, placed in a closed room, and told he could leave "when we're done" (the converse of which is you can't leave until I am through with you)? Yeah, right.
United States v. Bassignani (9th Cir., 3/25/09, 07-10453) 09 C.D.O.S. 3766
