UNITED
STATES
v.
ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___
U.S. ___ (1994)
UNITED STATES, PETITIONER v. PEDRO ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR
THE NINTH CIRCUIT
No. 92-1812
Argued March 1,
1994
Decided May 2, 1994
Nearly
three days after local law enforcement officers arrested respondent on state
narcotics charges, and while he was still in the custody of those officers,
respondent confessed to United States Secret Service agents that he knew that
Federal Reserve Notes the local officers had discovered while searching his
home were counterfeit. The agents arrested him for possessing counterfeit
currency and presented him on a federal complaint the following day. The
Federal District Court refused to suppress the confession, rejecting, inter
alia, respondent's argument that the delay between his arrest on state charges
and his presentment on the federal charge rendered the confession inadmissible
under 18 U.S.C. 3501(c), which provides that a confession made while a
defendant is "under arrest or other detention in the custody of any law
enforcement officer or law enforcement agency, shall not be inadmissible solely
because of delay in bringing such person before [a judicial officer] empowered
to commit persons charged with offenses against the laws of the United
States" if the confession was made voluntarily and "within six
hours" following the arrest or other detention. Respondent was convicted.
In vacating the conviction, the Court of Appeals reasoned that, by negative
implication, 3501(c) permits suppression in cases where a confession is made
outside the subsection's 6-hour post-arrest safe harbor period. The court
concluded that 3501(c) applied to respondent's statement because respondent was
in custody and had not been presented to a magistrate at the time he confessed,
and held that the confession should have been suppressed.
Held:
Section
3501(c) does not apply to statements made by a person who is being held solely
on state charges. Pp. 5-11. Page II
(a)
The subsection's text clearly indicates that its terms were never triggered in
this case. Respondent errs in suggesting that, because the statute refers to a
person in the custody of "any" law enforcement officer or agency, the
6-hour time period begins to run whenever a person is arrested by local, state,
or federal officers. The subsection can apply only when there is some
"delay" in presenting a person to a federal judicial officer. Because
the term delay presumes an obligation to act, there can be no "delay"
in bringing a person before a federal judicial officer until there is some
obligation to do so in the first place. Such a duty does not arise until the
person is arrested or detained for a federal crime. Although a person arrested
on a federal charge by any officer- local, state, or federal-is under
"arrest or other detention" for the purposes of 3501(c) and its safe
harbor period, one arrested on state charges is not. This is true even if the
arresting officers believe or have cause to believe that federal law also has
been violated, because such a belief does not alter the underlying basis for
the arrest and subsequent custody. Pp. 5-8.
(b)
Respondent was under arrest on state charges when he made his inculpatory
statement to the Secret Service agents. Section 3501(c)'s terms thus did not
come into play until he was arrested on a federal charge-after he made the
statement. That he was never arraigned or prosecuted on the state charges does
not alter this conclusion. Finally, there is no need to consider the situation
that would arise if state or local authorities and federal officers act in
collusion to obtain a confession in violation of a defendant's right to a
prompt federal presentment, because in this case there was no such collusive
arrangement, only routine cooperation between law enforcement agencies. Pp.
9-10.
975
F.2d 1396, reversed and remanded.
THOMAS,
J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which REHNQUIST, C.J., and BLACKMUN,
O'CONNOR, SCALIA, KENNEDY, SOUTER, and GINSBURG, JJ., joined. GINSBURG, J.,
filed a concurring opinion, in which BLACKMUN, J., joined. Stevens, J., filed
an opinion concurring in the judgment. [ UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___
U.S. ___ (1994) , 1]
JUSTICE
THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court.
This
case concerns the scope of 18 U.S.C. 3501, the statute governing the
admissibility of confessions in federal prosecutions. Respondent contends that
3501(c), which provides that a custodial confession made by a person within six
hours following his arrest "shall not be inadmissible solely because of
delay in bringing such person" before a federal magistrate, rendered inadmissible
the custodial statement he made more than six hours after his arrest on state
criminal charges. We conclude, however, that 3501(c) does not apply to
statements made by a person who is being held solely on state charges.
Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.
I
On
Friday, August 5, 1988, officers of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department
obtained a warrant to search respondent's residence for heroin and other
evidence of narcotics distribution. While executing the warrant later that day,
the officers discovered not only narcotics, but $2,260 in counterfeit Federal
Reserve Notes. Respondent was arrested and booked on state felony narcotics [
UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 2] charges at
approximately 5:40 p.m. He spent the weekend in custody.
On
Monday morning, August 8, the Sheriff's Department informed the United States
Secret Service of the counterfeit currency found in respondent's residence. Two
Secret Service agents arrived at the Sheriff's Department shortly before midday
to take possession of the currency and to interview respondent. Using a deputy
sheriff as an interpreter, the agents informed respondent of his rights under
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). After waiving these rights, respondent
admitted that he had known that the currency was counterfeit. The agents
arrested respondent shortly thereafter, took him to the Secret Service field
office for booking, and prepared a criminal complaint. Due to congestion in the
federal magistrate's docket, respondent was not presented on the federal
complaint until the following day.1
Respondent
was indicted for unlawful possession of counterfeit currency in violation of 18
U.S.C. 472. Prior to trial, he moved to suppress the statement he had made
during his interview with the Secret Service agents. He argued that his
confession was made without a voluntary and knowing waiver of his Miranda
rights, and that the delay between his arrest on state charges and his
presentment on the federal charge rendered his confession inadmissible under 18
U.S.C. 3501(c).2 The District Court rejected both contentions [ UNITED STATES
v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 3] and denied the motion. Respondent
subsequently was convicted after a jury trial at which the statement was admitted
into evidence.
The
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the conviction.
975 F.2d 1396 (1992). [ UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994) ,
4] The court first outlined the exclusionary rule developed by this Court in a
line of cases including McNabb v. United States, 318 U.S. 332 (1943), and
Mallory v. United States, 354 U.S. 449 (1957). The so-called McNabb-Mallory
rule, adopted by this Court "[i]n the exercise of its supervisory
authority over the administration of criminal justice in the federal
courts," McNabb, supra, at 341, generally rendered inadmissible
confessions made during periods of detention that violated the prompt
presentment requirement of Rule 5(a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.
See Mallory, supra, at 453. Rule 5(a) provides that a person arrested for a
federal offense shall be taken "without unnecessary delay" before the
nearest federal magistrate, or before a state or local judicial officer
authorized to set bail for federal offenses under 18 U.S.C. 3041, for a first
appearance, or presentment.
The
Ninth Circuit went on to discuss the interrelated provisions of 18 U.S.C. 3501
and the decisions of the Courts of Appeals that have sought to discern the
extent to which this statute curtailed the McNabb-Mallory rule. Section
3501(a), the court observed, states that a confession "shall be admitted
in evidence" if voluntarily made, and 3501(b) lists several nonexclusive
factors that the trial judge should consider when making the voluntariness
determination, including "the time elapsing between arrest and arraignment
of the defendant making the confession, if it was made after arrest and before
arraignment." Section 3501(c) provides that a confession made by a person
within six hours following his arrest or other detention "shall not be
inadmissible" solely because of delay in presenting the person to a
federal magistrate. The Ninth Circuit construed 3501(c) as precluding
suppression under McNabb-Mallory of any confession made during this "safe
harbor" period following arrest. 975 F.2d, at 1399. The court then
reasoned that, by negative implication, 3501(c) [ UNITED STATES v.
ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 5] must in some circumstances allow
suppression of a confession made more than six hours after arrest solely on the
basis of pre-presentment delay, "regardless of the voluntariness of the
confession." Id., at 1401. The court thus concluded that the
McNabb-Mallory rule, in either a pure or slightly modified form, applies to
confessions made after the expiration of the safe harbor period.
Turning
to the facts of the case before it, the court determined that 3501(c) applied
to respondent's statement because respondent was in custody and had not been
presented to a magistrate at the time of the interview. The court concluded
that the statement fell outside the subsection's safe harbor because it was not
made until Monday afternoon, nearly three days after respondent's arrest on
state charges. Id., at 1405, and n. 8 (citing United States v. Fouche, 776 F.2d
1398, 1406 (CA9 1985)). Because the statement was not made within the 3501(c)
safe harbor period, the court applied both its pure and modified versions of
the McNabb-Mallory rule and held that, under either approach, the confession
should have been suppressed. 975 F.2d, at 1405-1406.
We
granted the Government's petition for a writ of certiorari in order to consider
the Ninth Circuit's interpretation of 3501. 510 U.S. ___ (1993).
II
The
parties argue at some length over the proper interpretation of subsections (a)
and (c) of 18 U.S.C. 3501, and, in particular, over the question whether
3501(c) requires suppression of a confession that is made by an arrestee prior
to presentment and more than six hours after arrest, regardless of whether the
confession was voluntarily made. The Government contends that through 3501,
Congress repudiated the McNabb-Mallory rule in its entirety. Under this theory,
[ UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 6] 3501(c) creates a
safe harbor that prohibits suppression on grounds of pre-presentment delay if a
confession is made within six hours following arrest, but says nothing about
the admissibility of a confession given beyond that 6-hour period. The
admissibility of such a confession, the Government argues, is controlled by
3501(a), which provides that voluntary confessions "shall be admitted in
evidence."
Largely
agreeing with the Ninth Circuit, respondent contends that 3501(c) codified a limited
form of the McNabb-Mallory rule - one that requires the suppression of a
confession made before presentment but after the expiration of the safe harbor
period. A contrary interpretation of 3501(c), respondent argues, would render
that subsection meaningless in the face of 3501(a).
As
the parties recognize, however, we need not address subtle questions of
statutory construction concerning the safe harbor set out in 3501(c), or
resolve any tension between the provisions of that subsection and those of
3501(a), if we determine that the terms of 3501(c) were never triggered in this
case. We turn, then, to that threshold inquiry.
When
interpreting a statute, we look first and foremost to its text. Connecticut
Nat. Bank v. Germain, 503 U.S. ___, ___ (1992) (slip op., at 5). Section
3501(c) provides that, in any federal criminal prosecution,
"a
confession made or given by a person who is a defendant therein, while such
person was under arrest or other detention in the custody of any law
enforcement officer or law enforcement agency, shall not be inadmissible solely
because of delay in bringing such person before a magistrate or other officer
empowered to commit persons charged with offenses against the laws of the
United States or of the District of Columbia if such confession is found by the
trial judge to have been made voluntarily and if . . . such confession was made
or given by [ UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 7] such
person within six hours immediately following his arrest or other
detention."
Respondent
contends that he was under "arrest or other detention" for purposes
of 3501(c) during the interview at the Sheriff's Department, and that his
statement to the Secret Service agents constituted a confession governed by
this subsection. In respondent's view, it is irrelevant that he was in the
custody of the local authorities, rather than that of the federal agents, when
he made the statement. Because the statute applies to persons in the custody of
"any" law enforcement officer or law enforcement agency, respondent
suggests that the 3501(c) 6-hour time period begins to run whenever a person is
arrested by local, state, or federal officers.
We
believe respondent errs in placing dispositive weight on the broad statutory
reference to "any" law enforcement officer or agency without
considering the rest of the statute. Section 3501(c) provides that, if certain
conditions are met, a confession made by a person under "arrest or other
detention" shall not be inadmissible in a subsequent federal prosecution
solely because of delay in bringing such person before a magistrate or other
officer empowered to commit persons charged with offenses against the laws of
the United States or of the District of Columbia. 18 U.S.C. 3501(c) (emphasis added).
Clearly, the terms of the subsection can apply only when there is some
"delay" in presentment. Because "delay" is not defined in
the statute, we must construe the term "in accordance with its ordinary or
natural meaning." FDIC v. Meyer, 510 U.S. ___, ___ (1994) (slip op., at
5). To delay is "[t]o postpone until a later time" or to "put
off an action"; a delay is a "postponement." American Heritage
Dictionary 493 (3d ed. 1992). The term presumes an obligation to act. Thus,
there can be no "delay" in bringing a person before a federal
magistrate until, at a minimum, there is some obligation to bring the person
before such [ UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 8] a
judicial officer in the first place. Plainly, a duty to present a person to a
federal magistrate does not arise until the person has been arrested for a
federal offense. See Fed.Rule Crim.Proc. 5(a) (requiring initial appearance
before a federal magistrate).3 Until a person is arrested or detained for a
federal crime, there is no duty, obligation, or reason to bring him before a
judicial officer "empowered to commit persons charged with offenses
against the laws of the United States," and therefore, no
"delay" under 3501(c) can occur.
In
short, it is evident "from the context in which [the phrase] is
used," Deal v. United States, 508 U.S. ___, ___ (1993) (slip op., at 3),
that the "arrest or other detention" of which the subsection speaks
must be an "arrest or other detention" for a violation of federal
law. If a person is arrested and held on a federal charge by "any"
law enforcement officer - federal, state, or local - that person is under
"arrest or other detention" for purposes of 3501(c) and its 6-hour
safe harbor period. If, instead, the person is arrested and held on state
charges, 3501(c) does not apply, and the safe harbor is not implicated. This is
true even if the arresting officers (who, when the arrest is for a violation of
state law, almost certainly will be agents of the State or one of its
subdivisions) believe or have cause to believe that the person also may have
violated federal law. Such a belief, which may not be uncommon given that many
activities are criminalized under both state and federal law, does not alter
the underlying basis for the arrest and subsequent custody. As long as a person
is arrested and held only on state charges by state or local authorities, the
provisions of 3501(c) are not triggered. [ UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ,
___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 9]
In
this case, respondent was under arrest on state narcotics charges at the time
he made his inculpatory statement to the Secret Service agents. The terms of
3501(c) thus did not come into play until respondent was arrested by the agents
on a federal charge - after he made the statement. Because respondent's
statement was made voluntarily, as the District Court found, see App. to Pet.
for Cert. 45a, nothing in 3501 authorized its suppression. See 18 U.S.C.
3501(a), (d). The State's failure to arraign or prosecute respondent does not
alter this conclusion. Although Congress could have provided that the exercise
of prosecutorial discretion by the State in this scenario retroactively
transforms time spent in the custody of state or local officers into time spent
under "arrest or other detention" for purposes of 3501(c), it did not
do so in the statute as written. Cf. Germain, 503 U.S. ___, ___ (1992) (slip
op., at 5).
Although
we think proper application of 3501(c) will be as straightforward in most cases
as it is here, the parties identify one presumably rare scenario that might
present some potential for confusion; namely, the situation that would arise if
state or local authorities, acting in collusion with federal officers, were to
arrest and detain someone in order to allow the federal agents to interrogate
him in violation of his right to a prompt federal presentment. Long before the
enactment of 3501, we held that a confession obtained during such period of
detention must be suppressed if the defendant could demonstrate the existence
of improper collaboration between federal and state or local officers. See
Anderson v. United States, 318 U.S. 350 (1943).4 [ UNITED STATES v.
ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 10] In this case, however, we need not
address 3501's effect, if any, on the rule announced in Anderson. The District
Court concluded that there was "no evidence" that a "collusive
arrangement between state and federal agents . . . caused [respondent's]
confession to be made," App. to Pet. for Cert. 50a, and we see no reason
to disturb that factual finding. It is true that the Sheriff's Department
informed the Secret Service agents that counterfeit currency had been found in
respondent's possession, but such routine cooperation between local and federal
authorities is, by itself, wholly unobjectionable: "Only by such an
interchange of information can society be adequately protected against
crime." United States v. Coppola, 281 F.2d 340, 344 (CA2 1960) (en banc),
aff'd, 365 U.S. 762 (1961). Cf. Bartkus v. Illinois, 359 U.S. 121, 123 (1959).5
[ UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 11]
III
For
the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and
the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
So
ordered.
Footnotes
[Footnote
1] For reasons that are not apparent from the record, respondent was never
arraigned or prosecuted by the State of California on the state drug charges.
[Footnote
2] Title 18 U.S.C. 3501 provides:
"(a)
In any criminal prosecution brought by the United States or by the District of
Columbia, a confession, as defined in subsection (e) hereof, shall be
admissible in evidence if it is voluntarily given. Before such confession is
received in evidence, the trial judge shall, out of the presence of the jury,
determine any issue as to voluntariness. [ UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ,
___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 3] If the trial judge determines that the confession was
voluntarily made it shall be admitted in evidence . . . .
"(b)
The trial judge in determining the issue of voluntariness shall take into
consideration all the circumstances surrounding the giving of the confession,
including (1) the time elapsing between arrest and arraignment of the defendant
making the confession, if it was made after arrest and before arraignment . . .
. The presence or absence of any of the above-mentioned factors to be taken
into consideration by the judge need not be conclusive on the issue of
voluntariness of the confession.
"(c)
In any criminal prosecution by the United States or by the District of
Columbia, a confession made or given by a person who is a defendant therein,
while such person was under arrest or other detention in the custody of any law
enforcement officer or law enforcement agency, shall not be inadmissible solely
because of delay in bringing such person before a magistrate or other officer
empowered to commit persons charged with offenses against the laws of the
United States or of the District of Columbia if such confession is found by the
trial judge to have been made voluntarily and if the weight to be given the
confession is left to the jury and if such confession was made or given by such
person within six hours immediately following his arrest or other detention:
Provided, That the time limitation contained in this subsection shall not apply
in any case in which the delay in bringing such person before such magistrate
or other officer beyond such six-hour period is found by the trial judge to be
reasonable considering the means of transportation and the distance to be
traveled to the nearest available such magistrate or other officer.
"(d)
Nothing contained in this section shall bar the admission in evidence of any
confession made or given voluntarily by any person to any other person without
interrogation by anyone, or at any time at which the person who made or gave
such confession was not under arrest or other detention.
"(e)
As used in this section, the term "confession" means any confession
of guilt of any criminal offense or any self-incriminating statement made or
given orally or in writing."
[Footnote
3] As we observed in Mallory v. United States, 354 U.S. 449 (1957), Rule 5(a)
is part of "[t]he scheme for initiating a federal prosecution." Id.,
at 454 (emphasis added).
[Footnote
4] In Anderson, a local sheriff, acting without authority under state law,
arrested several men suspected of dynamiting federally owned power lines during
the course of a labor dispute and allowed them to be interrogated for several
days by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Only after the suspects
made confessions were they [ UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___
(1994) , 10] arrested by the federal agents and arraigned before a United
States commissioner. We held the confessions to be inadmissible as the
"improperly" secured product of an impermissible "working
arrangement" between state and federal officers. 318 U.S., at 356.
[Footnote
5] Respondent urges that the judgment below should be affirmed on an
alternative ground. Although he was initially arrested on state charges on a
Friday afternoon and held in local custody until Monday afternoon, respondent
was not brought before a magistrate during this period. In County of Riverside
v. McLaughlin, 500 U.S. 44, 57 (1991), we held that the Fourth Amendment
generally requires a judicial determination of probable cause within 48 hours
of a warrantless arrest. Relying on McLaughlin and Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S.
103 (1975), respondent now asserts that his confession was obtained during an
ongoing violation of his Fourth Amendment right to a prompt determination of
probable cause. Respondent, however, did not raise a Fourth Amendment claim in
the District Court or the Court of Appeals; he argued for suppression based
only on the Fifth Amendment and 3501. Finding no exceptional circumstances that
would warrant reviewing a claim that was waived below, we adhere to our general
practice and decline to address respondent's Fourth Amendment argument. See
Granfinanceria, S.A. v. Nordberg, 492 U.S. 33, 38-39 (1989); Heckler v.
Campbell, 461 U.S. 458, 468-469, n. 12 (1983). [ UNITED STATES v.
ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 1]
JUSTICE
STEVENS, concurring in the judgment.
The
Court holds that 3501(c) "does not apply to statements made by a person
who is being held solely on state charges." Ante, at 1. While I agree with
the Court's answer to the narrow question the petition for certiorari
presents,1 I write separately to emphasize the importance of the factual
premise underlying that answer.
As
the case comes to us, it is undisputed that respondent confessed while he was
being held on state charges alone. 975 F.2d 1396, 1398 (CA9 1992). Accepting
that, the Court of Appeals held that the confession nevertheless must be
suppressed because it read the phrase "detention in the custody of any law
enforcement officer or law enforcement agency" in 18 U.S.C. 3501(c) to
include custody solely on state charges. Id., at 1405. The Court of Appeals
therefore had no occasion to consider whether the state police officers' [ UNITED
STATES v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 2] awareness of respondent's
probable involvement in two federal crimes2 might indicate that the state
charges were not the sole basis for his detention.
In
its petition for certiorari, the Government correctly advised us that
"[r]eversal of the Ninth Circuit's erroneous conclusion that the relevant
arrest was effected by California authorities will obviate the need to
consider" additional issues. Pet. for Cert. 13. Accordingly, what sort of
cooperation between federal and local authorities would remove a case from the
category in which the custody is decidedly on state charges alone is a question
not before us, and the Court correctly declines to address the matter. Surely,
however, cases in which cooperation between state and federal authorities
requires compliance with the terms of 3501(c) are not merely hypothetical
examples of a "presumably rare scenario," ante, at 9. And I
definitely would not assume that 3501(c) will never "come into play"
until a suspect is arrested on a federal charge. Ibid.
The
Court also has no reason to comment on the District Court's finding that
respondent's confession was not the product of collusion between state and
federal agents. Ante, at 10. The Court of Appeals' construction of the statute
made review of that finding unnecessary. Thus while the Court rightly declines
to "disturb" the factual finding, ibid., it should likewise stop
short of suggesting that anyone on this Court has determined that the finding
is either correct or incorrect.
For
these reasons, I concur in the Court's judgment, but do not join its opinion.
[Footnote
1] The question presented is "Whether a confession given to federal
authorities while a suspect is in state custody awaiting arraignment on state
charges must be suppressed as a result of delay between the suspect's original
arrest by state authorities and his eventual presentment on the federal crime
to which he confessed." Pet. for Cert. I.
[Footnote
2] Los Angeles police officers took respondent into custody on a Friday. 975
F.2d 1396, 1397-1398 (CA9 1992). At the time of arrest, those officers
discovered that respondent possessed two kinds of contraband - narcotics and
counterfeit money, id., at 1398 - and they presumably realized that he was
guilty of at least two federal offenses as well as the state law violation for
which he was arrested. [ UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994)
, 1]
JUSTICE
GINSBURG, with whom JUSTICE BLACKMUN joins, concurring.
When
Alvarez-Sanchez was arrested by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, 18 U.S.C.
3501(c) was not triggered. As the Court explains, an arrest by state or local
law enforcement authorities on state criminal charges is not an "arrest or
other detention" within the meaning of 3501(c), and there is no evidence
in this case of any "improper collaboration," ante, at 9, or
"working arrangement," Anderson v. United States, 318 U.S. 350, 356
(1943), between local and federal authorities. See ante, at 7-10 and n. 4. I
write separately only to emphasize that we do not decide today a question on
which the Courts of Appeals remain divided: the effect of 3501(c) on
confessions obtained more than six hours after an arrest on federal charges.
See ante, at 6, 10.*
[Footnote
*] Compare, e.g., 975 F.2d 1396, 1402-1403 (1992) (decision below), and United
States v. Perez, 733 F.2d 1026, 1031 (CA2 1984) (" 3501 leaves the
McNabb-Mallory rule intact with regard to confessions obtained after a six hour
delay not found to be reasonable"); United States v. Robinson, 439 F.2d
553, 563-564 (CADC 1970) (same), with United States v. Christopher, 956 F.2d
536, 538-539 (CA6 1991) (under 3501, unnecessary delay of more than six hours,
"standing alone, is not sufficient to justify the suppression of an otherwise
voluntary confession"), cert. denied, 505 U.S. ___ (1992); United States
v. Beltran, 761 F.2d 1, 8 (CA1 1985) (same). [ UNITED STATES v.
ALVAREZ-SANCHEZ, ___ U.S. ___ (1994) , 1]