Judge Dora Irizarry
Russell, Lange and others were charged in a 2011 indictment with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud. That indictment issued more than seven months after Washington state-resident Russell testified, under subpoena, before an Eastern District grand jury. He was neither previously given a target letter, advised he was an investigation target, nor given any warning as to his Fifth Amendment rights. The prosecutor advised Russell that he could refuse to answer any question if he believed a truthful answer would incriminate him, and also that anything he said could be used against him by a grand jury or in a later legal proceeding. Discussing the Supreme Court’s rulings in United States v. Washington, United States v. Mandujano and Minnesota v. Murphyand other circuits’ conclusions that Miranda-like warnings are not required given those decisionsthe court denied Russell’s motion to dismiss the indictment or suppress his grand jury testimony. Noting the prosecutor’s warnings “it was inconceivable that such a warning would fail to alert [Russell] to his right to refuse to answer any question which might incriminate him.” Thus the warnings were sufficient to advise Russell of his Fifth Amendment rights.
