## Facts

- Katrina Ann Tingle, age 21, worked at the San Diego Navy Federal Credit Union.
- A co-worker found Tingle bound and gagged; the safe was open and money was missing.
- Tingle reported that an unknown assailant attacked her and stole the money.
- Local police questioned her and contacted the FBI.
- Two FBI agents questioned Tingle in the back seat of an FBI car for about an hour.
- After repeating her initial story, Tingle received Miranda warnings, signed a written waiver, and agreed to answer questions.
- The agents accused her of lying, described multiple potential charges and lengthy prison terms, and stated they would inform the prosecutor whether she cooperated.
- The lead agent repeatedly referenced Tingle’s two-year-old child, stating that if she went to prison she would not see the child “for a while,” and emphasized what she had “at stake.”
- Tingle became visibly distressed and then confessed to staging the theft with her boyfriend and another person.
- The confession was admitted at trial, and Tingle was convicted of conspiracy and credit-union theft offenses.

## Issues

1. Whether Tingle’s confession was involuntary under the Due Process Clause because it was induced by threats of severe punishment and psychological pressure focused on separation from her child.
2. Whether admission of the confession required reversal or could be treated as harmless error.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit reversed the conviction and remanded.
- The court held the confession was involuntary and its admission was constitutional error.
- The court declined to find the error harmless because the confession was central to the prosecution’s case.

## Legal Principles

- Voluntariness is assessed under the totality of the circumstances; a confession is inadmissible if police conduct overbears the suspect’s will so that the statement is not the product of a rational intellect and free will.
- A Miranda waiver does not, by itself, establish that a subsequent confession is voluntary for due process purposes.
- Interrogation may include efforts to persuade and may discuss potential penalties, but due process forbids confessions obtained through intimidation, threats, or improper psychological pressure.
- Threats of extreme punishment, coupled with suggestions that noncooperation will be reported to the prosecutor, can contribute to coercion.
- Deliberately exploiting a suspect’s fear of losing contact with a child is a coercive tactic that can render a confession involuntary.

## Conclusion

Because the FBI agents used threats of severe sentencing exposure and targeted emotional pressure about Tingle’s child to obtain a confession, the court found her will was overborne under the totality of the circumstances; the confession was inadmissible, and the conviction was reversed and remanded.


United States v. Tingle, 658 F.2d 1332 (9th Cir. 1981)