United States v. Cook
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
526 F.Supp.2d 1 (2007)
Stephen Cook (defendant), a U.S. Marshals Service deputy, was prosecuted for assaulting a prisoner, Hunter, and for making false statements in the routine incident reports he filed about the encounter. Cook argued the reports should be suppressed under Garrity v. New Jersey because his supervisor's standard instruction to file a report, following a fairly typical prisoner complaint, left him subjectively fearing he would be fired if he refused. However, a senior USMS official testified that no formal investigation or prosecution was contemplated at the time Cook filed the reports, and that refusing to file likely would have led to discipline rather than termination.
Whether a law enforcement officer's incident report is compelled self-incrimination under Garrity v. New Jersey when a supervisor's routine instruction to file the report was not accompanied by an objectively reasonable threat of losing his job for remaining silent.