United States v. Greene
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
995 F.2d 793 (8th Cir. 1993)
Patrick Joseph Greene (defendant) was indicted on drug charges and moved to suppress statements he made to a DEA agent both when his house was searched and when he was arrested. The prosecuting attorney had directed the agent only to gauge whether Greene wanted to pursue a plea bargain, and the agent told Greene he could not make any promises beyond relaying Greene's willingness to cooperate to the prosecutor. Greene argued his statements were part of a protected plea negotiation and thus inadmissible; the trial court disagreed and admitted them.
Whether statements made to a government agent during plea negotiations are admissible if the agent lacked authority to negotiate a plea on behalf of the prosecuting attorney.