United States of America v. Omar Qazi

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
OMAR QAZI,
Defendant-Appellee.
No. 17-10004
D.C. No.
2:15-cr-00014-APG-VCF-1
MEMORANDUM*
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Nevada
Andrew P. Gordon, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted February 16, 2018**
San Francisco, California
Before: BEA and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges, and LASNIK,*** District Judge.
The government appeals the district court’s order suppressing Omar Qazi’s
post-arrest statements upon finding that Qazi was given a deficient Miranda v.
FILED
FEB 26 2018
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
*** The Honorable Robert S. Lasnik, United States District Judge for the
Western District of Washington, sitting by designation.

-- 1 of 2 --

Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), warning. We have jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C.
§ 3731, and we reverse.
Qazi argues that the Miranda warning was insufficient because it failed to
inform him that he had a right to an attorney “before and during questioning” and
that the statement given was merely the Miranda Court’s “summary,” not its
holding. We review the sufficiency of a Miranda warning de novo. United States v.
Loucious, 847 F.3d 1146, 1148-49 (9th Cir. 2017).
Miranda held that “the following measures are required”: “Prior to any
questioning, the person must be warned that . . . he has a right to the presence of
an attorney.” 384 U.S. at 444 (emphasis added); see also id. at 478-79 (reiterating
similar language). Qazi was informed: “You have the right to the presence of an
attorney.” “[W]e emphasize that while Supreme Court case law does not require a
verbatim recitation of Miranda’s warnings, it does not proscribe it either.”
Loucious, 847 F.3d at 1151 (emphasis added). Here, the Miranda warning given to
Qazi was nearly verbatim to the language in Miranda, changing only the pronoun
and the verb. Qazi was not given an insufficient Miranda warning.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
2

-- 2 of 2 --