'To Catch a Predator' convict Reymundo Anguiano requests new trial

One of 20 men snared in the 2006 “To Catch a Predator” sting in Harris County has appealed a lower court’s decision and asked the state Court of Appeals to give him a new trial.

Reymundo Anguiano, 29, stepped inside a Fortson, Ga., home in July 2006 believing he would meet a 14-year-old girl. Instead, Chris Hansen, host of the Dateline NBC show, entered the kitchen, asked Anguiano to sit down and interviewed the Albany, Ga., man.

The exchange between Anguiano and Hansen was videotaped and shown to Anguiano’s jury at his October 2007 trial. It took jurors 22 minutes to convict Anguiano of attempted child molestation and attempted enticing a child for indecent purposes. He’s currently serving a seven-year sentence.

“They got a statement from him, but didn’t advise him of his Miranda rights,” attorney Michael Garner said this week. “The question is: Was he in custody? They couldn’t have convicted him without his statement.”

Garner made similar arguments prior to his client’s trial, saying that Hansen acted as a law enforcement agent and that Anguiano wasn’t Mirandized. Garner wanted to keep the video interview from jurors because Anguiano hadn’t been read his rights beforehand, though Harris County Superior Court Judge Frank Jordan Jr. denied the motion.

Anguiano asked for a new trial after his conviction which Jordan denied. He’s now appealed to the state Court of Appeals.

In a May 17 filing, Anguiano argues that he was lured to the decoy house by NBC, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and Perverted Justice -- the group that provides volunteers posing as underage children. Sheriff Mike Jolley chose to help run an operation that he knew would be broadcast on national television, and he worked with NBC and let it make the decisions.

“Not only was law enforcement physically present; Anguiano knew it,” his filing states. “The fact that Hansen would have the first shot at (Anguiano) without benefit of Miranda was by agreement of all three collaborators in this joint venture.”

Deputies weren’t allowed to “move in” on Anguiano until he left the house, which gave Hansen time to interview him. Sheriff’s office guidelines giving Hansen time to interview Anguiano shows law enforcement had some control over the operation, records state.

“Again we are back to the facts that (Anguiano) is detained at a law enforcement outpost after he knows that arrest is imminent and that he will be processed and not allowed to leave,” the filing states. “This was done by the concerted efforts of NBC, Perverted Justice and the Sheriff of Harris County, Georgia and is the exact situation where Miranda applies.”

In a June 6 response, District Attorney Julia Slater argues that Hansen had no contact with law enforcement before his interview with Anguiano. Also, law enforcement didn’t supervise the Perverted Justice decoys.

“There was no one dressed as law enforcement inside of the residence and (Anguiano) encountered no law enforcement outside of the residence before his entry,” Slater writes. “A reasonable person may have felt they might get in trouble for the conduct Hansen was asking about, but they would not have thought they were at that time under arrest by a reporter.”

Anguiano told Hansen he’d seen his show, and he thought he’d be arrested. Slater says that meant Anguiano didn’t think he’d been arrested at the time he spoke with Hansen.

Columbus attorney Bill Mason, who taught constitutional law at Columbus State University for 15 years, said some Georgia “Predator” cases have been appealed, though unsuccessfully. He didn’t know of any cases being appealed for Anguiano’s reasons. Instead, he said the appeals focused on whether what was said over the phone or online was enough to prove intent. Mason said that courts have found those conversations were enough.

Mason said that for a Miranda warning to be required, law enforcement must be in the room when the questioning occurs. Monitoring it live from another location isn’t enough to require Miranda, Mason said.

Garner expects a decision from the Court of Appeals by August or September.

This story was originally published July 1, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "'To Catch a Predator' convict Reymundo Anguiano requests new trial."