and it was covered and when I woke up his hand was like right here on my and it was kind of like moving and so like I looked down and I like started freaking out I should let that thermos on the floor that's what I did I picked it up and I accidentally hit her leg I say nothing about her laying on my children sleeping but if she does not have your phone number which she would have told me it's her friend she said where's the bread they're in there oh the guy is in the back seat she's in the front seat OK she was sleeping and when she woke up he was the police just peacefully standing under the blanket did somebody see that or there was somebody there was a woman like sitting next to her but she said she was asleep too so she didn't see it I know she was we're right outside the aircraft and apparently she's not on the plane she's not on the plane okay so yeah he was acting crazy before he even got on the plane that's why they let him on last because he was cursing the girl at the front he said he wanted the plane to cr*sh he was like I hope the plane cr*sh and they let him on yes that's what I said yes yes they're the girls they're with them that was in Indianapolis and now we're here she woke up with his hand under her leg like this and like over the clothes right yeah not that and I'll tell you guys first before I do anything in this life here I'm the father of three daughters so that's where my mindset yeah is always okay I got three girls alright I really want him gone okay yeah I want him locked up the way this is handle handled because it was up in the air just so you guys know is very weird okay it's what it's not really somebody leaving in handcuffs because of jurisdictional stuff Our agency... we already called the FBI and that guy should be on his way out here when a crime occurs aboard a commercial aircraft in United States airspace local law enforcement loses jurisdiction entirely under Title 49 United States Code section 4 federal criminal law governs all offenses committed during flight that statute extends federal jurisdiction to acts that would otherwise be prosecuted at the state level including s*xual battery this is why Orlando police could investigate and document but could not arrest or prosecute that authority belonged exclusively to the FBI I was sitting down like napping on the plane and the blanket was like this so I could like nap and stuff and it was covered and when I woke up his hand was like right here on my and it was kind of like moving and so like I looked down and I like started freaking out and he heard that the move his hand he started he was just looking like what are you doing like no that's not I was like yes it is it's true I seen it right there and then that's when they all came that's when who came like this the airline said that yes OK and then he tried to say that he was picking up my water bottle that's what he tried to tell the lady over there cause he was trying to ask her if it was hers but he knew that water bottle was mine and it was sitting there from the second he got on the plane so see me drink it and I put it back and I also moved it from his side over to my side like this right and so like he just tried to use that as an excuse because there's no reason that she'd be touching my water bottle and also I'm a that's like sexual assault are you traveling with your mom I'm traveling with my friends okay they're like out there okay are is any of them an adult uh huh okay do you have an ID with you on your boarding pass first yeah I take out the boarding pass okay I'm Officer Steven I'm with the Orlando Police Department this is Corporal Shell Horn I should let that thermos on the floor that's what I did I picked it up and I accidentally hit her leg I say nothing about her laying on my children sleeping I'll do it is this your correct address on here sir we're investigating an incident that's been claimed to have occurred okay so because of that um you're not under arrest however because I'm gonna be asking you some questions I'm gonna read you your Miranda warnings okay question just answer yes or no okay you have the right to remain uh silent do you understand yeah anything you say may be used against you in court you understand you have the right to talk to a lawyer before and during questioning do you understand if you cannot afford a lawyer and want one one will be provided for you before questioning without charge you understand has anyone threatened or promised you anything in order to get you to talk to me a young lady is claiming that she was sitting next to you on the flight and she was sleeping is that correct yes we were okay and then while she was sleeping upon approach to the airport what did you do were you I woke up as we came ready to land I heard something hit the aluminum down there I seen a water bottle so I went down to pick it up this way and my arm hit her leg as I picked it up and I asked the woman at the window I said is this yours she said no it's hers so I set it on the table right there and my arm hit her leg again and she woke up screaming I touching her which I did not touch her I accidentally hit her so at no no time did your hand or elbow go underneath her blanket no sir before questioning the suspect the officer delivered a complete Miranda advisement and stated the suspect was not under arrest this distinction carries significant legal weight Miranda warnings are required only during custodial interrogation The Supreme Court in Burkemper versus Mccarty established that custody exists when a reasonable person would not feel free to leave on a parked aircraft with officers present and exits limited that threshold is genuinely arguable by delivering Miranda regardless the officers eliminated any suppression risk and secured full admissibility of every statement that followed the offense alleged here falls under Title 18 United States Code Section 2244 abusive Sexual Contact that statute prohibits intentional touching of another person's body without consent including contact made over clothing the blanket does not create a legal barrier contact beneath it over the victim's clothing fully satisfies the statute the suspect offered an accidental contact defense claiming he reached down to retrieve a fallen thermos and grazed her leg under section 2 2 4 4 the operative word is intentional an accident if credible defeats the charge but credibility is tested against the full record not evaluated on the suspect's assertion alone the victim's account directly contradicted the thermos explanation she had moved the bottle to her side well before the alleged contact she described the hand as moving not static not incidental that detail speaks directly to intent what would incline her to make that claim again I I do not know she doesn't know you no I don't know okay you're not traveling with her no she was sleeping on my shoulder when I woke up and I I was sitting here like this and she was leaning over on my shoulder and I was sleeping like this next day we did it she won't she moved over she moved over that way a little bit had her legs up like this sleeping in a that's why I grabbed the thermos off the ground when we get ready to leave so you reached across her to get the thermos no I didn't lean down like this straight over like this I was sitting like this and I reached down like this and grabbed the thermos and my arm hit her leg when I reached down but I set it up on the this one down like this I set the thermostat on there after I asked the woman and when I went to put it over there my arm brushed against her leg right here and that was it I never touched her in any way shape or form and before we left the when we left the airport in Indianapolis she took pictures out the window and I asked her I said I'd like to take my camera and take pictures out the window with my phone she said I'll give you your phone number and I'll just send them to you I said okay so I gave her my phone number OK but that's the only conference we had we're gonna find out OK one if she has your phone number right so be honest with me if you're bullshitting me because that's easy to find out from there I know that you're lying so get your story straight hey be honest with me I'm honest with you I'm telling you the truth okay so if she has your phone number that may corroborate a little bit but if she does not have your phone number which she would have told me I just talked to her up there right that yeah the guy next to me he seemed nice or whatever the case may be I was taking photographs out the window and said I would send it send them to him he gave me his phone number one I don't believe that because the other thing is you already had an incident at the gate there that somebody had to come out and talk to you about why you're on this flight I don't even know so you started out one in trip almost in trouble now you possibly are in trouble so I've I've called the scene at the airport at Fair Cause they charged me $100 to carry bring my bag OK I'm gonna I'm calling the corporal right now who I think might be with her and I'm gonna see if she has your phone number she does not have your phone number that I know you're completely lying to me but she got my number do you have any uh drinks or under any medication fuck no nothing today no this thermos where is this thermos what does it look like silver one was it blue was it yours no it was that lady that sat next to me the woman that sat at the window told me it was her the woman that sat next to me so I left it on the on the bitch right there hey are you with her can you ask her if this gentleman gave her his phone number to forward some pictures to her to him where's your final destination that you're going to it's two hours away from here but you're so you're gonna be driving you're taking some type of land transportation yeah they're driving somewhere else who's picking you up my friend Bill and Captain Kerry okay what's the destination that we're going to we're in Orlando where we going to Daytona Daytona Daytona yeah the jurisdiction that you are in because you are still in the air falls under the FBI right OK so if things move forward they will be the ones doing the prosecutions and all that we will be doing a report as well but everything goes through the FBI right that's right that lady told me at the airport when I said that I can get I can understand frustration or whatever trying to check your bag I've Learned being special in Orlando this is still kind of like a hospitality industry you you know this officer has explained to you what the girl alleged absent any witnesses there's no way to prove you did do it or you did not do it I would caution you in the future if you have a female sitting next to you to keep your hands nowhere near her effing body are you clear on that okay she doesn't wanna do anything criminally we are gonna document this incident so there's a detailed account of what she said and what you said if the report still gets forwarded to the FBI and what they do from there I don't know what'd you get arrested for in regards to you left the uh registered sex offender part out oh my girlfriend girlfriend yeah she gave me a criminal confinement and kidnapped her how old was she uh well god rest her soul she passed away by now but uh she was 48 years old and I took a plea bargain the court went on for 8 years and I finally took a plea bargain on it and I got a 4 years probation now cause I did a year probation I would stop drinking so they violated me and I did about 4 months back in time the officer identified one of the suspect's claims as independently verifiable that the victim had voluntarily given him her phone number this is a standard investigative technique isolate a specific checkable assertion and cross reference it with the other party if the victim had no record of the exchange the suspect's broader account loses credibility across the board under the totality of circumstances standard from Illinois versus Gates the suspect's prior conduct at the Indianapolis gate was also legally relevant he had been flagged before boarding for disruptive and threatening behavior prior conduct does not establish guilt for a subsequent offense but it is admissible as evidence of intent knowledge or absence of mistake under Federal Rules of evidence rule 404 b the suspect's status as a registered sex offender introduced a second federal dimension beyond the in flight assault itself the sex Offender Registration and Notification Act Sonora codified at Title 34 United States Code Section 20913 requires registered offenders to update their registration in every jurisdiction where they reside work or travel for more than three days interstate travel of this nature triggers mandatory notification obligations failure to comply is itself a separate federal offence the suspect disclosed his registration history only after being directly asked omission during a voluntary interview does not constitute a Fifth Amendment violation but it is a factor courts consider when evaluating overall credibility alright you have all your stuff pardon you have all your stuff it's up there in the cabinet yes yes ma'am you hear me OK yes I guess when the plane was landing she was sitting on the airplane seat where like with her knees up to her chest she's covered by the blanket your little one is saying that when she woke up she felt the guy's hand underneath the blanket touching her um we have an FBI guy and another Orlando police officer talking to him right now okay so I was just coming back out to reaffirm with um with your daughter that that's that's what happened cause obviously the guys not gonna come out and say oh yeah this is what I did he's he's saying that as the plane was coming down she has like one of those Yeti Cups you know when these Yeti cups tip over or hit something else they sound it sounds like artillery going off so I guess her Yeti Cup hit the the the aluminum frame underneath the seat in front of them so he bent down to pick it up and he said you know my elbow hit her leg you know he accidentally hit her leg again that's his account but again I was only there for like the first couple of minutes he seems a little weird but not I don't know that there's a type of but you know of course I'm gonna believe anything that comes out of your daughter's mouth alright you're you're freaking out like a mom okay no no no that's 100% I'm the father of three daughters that's the first thing that came out of my mouth when I started talking to your angel okay I I wanted her to be assured that that's where my my brain is and where my mindset comes from this pretty outfit that's just the shell of how I make my money that's it I'm obviously gonna be very very very concerned with all the words that come out of your child's mouth you know what I mean if there's a couple of questions I have to ask I'm gonna hang up with you for right now okay and then then she'll call you right back please have please have her call me back she's fine little rattled okay she's not injured in any way Officer Steven receives an a minus the Miranda advisement was delivered correctly and proactively the cross verification technique testing the phone number claim against the victim's account reflects sound investigative judgment under the totality of circumstances framework the deduction reflects a narrow tactical gap the suspect was released from the aircraft during the FBI handoff window creating a period of exposure that more aggressive federal coordination could have shortened John Daniel Fowler receives an F the conduct alleged satisfies the elements of Section 2 2 4 4 his defense accidental contact while retrieving a thermos was undermined by the victim's specific account and his own inconsistencies his prior criminal history his registration obligations under Sonora and the pattern of behavior beginning at the Indianapolis gate were factors the federal court considered in imposing a sentence of 10 years three lessons apply here first federal aviation jurisdiction removes discretion from local officers when a crime occurs in flight the responding agency documents and refers the decision to prosecute is not theirs to make second Miranda delivered before it is legally required it is always the correct call when custody is genuinely ambiguous the cost of an unnecessary advisement is low the cost of a suppressed confession is not third in cases with no direct witnesses a victim's account survives challenge when it is internally consistent and anchored in specific verifiable details that the suspect cannot credibly explain away let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic that you would like us to discuss in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more content on police -court interactions