US v. Torres Pimental, no. 12-50038 (Pregerson with Fisher and Daniel, Sr. D.J.).

The McNabb-Mallory rule requires a defendant to be brought before a judicial officer within 48 hours unless certain exceptions or hardships are found.  The government here arrested the defendant on Friday, and failed to bring him to a magistrate until the following Tuesday.  The magistrate was 17 miles, a mere 22 minutes away, and was available for an appearance that afternoon. The defendant, who invoked on Friday, later confessed on Sunday, while being driven.  The 9th suppressed the statement, vacated the conviction and remanded.  The 9th did not buy the excuses of a holiday weekend, completing investigation (the discovery of the marijuana in the car and confession of the codefendant ended that), or availability of space.

Congrats to Devin Burstein and Zandra Lopez of the Federal Defenders of San Diego for the win.