Oregon state prisoner Derrick appeals from the denial by the district court of his petition for habeas corpus. In his petition, Derrick contends that his convictions for murder and first-degree manslaughter are invalid because statements he made to the police, which were introduced at his trial, allegedly were made involuntarily under the fourteenth amendment’s due process clause and without a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of his Miranda rights. The district court exercised jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 2241 and 2254. We have jurisdiction over this timely appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253. We affirm.
I
Approximately 6:30 a.m. on December 26, 1981, Derrick, a 16 year old, came to the home of his aunt and uncle who lived across the street from the mobile home in which Derrick and his parents lived. Derrick told his uncle that Derrick’s parents had been murdered during the night and that there was blood all over the mobile home. Derrick’s uncle asked him where he had been the night before and Derrick responded that he had been in the mobile home but that he had not heard any shooting or struggling. Derrick's uncle then called a couple more of Derrick’s relatives and together they went over to the mobile home. Upon seeing a pool of blood near where a pickup truck had been parked and drag marks across the lawn, they decided to forego any search of the mobile home and instead immediately contacted the sheriff.
Shortly after 8:00 a.m., Johannessen, a Tillamook County deputy sheriff, arrived to investigate the reported homicides. Johan-nessen spoke briefly with Derrick and several of his relatives. Derrick told Johan-nessen that he had arisen in the morning, had taken a shower, and that, upon coming out of the bathroom, he had seen the blood around the house. He had then come to his uncle’s house to report that something had happened.
Johannessen then crossed the road to examine the scene. Upon entering the mobile home, he observed blood splatter marks, bone, tissue, and shotgun pellets in the area of Derrick’s bedroom and the bedroom of his father and step-mother, which were joined by a hallway. After his initial inspection, Johannessen again spoke briefly with Derrick concerning how Derrick had originally found the scene. Derrick stated that when he had gone to bed the previous night, he had left his radio on at half volume and had not heard any gun blasts. He repeated that it was only after he finished his shower that he noticed the blood.
Shortly thereafter, two other deputies arrived and Johannessen learned that Derrick was a runaway from a juvenile group home. Approximately 9:20 a.m., Johannes-sen told Derrick that he was in custody because of his runaway status. He then handcuffed Derrick and placed him in the patrol vehicle. Johannessen also read Derrick his Miranda rights from a card and asked Derrick whether he understood that he did not have to talk to Johannessen. Derrick responded that he understood his rights and that he was willing to talk because he wanted Johannessen to “find out who did this thing.” In response to Johan-nessen’s questioning, Derrick reiterated his prior statement that he had not heard any shots fired because his radio had been on at half volume.
Johannessen then left Derrick in the patrol vehicle, where he remained until about 1:30 p.m., while Johannessen and other law enforcement officials conducted a more thorough investigation of the scene. Jo-hannessen then transported Derrick to the Tillamook County sheriff’s office, where Johannessen and Stephenson, a criminal investigator for the Oregon state police, interviewed Derrick from about 2:00 p.m. until about 5:00 p.m. Prior to this interrogation, Derrick’s handcuffs were removed and Stephenson readvised Derrick of his Miranda rights. Stephenson used an Oregon state police “Advice of Rights” form which contains a seven-item checklist. Stephenson read through each item on the form, inquired whether Derrick understood that particular item, and received an af *816 firmative response from Derrick each time. Derrick then signed a written waiver of those rights and then talked with the officers.
Stephenson and Johannessen questioned Derrick about some inconsistencies in his story. Among other things, they asked him why he had stated that he heard dogs barking and his parents truck leave when he had not heard a shotgun blast right outside his bedroom door. Finally, soon after hearing a radio dispatch announcing that his parent’s bodies had been found, Derrick admitted that he had heard the shots. He further stated that upon hearing the shots he had barricaded himself in his bedroom. For the remainder of this interview, the officers questioned Derrick about inconsistent or unbelievable elements of his story. About 5:00 p.m., Derrick was taken to juvenile detention.
Approximately 9:50 p.m. Derrick was returned to the sheriffs office for further questioning. Prior to this additional questioning, Stephenson again explained to Derrick his Miranda rights. Stephenson testified that Derrick stated “that he understood his rights, that he had been advised of them numerous times, ... and was quite well aware of what that procedure was and his right to counsel.” Stephenson and Jo-hannessen then confronted Derrick with more inconsistencies in his story. Sometime prior to 11:30 p.m., Stephenson showed Derrick a picture of his father and stepmother’s bodies and asked if Derrick could identify them. Upon viewing the pictures, Derrick became tearful. After a few moments of silence, Derrick admitted shooting both his father and his stepmother with a shotgun at close range. He also described his efforts at cleaning up the scene and concealing the evidence. Derrick was again advised of and waived his Miranda rights, and then repeated his confession which was recorded. This last interview concluded about 11:50 p.m. Derrick was then placed under arrest for these crimes, taken to the hospital for a blood test, and booked in Tillamook County jail about 12:30 a.m. on December 27.
At the hearing on Derrick’s motion to suppress his confession, Johannessen and Stephenson both testified that Derrick was calm, alert, responsive, and cooperative at all times. Stephenson stated that Derrick showed emotion only twice during their conversations — once when he heard the radio dispatch that his parents’ bodies had been found and a second time when he was shown the pictures of his parents. In both instances, Derrick regained his composure after a minute or two and proceeded with his story.
Judge Mayer, a Tillamook County judge before whom Derrick had previously appeared on a number of juvenile matters, testified that he had fully explained the Miranda rights to Derrick one year before the homicides and that Derrick’s responses indicated that he understood those rights.
Two clinical psychologists, Dr. Lazere and Dr. DeCourcy, also testified at the hearing. Dr. Lazere had evaluated Derrick in March of 1981 in connection with a juvenile case and again in January 1982 after Derrick’s arrest for his parents’ murder. He testified that on the Slaussen intelligence test which he had administered in March 1981, Derrick achieved a mental age of nine years, ten months, which yielded an I.Q. of 62, placing him in the mildly delayed range of intellectual ability. When he was questioned regarding Derrick’s ability to understand his Miranda rights, Dr. Lazere opined:
I think he would be able to understand the words themselves. I think he would be able to understand the concepts that the combined weight of the words was meant to convey, but whether he could understand the import of testifying, of talking about what had happened, and its relationship to his well-being in the future, of that I have serious doubts.
On cross-examination, however, Dr. Lazere stated that he was unaware of Derrick’s previous arrests or that Derrick had received a careful explanation of his Miranda rights from Judge Mayer. He stated that these prior encounters with the Miranda warnings would make a “sub *817 stantial difference” in Derrick’s ability to understand and assert his Miranda rights.
Dr. DeCourcy’s testimony was similar to Dr. Lazere’s. He stated that Derrick’s score on a different I.Q. scale — the Wexler Adult Intelligence Scale — was 74, placing him in the borderline range of mental retardation falling between dull-normal and the mild retardation range. He also related that when he had interviewed Derrick, Derrick had stated that because he had been arrested so many times, he understood what his rights were but felt that the police would assume his guilt if he refused to talk. Dr. DeCourey opined that based upon his interview of Derrick he believed that Derrick could indeed understand his rights — i.e. that he could understand that he could ask to have an attorney present and did not have to answer questions — but that he could not adequately foresee the consequences of his actions and “utilize the protection afforded by the Miranda warnings to protect his own best interests.”
After hearing this and other evidence, the state trial judge denied Derrick’s motion to suppress his confession. In doing so, he made the following findings:
There is absolutely no evidence in the record that defendant at any time was induced, coerced, threatened, or promised anything by the officers who spoke with him. He was scrupulously advised and readvised of his constitutional rights per Miranda, and at all times indicated a willingness to talk with the investigating officers.
The defendant knew what his Miranda rights were and in fact had on previous occasions exercised those rights in a juvenile proceeding before Judge Mayer.
There is no evidence in the record that defendant was under the influence of any form of intoxicant (alcohol or controlled substances) and the Court finds he was not.
There is no evidence in the record that there was any form of police misconduct in talking with the defendant.
It is true that the defendant is not a person of high intelligence; however, taking all of the evidence into consideration the court is satisfied that defendant, (1) was more than adequately advised of his Miranda rights; (2) understood the concept of those rights and how to exercise them; (3) was not subject to any form of police misconduct at any time; (4) acted freely and voluntarily in talking with the officers investigating the crime.
Following a jury trial, Derrick was convicted of first degree manslaughter and murder. After exhausting his state relief, Derrick sought habeas corpus relief in federal district court, alleging that his confession was involuntary under the fourteenth amendment’s due process clause and that his
Miranda
waiver was invalid because it was not knowing, voluntary and intelligent. The district court denied his petition for relief which we review de novo.
Grooms v. Keeney,
II
We first address whether Derrick’s confession was voluntary within the meaning of the fourteenth amendment’s due process clause. Our review of the “ultimate issue of ‘voluntariness’ ” is de novo.
Miller v. Fenton,
In evaluating the voluntariness of a confession, we inspect “whether, under the totality of circumstances, the challenged confession was obtained in a manner compatible with the requirements of the Constitution.”
Id.
at 112,
A.
The state trial judge found that “[t]here is no evidence in the record that there was any form of police misconduct in talking with the defendant.” The state maintains that our review is limited because this statement amounts to a subsidiary factual finding and is thus entitled to a presumption of correctness pursuant to section 2254(d).
However, the presence of “coercive police activity,”
Connelly,
We review de novo the court’s conclusion that the confession was voluntary because Connelly’s focus on the constitutional acceptability of the government conduct rather than merely on the defendant’s state of mind at the time of the confession “requires us to consider legal concepts in the mix of fact and law and to exercise judgment about the values that animate legal principles.”
United States v. Wolf,
In both direct and collateral review, the question whether the trial court’s determination is factual or legal is the same. It would therefore be incongruous to apply a different standard of review for the same issue when we are assessing the same constitutional right. Rather, if the issue in both cases is one of law, we would naturally review both issues de novo. Consequently, we are unpersuaded that the state trial court’s finding that the police did not coerce Derrick is entitled to a presumption of correctness. Instead, we conclude that, based upon our precedents in the direct review context, we are obligated to conduct an independent review of the “constitutional acceptability” of the police’s interrogation of Derrick.
B.
Derrick points to several aspects of his interrogation which he claims amounted to coercive police activity. We address them in turn.
*819
Derrick’s initial argument is that the length of his detention, including the four hours he sat alone in the police car, and the duration of the questioning to which he was subjected were coercive and thus rendered his confession involuntary. It is important to observe, however, that Derrick does not argue that the length of the detention was impermissible under
Gerstein v. Pugh,
Derrick next contends that the police engaged in “deceitful” behavior by informing him that he was in custody for running away from the juvenile group home and then questioning him about the murders. This contention is completely lacking in merit. There is no question that Derrick was properly taken into custody for leaving the juvenile group home. Moreover, the record indicates that Derrick was well-informed that the purpose of his questioning was to elicit information from him regarding his missing parents and their apparently violent murders. Questioning Derrick about a second crime while he was properly in custody for a first crime did not amount to police misconduct.
Derrick also argues that his confession was involuntary because the police failed to contact any of his relatives so that they could be present during the interrogation. Derrick, however, did not request to speak with his relatives. Derrick directs us to no case, and we have found none, requiring that a juvenile’s relative be present prior to any confession. We conclude that the police’s “failure” to contact Derrick’s relatives was not a form of coercive misconduct.
Derrick also contends that the police coerced his confession by showing him the photographs of his deceased father and stepmother and requesting him to confirm their identity. While we agree that showing Derrick the photographs may have been insensitive, we fail to see how such insensitivity constitutes coercion prohibited by the due process clause. Derrick, however, contends that the photographs were obviously coercive because his complete confession followed soon thereafter. This argument misses the mark. The vol-untariness inquiry has never been one of but-for causation whereby a confession is rendered inadmissible simply because it was precipitated by police conduct.
Hutto v. Ross,
Finally, we reject Derrick’s claims of improper police conduct because, as his counsel stated at oral argument, Derrick’s age and mental capacity are “the critical part” of his coercion claim. In other words, this part of Derrick’s argument assumes that the police behavior in question here was acceptable absent Derrick’s own unique circumstances. Such a claim is precisely the type that Connelly was intended to foreclose. We, therefore, conclude that Derrick’s confession was voluntary under the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment.
*820 III
Derrick next contends that his waiver of his
Miranda
rights was invalid because it was not voluntary, knowing and intelligent. The Supreme Court in
Connelly
held that “[t]here is obviously no reason to require more in the way of a ‘voluntariness’ inquiry in the
Miranda
waiver context than in the Fourteenth Amendment confession context.”
While Connelly clearly holds that the “voluntariness” inquiry in the Miranda waiver context is equivalent to the volun-tariness inquiry under the fourteenth amendment, it is not as clear whether an inspection of the “knowing” and “intelligent” prong of the Miranda waiver analysis is likewise rendered unnecessary by a conclusion that a confession is voluntary under the fourteenth amendment. That is the burden of our next inquiry.
In
Connelly,
the Court did not reverse outright the state court’s decision that the defendant’s
Miranda
waiver was invalid.
It is possible to read the opinion of the Supreme Court of Colorado as finding respondent’s Miranda waiver invalid on other grounds. Even if that is the case, however, we nonetheless reverse the judgment in its entirety because of our belief that the Supreme Court of Colorado’s analysis was influenced by its mistaken view of “voluntariness” in the constitutional sense. Reconsideration of other issues, not inconsistent with our opinion, is of course open to the Supreme Court of Colorado on remand.
Id.
at 171 n. 4,
Whatever doubt remained after
Connelly
concerning the distinct nature of the knowing and intelligent prong of the waiver inquiry was removed by the Court’s decision in
Colorado v. Spring,
[t]he inquiry whether a waiver is coerced “has two distinct dimensions.” Moran v. Burbine,475 U.S. 412 , 421 [106 S.Ct. 1135 , 1141,89 L.Ed.2d 410 ] (1986):
“First the relinquishment of the right must have been voluntary in the sense that it was the product of a free and deliberate choice rather than intimidation, coercion, or deception. Second, the waiver must have been made with a full awareness both of the nature of the right being abandoned and the consequences of the decision to abandon it. Only if the ‘totality of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation’ reveal both an uncoerced choice and the requisite level of comprehension may a court properly conclude that the Miranda rights have been waived.” Ibid., (quoting Fare v. Michael C.,442 U.S. 707 , 725 [99 S.Ct. 2560 , 2572,61 L.Ed.2d 197 ] (1979)).
Id.
As a matter of logic this result is somewhat unsatisfactory. On the one hand,
Connelly
emphasizes that “mere examination of the confessant’s state of mind can never conclude the due process inquiry.”
Initially, we must resolve whether the Oregon state court’s finding that Derrick understood his
Miranda
rights (the knowing and intelligent prong) is entitled to a presumption of correctness pursuant to section 2254(d). Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in
Miller,
this circuit, in its direct review cases, reviewed the question “whether a defendant in fact knowingly and voluntarily waived his
Miranda
rights ... under the clearly erroneous standard.”
United States v. Doe,
This clear precedent was clouded somewhat by
Miller.
There, the Court held, in the fourteenth amendment context, that the voluntariness of a confession was to be reviewed de novo, and that only subsidiary facts were to be accorded a presumption of correctness under section 2254(d).
Some additional light was cast upon this issue by the Court’s subsequent separation of the voluntariness prong from the knowing and intelligent prong of the waiver inquiry in Connelly and Spring. That bifurcation left open the possibility of a different scope of review of a state court’s determination with regard to the knowing and intelligent prong of the waiver inquiry as distinguished from the voluntariness prong. We have yet to address whether the Court has overturned our clear precedent requiring review of the knowing and intelligent prong for clear error.
In two
post-Miller
and
post-Connelly cases
— Grooms and
Terrovona v. Kincheloe,
In
Grooms,
we held that “[a] federal court must conduct an independent review of the voluntariness of a confession.”
This reading of
Grooms
finds support in our subsequent decision in
Terrovona. See Terrovona,
In reaching this conclusion, we specifically agreed with the Third Circuit’s holding in
Ahmad v. Redman,
Although we did consider the knowing and intelligent component in
Shedelbower v. Estelle,
Unlike in
Grooms, Terrovona,
and
She-delbower,
we did squarely address the issue of whether the knowing and intelligent component of the waiver inquiry is entitled to a presumption of correctness in
Wolf,
a case on direct review. There, we discussed three possible interpretations of
Connelly
in an effort to understand whether
Connelly
had undermined our prior precedent mandating a clearly erroneous standard of review.
Wolf,
would have no colorable claim that his right against self-incrimination was violated whichever version of the waiver issue is correct. Under de novo review, we reject the claim that the police used objectively unacceptable methods to coerce Wolf into waiving his right to silence for the same reasons that we reject his due process claim. And under the clearly erroneous test, we uphold the district court’s conclusion that there is “no evidence” to support Wolfs claim that his waiver was involuntary in the sense that his subjective will was overborne.
Id. The teaching of Wolf, therefore, was that whatever the interpretation of Con-nelly, we review the question of police coercion de novo and we review the question of whether the defendant’s mind was overborne — i.e., was his waiver knowing and intelligent — for clear error.
The only question remaining is whether we should apply
Wolf’s
reasoning to the collateral review context and accord a section 2254(d) presumption of correctness to a state trial court’s determination that a defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his
Miranda
rights. Other circuits have applied this presumption of correctness in collateral review cases.
Perri v. Director of the Department of Corrections of Illinois,
As we stated above, the Oregon trial court found that Derrick “was more than adequately advised of his
Miranda
rights [and] understood the concept of those rights and how to exercise them.” Since we have concluded that this finding is entitled to a presumption of correctness, we are obligated to treat this factual finding as accurate “unless one of the circumstances listed in section 2254(d)(1) to (7) exists, unless the [state court] determination is not fairly supported by the state
*824
court record, or unless [Derrick] shows by convincing evidence that the factual determination by the state court is erroneous.”
Tinsley v. Borg,
Derrick was read or informed of his
Miranda
rights at least four times, and each time he waived those rights either orally or in writing. The written waiver in particular is strong evidence that the waiver was valid.
United States v. Bernard S.,
Finally, we hold that Derrick has failed to meet his burden of showing by “convincing evidence” that the trial judge, after hearing the testimony of Judge Mayer and other witnesses, erroneously found that Derrick was capable of understanding the Miranda warnings.
We affirm the state court finding that Derrick knowingly and intelligently waived his Miranda rights.
AFFIRMED.