Kelly Yvette Timbers (appellant) was convicted of two counts of forgery. In this appeal, she challenges the trial court’s admission into evidence of statements she made to a deputy sheriff while she was incarcerated in a Madison County holding cell. She contends the statements were obtained in violation of
Miranda v. Arizona,
On November 15, 1996, law enforcement authorities executed a search warrant at an apartment complex in Madison County. In addition to searching appellant’s apartment, law enforcement authorities searched the apartment of John Johnson. Johnson owned a blue Lincoln Town Car which he sometimes loaned out in trade for crack cocaine. During the execution of the search warrant, an officer saw the blue Lincoln enter the area of the apartment building.
The Lincoln then left the area of the apartment building and drove away. An officer of the Virginia State Police stopped the Lincoln because he was instructed to do so by an undisclosed person on his radio. During a search of the Lincoln, law enforcement officers found a small packet of cocaine in the car, and a Madison County deputy arrested appellant, who was the driver, and the other occupant of the car.
At the sheriffs office, Deputy Robert MacFall asked appellant for identifying information, including her name, date of birth, and Social Security number. Appellant told MacFall that her name was Gwendolyn Ann Timbers. After appellant was fingerprinted, she signed the fingerprint card and a Central Criminal Records Exchange (CCRE) form with the name, “Gwendy Timbers.” MacFall prepared and served appellant with a warrant for possession of cocaine.
Between a half-hour and an hour after appellant’s booking, while appellant was in the holding cell at the sheriffs office, a woman came into the lobby of the sheriffs office and asked to give MacFall an item of clothing for Kelly Timbers. MacFall testified that, after this exchange, he immediately went “to the holding cell where we had Ms. Timbers and questioned her as to what her real identity was.” When asked to specify his actions, MacFall testified as follows: “I went to the holding cell door, I called her by the name of Kelly Timbers and she looked at me. And I told her if she was Kelly Timbers, that she needed to come forth with that information.” MacFall *192 testified that he did not directly ask appellant if her name was Kelly.
Appellant acknowledged that she was actually Kelly Timbers. Appellant was not advised of her Miranda rights at any point prior to this acknowledgement. The deputy charged appellant with one count of forgery for the fingerprint card, one count of forgery for the CORE card, and one count of giving -false information to a police officer, in addition to possession оf cocaine.
Appellant moved to suppress the cocaine on the basis that no reasonable suspicion supported the stop of the Lincoln, and moved to suppress the fingerprint cards and the statement she made in the holding cell that she was in fact Kelly Timbers on the basis that these statements were fruits of the unlawful stop. After a hearing, the trial court granted the motion to suppress the cocaine on the basis that no evidence established that the person who ordered the Lincoln stopped had reasonable suspicion to justify the stop. The court denied the motion to suppress the fingerprint cards and statement, reasoning that “there is a new act occurring here and this is not a fruit of the poisonous tree.”
On the basis of evidence introduced in the first suppression hearing, appellant filed a motion to suppress her statements to the deputy оn the basis that the statements were obtained in violation of her Miranda rights. At a hearing on appellant’s second motion, appellant testified that MacFall approached the holding cell where she was incarcerated, asked if she was Kelly Timbers, and told her that he knew she was Kelly Timbers, so she might as well admit it. She testified that MacFall left for five to ten minutes, then returned and told her that someone had come to the office and said that аppellant’s name was Kelly. According to appellant, MacFall told her that someone was going to retrieve a picture of appellant, so appellant should admit that her name was Kelly. Appellant testified that MacFall left again, returned, and told her that they would not press charges if she admitted her name was *193 Kelly. Appellant testified that she admitted her identity at this point.
The court denied appellant’s motion to suppress her statements. The court found MacFall’s testimony to be credible and found that the sequence of events was not as appellant described. The court specifically found as follows: “Certainly the defendant was in custody, but what occurred was not interrogation.” After a trial without a jury, the court found appellant not guilty of providing false information to a police officer, but found her guilty of both counts of forgery.
I.
Miranda
Appellant cоntends her statement in the holding cell that she was in fact Kelly Timbers was obtained in violation of
Miranda v. Arizona,
“[T]he prosecution may not use statements, whether exculpatory or inculpatory, stemming from custodial interrogation of the defendant unless it demonstrates the use of procеdural safeguards effective to secure the privilege against self-incrimination,” commonly known as
Miranda
warnings.
Miranda,
The Commonwealth concedes that appellant was not administered
Miranda
warnings at any point .prior to her statement. Similarly, the Commonwealth conceded in the trial court that appellant was in custody at the time of the statement and is bound by that concession here.
See, e.g., Johnson v. Commonwealth,
A.
Functional Equivalent of Questioning
After hearing evidence that appellant’s name was Kelly Timbers rather than Gwendolyn Timbers, MacFall called ap
*195
pellant by the name Kelly Timbers and told her that, if she was Kelly Timbers, she needed to come forth with that information. MаcFall did not expressly question appellant. For
Miranda
purposes, however, interrogation also includes the functional equivalent of questioning.
Innis,
The Supreme Court has defined the functional equivalent of questioning as “any words or actions on the part of the police ... that the police should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from the suspect.”
Innis,
Virginia courts have formulated and applied the
Innis
standard in several ways. In applying the
Innis
standard, Virginia courts have discussed (1) the subjective intent of the police,
see, e.g., Wright v. Commonwealth, 2
Va.App. 743, 746,
*196
An interpretation of the “reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response” test as purely оbjective would require a case-by-case evaluation of how likely a defendant is to respond to a given statement by police.
See
Wayne R. LaFave & Jerold H. Israel,
Criminal Procedure
§ 6.7(a) (1984). A requirement of actual proof that “questioning ... was intended or designed to produce an incriminating response,”
Wright,
Although Virginia courts have articulated the requirements of the
Innis
standard in several ways, we are bound by the interpretation of
Innis
outlined in
Blain,
*197 Applying this standard, we hold that MacFall’s statements to appellant constituted interrogation. After learning that appellant’s real name was probably Kelly Timbers rather than Gwendolyn Timbers, MacFall went to the holding cell door and called appellant by the name Kelly Timbers. In the first testimony he gave on the issue, MacFall described this exchange as “question[ing] her as to what her real identity was.” After appеllant looked at MacFall, MacFall told her that if she was Kelly Timbers, she needed to admit that fact. MacFall testified that in response to these statements, appellant “came clean to me and said that she was actually Kelly Yvette Timbers.” A reasonable observer would view Mac-Fall’s statements as designed to elicit appellant’s incriminating statement that she was, in fact, Kelly Timbers.
B.
Routine Booking Question Exception
The Commonwealth argues. that
Miranda
warnings were unnecessary because MacFall’s interrogation of appellant was an attempt to obtain accurate booking information pursuant to arrest and custody. In
Innis,
the Supreme Court of the United States defined the functional equivalent of interrogation as “any words or actions on the part of the police (other than those normally attendant to arrest and custody) that the police should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from the suspect.”
Innis,
Applying this definition, we held in
Wright,
Under the facts presented here, we believe that [the defendant’s] statement concerning his address [made on a fingerprint card] was obtained as a result of conduct normally attendant to arrest and custody. We also note the total absence of any evidence that the questioning here was *198 intended or designed tо produce an incriminating response. For these reasons, Miranda warnings were unnecessary.
Id.
As previously discussed, we adopted an interpretation of the
Innis
standard in
Blain,
In
Muniz,
*199
No Virginia court has addressed the viability or scope of a routine booking question exception in Virginia subsequent to
Muniz.
Assuming without deciding that a routine booking question exception exists in Virginia, MacFall’s interrogation of appellant does not fall within the exception. Most importantly, MacFall did not confront appellаnt in the holding cell to clarify an ambiguity in her statements made during booking; rather, he sought to investigate what he believed to be false information. In addition, MacFall’s statement that if appellant had given a false name, she needed to come forward with that information, can hardly be considered a routine booking question. Finally, MacFall’s interrogation of appellant does not fall under a routine booking question because, under the standаrd in
Blain,
C.
Inevitable Discovery
The Commonwealth argues that, notwithstanding a violation of
Miranda,
we should not apply the exclusionary rule in this case because the police inevitably would have discovered appellant’s true identity. In
Nix v. Williams,
the inevitable discovery exception requires that the prosecution show: “(1) a reasonable probability that the evidenсe in question would have been discovered by lawful means but for the police misconduct; (2) that the leads making the discovery inevitable were possessed by the police at the *200 time of the misconduct, and (3) that the police also prior to the misconduct were actively pursuing the alternative line of investigation.”
Walls v. Commonwealth,
Specifically, the Commonwealth argues that because the police had appellant’s fingerprints, they would havе inevitably discovered appellant’s true identity. No Virginia court has applied the inevitable discovery doctrine outside of the derivative “fruit of tlie poisonous tree” context. Furthermore, no Virginia court has applied the inevitable discovery doctrine to the suppression of a statement obtained in violation of
Miranda. See Keeter v. Commonwealth,
Assuming without deciding that inevitable discovery analysis applies in the context of a statement directly obtained in violation of Miranda, the Commonwealth has not carried its burden to prove the three Walls factors. The Commonwealth did not argue the inevitable discovery doctrine to the trial court. In addition, the Commonwealth did not present evidence at the hearing that the police were actively pursuing any alternative line of investigation into appellant’s identity. The court specifically found credible MacFall’s denial that he had told appellant he had sent an officer to Culpeper, Virginia, *201 to obtain a photograph of her; this action was the only alternative line of investigation mentioned. Most importantly, the Commonwealth never presented any evidence that the police fingerprint cards would have established appellant’s identity. We will not exempt the violation of appellant’s Miranda rights from the exclusionary rule under these circumstances.
D.
Harmless Error
Finally, the Commonwealth argues that the
Miranda
error, if any, was harmless. A violation of
Miranda
is subject to review for harmless error.
Pearson v. Commonwealth,
We cannot say the trial court’s error in admitting appellant’s admission that she was Kelly Timbers rather than Gwendolyn Timbers was harmless. Appellant’s admission to MacFall was the most important evidence admitted at appellant’s trial for forgery on the issue of whether appellant’s signature as Gwendy Timbers was, in fact, false. The only other evidence admitted at trial on the issue was MacFall’s testimony that a person came into the sheriffs office and asked for Kelly Timbers. Without testimony as to appellant’s admission, there would have been little evidence of the falsity of appellant’s signature. Under these circumstances, we cаnnot declare a belief that the error, if any, was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
Lavinder,
Therefore, we reverse appellant’s convictions because of the violation of her
Miranda
rights. Given our disposition of this issue, we need not reach appellant’s argument that her state
*202
ment to MacFall was the fruit of her illegal arrest. Notwithstanding the fact that we reverse for a
Miranda
violation, however, we address appellant’s sufficiency оf the evidence argument because the Commonwealth would be barred on double jeopardy grounds from retrying appellant if we were to reverse for insufficiency of the evidence.
See, e.g., Burks v. United States,
II.
Sufficiency of the Evidence
Appellant argues the evidence was insufficient to support her convictions for forgery because no evidence at trial proved that “Gwendy Timbers” was not her usual signature. “When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged on appеal, we must determine whether the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, and the reasonable inferences fairly deducible from that evidence, prove every essential element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Stevenson v. Commonwealth,
Code § 18.2-172, codifying the common law crime of forgery, provides that “[i]f any person forge any writing, ... to the prejudice of another’s right, ... [she] shall be guilty of a Class 5 felony.” Under the common law, forgery “is defined as ‘the false making or materially altering with intent to defraud, or any writing which, if genuine, might apparently be of legal efficacy, or the foundation of legal liability.’ ”
Fitzgerald v. Commonwealth,
Essentially, appellant argues that the evidence was insufficient to prove that her signature, “Gwendy Timbers,” was *203 false. We hold that the evidence was sufficient to support an inference that appellant’s signature was false.
While being fingerprinted, appellant told MacFall that her name was Gwendolyn Ann Timbers. Appellant signed the fingerprint card bearing the name Gwendolyn Ann Timbers with the signature, “Gwendy Timbers.” The trial court was entitled to reasonably infer that “Gwendy” was a short form of “Gwendolyn.” A woman brought clothing for appellant while appellant was incarcerated and referred to appellant as “Kelly.” The trial court was entitled to infer from this evidеnce that appellant was commonly known as “Kelly” rather than “Gwendy.” Finally, when confronted by MacFall, appellant admitted she was Kelly Timbers and not Gwendolyn Timbers.
Cf. Lockhart v. Nelson,
We reverse and remand for a new trial, if the Commonwealth be so advised.
Reversed and remanded.
Notes
. Four justices found it “unnecessary to determine whether the questions fall within the 'routine booking question’ exceрtion to
Miranda”
recognized by the plurality.
Id.
at 608,
