State of Maine v. Boildard

Superior Court of Maine·Decided September 24, 2019·No. CUMcr-18-3666·Unpublished

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE UNIFIED CRIMINAL DOCKET CUMBERLAND, ss. STATE OF MAINE DOCKET NO.: CUMCR-18-3666 ss, Clerk's Office

STATE OF MAINE, Ep )

)

v. ) ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S ) MOTION TO SUPPRESS JEFFREY BOILARD )

)

Defendant )

I. Procedural Background Pending before the Court is Defendant Jeffrey Boilard's Motion to Suppress evidence found during a warrantless search in the backyard of 32 Hennessey Avenue in Brunswick, Maine ("32 Hennessey"). Defendant also asserts that evidence obtained from his arrest should be suppressed because the arresting officers lacked probable cause. A hearing was held on July 25, 2019.

As a preliminary matter, the State challenged the Defendant's standing to contest the warrantless search of 32 Hennessey on Fourth Amendment grounds. The State argued that Defendant was not an overnight guest of Jonathan "Eric" Hummel ("Hummel"), who resides in Apartment "D" at 32 Hennessey, and therefore did not have a legitimate expectation of privacy in the premises. 1 Based on the Defendant's testimony,

1 The Fourth Amendment of the United States, and as similarly stated in the Maine Constitution, provides that "[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ..." U.S. Const. amend. IV. However, in order to contest the admission of the evidence on Fourth Amendment grounds the defendant must demonstrate that he had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the place searched. See State v. Carton, 2016 ME 119, '[ 15, 145 A.3d 555 ("this authority applies to defendants who have a legitimate expectation of privacy in the location of the search."). It is well settled law that an individual's status as

the Court found that the Defendant was an overnight guest of Hummel.2 As such, the Court concluded that the Defendant had an expectation of privacy in Hummel's residence.

The State next contends that 32 Hennessey is a multi-unit apartment building and challenges whether the Defendant has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the backyard of 32 Hennessey. Defendant asserts there is no evidence to support that 32 Hennessey is a multi-unit apartment building and, even if it is, there is no evidence that any of the other units at 32 Hennessey are occupied. 3 Accordingly, Defendant argues that the search was conducted in the curtilage of 32 Hennessey and must be suppressed. In addition, the Defendant asserts that law enforcement lacked probable cause and, therefore, seeks suppression of evidence obtained in the warrantless arrest of the Defendant.

The Court heard testimony from Jerod Verrill and Chad Carleton, both Special Agents with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. The Court also heard testimony from the Defendant. The Court admitted into evidence State's Exhibit #1 (an aerial photograph

an overnight guest is enough to show he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in a third persons' home. Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91, 96-97 (1990). 2 Defendant testified that he and Hummel have been best friends since they were

9-years-old. Over the years, Hummel has lived at a number of places in Brunswick and Defendant has stayed at all of them. Defendant testified that he has stayed at Hummel's current residence on 5 or 6 occasions. On July 8, 2018, Defendant arrived at Hummel's residence, stayed the night, and remained at the residence until his arrest on July 9, 2018. 3 In a post-Miranda interview, Hummel acknowledged that he lives in apartment "D" at

32 Hennessey. He stated that he primarily uses the back window facing the railroad tracks to enter the apartment instead of the front door because of his roommate, "Crazy Stacey." It is unclear from the testimony and aerial photographs of 32 Hennessey just how many apartments are in this particular structure. Agent Carleton, however, identified the apartment's designation of "D" in front of one of the entrances, and inferred that 32 Hennessey contained at least four individual units. Despite their respective arguments, neither party presented direct evidence as to the number of units in the apartment building nor the presence of other tenants.

of the property at 32 Hennessey), Defendant's Exhibit #1 (a photograph of the property taken from Hennessey Avenue), Defendant's Exhibit #2 (an aerial photograph of the property at 32 Hennessey), Defendant's Exhibits #'s 3 and 4 (two images of the Town of Brunswick Tax Assessor Map of the property at 32 Hennessey) and Defendant's Exhibit #5 (a recording of the police interview of Johnathan "Eric" Hummel.)

II. Findings of Fact In mid-June 2018, Agent Verrill received information from a concerned citizen that Hummel was selling cocaine and heroin at 32 Hennessey Avenue in Brunswick, Maine. 4 On July 5, 2018, Agent Verrill learned from Agent Carleton that a source of information ("SOI") had been at 32 Hennessy earlier that day and observed Hummel selling drugs. 5 The SOI told Agent Carleton that Hummel's supplier, a man named "Jeff," was also present. He told Agent Carleton that he had seen them at 32 Hennessey in the vicinity of a digital scale and approximately ten grams of cocaine. He described "Jeff" as a man in his mid-forties with brown hair, 5'8" to 5'10. He thought "Jeff" was from New Hampshire. He had seen a truck with New Hampshire plates and a Harley Davidson motorcycle at 32 Hennessey. 6 On July 7, Agent Carleton heard from the SOI that more

4 Later that month, his source said other drugs, including, methamphetamines (uppers), opiates (downers), suboxone (boxes) and morphine (morphs) were being sold out of 32 Hennessey. 5 Agent Carleton testified that between July 5 and July 9, 2018, he talked to and/ or texted

his SOI several times a day. 6 Defendant testified that his girlfriend owned a Ford pick-up truck and that he or she

had driven it to 32 Hennessey on July 8th. He also testified that he had a Harley Davidson motorcycle that he had driven to 32 Hennessey sometime around the 3rd to the 5th of July. Apparently, the motorcycle had broken down and he had left it at 32 Hennessey. He had it repaired and had come back to retrieve it.

product was coming. On July 9, the SOI confirmed that "Jeff," Hummel's supplier, was at 32 Hennessey and had cocaine to sell.

Acting on this information, Agents Carleton and Verrill conducted surveillance of 32 Hennessey from the parking lot of the Women's Fitness Center and Spa, which is located on the other side of the railroad tracks in back of 32 Hennessey. ( See St. Ex. 1.) From this location, they had a fairly unobstructed view, both with and without the use of binoculars, into the backyard of 32 Hennessey and could see the long driveway, with other homes off of it.7 The Agents confirmed that Hummel was at 32 Hennessey. Agent Carleton saw a man who matched the SOI's description of "Jeff." The Agents also observed approximately six to eight other people in the back yard. Some of the individuals were known to the Agents to be drug users in the Brunswick area. They observed two tents set up in the backyard by the railroad tracks. 8 During the two hours of surveillance in the early afternoon, the Agents also observed pedestrians walking into and out of the back yard as well as number of vehicles coming and going from 32 Hennessey. These individuals would stay for a short duration and then leave. They testified this is indicative of "typical drug deal behavior." They also saw a red Harley Davidson motorcycle that they suspected belonged to "Jeff."

The SOI agreed to participate in an arranged "buy" in the parking lot of Shaw's in Brunswick. The SOI contacted Hummel who agreed to sell him 3.5 grams of cocaine for

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State of Maine v. Boildard, (Me. Super. Ct. 2019).

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