United States v. Bell

382 F. Supp. 3d 574
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedMay 9, 2019
DocketCRIMINAL NO. 3:15-CR-00498-K
StatusPublished

This text of 382 F. Supp. 3d 574 (United States v. Bell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Bell, 382 F. Supp. 3d 574 (N.D. Tex. 2019).

Opinion

ED KINKEADE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Before the Court is Defendant Corey Jevon Bell's Motion to Suppress (the "Motion") (Doc. No. 135). The Court held a hearing on the Motion on April 3, 2019. As the Court noted in its minute entry for the hearing (Doc. No. 157), its order was forthcoming. After considering the Motion, the response to the Motion, the arguments and evidence presented at the suppression hearing, and the applicable law, the Court *577GRANTS the Motion. The good-faith exception does not apply to the officers' search of 206 W. Laureland Road because the affidavit supporting the relevant warrant was so lacking in indicia of probable cause to provide the basis for a normal inference that a nexus existed between the defendant's drug trafficking and the 206 W. Laureland Road residence, and probable cause to support the warrant did not exist because no additional evidence outside of the affidavit supported the probable cause determination. Therefore, the evidence recovered from that search will be suppressed.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

The Motion in this case seeks to suppress evidence recovered from a residence located at 206 W. Laureland Road (the "Laureland Residence") on the basis that the search violated the Fourth Amendment. The evidence recovered from the property included controlled substances, drug paraphernalia, and a 20-gauge shotgun. For purposes of this Motion, the government and Defendant Corey Jevon Bell ("Bell") do not dispute any of the material facts; rather, the parties dispute whether the search of the Laureland Residence violated the Fourth Amendment and if the good-faith exception should nonetheless apply. The Court addresses the investigation into Bell to the extent it provides helpful context for the arguments presented by the parties concerning the Motion.

In 2015, the Dallas Police Department investigated Bell and his co-defendant girlfriend, Amber Faith Pavatt ("Pavatt"), on a suspicion of drug trafficking. Detective Dustin Kelly ("Detective Kelly"), an undercover narcotics detective at the time, was one of the officers investigating Bell and Pavatt. In the course of his undercover work, Detective Kelly completed three separate drug transactions for methamphetamine with Bell. The first transaction occurred on May 20, 2015, and both Bell and Pavatt arrived at the location of the transaction in a silver Pontiac G6 vehicle. The second transaction occurred on June 25, 2015, and both Bell and Pavatt arrived at the location of the transaction in a maroon Cadillac vehicle. At some point during his investigation, Detective Kelly determined the identity of both Bell and Pavatt through open internet sources. Detective Kelly also alleges that he determined that Bell had a last known address of 206 W. Laureland Road through police arrest records.

The third drug transaction occurred on August 5, 2015. Detective Kelly arranged a drug transaction with Bell for August 5, 2015. After arranging the transaction, undercover officers went to the Laureland Residence to conduct surveillance. At approximately 4:20 P.M., the undercover officers observed a maroon Cadillac arrive at the Laureland Residence, and an individual fitting Bell's description exited the Cadillac and entered the Laureland Residence. Detective Kelly arrived at the arranged meet location for the drug transaction at approximately 5:15 P.M. and contacted Bell over the phone to let Bell know that Detective Kelly was at the meet location. The individual fitting Bell's description left the Laureland Residence shortly after the time of the call and drove the silver Pontiac vehicle to the meet location. The surveilling undercover detectives observed the individual in the silver Pontiac travel to the meet location. Upon arriving at the meet location, Bell called Detective Kelly, met Detective Kelly in Detective Kelly's car, and completed a transaction for methamphetamine. When Bell left the meet location after the transaction, officers pulled Bell over and arrested him. Detective Kelly performed a field test on the suspected *578methamphetamine and confirmed that it was indeed methamphetamine.

After the arrest of Bell, Detective Kelly drafted an application for a search warrant for the Laureland Residence. In his affidavit, Detective Kelly asserted that based on his "training, experience, and [his] participation in [the] investigation and other investigations involving drug trafficking," individuals that traffic narcotics often keep other evidence relevant to drug trafficking within their residences. Detective Kelly further swears the following facts relevant to his investigation of Bell in the affidavit for the search warrant:

I, the Affiant, am conducting a narcotics investigation for the purchase of Methamphetamine which involves Suspect #1 and Suspect #2 who are described in paragraph #2 over the course of the past 4 months of 2015. I was introduced to Suspect Corey Bell and Amber Pavitt [sic] on 5/20/2015 at which time I conducted a narcotics transaction for 3.4 grams of Methamphetamine. This transaction was documented on case number 113877-2015. During this transaction I observed Suspect #1 and Suspect #2 arrive at the meet location inside a silver Pontiac G6 Texas License plate FNJ9140. On 6/25/2015 I again met Suspect #1 and conducted a narcotics transaction for the purchase of 3.3 grams of Methamphetamine which was documented on case number 145076-2015. During this transaction I observed Suspect #1 and Suspect #2 arrive at the meet location together inside of a Maroon Cadillac Texas License Plate FBG7312. During the course of my investigation I discovered the identity of both Suspect #1 and Suspect #2 through open internet sources that not only contained the names of the suspects but also photos of them together. I also discovered through police arrest records that Suspect #1 was presenting a last known address of 206 W. Laureland Road.
Upon discovering this location was the residence for Suspect #1 I traveled to this location where I observed both the Silver Pontiac and the Cadillac parked in front of the residence that is described in Paragraph #1. On 8/05/2015 I and Suspect #1 [sic] arranged to meet and conduct a narcotics transaction for the purchase of 7 grams of Methamphetamine. After arranging this transaction, undercover narcotic detectives were sent to area [sic] surrounding 206 W. Laureland Road in order to conduct surveillance on that location. At approximately 4:20 PM unmarked units observed a Maroon in color Cadillac arrive at 206 W. Laureland and a B/M fitting the suspect's description get out of the vehicle and enter the front door of the residence where he stayed. Upon arriving approximately [sic] 5:15 PM at the meet location, which was scheduled to be at the McDonalds parking lot that is located at 125 W. Camp wisdom Road, Dallas, Dallas County Texas, I made contact with Suspect #1 via phone and stated that I was at the meet location. Suspect #1 stated that he was around the corner and would arrive shortly. Shortly after this phone call Detectives observed a B/M fitting Suspect #1's description exit the front door of 206 W. Laureland, wearing a black t-shirt and red shorts, enter a silver Pontiac G6 and drive eastbound on Laureland to the IH 35 service road. At the service road Suspect #1 turned southbound and traveled to Camp Wisdom where he turned westbound and entered into the McDonalds parking lot. Since he exited the front door of 206 W.

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Bluebook (online)
382 F. Supp. 3d 574, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bell-txnd-2019.