United States v. Bowman

38 F. Supp. 3d 1278, 2014 WL 3969204, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113005
CourtDistrict Court, D. Utah
DecidedAugust 13, 2014
DocketCase No. 2:14-CR-114 TS
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 38 F. Supp. 3d 1278 (United States v. Bowman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Bowman, 38 F. Supp. 3d 1278, 2014 WL 3969204, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113005 (D. Utah 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO SUPPRESS

TED STEWART, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Defendant Dustin Jay Bowman’s Motion to Suppress. The Court held an evidentiary hearing on Defendant’s Motion on May 14, 2014. Thereafter, on August 11, 2014, the Court heard oral argument from the parties. Having considered the evidence presented and the arguments made, the Court is prepared to rule. For the reasons discussed more fully below, the Court will grant in part and deny in part Defendant’s Motion to Suppress.

I. BACKGROUND

A large fire occurred at an apartment building construction site in Salt Lake City on February 9, 2014. Due to the size of the fire and the extent of the damage, the National Response Team (“NRT”) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) was involved in the investigation of the blaze. ATF Special Agent David Allen (“Agent Allen”) is a member of the NRT and was a participant in the investigation.

Part of Agent Allen’s role in the investigation was to conduct interviews with potential witnesses. On February 13, 2014, Agent Allen arranged a meeting with Chris Coons, the lead electrician on the construction site to see if Mr. Coons could identify any of the individuals or vehicles observed in surveillance camera footage from the night of the fire.

Agent Allen met with Mr. Coons in a trailer at the construction site that served as the headquarters for the builder of the apartment building. Although Agent Allen merely requested to meet with Mr. Coons, the Defendant in this ease—Dustin Bowman—also attended the meeting. Agent Allen showed Mr. Coons and Defendant still-frame pictures from surveillance video of the construction site. The still frames included several pictures that depicted an individual in a hooded sweatshirt. On two occasions Mr. Coons indicated that the person in the still images looked like the Defendant. Defendant denied being the person in the video.

Later that evening, Defendant sent Agent Allen the following text message: “This is Dustin Bowman. Electrician on new house construction site. Does your phone accept text? Can I meet with you on site Saturday at 7:00 am? I have information on the video I could not share with you in front of Chris. Please text return if we can meet.”1

The next day, Agent Allen and Defendant arranged to meet in a Wendy’s parking lot near the construction site. Defendant, Agent Allen, and ATF Special Agent Kent Owens met at the Wendy’s parking lot shortly after 6:00 pm. At that time, [1282]*1282Defendant informed the agents that he was the individual depicted on the surveillance video and that he had gone to the site on the evening of the fire to smoke a form of synthetic marijuana known as “spice.” Defendant was cooperative with the agents and indicated that he could show them where he entered the construction site on the night of the fire.

Defendant drove a work van to the Wendy’s restaurant and indicated that he could drive separately to the construction site. The agents communicated their preference that Defendant ride with them in Agent Owens’s vehicle as they were attempting to limit traffic near the scene of the fire. Defendant left his vehicle in the Wendy’s parking lot and rode to the construction site in the front passenger seat of Agent Owens’s vehicle. At the site, Defendant showed the agents where he had entered the perimeter fence and smoked spice next to a Conex lock-box that held the electricians’ tools.

At the construction site, Defendant and the agents discussed the timeline of Defendant’s arrival and departure from the site the night of the fire. Defendant stated that he had receipts and a public transportation schedule that could confirm his timeline. At that point, the agents indicated that they would like to continue their conversation with Defendant at the Salt Lake City Public Safety Building. According to Agent Allen, they wanted to go to the Public Safety Building because “[i]t was very dark and cold and noisy at the fire scene.”2

Defendant was hesitant to accompany the agents to the Public Safety Building. The agents understood Defendant’s hesitance to be related to his status as a drug user. With encouragement from the agents, Defendant agreed to accompany the agents to the Public Safety Building. Defendant and the agents traveled together in Agent Owens’s vehicle to the Public Safety Building.

At the Public Safety Building, the agents and Defendant proceeded to an interview room on the third floor. The interview area of the Public Safety Building is considered a secured area. To arrive at the interview room, Defendant and the agents were required to pass through several locked doors. Once they arrived at the interview room Agent Allen stated to Defendant, “hey, so you know, I mean, you—you can walk out that door any time.”3 The door to the interview room was not locked and Agent Allen testified that Defendant could have walked back out of the secure interview area of his own volition at any time.

The interview room was roughly ten foot by ten foot square, with a table affixed to the wall on one side. Defendant was placed on the far side of the table, with Agent Allen directly across from him at the table and two other officers in the room. Due to the small size of the room, at least one of the officers was directly between Defendant and the door to the interview room.

Defendant’s interview at the Public Safety Building began a little before 7:00 p.m. The first stage of the interview was handled by Agent Allen. Defendant was cooperative and expressed a willingness to discuss the night of the fire with Agent Allen. Agent Allen began the interview by asking general questions regarding the night of the fire and establishing a timeline for Defendant’s activities that night. Defendant was cooperative and volunteered information.

[1283]*1283Over time Agent Allen’s questions became more direct and he focused on what he identified as inconsistencies between Defendant’s version of events and the surveillance camera videos.

Mr. Allen: So like I was saying, on the video, the time, you know, you’re coming out—coming out of there, and the fire start—or the smoke is right after that.
Mr. Bowman: Holy shit.
Mr. Allen: Yeah. So are you sure you didn’t see something or smell something?
Mr. Bowman: I wish I fucking did. I didn’t see anything.
Mr. Allen: So I mean ... Looking at those items, you know, it’s not making sense. We need to—you know if you’re worried about something, tell us, we’ll talk about it. But we—we got to—
Mr. Bowman: I’m not worried about anything other than the spice and the reason I was there.
Mr. Allen: Right. It’s just it’s—it’s not making sense at all.
Mr. Bowman: I understand. I—I fully understand that. And I’m freaking the hell out right now.
Mr. Allen: Well, what do you think’s going to happen?
Mr. Bowman: I have no idea.
Mr. Allen: You got to be—you got to be a hundred percent straight up with— with us.
Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
38 F. Supp. 3d 1278, 2014 WL 3969204, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113005, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bowman-utd-2014.