United States v. Carbajal

883 F. Supp. 148, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5367, 1995 WL 236962
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedMarch 24, 1995
DocketNo. EP-94-CR-363-DB
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 883 F. Supp. 148 (United States v. Carbajal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.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. Carbajal, 883 F. Supp. 148, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5367, 1995 WL 236962 (W.D. Tex. 1995).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

BRIONES, District Judge.

On this day, the Court considered the Defendant’s Motion to Suppress in the above-captioned cause. The government duly filed its response. After a hearing held on March 8, 1995, the Court is of the opinion that the motion should be resolved as set forth below.

Statement of Facts

On July 27, 1994, Agent Victor Maldonado (herein “Maldonado”) of the El Paso office of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms interviewed Carlos Carbajal (“Carbajal” or “Defendant”), a 20 year old El Paso resident, during the course of an on-going investigation of violations of federal firearm laws against one David Jimenez (“Jimenez”).1 Maldonado interviewed Carbajal and his mother at their residence at 7613 Parral in El Paso, Texas, regarding a drive-by shooting in November, 1993 wherein Carbajal was the target and Jimenez was the shooter.2 Maldonado sought evidence against Mr. Jimenez. Maldonado took a statement from Carbajal and Carbajal’s mother. Upon completion, Maldonado wrote the statement out, handed the statement to Carbajal who made corrections, initialed the changes and then signed the statement.

The next day, a confidential informant provided more information on the drive-by to Maldonado. According to this information, shortly after the drive-by, Carbajal retrieved a shotgun from his room and taunted Jimenez to come on the property shortly before the police arrived. Because this was the first time information had been received from this individual, Agent Maldonado did not seek a search warrant based on this information.

[151]*151On the 29th, based on this information, Maldonado returned to the Carbajal house. Before going over to the residence, Maldonado phoned to verify that Carbajal would be home. By his own admission Maldonado was not returning to further investigate the drive-by but to check out the report of the shotgun. Agent Maldonado accompanied by Agent Silas (“Silas”) were admitted to the residence by Carbajal’s mother who then woke up Carbajal. Carbajal’s mother left the meeting to go to the kitchen. Maldonado asked Carbajal if there was a place where they could speak in private. Carbajal took the agents to his bedroom. Carbajal sat on the edge of his bed. Maldonado told Carba-jal that he had information that there was a sawed-off shotgun in his room and asked for consent to search the bedroom. Carbajal slammed his hand down on the edge of the bed and remarked “I can’t let you take it because I’ll be left without protection.” The agents then searched the room. The shotgun was concealed under bed approximately under the place on the mattress Carbajal had slammed his hand. The gun was a sawed-off, single barrel, single shot .410 gauge shotgun. The gun was unloaded.

Conveniently, Maldonado had a consent form in his portfolio. Maldonado informed Carbajal that if he did not sign it he, Maldonado, would seek a search warrant. He read this consent form to Carbajal who then signed it. Maldonado then told Carbajal that because he had cooperated he would not be arrested that day; when and if an indictment for possession of an unregistered firearm was returned, as it subsequently was, Carbajal would be given an opportunity to surrender without being arrested in his home. Carba-jal did not want his mother to see the gun. Agent Silas carried it out of the house in a pillow case. Carbajal surrendered in late October after being indicted by the Grand Jury.

Discussion

The question before the Court, in its simplest form, is “Did the statements made by Defendant in his bedroom amount to consent?”

The Fourth Amendment analysis is familiar: was there a search that invokes the Fourth Amendment; was the search objectively reasonable: and, if not, should the evidence be excluded as a “fruit of the poisonous tree”. Cf. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). The touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness. Florida v. Jimeno, 500 U.S. 248, 250, 111 S.Ct. 1801, 1803, 114 L.Ed.2d 297 (1991), citing Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 360, 88 S.Ct. 507, 516, 19 L.Ed.2d 576. Only those searches which are unreasonable are proscribed by the Fourth Amendment. Illinois v. Rodriguez, 497 U.S. 177, 110 S.Ct. 2793, 111 L.Ed.2d 148 (1990). The Court has held that searches to which consent has been granted are reasonable. Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 219, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 2043, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973). “The State has the burden of proving that consent was freely and voluntarily given. This burden is not satisfied by a mere submission to a claim of lawful authority.” Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 497, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1324, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983) (plurality opinion). The scope of a search is generally defined by its expressed object, that is, what did the officer request consent to search. Jimeno, 500 U.S. at 251, 111 S.Ct. at 1804, citing United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 102 S.Ct. 2157, 72 L.Ed.2d 572 (1982).

In United States v. Wilson, 36 F.3d 1298, 1304 (5th Cir.1994), the Court found no authority which renders a subsequent written consent a dispositive factor in determining whether the search and seizure was within the scope of a pre-seizure consent. It stands to reason that this would hold true in the absence of pre-seizure consent. As noted above, in the case at bar, the Court finds that the gun was seized prior to the written consent. The Court in United States v. Melendez-Gonzalez, 727 F.2d 407, 414 (5th Cir. 1984) pointed out, and subsequent research by this Court confirms, that there is no legal authority which justifies an earlier illegal search based upon a later consent to a search.

Further, the testimony of Agent Maldonado indicated he was aware that he did not have sufficient evidence to bring before a [152]*152magistrate for a warrant as the informant did not have the requisite indicia of reliability. Based on the testimony illicited during hearing, Maldanado’s source was erroneous. The Court finds the testimony that Carbajal owned the gun for only three weeks prior to the seizure credible and persuasive. Therefore, the information that he had brandished the weapon at Jimenez in November, 1993, was fictitious. Under the totality of the circumstances, from his statements and from his request that Carbajal sign the consent form, it is obvious to the Court that Maldonado knew he had not received proper consent to search for the weapon.

Alternatively, if the statements did amount to consent then there is the possibility that the consent was coerced. In United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 552, 100 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
883 F. Supp. 148, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5367, 1995 WL 236962, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-carbajal-txwd-1995.