United States v. Carroll

537 F. Supp. 2d 1290, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7485, 2008 WL 313801
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedFebruary 1, 2008
Docket1:07-cv-00016
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 537 F. Supp. 2d 1290 (United States v. Carroll) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Carroll, 537 F. Supp. 2d 1290, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7485, 2008 WL 313801 (N.D. Ga. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

WILLIAM S. DUFFEY, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Magistrate Judge Brill’s Report and Recommendation (“R & R”) [123] denying Defendant Jeremiah Carroll’s (“Carroll”) Motion to Suppress Evidence and Statements [84] and on Carroll’s Objections to the Court’s Report and Recommendation [128]. Also before the Court is Magistrate Judge Brill’s Report and Recommendation [126] denying Carroll’s Motion to Suppress Information Obtained from His Blackberry PDA [106] and Carroll’s Objections to the Court’s Report and Recommendation on His Motion to Suppress Evidence Seized from His Blackberry PDA [129].

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant Carroll is charged with various counts related to the possession of at least one hundred kilograms of marijuana. Before the Court are two motions by Carroll to suppress evidence collected by the Government during its investigation. First, Carroll seeks to suppress evidence obtained during the search and seizure of a trailer at his residence. Second, he seeks to suppress the results of a search of his Blackberry Personal Digital Assistant (“Blackberry”). This search was conducted when Carroll voluntarily surrendered to law enforcement officials.

On February 20, 2007, as part of an ongoing investigation into marijuana smuggling, federal law enforcement agents obtained a warrant to arrest Carroll. In the early morning hours of February 26, 2007, Austin Police Detective Paul Brick (“Brick”) went to a house located at 2601 Neimann Way, in Austin, Texas, which was believed to be Carroll’s residence. Brick had been advised by Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) agents that a warrant to arrest Carroll on charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana had been issued. Brick was advised that the conspiracy might involve smuggling marijuana in large trailers.

When Brick arrived at the home, he first conducted a passive surveillance of the front of the home. A black Ford F-350 truck was parked on the street outside of the front of the residence. A large Carson trailer (the “trailer”) was attached to the truck.

Other Austin Police officers later joined Brick as he was conducting surveillance. Among those who arrived was Detective Garrie Moore (“Moore”), a K-9 handler for the narcotics unit. Moore brought his drug-detecting dog, Azteck. Brick and the other officers continued to conduct surveillance of the outside of the residence for at least an hour. 1 Moore at some point walked Azteck around the exterior of the trailer (the dog “sniff’). Moore testified that Azteck showed a behavior change 2 suggesting he had detected the scent of illegal narcotics near the middle of one *1294 side of the trailer. Azteck crawled under the trailer, moved to the door on the other side of the trailer, and sat down, giving a positive alert for illegal substances. 3 Az-teck was off his leash when he was altered.

Brick and the other officers continued their surveillance for two more hours. Eventually, Brick approached the residence and knocked on the front door. Rachel Lyon (“Lyon”) answered. Brick told her that the trailer was parked illegally in front of a fire hydrant and asked her to move it. Lyons agreed and went back into the residence to get her keys. When Lyons stepped out of the house, Brick informed her that the officers’ purpose at the residence was to arrest Carroll on a federal warrant. Lyons permitted the officers to search the house for Carroll. Carroll was not found in the residence.

The officers then searched the trailer in the street, another trailer parked in the driveway, and the F-350 truck. No contraband was found during the search. 4 The officers found what they characterize as a “hidden compartment” in the roof of the trailer. The compartment did not contain any contraband. The Government seeks to introduce photographs of and testimony about the existence of this compartment at trial. Carroll moves to suppress this evidence.

On March 9, 2007, Carroll, accompanied by counsel, voluntarily surrendered to law enforcement officers at their offices. Carroll was carrying a backpack when he surrendered. Law enforcement officers searched the backpack in the presence of Carroll’s lawyer, and discovered the Blackberry. 5

The Blackberry’s functions include a cellular telephone, which has both temporary and permanent memory. The temporary memory contains, for example, a “recent calls” list. The permanent memory contains more static, stable data, such as a programmable “contact” list of names, addresses, and phone numbers. The “recent calls” list is dynamic and changes every time the Blackberry receives a call. The “contacts” list changes only when changes are inputted.

Law officers searched and recorded the contents of the Blackberry’s “contacts” list. The Government seeks to introduce some of the contents of the “contacts” list at trial. Carroll seeks to suppress this evidence.

On October 31, 2007, Magistrate Judge Brill issued an R & R denying Carroll’s motion to suppress evidence from the search and seizure of the trailer. The R & R held specifically that the search of the trailer was not pretextual, and that Brick and Moore had probable cause to search the trailer based on Azteck’s alert and the mobile vehicle exception to the warrant requirement. The R & R found that Az-teck was a sufficiently reliable drug detection dog for his alert to constitute probable cause to search. 6

On November 5, 2007, Magistrate Judge Brill issued an R & R denying Carroll’s motion to suppress the contents of the *1295 Blackberry. The R & R reasoned that the search of the Blackberry was a proper search incident to arrest.

Carroll properly objected to both R & Rs. For the reasons set forth below, the Court adopts the R & R denying the motion to suppress the fruits of the search of the trailer. The Court requires a further hearing on Carroll’s Objections regarding the search of the Blackberry.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

After conducting a careful and complete review of the findings and recommendations, a district judge may accept, reject or modify a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation. 28 U.S.C. § 686(b)(1); Williams v. Wainwright, 681 F.2d 732 (11th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1112, 103 S.Ct. 744, 74 L.Ed.2d 964 (1983). A district judge “shall make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specify proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). This requires that the district judge “give fresh consideration to those issues to which specific objection has been made by a party.” Jeffrey S. v. State Bd. of Educ.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
537 F. Supp. 2d 1290, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7485, 2008 WL 313801, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-carroll-gand-2008.