United States v. Centeno-Gonzalez

177 F. Supp. 3d 721, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49193, 2016 WL 1411358
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedApril 11, 2016
DocketCriminal No. 15-346 (FAB)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 177 F. Supp. 3d 721 (United States v. Centeno-Gonzalez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Centeno-Gonzalez, 177 F. Supp. 3d 721, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49193, 2016 WL 1411358 (prd 2016).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

BESOSA, District Judge

Before the Court is defendant Jose Cen-teno-Gonzalez (“Centeno”)’s motion to suppress both a statement he made and physical evidence seized from the vehicle he was driving before being arrested. (Docket No. 39.) The United States opposed the motion, (Docket No. 44), and the Court referred the matter to Magistrate Judge Marcos E. Lopez, (Docket Nos. 4CMtl).

The magistrate judge held a two-day hearing, during which the United States and defendant Centeno presented evidence. (Docket No. 53-54.) The magistrate judge then issued a Report and Recommendation (“R & R”), recommending that the motion to suppress be denied with respect to Centeno’s statement but granted with respect to the physical evidence. (Docket No, 59.) The United States objected to the R & R. (Docket No. 64.) Defendant Centeno did not file an objection or a response to 'the United States’ objection. See Docket Nos. 69-70. ■

For the reasons discussed below, the Court ADOPTS IN PART and REJECTS IN PART the magistrate judge’s R & R, (Docket No. 59), and DENIES in its entirety defendant Centeno’s motion to suppress, (Docket No. 39).

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A district court may refer a motion to suppress evidence in a criminal case to a magistrate judge for a report and recommendation. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B); Loc. R. 72(a)(6). Any party may file written objections to the report and recommendation, and a party that files a timely objection is entitled to a de novo determination of those portions of the report to which specific objection is made. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); Loe. R. 72(d). In conducting its review, the Court is free to “accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); accord Loe. R. 72(d).

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

The magistrate judge issued recommended findings of facts based on evidence presented during the two-day hearing. See Docket No. 59 at pp. 2-5. Neither defen[724]*724dant Centeno nor the United States objected to the magistrate judge’s factual findings. See Docket No. 64 at p. 2 (stating explicitly that the United States has no objection to the recommended findings of fact). The Court therefore ADOPTS the magistrate judge’s factual findings, (Docket No. 59 at pp. 2-5), and summarizes them as follows.

On May 6, 2015, Juncos Municipal Police Department (“JMPD”) Agent Maria San-abria-Sanabria (“Sanabria”) received two anonymous calls. Between 6:40 and 6:45 p.m., the first caller stated that while she was entering her home in Estancias de la Ceiba, an urbanization1 in Juncos, she saw a man up the street get out of a white Toyota Tundra with tinted windows and deliver firearms to a grey vehicle. The grey vehicle then moved farther up the street, and two individuals got out and began shooting someone. Agent Sanabria heard the gunshots while on the phone with the caller and reported the details of the call to JMPD agents over the police radio. JMPD Agents Nilka Figueroa (“Figueroa”) and Luis Rosa-González (“Rosa”) heard the radio call and proceeded to Es-tancias de la Ceiba. After Agent Sanabria told the caller to get away from the windows, the call disconnected.

Agent Sanabria then received a second call. This caller, whose voice was different than the first caller’s, requested an ambulance. She reported that one person was dead and another was injured because a white Toyota Tundra had run someone over. The caller stated that the Tundra left towards Juncos and that a grey vehicle left towards Las Piedras. Sanabria informed her fellow JMPD agents.

Two to four minutes after receiving the first radio communication, while they were on their way from Juncos to Estancias de la Ceiba, Agents Figueroa and Rosa saw a white Toyota Tundra with tinted windows. They followed the vehicle to pull it over.

Puerto Rico Police Department (“PRPD”) Agents Carlos Calderón (“Cal-derón”) and Elvin Adams (“Adams”) also received information that gunshots were heard in Estancias de la Ceiba. While on their way to that urbanization, PRPD Agents Calderón and Adams saw the JMPD agents following the Toyota Tundra, and they joined the pursuit.

The Toyota Tundra stopped on the side of the road. Agents Figueroa and Rosa approached the vehicle with guns drawn. Agent Rosa told the vehicle’s driver to turn off the engine and roll down the window. The driver, later identified as defendant Centeno, did not comply until at least one minute later by lowering his window halfway. Agent Rosa told Centeno to open the door, and he complied. Centeno appeared “nervous and sweaty” and, after being asked where he was coming from, stated that he was coming from Estancias de la Ceiba where he was looking for a house to rent. Centeno was then ordered to the ground, handcuffed, read Miranda rights, and told he was under arrest for the incident that occurred in Estancias de la Ceiba.2 Centeno was placed in a patrol car and made no further statement.

[725]*725Agents Figueroa and Rosa then drove to Estancias de la Ceiba, which was no more than ten minutes away. There, they saw many people standing outside a residence. Inside the residence, the agents saw a dead person lying on the. floor covered with blood and full of bullet holes. Ten to thirty minutes later, Agent Rosa returned to where the Toyota Tundra was stopped and told his fellow law enforcement officers what he had seen in Estancias de la Ceiba. Around 7:45 p.m., officers called a canine unit to report to the scene of the intervention.

Between 8:10 and 8:15 p.m., PRPD Agent Jorge Feliciano (“Feliciano”) arrived at the scene with his duly certified firearms-detection dog. Agent Feliciano took the dog around the exterior of the Toyota Tundra, and the canine alerted for firearms at the driver’s and front passenger’s doors.

Two hours later, the Toyota Tundra was sealed and towed to the command post in Caguas. The next day, agents secured a warrant to search the Toyota Tundra. During the search, agents found and seized a Gloek pistol, ammunition, and cocaine.

III. MOTION TO SUPPRESS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND OBJECTIONS

Defendant Centeno moves to suppress both the statement he made when he was stopped (that he was coming from Estanci-as de la Ceiba where he was looking for a house to rent) and the items seized from the Toyota Tundra (the gun, ammunition, and cocaine). (Docket No. 39.) In support of his motion, Centeno argues (1) that he is entitled to a hearing pursuant to Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978), to challenge the affidavit that supported the search warrant; (2) that officers did not have reasonable suspicion to stop the Toyota Tundra; and (3) that the dog sniff was an unconstitutional search. (Docket No. 39.)

The magistrate judge recommended that the motion to suppress be denied with respect to Centeno’s statement but granted with respect to the items seized from the Toyota Tundra. (Docket No.

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Bluebook (online)
177 F. Supp. 3d 721, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49193, 2016 WL 1411358, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-centeno-gonzalez-prd-2016.