United States v. Chavez

111 F. Supp. 3d 1131, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70514, 2015 WL 3454497
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedJune 1, 2015
DocketCase No. 2:15-cr-00035-RFB-CWH
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 111 F. Supp. 3d 1131 (United States v. Chavez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Chavez, 111 F. Supp. 3d 1131, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70514, 2015 WL 3454497 (D. Nev. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER ON MOTION TO SUPPRESS

RICHARD F. BOULWARE, II, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Before this Court for consideration is Defendant Frank Chavez’s Motion to Suppress, ECF No. 23. In his Motion, Chavez argues that any evidence or statements obtained from him by law enforcement during the night of January 16, 2015 and morning of January 17, 2015 should be suppressed. Chavez asserts that the evidence and statements were obtained wrongfully due to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers and detectives unlawfully entering his residence, unlawfully detaining and interrogating him, and searching his bedroom pursuant to a warrant supported by material misrepresentations. For the reasons stated below, the Court grants the Motion in part and denies it in part.

[1136]*1136II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On February 3, 2015, Frank Chavez was charged in a one-count Indictment with being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g) and 924(a). ECF No. 1. On March 27, 2015, Chavez filed a Motion to Suppress based on unlawful searches, an unlawful detention, and unlawfully obtained statements, seeking to suppress the evidence and statements that were obtained from him on the night of his arrest on January 16-17, 2015. On April 21, 2015, the Court held an evidentiary hearing on the Motion and received testimonial and documentary evidence. This Opinion and Order follows that hearing and explains the Court’s reasoning for granting the Motion in part and denying it in part.

III. FINDINGS OF FACT

The Court makes the following findings of fact based upon the testimony and documents provided at the evidentiary hearing. These findings of fact are further based upon the Court’s assessment of the credibility of the witnesses who testified at the hearing as well as an assessment of the other evidence presented at the hearing. As the Court explained prior to the close of the hearing, for its decision, the Court does not consider any other evidence that may have been attached to motions but was not presented at the hearing.

A. Entry Into the Residence

At approximately 10:03 p.m. on January 16, 2015, Sandra Rentfro placed a call to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (“Metro”). Government’s Ex. 1 (“CAD Rep.”). Rentfro’s call was assigned to Metro Officers Christina Alfonsi and James O’Leary at 10:51 p.m. Tr. of Suppression Hrg. 13:1-2, ECF No. 39 (“Tr.”). At the time they were assigned the call, Alfonsi and O’Leary were informed that Rentfro reported a domestic disturbance involving a disagreement between herself and Chavez, who was her son’s roommate, and that Chavez possessed a firearm but that the location of the firearm was unknown at the time of the call. Id. at 14:1— 10, 86:18-21; CAD Rep. The call was reported by Metro dispatch as a domestic disturbance. Tr. at 86:23-25. The address given was 2836 Palm Springs Way in Las Vegas. CAD Rep.

Alfonsi and O’Leary arrived at the address given at 11:05 p.m. Id. at 13:2. Rentfro was inside the residence and came outside to speak with Alfonsi when the officers arrived. Id. at 17:8-24, 88:6-24. While Rentfro and Alfonsi were speaking, O’Leary was standing several feet away. Id. at 88:16-21. Rentfro told Alfonsi that she was visiting her son, who owned the house, and that she had come from out of town. Id. at 17:19-20. Rent-fro also informed Alfonsi that her money was missing and that she believed Chavez had taken it. Id. at 17:11-13. While Alfonsi testified that her conversation with Rentfro outside the residence took approximately five to eight minutes, the Court finds that the duration of this conversation was actually somewhat shorter. Considering O’Leary’s testimony and the information that was conveyed to Alfonsi before entry, the Court finds that the conversation lasted approximately two to four minutes. Rentfro then invited Alfonsi into the residence, and O’Leary followed them inside. Id. at 18:1-4, 89:1-3.

Once inside the residence, Alfonsi continued to speak with Rentfro in the entryway. Id. at 18:17-19. O’Leary asked Rentfro where Chavez was. Id. at 89:6. Rentfro indicated that Chavez was in the living room, and O’Leary immediately went there. Id. at 89:5-16. As O’Leary went to the living room, Raymond Fletcher, Rentfro’s son and the owner of the residence, came into the entryway and also began to speak with Alfonsi. Id. at 18:17-[1137]*113722, 22:10. Importantly, the Court finds that Fletcher engaged Alfonsi as O’Leary was entering the living room and prior to O’Leary’s search of Chavez. The Court further finds that, because of the proximity of the entryway to the living room, Fletcher would have seen O’Leary entering the living room and also would have heard O’Leary’s increasingly louder commands to Chavez to wake up and stand up. (Just as Alfonsi heard the problems O’Leary had with Chavez which led her to go into the living room to assist O’Leary in his pat-down of Chavez.) Fletcher did not object to the officers’ presence inside his home. Id. at 19:1-4. He never indicated that his mother was an unwelcome guest or questioned in any way the fact that his mother had invited the officers into his home. The Court also finds that, despite having an opportunity to do so before Chavez was searched, Fletcher did not object to O’Leary’s entry into the living room or O’Leary’s commands to Chavez prior to the patdown search. The Court also finds that Fletcher participated in discussions with Alfonsi in her investigation of the alleged disturbance prior to Chavez being searched. During this conversation and prior to Chavez being searched, Fletcher did not object to the officers’ presence in his home, did not object to his mother’s invitation to them and did not object to O’Leary going into the living room to look for and question Chavez.

B. Patdown Search of Chavez

O’Leary entered the living room, which was dimly lit, and saw Chavez sleeping on the couch. Hrg. Tr. at 89:16-24, 90:1-4. The room was not a bedroom and it was not locked. The entryway and living room were separated by a kitchen, but there were no doors dividing these areas of the residence, so light from the entryway spilled into the living room and there was visibility into the living room from the entryway. Id. at 89:16-24, 24:2-7. The couch where Chavez was sleeping was approximately twelve to fifteen feet away from Alfonsi, who was speaking with Rent-fro and Fletcher in the entryway. Id. at 64:4-25, 65:1-10. Portions of the inside of the living room could be seen from the entryway. Id. at 24:2-9. O’Leary identified himself as a Metro officer and asked Chavez to stand up and speak with him. Id. at 90:10-15. O’Leary did this three times with increasing volume. Id. Chavez, who appeared to have been asleep, stood up after the third request by O’Leary and did not say anything as he stood up. Id.

O’Leary asked Chavez if he was carrying any firearms or anything illegal, to which Chavez responded no. Id. at 90:23-25, 91:1-2. O’Leary then asked for, and Chavez granted, permission to pat Chavez down for weapons.1 Id.

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Bluebook (online)
111 F. Supp. 3d 1131, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70514, 2015 WL 3454497, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-chavez-nvd-2015.