United States v. Cruz-Mendez

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedNovember 6, 2006
Docket05-4296
StatusPublished

This text of United States v. Cruz-Mendez (United States v. Cruz-Mendez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Cruz-Mendez, (10th Cir. 2006).

Opinion

F IL E D United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit PUBLISH November 6, 2006 U N IT E D ST A T E S C O U R T O F A PP E A L S Elisabeth A. Shumaker Clerk of Court T E N T H C IR C U IT

U N ITED STA TES O F A M ER ICA ,

Plaintiff - Appellee ,

v. No. 05-4296

M AN UEL D E JESUS CRUZ- M ENDEZ, also known as M anuel Bosquez-M urrieta, also known as Jesus Romero ,

Defendant - Appellant .

A PPE A L FR O M T H E U N IT ED ST A T ES D IST R IC T C O U R T FO R T H E D IST R IC T O F U TA H (D .C . N O . 2:05-C R -41-TS )

Theodore R. W eckel, Salt Lake City, Utah, for D efendant - Appellant .

Karen M . Fojtik, Assistant United States Attorney (Brett Tollman, United States Attorney, with her on the brief), Salt Lake City, Utah, for Plaintiff - Appellee .

Before H A R T Z, E B E L , and M cC O N N E L L , Circuit Judges.

H A R T Z, Circuit Judge.

M anuel de Jesus Cruz-M endez was convicted in the United States District

Court for the District of Utah on a charge of illegal reentry into the United States after a bench trial on stipulated evidence. See 8 U.S.C. § 1326. On appeal he

challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence because

of alleged violations of the Fourth Amendment. W e have jurisdiction under

28 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm the conviction and sentence. W e hold that (1) the

law-enforcement officers’ “knock and talk” was not a Fourth Amendment

intrusion; (2) the district court did not clearly err in finding that M r. Cruz-

M endez’s girlfriend, Olga Armenta, consented to the officers’ entrance into the

living room of her apartment; (3) the cellular phone observed by the officers in

the apartment living room was in plain view ; (4) the district court did not clearly

err in finding that M s. Armenta consented to a search of the bedroom; and (5) the

officers had probable cause to arrest M r. Cruz-M endez. Because we conclude

that there were no Fourth Amendment violations, we need not address w hether a

violation would require that M r. Cruz-M endez’s identity be suppressed.

I. BACKGROUND

W e summarize the evidence offered at the suppression hearing in the light

most favorable to the district court’s decision. See United States v. Hunnicutt,

135 F.3d 1345, 1348 (10th Cir. 1998). On December 17, 2004, Department of

Homeland Security (DHS) Agent Leslie Derewonko received a phone call from a

female concerning a man named M anuel Cruz-M endez. The caller said that he

had previously been deported, he had several previous narcotics convictions, and

-2- her husband had seen him at a particular address in Provo that morning. That

address turned out to be an apartment rented by M r. Cruz-M endez’s girlfriend,

M s. Olga Armenta.

Agent Derewonko asked fellow DHS Security Agent Carlos G amarra to

meet him at the apartment, and also contacted the Provo Police D epartment so

that he and Agent Gamarra, who were in civilian clothes, could have uniformed

officers with them.

At 8:00 a.m. Agents Derewonko and Gamarra, along with Officer Brian

M oore of the Provo Police Department, went to the apartment. M s. Armenta’s

brother answered their knock on the door. He was putting on his coat and about

to leave. The officers introduced themselves but did not enter the apartment.

W hen Agent Derewonko asked the brother for identification, he produced a green

card. M s. Armenta, who gave her name as Olga, was sitting in the room behind

her brother; she was dressed in pajamas. One of the officers asked M s. Armenta

and her brother whether they knew a M anuel Cruz-M endez. Both responded that

they did not know him and that there was no one else in the apartment.

After this brief exchange the officers left the apartment and returned to the

parking lot. Officer M oore spoke with Provo Police Officer Brad M acFarlane,

who said that a few days earlier he had received a call from an anonymous female

who had provided the same information received by Agent Derewonko. The

-3- caller had further stated that M r. Cruz-M endez was staying with his girlfriend,

Olga. Officer M acFarlane also told O fficer M oore that he understood that there

was a Salt Lake City arrest warrant on a narcotics charge for a M r. M anuel Cruz.

The officers saw M s. Armenta’s brother leave the apartment shortly after

they received this information. The officers, now accompanied by Officer

M acFarlane, returned to the apartment at 8:20 a.m. and knocked again.

M s. Armenta answered the door. Agent Derewonko told M s. Armenta that the

officers had received information that she and M r. Cruz-M endez’s girlfriend had

the same name. She again said that there was no one else in the apartment.

Agent Derewonko then asked M s. Armenta if the officers could step into the

apartment because of the cold weather, and she invited them in.

Once inside, Agent Derewonko asked M s. Armenta for identification to

confirm her name. She stated that it was in her car and left the apartment to get

it. As she retrieved it, the officers waited outside her apartment. They did not

enter again until she returned with a Utah driver’s license, when she again let

them in.

At 8:35 a.m. one of the Provo police officers ran a check on M s. Armenta’s

license; it was valid. Agent Derewonko then asked if he could look into the

bathroom for the safety of the officers. M s. Armenta consented, so Agent

Derewonko, with M s. Armenta following him, inspected the bathroom. W hen the

-4- pair returned to the living room, she found the other officers looking at pictures in

the living room. M s. Armenta expressed her displeasure that they were looking

around the living room and at the pictures, but she did not ask them to leave.

Agent Derewonko then asked M s. Armenta what her immigration status

was. W hen she said that she was a legal resident, he requested documentation.

She went to her bedroom to get proof, but refused to allow Agent Derewonko to

come with her. W hen she returned with her green card, he made a telephone call

to verify its immigration number. Agent Derewonko then asked if he could search

the apartment, and she refused. Agents D erewonko and Gamarra repeated this

request one or two more times, but she continued to refuse. She said that they

could search only if they had a w arrant. Agent Gamarra explained the procedure

for obtaining a warrant (including preparation of an affidavit for review by the

United States Attorney and then submission to a judge for approval) and that she

could be arrested for harboring if M r. Cruz-M endez were found in the apartment.

(The district court’s narrative of its findings says that “A gent Gamarra then told

her that if the officers w ere not permitted to search the apartment, he would

obtain a warrant.” R. Doc. 48 at 7 (District Court M emorandum Decision and

Order of July 1, 2005 (District Court Decision)) (emphasis added). But the

testimony at the suppression hearing, including M s. Armenta’s testimony,

indicates that the officers spoke only of seeking a warrant. In any event, the

-5- conclusions we reach in this case do not turn on the distinction between a

statement by the officers that they would get a warrant and

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