United States v. Dedrick

840 F. Supp. 2d 482, 2012 WL 120159, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5113
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJanuary 17, 2012
DocketCriminal Action No. 10-10394-WGY
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 840 F. Supp. 2d 482 (United States v. Dedrick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Dedrick, 840 F. Supp. 2d 482, 2012 WL 120159, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5113 (D. Mass. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

YOUNG, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Assumptions ought not be drawn where not necessary. This is the essence of the Ockham’s razor; when the simplest explanation seems correct, complex theories ought not be postulated without necessity (entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem).

This is a motion to suppress evidence, where the defendant wants the Court to speculate as to alternative theories concerning where he stored the drugs sold in two controlled buys occurring in the hallway outside his apartment. This Court is bound to analyze the facts in a commonsense rather than a hypothetical fashion. Absent a good reason to adopt more complicated theories, this Court rejects the defendant’s hypothetical interpretation of the facts, which would require it to adopt unnecessary assumptions. Here, the simplest explanation is that the defendant retrieved the drugs from his apartment, while the buyer waited in the hallway.

Calvin Dedrick (“Dedrick”) filed a motion to suppress evidence seized by the Boston Police Department on September 22, 2010, during the search of Apartment # 2 at 9 Brinsley Street, Dorchester, MA (“Apartment #2”). Dedrick argues that the application in support of the search warrant was deficient because the affidavit failed to establish probable cause to search Apartment #2; that, more specifically, the affidavit failed to provide a foundation to search the third floor portion of Apartment # 2; that the affidavit omitted information regarding other people who lived in that apartment; and that the search warrant does not pass muster under the Massachusetts Constitution and thus, pursuant to the “silver platter doctrine,” the evidence seized cannot be admitted in federal court.

A. Procedural Posture

On November 16, 2010, Dedrick was indicted for possession of firearms and ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number in violation 18 U.S.C. § 922(k), possession of a controlled [485]*485substance (cocaine) with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A). Indictment, ECF No. 1. On November 19, 2010, Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein ordered the detention of Dedrick on the grounds that he constitutes a danger to the community and poses a serious risk of flight. Mem & Order Detention, ECF No. 4. On October 11, 2011, Dedrick filed a motion to suppress evidence seized by the Boston Police Department on September 22, 2010, during the search of Apartment #2. Mot. Suppress Evidence (“Def.’s Mot.”), ECF No. 19. On October 17, 2011, Dedrick filed his Memorandum in Support. Def.’s Prelim. Mem. Supp. Mot. Suppress Evidence (“Def.’s Mem.”), ECF No. 21. On October 18, 2011, the government filed its opposition. Opp’n Mot. Suppress (“Gov’t’s Opp’n”), ECF No. 22. On October 21, 2011, De drick filed a response to government’s brief in opposition. Def.’s Resp. Gov’t’s Opp’n Mot. Suppress Evidence (“Def.’s Resp.”), ECF No. 23. This Court denied the motion to suppress without prejudice on October 26, 2011.

B. Facts

The facts herein are as alleged by the government. On September 20, 2010, Boston Police Sergeant Detective Albert M. Terestre (“Sergeant Terestre”) submitted an application for a search warrant and affidavit in support of the search of Apartment # 2. Def.’s Mem., Ex. A, Appl. Search Warrant, ECF No. 21-1. The warrant was issued on the same date by the Dorchester District Court. Gov’t’s Opp’n, Ex. 1, Search Warrant, ECF No. 22-1. On September 22, 2010, the police stopped Dedrick at approximately 2:20 pm and advised him of the search of Apartment # 2. Gov’t’s Opp’n, Ex. 2, Incident Report (“Incident Report”) 3, ECF No. 22-1. Dedrick was placed in a marked police cruiser and handcuffed for officer safety. Id. Officers subsequently found bags of cocaine and crack in the car with Dedrick, and Sergeant Terestre arrested Dedrick and advised him of his Miranda rights. Id.

The basis of the search of Apartment #2 was the investigation carried out by members of the Boston Police Department and an affidavit prepared by Sergeant Terestre. Gov’t’s Opp’n, Ex. 1, Aff. Albert M. Terestre (the “Affidavit” or “Aff.”), ECF No. 22-1. The Affidavit relies on information provided by a confidential informant, referred to as “Miz” (“the Informant”). Aff. 1. The Informant had previously provided information that led to the arrest and conviction of another individual, Darían Brewer, for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Id. In that case, the defendant entered a guilty plea and the Informant’s credibility was not challenged. Def.’s Mem. 3.

The Informant told Sergeant Terestre that a black male with the nickname “C-Dog,” later identified as Dedrick, was selling crack cocaine out of the second floor at 9 Brinsley Street, Dorchester, Massachusetts. Aff. 1. The Informant said that he knew this because he had purchased crack in the past by calling a particular telephone number used by C-Dog and going to the second floor of 9 Brinsley Street to buy the drugs. Id. Sergeant Terestre stated that the target of the investigation was Dedrick who was believed to be selling drugs from:

9 Brinsley St., Dorchester, Massachusetts, [which] is a 3 story, 2 family residential wooden dwelling, with dark beige vinyl siding and tan vinyl trim ... The building is a two family dwelling, with one apartment on the 1st floor and one apartment on the 2nd floor (which is apartment # 2, the target of this investigation). Apartment #2 consists of an upstairs (3rd fl.) and downstairs (2nd fl.) [486]*486[.] [sic] [T]he apartment door is a brown wood door and is the only door on the 2nd floor front landing.

Id. at 1-2. The Affidavit mentioned that a query of the City of Boston Assessing Department revealed the owner of record of 9 Brinsley Street to be D.G.1 Id. at 3. The investigation carried out by the Boston Police Department suggested that Apartment # 2 was occupied by or in the possession of Dedrick. Id. at 2. Surveillance of 9 Brinsley Street documented a black male, later identified as Dedrick, on several occasions leaving that residence and entering a blue Ford Explorer bearing a Massachusetts registration number, and registered to the name of Dedrick at “9 Brinsley Street, # 2.” Id. Sergeant Terestre also contacted N-Star and learned that since February 23, 2010, Dedrick was the subscriber for N-Star utilities at 9 Brinsley Street, Apartment #2. Id. Sergeant Terestre obtained Dedrick’s photograph from the Boston Police Department booking system and determined that the photograph appeared to be the same person alleged to be selling drugs at 9 Brinsley Street. Id. The Informant also identified Dedrick from nine booking photographs of different individuals as the person from whom he had been buying drugs at 9 Brinsley Street. Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
840 F. Supp. 2d 482, 2012 WL 120159, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5113, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-dedrick-mad-2012.