United States v. Demetrium Silas Shaw

482 F. App'x 449
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJuly 13, 2012
Docket10-15178
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 482 F. App'x 449 (United States v. Demetrium Silas Shaw) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Demetrium Silas Shaw, 482 F. App'x 449 (11th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Demetrium Silas Shaw appeals from his convictions and 240-month total sentence for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) & (b)(l)(A)(iii) and 846, and possessing with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) & (b)(l)(A)(iii). On appeal, Shaw argues that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence *451 seized as a result of a search of his property because the affidavit underlying the search warrant allegedly contained material misrepresentations and omissions. He next argues that the court erred in denying his motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence that one of the witnesses against him had made false statements during his testimony. Finally, Shaw argues that he should have been sentenced under the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (“FSA”), Pub.L. No. 111-220, 124 Stat. 2372 (2010), because he was sentenced after the Act’s effective date.

I.

“Review of a district court’s denial of a motion to suppress is a mixed question of law and fact.” United States v. Delancy, 502 F.3d 1297, 1304 (11th Cir.2007). We review the district court’s factual findings for clear error and its interpretation and application of the law de novo, construing all facts in the light most favorable to the prevailing party. Id.

For a search warrant to be valid, it must be supported by probable cause. U.S. Const, amend. IV. “Probable cause to support a search warrant exists when the totality of the circumstances allow a conclusion that there is a fair probability of finding contraband or evidence at a particular location.” United States v. Brundidge, 170 F.3d 1350, 1352 (11th Cir.1999). Accordingly, the search warrant affidavit must “state facts sufficient to justify a conclusion that evidence or contraband will probably be found at the premises to be searched.” United States v. Martin, 297 F.3d 1308, 1314 (11th Cir.2002) (quotation omitted). “[T]he affidavit should establish a connection between the defendant and the residence to be searched and a link between the residence and any criminal activity.” Id.

Search warrant affidavits are presumptively valid. Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 171, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 2684, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978). However, a search warrant may be voided and the fruits of the search excluded if the warrant affidavit contained certain misrepresentations or omissions. Id. at 155-56, 98 S.Ct. at 2676. A defendant must show that (1) “the alleged misrepresentations or omissions were knowingly or recklessly made” and (2) “the result of excluding the alleged misrepresentations and including the alleged omissions would have been a lack of probable cause for issuance of the warrants.” United States v. Novaton, 271 F.3d 968, 986-87 (11th Cir.2001).

In this case, the record shows that undercover Deputies William Sims and Demetrius Dixon purchased crack cocaine from Eddie Light on March 11, 13, 18, and 31, 2009. During the March 11 sale, the deputies accompanied Light to Shaw’s residence, where Light appeared to enter the side of Shaw’s house and then returned with crack cocaine to sell to the deputies. During the March 13 buy, the deputies observed Light walk in the direction of Shaw’s residence and then return with crack cocaine. For the March 18 buy, deputies actually saw Light enter Shaw’s house and return with drugs. On March 31, the deputies purchased a larger quantity of crack cocaine from Light, although this transaction did not occur at Shaw’s residence, nor did the deputies see Light come from Shaw’s residence.

On April 2, 2009, Deputy Sims obtained a search warrant for Shaw’s residence and an arrest warrant for Shaw. In his affidavit for a warrant, Deputy Sims said, inter alia, that he had witnessed Light actually enter Shaw’s residence during the March 11 and 18 sales. Deputy Sims omitted all references to the March 31 drug buy, which had not occurred at Shaw’s resi *452 dence. The search of Shaw’s residence and vehicles turned up 405.2 grams of crack cocaine, 76 grams of cocaine powder, and 414 grams of marijuana, as well as scales, handguns, and ammunition.

During the hearing to suppress this evidence, Deputy Sims testified that he had not actually witnessed Light enter Shaw’s house on March 11. Rather, Deputy Sims had seen Light walk up the driveway towards the side of the house into an area enclosed by a six-foot fence and containing a wheelchair ramp into Shaw’s bedroom, then return shortly with the crack cocaine. Shaw argues that this misstatement, combined with the failure to mention the March 31 drug buy, renders the warrant void, and thus the fruits of the warrant should have been excluded.

Deputy Sims admitted that it “was a poor choice of words” to say that Light had actually entered Shaw’s house. However, there is no evidence that Deputy Sims intended to mislead the magistrate judge with a “deliberate falsehood.” Franks, 438 U.S. at 171, 98 S.Ct. at 2684. Even if the warrant contained exactly what Deputy Sims saw, there still would have been probable cause to search Shaw’s residence given the reasonable inference that Light indeed had gone into the house on March 11, as well as the fact that the deputies had actually seen Light enter Shaw’s residence during the March 18 buy.

Shaw also claims that omitting the March 31 drug buy rendered the warrant void. That is, he argues that even though the deputies had no direct evidence that the last drug purchase involved Shaw’s residence in any way, Deputy Sims still should have included it in his affidavit for a warrant to search Shaw’s residence. Shaw argues that the March 31 buy tended to show that Light was getting cocaine from a source other than Shaw’s residence. However, the existence of this final purchase did not diminish the probable cause obtained during the previous purchases where Light had been seen entering Shaw’s property and returning with crack cocaine. The March 31 buy did not produce evidence that Light had been obtaining the cocaine from a source other than Shaw. In other words, Shaw cannot show that including the March 31 purchase in the affidavit would have destroyed the probable cause from the previous cocaine purchases at Shaw’s property. Novaton, 271 F.3d at 986-87.

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Related

United States v. Demetrium Silas Shaw
561 F. App'x 860 (Eleventh Circuit, 2014)

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Bluebook (online)
482 F. App'x 449, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-demetrium-silas-shaw-ca11-2012.