United States v. Derek Lamar Reddick

714 F. App'x 938
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedOctober 30, 2017
Docket16-17222 Non-Argument Calendar
StatusUnpublished

This text of 714 F. App'x 938 (United States v. Derek Lamar Reddick) 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. Derek Lamar Reddick, 714 F. App'x 938 (11th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Derek Reddick appeals his convictions for conspiracy to transport in interstate commerce a person under 18 years of age to engage in prostitution, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a), and enticing or transporting a minor in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2421, 2422(a). Specifically, Red-dick challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence gained through an encounter with police and an arguably illegal search of his hotel room. First, he argues that his encounter with police was not consensual. Second, he argues that the independent source doctrine does not apply to evidence discovered during the execution of a search warrant for his hotel room after an initial warrantless entry into the room. After careful consideration of the parties’ briefs and the record, we affirm.

A district court’s ruling on a motion to suppress presents a mixed question of law and fact. United States v. Lopez-Garcia, 565 F.3d 1306, 1312-13 (11th Cir. 2009). We review the district court’s findings of fact for clear error and its application of the law to the facts de novo. Id. at 1313. A clearly erroneous factual finding occurs when we, “after reviewing all of the evidence,” are “left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.” United States v. Foster, 155 F.3d 1329, 1331 (11th Cir. 1998). We construe all facts in the light most favorable to the prevailing party below. United States v. Jordan, 635 F.3d 1181, 1185 (11th Cir. 2011).

The Fourth Amendment protects individuals “against unreasonable searches and seizures.” U.S. Const, amend. IV. For Fourth Amendment purposes, a seizure has occurred “[o]nly when the officer, by means of physical force or show of authority, has in some way restrained the liberty of a citizen.” Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19 n.16, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1879 n.16, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). “If a reasonable person would feel free to terminate the encounter, then he or she has not been seized.” United States v. Drayton, 536 U.S. 194, 201, 122 S.Ct. 2105, 2110, 153 L.Ed.2d 242 (2002).

A consensual encounter—a police-citizen exchange involving no coercion or detention—does not implicate the Fourth Amendment. Jordan, 635 F.3d at 1186. We consider various factors in determining whether an encounter was consensual, including: if an individual’s path is blocked; if an individual’s identification is retained by the police; the individual’s age, education, and intelligence; the length of the detention and questioning; the number of officers present; any display of weapons; any physical force or touching; and the tone and language used by the police. Id.

Here, the district court did not clearly err when it found that Reddick’s encounter with the police was consensual because a reasonable person in Reddick’s position should have felt free to leave. The district court heard from several officers and found their testimony credible. See United States v. Ramirez-Chilel, 289 F.3d 744, 749 (11th Cir. 2002) (“Credibility determinations are typically the province of the fact finder..,, ”). The critical facts included: (1) only two officers were near Reddick, (2) Reddick initiated the contact, (3) officers used a conversational tone, (4) Reddick’s ID was only retained for a brief time, (5) the encounter lasted around a minute, and (6) Reddick could have walked around the officers.

Reddick argues that the district court ignored several facts in its decision, including that: the encounter occurred at night, the hotel had a cramped layout, Reddick was aware of the presence of several other officers, and the officers were armed. Although the district court may have been able to find these facts persuasive, it did not. “Where the evidence has two possible interpretations, the district court’s choice between them cannot be clearly erroneous.” Foster, 155 F.3d at 1331. Accordingly, the district court did not clearly err when it found that the encounter was consensual. -

Next, Reddick argues that the district court erred when it denied his motion to suppress because it determined that the evidence seized after a potentially illegal search of his .hotel room was admissible under the independent source doctrine. 1

The independent source doctrine is an exception to the warrant requirement. It states that “evidence obtained from a lawful source that is independent of any Fourth Amendment violation is admissible.” United States v. Noriega, 676 F.3d 1252, 1260 (11th Cir. 2012). It requires a two-step test. First, we “excise from the search warrant affidavit any information gained during the arguably illegal initial [search] and determine whether the remaining information is enough to support a probable cause finding.” Id. Second, if the remaining information supports probable cause, we determine “whether the officer’s decision to seek the warrant was prompted by what he had seen during the arguably illegal [search].” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). The evidence seized under the warrant is admissible if the officer would have sought the warrant even without the initial illegal search. Id. at 1260-61. “This is a question of fact.” United States v. Barron-Soto, 820 F.3d 409, 415 (11th Cir. 2016).

In addition to containing references to evidence arguably seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment, the search warrant affidavit also contained an important misstatement—that Reddick paid for Room 211, the hotel room where a minor was engaging in prostitution. 2 A search warrant must be voided and the fruits of the search excluded if the search warrant affidavit contained a statement made with deliberate falsity or reckless disregard for. the truth, and the affidavit’s remaining content does not establish probable cause. Madiwale v. Savaiko, 117 F.3d 1321, 1326 (11th Cir. 1997).

Even if the affidavit could not establish probable cause without inclusion of the misstatement, it was not made with deliberate falsity or reckless disregard for the truth. The district court correctly pointed out that the “truth—that Reddick had rented out Room 212 and [Christine] Thurman had rented out Room 211, and that Reddick and Thurman were in some way together—-was hardly less incriminating” than the misstatement. The district court also credited Osborn, the officer who wrote the affidavit, for his “forth-rightness in acknowledging the mistake.” See Ramirez-Chilel, 289 F.3d at 749.

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Related

Madiwale v. Savaiko
117 F.3d 1321 (Eleventh Circuit, 1997)
United States v. Foster
155 F.3d 1329 (Eleventh Circuit, 1998)
United States v. Carlos Enrique Ramirez-Chilel
289 F.3d 744 (Eleventh Circuit, 2002)
United States v. Lopez-Garcia
565 F.3d 1306 (Eleventh Circuit, 2009)
Terry v. Ohio
392 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1968)
Illinois v. Gates
462 U.S. 213 (Supreme Court, 1983)
United States v. Drayton
536 U.S. 194 (Supreme Court, 2002)
United States v. Jordan
635 F.3d 1181 (Eleventh Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Noriega
676 F.3d 1252 (Eleventh Circuit, 2012)
United States v. Michael Renard Albury, Jr.
782 F.3d 1285 (Eleventh Circuit, 2015)
United States v. Alejandro Barron-Soto
820 F.3d 409 (Eleventh Circuit, 2016)

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Bluebook (online)
714 F. App'x 938, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-derek-lamar-reddick-ca11-2017.