United States v. Fulton

192 F. Supp. 3d 728, 2016 WL 3566685
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedJune 24, 2016
DocketCRIMINAL ACTION NO. 3:15-CR-7
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 192 F. Supp. 3d 728 (United States v. Fulton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Fulton, 192 F. Supp. 3d 728, 2016 WL 3566685 (S.D. Tex. 2016).

Opinion

[729]*729MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS TO SUPPRESS

GEORGE C. HANKS, JR., UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Pending before the Court is Defendant Charles Devon Fulton, Sr. (“Fulton”) Motion To Suppress The Fruits of the War-rantless Seizure of his Cellphone (“Motion”)(Dkt. 104). The Motion has been fully-briefed.1 On June 7, 2016, the Court held a suppression hearing. The Court has carefully considered the evidence, Fulton’s Motion, and briefing. Based on the record, review of the testimony, the evidence, and oral argument presented by counsel, the Court DENIES the Motion (Dkt. 104).

BACKGROUND

Fulton was indicted for .violating 18 U.S.C. § 1591 and 1594(c), sex trafficking of children by force, fraud, or coercion and the conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. See Dkt. 1, Criminal Complaint. An eviden-tiary hearing on Fulton’s motion was held on June 7, 2016, during which the Government’s witness Officer David Roark (“Officer Roark”) testified. The following facts are taken from his testimony, the exhibits entered into evidence, and the Parties’ briefing.

Fulton, a resident of Galveston, was the subject of many investigations involving the illegal distribution of narcotics in late 2014 and early 2015, prior to law enforcements’ formal investigation into sex trafficking. On February 6, 2015, Judge Kerry Neves of the 10th District Court, Galveston County, signed a search and arrest warrant for Fulton and his residence, which was presented by Officer Roark of the City of Galveston Police Department (“GPD”). The warrant sought evidence of illegal narcotics activity and Fulton’s arrest. See Dkt. 118, Government’s Exhibit 1. The warrant, authorized by a Texas State judge, was specifically for the search of the residence and for the arrest of Fulton- and any other person found there in possession of illegal narcotics. See id. Two state search warrants were executed at Fulton’s residence. One state search warrant was executed on September 12, 2014, and the other was executed on February 9, 2015. Cellular phones were seized during the execution of both warrants.

After Fulton was arrested, and his cell phone seized incident to that arrest, Officer Roark sought a state search warrant specifically for the contents of the cell phone itself. See Dkt. 118, Government’s Exhibit 2. That warrant was presented to District Court Judge Ellisor of the 122nd District Court, Galveston County, on February 18, 2015. See id. When GPD personnel attempted to search the phone pursuant to that warrant, they were unsuccessful because it was password protected. Next, the GPD sought the assistance of FBI agents assigned to Texas City.

The investigation into Fulton’s participation in the sex trafficking of minors began on February 25, 2015. Suspicious that the phone contained evidence of sex trafficking of minors, FBI Special Agent Rennison (“SA Rennison”) sought a federal search warrant instead of searching the device pursuant to the prior state warrant. See Dkt. 118, Government’s Exhibit 3; In the course of his investigation into the sex trafficking of minors, SA Richard Renni-son learned that Fulton used his phone to communicate with his co-conspirators, the victims, and possibly individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex. Prior to seeking [730]*730the federal search warrant authorizing the search of Fulton’s phone, SA Rennison reviewed the police report wherein co-defendant Potts told law enforcement that Fulton was prostituting minor females. On March 25, 2015, SA Rennison applied for a federal search warrant for Fulton’s phone. That search warrant was granted by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Milloy. See Dkt. 118, Government’s Exhibit 3. The FBI obtained the warrant to search the contents of Fulton’s cell phone for evidence of sex trafficking. The cell phone at issue here was seized incident to Fulton’s arrest during the execution of the February 9, 2015 search.

Because the phone was password protected, it took approximately one year for the government to gain entry into the device. When the phone could be searched, it was analyzed. The results of that analysis have been made available to Fulton and the co-defendants. The Government seeks to use as evidence the text messages retrieved from the cell phone at trial. Fulton now moves to suppress the evidence from his cell phone under the Fourth Amendment.

DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO SUPPRESS

Fulton now moves to suppress all evidence-obtained from his cell phone, arguing that it was seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and was not authorized by warrant. Specifically, Fulton argues that (1) the phone was not in the scope of the drug warrant because the warrant did not authorize GPD to seize phones, communications, or even electronic devices; (2)-nei-ther the seized-incident-to-arrest exception nor (3) the. plain-view; exception applies because GPD did not have probable cause to believe the phone was used in the commission of a crime; (4) even if the phone was seized legally, GPD waited an unreasonable period of time to obtain a warrant; and (5) the good faith exception does not apply under the facts of this case.

ANALYSIS

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects individuals from “unreasonable searches and seizures” by the government. See U.S. Const. Ajmend. IV. Searches and seizures are reasonable, and therefore lawful, if they are based on probable cause and executed pursuant to a warrant issued by a neutral, detached magistrate. Id.', see also Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 449, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971). Even war-rantless searches and seizures may be lawful if they meet an exception to the warrant requirement. See Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. at 453, 91 S.Ct. 2022. The Government must demonstrate' only by a preponderance of the evidence that the challenged evidence was lawfully obtained in order to prevail on a motion to suppress. See United States v. Waldrip, 1 F.Supp.3d 551, 555-56 (S.D.Tex.2014) (Galveston Division, Costa, J.) (citing United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 178 n. 14, 94 S.Ct. 988, 39 L.Ed.2d 242 (1974)) (“[T]he controlling burden of proof at suppression hearings should impose no greater burden than proof by a preponderance of the evidence.”).

As explained below, the Court finds the Fulton’s phone was both seized pursuant to a lawful arrest warrant and later searched pursuant to valid warrants issued by neutral, detached magistrates. Additionally, the Court finds even without the valid warrants, the seizure and subsequent search of Fulton’s phone would clearly fall under exceptions to the warrant requirement and exceptions to the exclusionary rule. Accordingly, the Court finds that the evidence from Fulton’s phone should be admitted and the exclusionary remedy should not be applied.

[731]*731A. Fulton’s Phone Was Lawfully Seized Incident to Arrest, and A Valid Warrant Authorized the Subsequent Search of its Contents

Even if Fulton’s phone was not seized based upon the executed search warrant, the Court finds it was still lawfully “seized” incident to Fulton’s arrest.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
192 F. Supp. 3d 728, 2016 WL 3566685, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-fulton-txsd-2016.