United States v. Jones

75 F. App'x 334
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit·Decided August 27, 2003·No. No. 02-1048·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

KEITH, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted Defendant-Appellant Shantae Monique Jones on one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(k), and one count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Defendant now appeals, claiming that the police violated his Fourth Amendment rights when they stopped a vehicle in which he was a passenger, and that evidence obtained as a result of that stop should have been suppressed. For the reasons set forth below, we reject these arguments and AFFIRM Jones’s conviction.

I. BACKGROUND

On February 14, 2001, police in Flint, Michigan sent an informant to a residence at 1502 Illinois Street to make a controlled purchase of illegal narcotics. The informant did not purchase the drugs because the target seller was not at the residence. Another person at the residence advised the informant that the target was at Old Frank’s Bar at 2012 Lewis Street, attempting to obtain illegal narcotics to sell. The informant told police that the target was a stocky black man in an old, light green Cadillac.

Police then began a surveillance of Old Frank’s Bar and observed the Defendants Appellant, Shantae Monique Jones, near and inside a silver Cadillac in the parking lot of Old Frank’s Bar. Jones fit the physical description provided by the informant. [336]*336Police also saw Jones’s sister in the Cadillac.1

Beginning at around 7:00 p.m. on February 14, 2001, police began following the Cadillac. The vehicle stopped twice at Jones’s home, 1826 Walcott, once at the home of Jones’s paramour, at the parking lot of a Chi Chi’s restaurant, and at a Best Buy store. Police testified at Jones’s trial that the Chi Chi’s and Best Buy are located in an area known for drug trafficking. At the two residences and at the restaurant, Jones left the car and returned several minutes later. In the restaurant parking lot, Jones entered and exited a white Jeep Cherokee. Officer Marcus Mahan of the Flint Police Department testified that each time Jones returned to the car, “he would reach down between his legs.” J.A. at 117. Officer Mahan stated that “there was definitely something on the floorboard that he was dealing with.” Id.

Officer Mahan told his supervisor, Sergeant Harold Payer, what he had seen. At Sergeant Payer’s command, the ear was stopped at 9:40 p.m. Sergeant Payer testified that based on his twelve years’ experience as a narcotics investigator, what he and his fellow officers observed that night made him suspicious of drug activity. It was Sergeant Payer’s suspicion, together with the informant’s information, that led Police to stop the Cadillac.

The officers approached the vehicle and, according to Sergeant Payer, sought permission to search the vehicle. Jones claims that his sister did not consent to the search of the Cadillac, which she was driving at the time it was pulled over. The government contends that Jones’s sister consented to a search of the vehicle, and Sergeant Payer testified to that effect.

Police searched the ear and found a binocular bag containing the firearm upon which the first count of the indictment was based. Police arrested Jones for carrying a concealed weapon in a motor vehicle, in violation of state law, and took him to an interrogation room at the police station.

At 11:28 p.m. on February 14, 2001, Jones was read his Miranda rights. Jones waived those rights and was interviewed by Sergeant Payer. Jones initially gave conflicting accounts of where he lived, so police used a key that they had taken from Jones at the police station to turn the lock at 1826 Walcott and thus verify that it was Jones’s residence. The police did not enter the residence at that time. Sergeant Payer testified that he requested, and Jones gave, permission for police to enter his home and seize three firearms.

Sergeant Payer testified that, while looking for the weapons, police found what was later verified to be cocaine residue in plain view. The officers inside Jones’s residence informed Sergeant Payer that cocaine was believed to have been found, at which point Sergeant Payer asked, and Jones gave, permission to search the entire house. Police found roughly 220 grams of crack cocaine and $7,000. Police never obtained a warrant to search Jones’s house.

During the course of his interview with Sergeant Payer, Jones made inculpatory statements. Jones made additional inculpatory statements in a separate interview conducted by Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force Agent Cedric Kendall between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. on February 15, 2001. Kendall testified that he does not think he read Jones the Miranda warnings before that interview.

Jones was indicted on one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated [337]*337serial number, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(k), and one count of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). An evidentiary hearing was held on April 10, 2001. After that hearing, the defense filed a motion to suppress evidence seized from Jones’s person, vehicle, and residence, as well all derivative evidence, resulting from searches conducted on February 14, 2001.

In an opinion and order dated May 18, 2001, the district court granted in part and denied in part the motion to suppress evidence. The district court ordered suppressed certain inculpatory statements made by Jones in an interview that took place on February 15, 2001. The district court held that the statements were obtained in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), because Jones was not read his Miranda warnings prior to the interview on February 15. The district court denied the motion to suppress with respect to all of the other challenged evidence. The case proceeded to trial, and a jury found Jones guilty on both counts of the indictment.

Jones filed a timely notice of appeal. On appeal, Jones argues that the district court erred in refusing to suppress evidence obtained after police stopped a car in which he was riding. Jones contends that the stop was illegal because the officers did not have a reasonable suspicion, supported by articulable facts, that criminal activity was afoot. Jones further contends that the subsequent search of the automobile, the seizure of a binocular bag containing a firearm, his arrest, his statement to police, and the search of his residence all resulted from the initial, illegal stop, and that any evidence obtained after and because of the illegal stop must be excluded under the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

In reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress evidence, we accept the district court’s factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous. United States v. Martin,

United States v. Jones, 75 F. App'x 334 (6th Cir. 2003).

75 F. App'x 334 (United States v. Jones) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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