United States v. Kidd

386 F. Supp. 3d 364
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 18, 2019
Docket18 CR. 872 (VM)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 386 F. Supp. 3d 364 (United States v. Kidd) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Kidd, 386 F. Supp. 3d 364 (S.D. Ill. 2019).

Opinion

VICTOR MARRERO, United States District Judge.

On December 11, 2018, a grand jury returned an indictment charging defendant Lloyd Kidd ("Kidd") with two counts of commercial sex act exploitation of minors in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 1591 (" Section 1591"). (See "Original Indictment," Dkt. No. 1.) Count One describes the violation as concerning "Victim-1"; Count Two for "Victim-2." On June 5, 2019, a grand jury returned a four-count superseding indictment, adding to the Original Indictment two counts charging *368commercial sex act exploitation in violation of Section 1591. (See "Superseding Indictment," Dkt. No. 29.) Trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, July 8, 2019.

Kidd now moves to (1) dismiss the Original Indictment; (2) obtain a bill of particulars; and (3) suppress certain evidence. (See "Notice of Motion," Dkt. No. 20; "Motion to Suppress," Dkt. No. 23.)1 The Government opposes these requests. (See "Gov. Opp'n," Dkt. No. 25.)

The Court held a hearing on June 13, 2019, during which it denied in part the Motion to Suppress. The Court now states its findings, reasoning, and conclusions in support of that ruling.

I. BACKGROUND

Because Kidd's Motion to Suppress challenges multiple warrants and searches in this matter, the Court briefly summarizes each of them below.

On December 4, 2018, Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang issued a warrant authorizing the Government to obtain historical and prospective cellphone location information for two cellphone numbers associated with Kidd, including a number ending in -7216 (the "7216 Number"). (See "December 4 Location Data Warrant," Dkt. No. 21-2.)

On December 11, 2018, Magistrate Judge James L. Cott signed an arrest warrant (the "December 11 Arrest Warrant") for Kidd, which was executed early the next morning at an apartment in Brooklyn, New York (the "Apartment").

On the morning of his arrest, Kidd answered the door to members of the New York Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (the "Officers"), who immediately handcuffed him and then did a protective sweep of the Apartment. During that protective sweep, the Officers found three women in the apartment. Additionally, the Officers allegedly saw two safes in plain view, one in Kidd's bedroom (the "Bedroom Safe") and one in Kidd's bedroom closet (the "Closet Safe," and together with the "Bedroom Safe," the "Safes"). The women found in the Apartment told the Officers that certain evidence and money from Kidd's alleged criminal activity could be found in the Safes.

Later that day, the Officers obtained a warrant to search the Safes. (See "December 12 Safe Warrant," Dkt. No. 25-4.) Inside the Safes were certain electronic devices, such as hard drives, computers, and cellphones. The Officers also found numerous other electronic devices in the Apartment. In total, the Officers found twenty-two electronic devices (the "Seized Electronic Devices") in the Apartment and Safes.

Almost three months later, on March 7, 2019, the Government obtained a warrant to search the Seized Electronic Devices. (See "March 7 Electronic Devices Warrant," Dkt. No. 25-3.)

II. DISCUSSION

Kidd's arguments fall into two categories. The first category challenges the sufficiency of the Original Indictment itself. The second challenges aspects of warrants and searches. The Court addresses each in turn.

A. ORIGINAL INDICTMENT

Kidd argues that the Original Indictment fails to give notice of the charges he must defend against at trial and is not *369specific enough to protect his double jeopardy rights should he prevail at trial. (See Motion to Suppress at 3-4 (citing Russell v. United States, 369 U.S. 749, 765, 82 S.Ct. 1038, 8 L.Ed.2d 240 (1962) ).) Specifically, Kidd demands the disclosure of details such as the ages or identities of Victim-1 and Victim-2, the dates he met with them, and what type of force or threat he allegedly used to recruit them. According to Kidd, without these details, the Original Indictment must be dismissed. Alternatively, Kidd asks that the Government provide a bill of particulars including such details.

The Government responds that the Original Indictment is valid because it adequately and permissibly tracks the language of the statute under which the Government is charging Kidd. (See Gov. Opp'n at 5.)

As the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has explained, "the dismissal of an indictment is an extraordinary remedy" reserved for circumstances that implicate "fundamental rights." United States v. De La Pava, 268 F.3d 157, 165 (2d Cir. 2001) (internal quotation marks omitted). An indictment need "do little more than to track the language of the statute charged and state the time and place (in approximate terms) of the alleged crime." United States v. Alfonso, 143 F.3d 772, 776 (2d Cir. 1998) (internal quotation marks omitted).

The Court is not persuaded that the details Kidd seeks must be contained in the Original Indictment. First, the Second Circuit routinely upholds the "on or about" language used to describe the window of when a violation occurred. See United States v. Nersesian, 824 F.2d 1294, 1323 (2d Cir. 1987) (holding that "on or about June 1984" put a defendant on notice for potential crimes in July or early August of 1984 "because the [G]overnment is not required to prove the exact date, if a date reasonably near is established").

Next, the notes to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure specifically permit the Government to allege "that the defendant committed [the offense] by one or more specified means." United States v. Pierre-Louis, No. 16 CR. 541, 2018 WL 4043140, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 9, 2018) (quoting Fed. R. Crim. P. 7(c) note to subdivision (c)(1)).

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Bluebook (online)
386 F. Supp. 3d 364, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-kidd-ilsd-2019.