United States v. Lampkins

811 F. Supp. 164, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 730, 1993 WL 13359
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedJanuary 6, 1993
DocketCrim. A. 92-68-JLL
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 811 F. Supp. 164 (United States v. Lampkins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Lampkins, 811 F. Supp. 164, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 730, 1993 WL 13359 (D. Del. 1993).

Opinion

OPINION

LATCHUM, Senior District Judge.

1. INTRODUCTION

On September 15, 1992, the grand jury for the District of Delaware returned an indictment against defendant Acay Lamp-kins for knowingly possessing a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(e)(1). 1 Before the Court is defendant’s motion pursuant to Rule 12(b)(3) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and Local Rule 5 to suppress the introduction into evidence of an Amedio Rossi .38 caliber revolver. Defendant contends that the revolver constitutes the fruit of an illegal search and seizure conducted in violation of his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights and is therefore inadmissible under the exclusionary rule. 2 Motion of Defendant Lampkins To Suppress Evidence, D.I. 12.

*166 II. FINDINGS OF FACT

In accordance with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(e), which requires the trial court to state on the record its essential findings of fact, the Court hereby makes the following findings of fact. On the night of August 29, 1992, the Wilmington Police Department received an anonymous complaint that a man was brandishing a gun and threatening people in the vicinity of the 2300 block of Locust Street. Transcript of the Suppression Hearing (hereinafter referred to as “Trans.”), D.I. 15, at 3, 27. Two cars were dispatched to the scene, that of Patrolmen Bailey and Rhoades and that of Sergeant Williams. Id. at 3-4, 27, 59. There is a discrepancy in the record as to whether Patrolmen Bailey and Rhoades or Sergeant Williams were the first to respond to the complaint. 3 However, the Court concludes that this discrepancy is immaterial to the disposition of the present motion.

Upon arriving at the scene, Bailey and Rhoades accosted an African American male who appeared frightened and startled. Id. at 27, 38-40, 60-62. He informed the officers that he had telephoned the police and that he had been threatened at gun point by a large African American male wearing dark clothes. He identified his, assailant as “Acay” and stated that Acay had fled the scene in a black Camaro. However, the complainant refused to give his name or file a formal charge. Id. at 27-28, 37, 61. Patrolman Rhoades returned to his car and radioed in the description of the suspect “Acay”. Id. at 28.

Sometime either before or after these events, Sergeant Williams, a twenty one-year veteran with the Wilmington Police Department, arrived on the scene. Id. at 37. According to Sergeant Williams, the complainant approached his car and informed him that “Acay Lampkins had pointed a weapon at him and had just pulled off in a black Camaro and went southbound on Locust and westbound on Vandever Avenue.” Id. at 4. Williams testified that the complainant described the alleged assailant, Acay Lampkins, as a tall black male with a distinct growth of hair on his face who was wearing a black shirt and black pants. Williams also testified that the complainant informed him that the black Camaro driven by Lampkins was an older model with damage to the rear and that the car was very loud because it did not have a muffler. Id. Furthermore, Williams testified that the complainant appeared frightened and distressed. According to Sergeant Williams, the complainant told him that Acay Lampkins had threatened him at gunpoint a number of times in the past and that Acay Lampkins often “comes around in that block [ie. Locust Street] and pulls a gun on anybody that is out there and tries to take their money and drugs away from them.” Id. at 5. Sergeant Williams also stated that he had known Acay Lampkins for approximately fifteen years, that he was familiar with Acay Lampkins’ criminal history, and that the complainant's description of his assailant and the incident comported with what Sergeant Williams knew of Acay Lamp-kins. Id. at 5-6.

Although there is some conflict in the testimony of Sergeant Williams and Patrolmen Bailey and Rhoades as to the precise sequence of the following events, the record is clear that the following events took place. Sometime after Sergeant Williams and Patrolmen Bailey and Rhoades interviewed the complainant, they proceeded to conduct a search for the alleged assailant, Acay Lampkins. Id. at 6, 28, 62. Sergeant Williams drove off in pursuit of the assailant and headed west on Vandever Avenue and then north on Pine Street. Id. at 6-7. Patrolmen Bailey and Rhoades remained in the general vicinity and combed the area for the assailant. Id. at 28, 62. While the officers were conducting their search, the police dispatcher advised all other units in *167 the area to be on the look out for a late model black Camaro, driven by a black male named Acay Lampkins. Id. at 28, 62. Officer Craig Mayo responded to the dispatcher’s radio transmission and radioed Patrolmen Bailey and Rhoades. Id. at 62. According to Patrolman Rhoades, Officer Mayo “stated that he was familiar with a subject by the name of Acay Lampkins, and that he does drive a vehicle that was described ... and told us that he had been known to resist and to fight police officers and for us to use caution.” Id. at 62.

Approximately four minutes after he had interviewed the complainant, Sergeant Williams pulled up behind a late model black Camaro on 30th Street in Wilmington. Both the car and the driver matched the description given by the complainant. Williams recognized the driver as Acay Lampkins. Id. at 7. According to Williams’ testimony, he continued to follow the vehicle and repeatedly radioed in his location and direction of travel. He also radioed in the license plate of the black Camaro and was informed by the dispatcher that the car was not registered to Acay Lampkins. By this time, Lampkins was driving erratically. Lampkins accelerated and ran a stop sign. Thereafter, a number of patrol cars responded to Sergeant Williams’ radio transmission and were in pursuit of Lampkins. Id. at 7-9. Among the units responding were Patrolmen Bailey and Rhoades. Id. at 29.

Lampkins veered off the road into a gas station at the corner of 30th and Market Streets where the police converged upon him. Id. at 9, 29, 65-66. At that time, anywhere from five to ten police officers had arrived on the scene. Id. at 67. Consistent with Wilmington Police Department procedure for a felony car stop, the police officers took up positions around the black Camaro with their guns drawn. Id. Patrolman Bailey and another police officer approached the black Camaro and removed Lampkins. Id.

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Related

State v. Pena-Lora
710 A.2d 1262 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1998)
United States v. Lampkins (Acay)
22 F.3d 304 (Third Circuit, 1994)
United States v. McCoy
824 F. Supp. 467 (D. Delaware, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
811 F. Supp. 164, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 730, 1993 WL 13359, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-lampkins-ded-1993.