United States v. Lopez-Carillo

536 F. App'x 762
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedAugust 19, 2013
Docket12-6246
StatusUnpublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 536 F. App'x 762 (United States v. Lopez-Carillo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth 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. Lopez-Carillo, 536 F. App'x 762 (10th Cir. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER AND JUDGMENT *

WADE BRORBY, Circuit Judge.

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously to honor the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs without oral argument. See Fed. R.App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore submitted without oral argument.

Appellant Ramon Ruben Lopez-Carillo pled guilty to one count of being illegally present in the United States, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a), and one count of being an unlawful alien in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5). In pleading guilty, Mr. Lopez-Carillo reserved his right to challenge the district court’s order denying his motion to suppress evidence. He now appeals his convictions, claiming a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights during the search of his home and statements he gave following that search. We exercise jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm Mr. Lopez-Carillo’s convictions.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

The material facts surrounding the search of Mr. Lopez-Carillo’s home and his statements are largely outlined in the district court’s order on his motion to suppress and supported in the record on appeal. On September 17, 2011, five law enforcement officers, connected with various agencies and acting as a team, went to the Oklahoma City residence rented by Mr. Lopez-Carillo to execute an administrative warrant for his arrest after learning of his illegal presence in the United States and prior criminal convictions, as shown on certain law enforcement databases. 1 On arrival at Mr. Lopez-Carillo’s house, Matt Daves, a Sergeant with the Oklahoma County Sheriffs Department, knocked on the front door, after which Mr. Lopez-Carillo’s mother opened a side door to the house; Sergeant Daves and Jason Swihart, an agent with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), then walked to the side door to speak to her. Agent Swihart conversed with her in Spanish in a normal tone in the presence of Sergeant Daves, who does not speak Spanish. According to Sergeant Daves, she seemed confused as to why they were there as well as a little scared or nervous. After his conversation with her, Agent Swihart translated her statements directly to Sergeant Daves and later to a Homeland Security Investigations agent, Paul Masteller, explaining to them that Mrs. Carillo identified herself, confirmed she was Mr. Lopez-Carillo’s *764 mother, and stated her son was not there, but at work, and to go ahead and look for him in the home. Mrs. Carillo also made a gesture with her hand toward the house, after which Agent Swihart and Sergeant Daves entered; thirty to sixty seconds later, Agent Masteller also entered. According to two of the officers who later testified, Mrs. Carillo no longer seemed confused, was not startled that the officers were entering the home, did not attempt to stop them, and was not combative as they passed her at the threshold of the house. Instead, she seemed calm, not upset, and “quite cooperative.”

David Gomez, a Hispanic, Spanish-speaking agent with ICE, who was stationed outside the home, proceeded toward the house after seeing Mrs. Carillo gesturing to the others to come in; as he looked into the house through the doorway, he identified himself to Mrs. Carillo, and she also gave him permission to enter. Up to and during this time, none of the agents drew their weapons or acted in a threatening manner. Sergeant Daves was in his Sheriffs uniform; Agent Gomez wore army fatigue pants, a raid shirt and a placard saying “Police” and “ICE”; Agent Swihart wore clothing similar to Agent Gomez, including a raid shirt with “ICE” on it; and Agent Masteller had on blue jeans and an unidentified shirt.

When Agent Masteller entered the house, Agent Swihart and Sergeant Daves were standing in the entryway with Mrs. Carillo, but after Agent Gomez entered, Mrs. Carillo stationed herself at or near the kitchen table. Almost immediately, Mrs. Carillo offered Agent Gomez a seat, and they both sat down at the table where they developed a rapport and conversed in Spanish in a normal tone. During their conversation, the other agents were in and out of the kitchen area, sweeping through the home one room at a time in search of Mr. Lopez-Carillo.

During this time, Agent Gomez attempted to put Mrs. Carillo at ease by talking to her; he told her who he was and the reason he was there, and she confirmed Mr. Lopez-Carillo was her son and that he, her husband, and she lived there. She also told Agent Gomez her son was at work and her husband was undocumented and presented the 1-94 card she received on entering the country, which Agent Gomez determined was valid, both on examination and after contacting the ICE dispatch office by cell phone. According to Agent Gomez, she produced the 1-94 card within a minute of their seated conversation.

Early in their encounter with her, Agent Gomez and Agent Swihart also asked Mrs. Carillo to call her son, which she did, telling Mr. Lopez-Carillo, “immigration [is] here and would like to talk to you.” She then handed the phone to Agent Gomez, who identified himself, told Mr. Lopez-Carillo he was at his house, and said he would like to talk to him. Mr. Lopez-Carillo hung up, and even though Mrs. Carillo attempted to phone him at least two or three more times, he did not answer.

Sometime during Agent Gomez’s conversation with Mrs. Carillo, she told him on her own volition to search the house, including Mr. Lopez-Carillo’s room, and waved her arm toward the other rooms, stating something to the effect of, “there is his room, search the house, I’ve got nothing to hide.” Agent Gomez admitted she appeared nervous but that she also began opening doors, again stating, “go ahead and search, look for him, he’s not here.” While Mrs. Carillo was never told she could refuse consent and was not given a consent to search form, at no time during her entire encounter with the officers did *765 she ask them to stop searching or limit their search, and she even got up and opened a door for one of the agents. In addition, during her conversation with Agent Gomez and the search of the house by the other officers, Mrs. Carillo made coffee, obtained cigarettes and her medication located in the kitchen, and put a load of clothes in the washer. According to Agent Masteller, Mrs. Carillo did not “seem upset at all.”

In the meantime, the last room Agent Swihart and Sergeant Daves searched was Mr. Lopez-Carillo’s unlocked bedroom, which contained his belongings. When Agent Swihart walked around the bed, he saw a shotgun in plain view on the floor by the bed’s edge, after which Sergeant Daves picked it up and secured it; the firearm contained ammunition in its chamber as well as five additional rounds. Agent Gomez later testified the gun was found in Mr. Lopez-Carillo’s room after Mrs.

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536 F. App'x 762, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-lopez-carillo-ca10-2013.