United States v. Mark K. Darulis

1 F.3d 1242, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 35769, 1993 WL 264676
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedJuly 13, 1993
Docket93-3154
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 1 F.3d 1242 (United States v. Mark K. Darulis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth 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. Mark K. Darulis, 1 F.3d 1242, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 35769, 1993 WL 264676 (6th Cir. 1993).

Opinion

1 F.3d 1242

NOTICE: Sixth Circuit Rule 24(c) states that citation of unpublished dispositions is disfavored except for establishing res judicata, estoppel, or the law of the case and requires service of copies of cited unpublished dispositions of the Sixth Circuit.
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Mark K. DARULIS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 93-3154.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

July 13, 1993.

Before KENNEDY and NORRIS, Circuit Judges, and ENGEL, Senior Circuit Judge.

PER CURIAM.

Defendant Mark K. Darulis appeals his conviction for knowingly and intentionally manufacturing twenty-two (22) marijuana plants, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(D), imposed following his conditional plea of guilty. On appeal, defendant contends that the District Court erred in denying his motions to suppress evidence obtained as a result of a seizure and search of his van by officers of the National Park Service (NPS). We find no Fourth Amendment violation, and affirm.

I.

The record before the District Court disclosed the following as the basis for the search of defendant's van. On March 24, 1991, a visitor to the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area reported seeing a man with a shovel in a remote area of the park. The visitor told the National Park Service Rangers that when this man saw him, he threw down the shovel and fled on foot. The visitor then led the Rangers to the area of the Park where the encounter took place. Here, the Park Rangers found sixty (60) mounds of dirt evenly spaced in four (4) rows in a swampy area. Each mound was covered with dry black potting soil mixed with white flecks. Thereafter, the Rangers checked the mounds weekly and in June identified the growing plants as marijuana.

During the course of the investigation, on May 21, 1991, Ranger Akins found a black nylon backpack containing a plastic gallon jug of water near Quick and Akron-Peninsula Roads. On July 13, 1991, on a path leading to the marijuana site, Rangers Akins and Vasquez encountered a man carrying a black backpack which Akins recognized as the one she had previously seen near the marijuana patch. The man identified himself as "Mark" and told the Rangers that he had found the backpack. He consented to a search of the backpack in which the Rangers discovered a fertilizer-like substance. Nothing further took place during this encounter.

The next day, July 14, 1991, Ranger Vasquez checked park files for possible marijuana growing suspects and found the name "Mark Darulis." Vasquez then obtained a seven-year-old photo of Darulis from the Cuyahoga Falls Police Department and identified him as the man he had seen walking in the park the previous day. Vasquez then showed the photograph to Ranger Akins who also identified Darulis as the man she had seen the previous day. On September 6, 1991, the Rangers began daily surveillance of the marijuana patch.

On September 23, 1991, Mark Darulis was seen walking on the Akron-Peninsula Road toward the marijuana patch. At approximately 7:40 p.m., Ranger Akins observed him enter the marijuana patch, break off seven (7) mature plants, and stack them under a tree. Ranger Akins then confronted Darulis and yelled for him to "freeze," whereupon Darulis fled. That same night, during the search for defendant, Rangers Vasquez and Dolges observed a blue van parked in the area of the Brandywine Golf Course parking lot (about one-half to one mile away from the marijuana patch). A computer check revealed that the van was registered to Mark Darulis. The Rangers searched for the defendant for approximately two (2) hours and waited for him to return to the van. When he did not return, the Rangers had the van towed to the Ranger Station.

The following day, September 24, 1991, National Park Ranger Gregory Cravatas prepared an affidavit for a search warrant for the van. The magistrate judge issued the warrant, authorizing a search of the van for various items, including marijuana, marijuana cultivation tools, fertilizer, customers' names, addresses and phone numbers. The warrant was executed by National Park Rangers at 8:30 p.m. that same evening. The Rangers found and seized one black nylon duffle bag, two shovels, a box of vegetable food, a plastic water container, two bags of potting soil, a bag of vermiculite, two black nylon backpacks, a folding shovel, a spool of monofilament line, road maps, a wallet containing the defendant's driver's license, green leafy material and seeds from the floor of the van and other miscellaneous items.

On February 20, 1992, defendant was charged in a two count indictment. Count I alleged that defendant knowingly and intentionally attempted to manufacture approximately sixty (60) marijuana plants, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Secs. 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C) and 846. Count II alleged that defendant knowingly and intentionally manufactured twenty-two (22) marijuana plants, in violation of Secs. 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(D).

Defendant filed several motions to suppress the evidence seized from his van. Specifically, on March 24, 1992, defendant filed a Motion to Suppress claiming the agents did not have probable cause to search the vehicle and that the search warrant issued was based upon erroneous information. On April 6, 1992, defendant filed a Supplemental Motion to Suppress alleging that the affidavit in support of the search warrant was incorrect as to the location of defendant's van. On June 19, 1992, defendant filed a second Supplemental Motion to Suppress regarding the items found in a locked box within the van for the reason that an additional warrant for the box was needed. Finally, on June 22, 1992, a Motion to Suppress the Identification of the defendant was filed alleging the identification was unduly suggestive and defendant filed an additional Motion to Suppress claiming the National Park Rangers lacked jurisdiction to "investigate, seize or make affidavit for search warrant." On July 14, 1992, the District Court denied all of the defendant's Motions to Suppress.

On October 13, 1992, a jury trial commenced. Prior to the completion of the government's evidence, the defendant entered a conditional guilty plea to Count II of the indictment. Count I was dismissed. Defendant was sentenced to a term of two (2) years probation, with home detention and electronic monitoring for the first six months.

II. Motions to Suppress

Defendant argues that the District Court committed reversible error in failing to suppress the evidence seized from the search of defendant's van. "On review of motions to suppress evidence, findings of fact will be upheld unless clearly erroneous; however, a district court's conclusions of law are reviewed de novo." United States v. Duncan, 918 F.2d 647, 650 (6th Cir.1990) (quoting United States v. Sangineto-Miranda, 859 F.2d 1501, 1512 (6th Cir.1988)), cert. denied, 111 S.Ct. 2055 (1991).

A. The Identification of the Defendant

The defendant's first challenge is to the Rangers' (Vasquez and Akins) identification of him through the use of a seven-year-old photograph.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Jones
403 F. Supp. 2d 518 (W.D. Virginia, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1 F.3d 1242, 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 35769, 1993 WL 264676, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mark-k-darulis-ca6-1993.