United States v. Martinson

811 F. Supp. 1097, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 346, 1993 WL 9232
District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania·Decided January 19, 1993·No. Crim. Nos. 92-00228-01, 92-00228-02·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

VAN ANTWERPEN, District Judge.

Defendant Christine M. Dickson has filed two Motions to Suppress in which defendant Eric C. Martinson joined.1 The motions rely principally on the extensive Affidavits to the Search Warrants in question, although the Court did, at defendants’ request, hold a brief evidentiary hearing on Wednesday, January 6, 1993 to take testimony of three law enforcement officers. Defendant Eric C. Martinson is alleged to be a member of the Warlock Motorcycle Gang. Defendants were both charged with numerous drug and drug related offenses in a major 38-count indictment. On Thursday, January 7, 1993, defendant Christine M. Dickson plead guilty to Counts 1-6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 33, and 35-38. Defendant Eric C. Martinson also entered a conditional plea under Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(a)(2) to Counts 1-6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, and 35-38. Defendant Martin-son reserved the right to pursue the pretrial suppression motions. Before we deal with the motions in detail, we shall discuss the current state of the law of search and seizure.

The well-known test to be applied in determining whether probable cause exists for the issuance of a search warrant is that of the “totality of the circumstances.” Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 2332, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983); Massachusetts v. Upton, 466 U.S. 727, 732, 104 S.Ct. 2085, 2087, 80 L.Ed.2d 721 (1984). Probable cause is defined as “a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place.” Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. at 238, 103 S.Ct. at 2332; United States v. Schecter, 717 F.2d 864, 869 (3d Cir.1983). Moreover, in a landmark case United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984), the Supreme Court stated:

Because a Search Warrant “provides the detached scrutiny of a neutral magistrate, which is a more reliable safeguard against improper searches than the hurried judgment of a law enforcement officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime____,” we have expressed a strong preference for warrants and declared that “in a doubtful or marginal case, a search under a warrant may be sustainable where without one it would fail” ... reasonable minds frequently may differ of the question whether a particular affidavit establishes probable cause, and we have thus concluded that the preference for warrants is most appropriately effectuated by according “great deference” to a magistrate’s determination. 468 U.S. at 913-14, 104 S.Ct. at 3415-16 (citations omitted).

The Supreme Court then held in Leon that when officers obtain and execute a search warrant in the “good faith” belief that the warrant is valid, then the fruits of the search should not be suppressed if the search warrant is later found invalid. Leon, 468 U.S. at 918-25, 104 S.Ct. at 3418-21. “[Ojur good faith inquiry is confined to the objectively ascertainable question whether a reasonably well trained officer would have known that the search was illegal despite the magistrate’s authorization.” Leon, 468 U.S. at 922 n. 23, 104 S.Ct. at 3420, n. 23. The court in Leon went on to note four basic exceptions:

It is clear that in some circumstances the officer will have no reasonable grounds for believing that the warrant was properly issued.
Suppression therefore remains an appropriate remedy if the magistrate or judge [1100] in issuing a warrant was misled by information in an affidavit that the affiant knew was false or would have known was false except for his reckless disregard of the truth. Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 [98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667] (1978). The exception we recognize today will also not apply in cases where the issuing magistrate wholly abandoned his judicial role in the manner condemned in Lo-Ji Sales, Inc. v. New York, 442 U.S. 319 [99 S.Ct. 2319, 60 L.Ed.2d 920] (1979); in such circumstances, no reasonably well trained officer should rely on the warrant. Nor would an officer manifest objective good faith in relying on a warrant based on an affidavit “so lacking in indicia of probable cause as to render official belief in its existence entirely unreasonable.” Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. [590], at 610-611 [95 S.Ct. 2254, 2265, 45 L.Ed.2d 416 (1975)] (POWELL, J., concurring in part); see Illinois v. Gates, supra [462 U.S.], at 263-264 [103 S.Ct., at 2345-2346] (WHITE, J., concurring in judgment). Finally, depending on the circumstances of the particular case, a warrant may be so facially deficient— i.e., in failing to particularize the place to be searched or the things to be seized— that the executing officers cannot reasonably presume it to be valid. Cf. Massachusetts v. Sheppard, post [468 U.S. 981], at 988-991 [104 S.Ct. 3424, 3427-3429, 82 L.Ed.2d 737 (1984)].

Leon, 468 U.S. at 923, 104 S.Ct. at 3420.

In Maryland v. Garrison, 480 U.S. 79, 107 S.Ct. 1013, 94 L.Ed.2d 72 (1987), the Supreme Court reaffirmed the “good faith” doctrine and held that when officers searched the wrong apartment under a search warrant, the error would not require the suppression of the evidence seized in the search because the officers’ actions were objectively reasonable under the facts available to the officers at the time they acted. 480 U.S. at 88, 107 S.Ct. at 1018.

Leon has enjoyed wide application. In United States v. Sager, 743 F.2d 1261 (8th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1217, 105 S.Ct. 1196, 84 L.Ed.2d 341 (1985), the affidavit had certain defects, including stale information and a failure to establish an informant’s credibility which made the existence of probable cause doubtful. Nevertheless, the court held that even though the Affidavit to the Search Warrant might be insufficient to establish probable cause, the evidence would not be suppressed. The court found that none of the Leon exceptions applied and that the officers “behaved themselves in an objectively reasonably fashion.” 743 F.2d at 1267. See also United States v. Malin, 908 F.2d 163, 166 (7th Cir.1990); United States v. Fama, 758 F.2d 834, 837 (2d Cir.1985); United States v. Thomas, 757 F.2d 1359, 1368 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 819, 106 S.Ct. 67, 88 L.Ed.2d 54 (1985).

I. ORIGINAL JUNE 5, 1992 MOTION TO SUPPRESS

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