United States v. McNeill

285 F. App'x 975
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedAugust 5, 2008
Docket06-3746
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 285 F. App'x 975 (United States v. McNeill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third 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. McNeill, 285 F. App'x 975 (3d Cir. 2008).

Opinions

[977]*977OPINION OF THE COURT

AMBRO, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Orrie McNeill was convicted of two counts of heroin possession with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841, and two counts of firearm possession in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924, pursuant to a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. On appeal, he argues that the District Court erred in denying (1) his motion to suppress physical evidence as the fruit of an illegal search and (2) his motion for a judgment of acquittal pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29(c). We affirm.1

I.

In June 2004, McNeill and his girlfriend appeared in the lobby of the Swan Motel in Linden, New Jersey. McNeill’s girlfriend, Leslie Sanchez, was bleeding from the head and was hysterical. The couple asked that the motel manager call an ambulance, but requested that police not be notified. The manager called 911, and several police officers and an ambulance responded to the scene. The couple told police that Sanchez had hit her head on a piece of furniture while the couple was “fooling around” in their motel room, but police suspected much more.

While Sanchez was being treated and taken to a hospital, police attempted to question McNeill in the motel lobby. He was evasive and did not answer when asked if there were any other victims in his room. The officers asked McNeill to accompany them to the motel room so they could investigate. McNeill began walking in the direction of his motel room with the officers, but then fled down an alleyway. He was apprehended and taken to police headquarters. The officers then returned to McNeill’s room to investigate whether there was another victim. After observing blood on the door frame and carpet leading to McNeill’s room, police gained access to conduct a search. They announced their presence and then proceeded to search the motel room for victims.

What happened during the search is much contested in this appeal. Lieutenant Donald Tempalsky, one of the officers who conducted the search, testified at the suppression hearing that when the officers entered the room it was in total disarray. He testified that he observed a bag of powdery substance, Ziploc bags, and a box from a grinder, which is commonly used to dilute drugs, all in plain sight in the room. He further stated that the closet door was open a “slit” and, through the open door, officers observed a Timberland shoebox containing small cellophane bags commonly used to package heroin. McNeill, by contrast, asserts that none of these items was in plain sight.

The officers did not seize any evidence at this time, but instead secured the room and went to obtain a warrant to search both the motel room and McNeill’s automobile, which was in the motel parking lot. After obtaining a warrant, officers conducted a more thorough search of the motel room. They found over one kilogram of heroin, much of which was inside the Timberland shoebox and a black backpack, both found in the closet. Police also seized a loaded, 9mm Smith & Wesson semiautomatic handgun with a defaced serial number and ammunition. From a hidden compartment in McNeill’s Ford Taurus, officers seized $2,480 in cash, a pager, a [978]*978cell phone, McNeill’s passport, and a copy of his birth certifícate.

On the basis of what was found in the motel room and the car, McNeill was charged with one count of heroin possession with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841, and one count of firearm possession in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924. Some months later, federal agents interviewed Sanchez in the course of preparing the Government’s case against McNeill. She told them that McNeill also had a hidden compartment in his father’s Ford Explorer. The agents then obtained the father’s consent to search the Explorer and found in it a compartment containing ten cellophane envelopes of heroin, a loaded .380 caliber Walther PPK semi-automatic handgun with a defaced serial number, a pager, and McNeill’s original birth certificate and Social Security card. Thereafter a superseding indictment was issued, charging McNeill with an additional count of heroin possession and firearm possession.

McNeill filed a motion to suppress the evidence found in his motel room, which the District Court denied. Its rationale was that the warrantless search was justified under the exigent-circumstances exception to the warrant requirement (namely, that the officers reasonably believed that another injured victim could have been in the motel room). McNeill then filed a motion for reconsideration. The District Court held an evidentiary hearing but again denied the motion.

McNeill was tried by a jury and convicted on all counts. After he was convicted, McNeill filed a motion for judgment of acquittal on all counts pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 29(c) and, in the alternative, a motion for a new trial pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 33. The District Court denied both motions. The Court sentenced McNeill to a 481-month term of imprisonment and a five-year term of supervised release.2 He now appeals to us.

II.

A. Motion to Suppress

McNeill first argues that the District Court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence found as a result of the' initial warrantless search of his motel room. Specifically, he argues that no exigent circumstances excused the obtaining of a warrant.3 “ ‘We review the district [979]*979court’s denial of [a] motion to suppress for clear error as to the underlying facts, but exercise plenary review as to its legality in light of the court’s properly found facts.’ ” United States v. Lafferty, 503 F.3d 293, 298 (3d Cir.2007) (quoting United States v. Givan, 320 F.3d 452, 458 (3d Cir.2003)).

1. Was the Search Justified by Exigent Circumstances?

“It is a basic principle of Fourth Amendment law that searches and seizures inside a home without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable.” Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398, 403, 126 S.Ct. 1943, 164 L.Ed.2d 650 (2006) (internal quotations omitted). This presumption carries over to hotel rooms, as “[a] hotel room can clearly be the object of Fourth Amendment protection as much as a home or an office.” Hoffa v. United States, 385 U.S. 293

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Related

McNeil v. City of Easton
694 F. Supp. 2d 375 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
285 F. App'x 975, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-mcneill-ca3-2008.