United States v. Morgan

911 F. Supp. 1340, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19759, 1995 WL 783621
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedDecember 4, 1995
Docket95-40048-01-SAC
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 911 F. Supp. 1340 (United States v. Morgan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Morgan, 911 F. Supp. 1340, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19759, 1995 WL 783621 (D. Kan. 1995).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CROW, District Judge.

On June 28,1995, the grand jury returned a ten count indictment charging the defen *1344 dant, Thomas A. Morgan, with mail fraud. The indictment alleges that Morgan, operating a business in Lawrence, Kansas, known as the Alden-Thomas Agency, convinced persons to pay a “professional services fee” in exchange for the opportunity to receive “grant” money from a three billion dollar pool of money. Morgan indicated that the pool of money came in part from “a boyhood friend, now rich and dying, who wanted MORGAN to oversee the disbursement of three billion dollars in philanthropic funds.” In fact, no such pool of funds existed. Morgan is alleged to have used the money paid in as “professional service fees” to perpetuate the fraudulent scheme and for his own personal use.

This case comes before the court upon the following pretrial motions filed by Morgan:

1. Motion to suppress evidence (Dk. 16).
2. Motion to suppress statement (Dk. 17).
3. Motion for disclosure [of Fed.R.Evid. 404(b) evidence] (Dk. 14).

The government has filed a response to each motion. See (Dk. 18, 19 and 20).

On October 12, 1995, the court held a hearing on the defendant’s motions. At the close of the hearing, the court took the matter under advisement. The court, having considered the evidence presented, the briefs and arguments of counsel, and the applicable law, is now prepared to rule.

1. Motion to suppress evidence (Dk. 16).

Morgan argues that the warrant is invalid because it does not describe with particularity the things to be seized. Morgan argues that because the warrant provided no guidance to law enforcement officers as to what they may and may not seize, it was over-broad and invalid. The government responds, arguing that the search warrant was not so overbroad as to constitute a general warrant. During oral argument, the government essentially conceded that the warrant was defective, but argued that the fruits of the search should not be suppressed under the good faith exception recognized in United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984).

Facts

On March 21, 1994, United States Postal Inspector Charles A. Puett submitted an affidavit to this court in application for a search warrant authorizing the search of Suites 206, 215 and 216 at 729% Massachusetts, Lawrence, Douglas County Kansas, constituting the Alden-Thomas Agency. The affidavit submitted consists of twenty-seven pages, plus forty-one pages of attachments designated by the letters “A” through “P.” Based upon its assessment that the affidavit provided probable cause, this court issued the search warrant sought by Inspector Puett. 1 In the portion of the warrant describing the property to be searched, the phrase “See attachment 1 hereto” appears. According to Inspector Puett’s testimony during the October 12, 1995, hearing, he believed that “attachment 1” in the search warrant described his affidavit submitted in application for the search warrant. 2 Instead, the only document attached to the search warrant was a document titled “Master List of Applicants in Order of Application," designated as “attachment A” in Inspector Puett’s affidavit submitted in application for the search warrant. The list contains the names of the principal operators, employees, agents, clients and business associates of The Alden-Thomas Agency, Alden-Thomas Marketing and Management, the Money Club, the Jodoni Registry Incorporated and Distribution Service International — essentially the names of persons or entities whose transaction records were relevant to the criminal investigation of Thomas Morgan. The list does not otherwise describe the property to be seized during the execution of the search warrant.

Inspector Puett and other law enforcement officers executed the search warrant on March 23, 1994. The search warrant inventory sheets total sixteen pages. The vast *1345 majority of the items seized during the execution of the search warrant were items clearly related to the investigation of mail fraud and were materials sought in Inspector Puett’s affidavit — mail, lists of clients, business records, bank records, cash, computer equipment, etc ... Inspector Puett testified that he was unaware that the search warrant was in any way defective at the time that he and other law enforcement officers executed the search warrant.

Particularity

“Under the Fourth Amendment, every warrant must ‘particularly deserib[e] the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized” — a requirement that prevents a ‘general exploratory rummaging in a persons belongings.’ ” United States v. Emmons, 24 F.3d 1210, 1216 (10th Cir.1994). “The Fourth Amendment requires warrants to describe particularly the things to be seized, so that ‘nothing is left to the discretion of the officer executing the warrant.’” United States v. Robertson, 21 F.3d 1030, 1033 (10th Cir.1994) (quoting Stanford v. Texas, 379 U.S. 476, 485, 85 S.Ct. 506, 511-12, 13 L.Ed.2d 431 (1965) (quoting Marron v. United States, 275 U.S. 192, 48 S.Ct. 74, 72 L.Ed. 231 (1927))). “A search ‘is confined in scope to particularly described evidence relating to a specific crime for which there is demonstrated probable cause.’ ” Robertson, 21 F.3d at 1033 (quoting Voss v. Bergsgaard, 774 F.2d 402, 404 (10th Cir.1985)).

“The test applied to the description of the items to be seized is a practical one.” United States v. Janus Industries, 48 F.3d 1548, 1554 (10th Cir.1995).

In general, a warrant is sufficiently specific if it “enables the searcher to reasonably ascertain and identify the things authorized to be seized.” United States v. Wolfenbarger, 696 F.2d 750, 752 (10th Cir.1982) (quoting United States v. Wuagneux, 683 F.2d 1343, 1348 (11th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 814 [104 S.Ct. 69, 78 L.Ed.2d 83] (1983)). However, even a “warrant that describes items to be seized in broad and generic terms may be valid if the description is as specific as circumstances and nature of the activity under investigation permit.” United States v. Harris, 903 F.2d 770, 774 (10th Cir.1990).

Robertson, 21 F.3d at 1033.

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Bluebook (online)
911 F. Supp. 1340, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19759, 1995 WL 783621, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-morgan-ksd-1995.