United States v. Parker

789 F. Supp. 27, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5621, 1992 WL 83890
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedApril 21, 1992
DocketCrim. Nos. 92-27-01 (CRR) through 92-27-04 (CRR)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 789 F. Supp. 27 (United States v. Parker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Parker, 789 F. Supp. 27, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5621, 1992 WL 83890 (D.D.C. 1992).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

CHARLES R. RICHEY, District Judge.

Defendants Steven Parker, Christopher Lewis and Linwood Lewis have moved to suppress physical evidence seized by members of the Sixth Division of the Vice Squad of the Metropolitan Police Department upon the execution of a search warrant at the premises of 233 51st Street, N.E. in Washington, D.C. The Defendants Steven Parker, Zeb Murray and Linwood Lewis have also moved for a severance pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 14 and for the disclosure of the identity of the confidential informant. The Government opposes these Motions. The Court heard testimony and oral argument on the aforementioned Motion on April 16, 1992. Upon consideration of the pleadings, the record herein, and the applicable law, the Court shall deny the Defendants’ Motions. This Memorandum Opinion shall constitute the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by Fed.R.Crim.P. 12(e). See United States v. Williams, 951 F.2d 1287 (D.C.Cir.1991).

Before addressing the Defendants’ respective Motions, the Court must establish the factual context of the search and the subsequent arrests of the Defendants. On December 19, 1992, between 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., police officers executed a search warrant at 233 51st Street N.E., the address indicated upon the face of the warrant. The undisputed testimony indicates that the warrant was based upon information supplied by a paid confidential informant. This confidential informant participated in a “controlled buy” of the drugs, i.e., a purchase supervised by members of the Metropolitan Police Department, within 72 hours prior to the date on which the warrant was issued. The warrant issued with the approval of a Judge in the Superi- or Court for the District of Columbia.

Sergeant Sledge, one of the supervisors on the team of police officers executing the warrant in this case, testified that he pounded upon the front door of 233 51st Street, N.E. three times and loudly announced the presence of the officers and [29]*29their intention to execute the warrant. When there was no response, Sergeant Sledge again pounded upon the door and announced the officers’ intention to execute the warrant. Again there was no response. Sergeant Sledge then began to count in intervals of “one: one thousand,” “two: one thousand.” Although he usually counts to “fifteen: one thousand” before ordering the use of a battering ram to open the door, Sergeant Sledge testified that he stopped counting at “nine: one thousand” in this case because he heard noises from inside the house and the sound of running up the stairs. The Sergeant also testified that he heard a woman inside of the residence yelling “police.” At this point, Sergeant Sledge gave the order to ram the door. After two to three seconds elapsed, the officers proceeded to knock down the door. All of the Defendants were inside of the house at the time the police entered.

Ms. Joyce Lewis, an occupant of the premises and the mother of two of the Defendants, offered contradictory testimony. Ms. Lewis testified that she was in her first floor bedroom at the time she heard a boom against the door. She did not hear any knocking nor did she hear any other announcements from the outside. The Court did not find Ms. Lewis to be a very credible witness, however, for the reasons discussed later in this Opinion.

Upon executing the warrant, Sergeant Sledge saw one of the Defendants running up the stairs. The police immediately went up the stairs and discovered each of the named Defendants in various locations in the upstairs portion of the residence. The police recovered a quantity of crack cocaine from the toilet and another quantity of crack cocaine from a bedroom. The police also recovered a .9 mm semi-automatic gun with an obliterated serial number, some ammunition and some mail bearing the names of the Defendants Steven Parker and Christopher Lewis in the upstairs bedroom where the cocaine base was located.

The Defendants seek to exclude all of the physical evidence recovered by the police on various grounds. Due to a discrepancy in the color of the front door of the premises described in the warrant1, the Defendants contend that the warrant lacks particularity and does not establish probable cause to believe that criminal activity was in progress at 233 51st Street, N.E. The Court must deny the defendants’ Motion to Suppress on these grounds. First, based upon the Court’s review of Defendants’ Exhibits 1-5, the Court finds that the discrepancy in color is not as dramatic as the Defendants contend. The color of the front door at 233 51st Street, as displayed by Defendants’ Exhibits 1-5, could easily be mistaken for an orange-brown earthy tone. It is entirely possible that an officer executing a search warrant after 8:00 p.m. in December would not pay close attention to the color of the door and would not notice this alleged discrepancy.

Second, any slight discrepancies in the description of the premises do not invalidate the warrant because the officers executed the warrant according to the address which was clearly marked on the face of the warrant itself. All that the Fourth Amendment requires is that the officer know the place to be searched with sufficient particularity for purposes of making an accurate identification. That requirement is easily met when, as here, the address of the premises was clearly visible to any passer-by and when the officers searched the premises bearing the same address listed on the warrant. Moreover, as Sergeant Sledge testified, Officer Copeland, who witnessed the controlled buy performed by the confidential informant at the premises, led the team executing the warrant to the premises. See United States v. Dorrough, 927 F.2d 498 (10th Cir.1991) (discrepancies in description of the number of outbuildings and the location of a wood frame do not invalidate the warrant when other reliable identifying information is present); United States v. Vaughn, 830 [30]*30F.2d 1185, 1186 (D.C.Cir.1987) (warrant describing a “Blazer” vehicle, without containing the number of the license plate, was sufficiently particular when the color, owner and likely location were identified).

The Defendants also contend that the Superior Court Judge did not have a sufficient basis upon which to find probable cause for the issuance of the warrant. Specifically, the Defendants complain that the warrant and the accompanying affidavit do not provide a sufficient basis upon which the Superior Court Judge could determine the reliability of the information provided by the confidential informant. This contention also lacks merit. The warrant and accompanying affidavit explain that the confidential informant is a source of well-known reliability to the police department. Moreover, the informant participated in a controlled buy at the premises prior to the execution of the warrant under the supervision of the police. Although the officer supervising the controlled buy, Kevin Copeland, did not testify at the Hearing before this Court, this is not dispositive.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
789 F. Supp. 27, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5621, 1992 WL 83890, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-parker-dcd-1992.