United States v. Patterson

120 F. Supp. 3d 12, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105366, 2015 WL 4750846
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedAugust 11, 2015
DocketCriminal Action No. 14-10352-NMG
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 120 F. Supp. 3d 12 (United States v. Patterson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Patterson, 120 F. Supp. 3d 12, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105366, 2015 WL 4750846 (D. Mass. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

Gorton, United States District Judge

Defendant James Patterson (“Patterson” or “defendant”) has been indicted on five counts of Bank Robbery While on Release, and one count of Attempted Bank Robbery While on Release, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2113(a) and 3147. The indictment stems from a string of bank robberies carried out in a number of cities and towns around the greater Boston area between April and July, 2014. After an FBI investigation tied Patterson to the robberies, he was arrested outside of a bank in August, 2014.

[15]*15Defendant now seeks a Franks hearing to challenge the veracity of' statements made in the affidavit supporting a warrant to allow GPS tracking of his vehicle. He has also filed two motions to suppress evidence related to: 1) the allegedly illegal fruits of the GPS tracking and 2) the fruits of his purportedly illegal arrest. For the following reasons, all three motions will be denied.

I. Factual Background

A. Initial Investigation

Between April, 2014 and July, 2014, five banks in the greater Boston area were robbed. The Massachusetts robberies took place in: 1) Beverly in April, 2014, 2) Beverly in May, 2014, 3) Somerville in June, 2014, 4) Stoughton in June, 2014 and 5) Salem in July, 2014. By the time of the fifth robbery in Salem, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (“FBI”) Violent Crimes Task Force and local police were actively investigating the robberies and believed that they were likely being carried out by the same individual. This was due to a number of significant similarities provided by witnesses to the various robberies.

At each of the first four robberies,’ witnesses described the perpetrator as a black male with his face covered, wearing dark sunglasses and plastic gloves although there were other slight differences in the description regarding the individual’s build, height and age. Each time, the robber made a verbal demand for large denominations of cash, did not use a demand note and did not display a weapon (although he intimated to having one hidden in his clothing). At one of the two Beverly robberies, a black, four-door sedan that appeared to be a Volvo was observed on surveillance footage leaving the scene. At the Stoughton robbery; the robber was seen getting out of and then re-entering a black, four-door sedan that appeared to be the same Volvo.

The Salem robbery occurred at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 20, 2014 during regular bank hours. Witnesses once more described the robber as a black male yvith his face covered, wearing large aviator-style sunglasses and clear plastic gloves. He was reportedly wearing a “dark workout suit.” Shortly after the robbery, the suspect was seen leaving the scene in the back seat of an older-model, four-door Volvo sedan with Massachusetts.registration plates. The witness described the Volvo as green with a dark-colored interior and two women were observed in the front seats. ■

Later on July 20, 2014, the Peabody Police Department received a call from a witness reporting a suspicious incident from earlier that same day (“the Peabody incident”). Approximately 30 to 40 minutes before the Salem robbery,- the witness observed a “faded black Volvo” travelling slowly behind his own vehicle in Peabody, less than four miles from the site of the Salem robbery. He observed the vehicle almost come to a stop, at which point a male got out of the rear seat wearing a red hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up to obstruct his face, large aviator-style sunglasses and gloves. The witness noticed the male was walking in the direction of a TD Bank. The witness got out of his vehicle and confronted the male in the bank parking lot, questioning him as to why he would enter a bank dressed so suspiciously. The male then turned around and got back into the Volvo. The witness then followed the Volvo for a period of time before he was unable to keep’up. He observed that the Volvo had a Massachusetts license plate, number 353PY1, that was crooked and was possibly being held on by string [16]*16or rope.1. Including the man he had confronted, three occupants were inside the vehicle.

Believing that the suspicious activity report from Peabody described the same vehicle and individual involved in the Salem robbery carried out shortly thereafter, law enforcement turned their attention to investigating the license plate number reportedly identified in Peabody. A search of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles database indicated that license'plate number 353PY1 was registered to a 1994 black Volvo owned by an individual residing at 9 Dark Lane, Peabody, Massachusetts. On July 21, 2014, officers observed the black Volvo parked in the driveway at 9 Dark Lane. The license plates had been removed from the vehicle.

B. Identification of Defendant as Suspect

Later that same day, Stoughton Police Department Detective Robert J. Welch (“Detective Welch”) applied for a warrant to install a GPS tracking device on the black Volvo registered to license plate number 353PY1. The supporting affidavit outlined the similarities between the five robberies, including various witnesses’ observations of the individual who carried out each robbery. In the section of the affidavit summarizing the Peabody incident, it did not specifically note that Massachusetts license plate number 353PY1 was observed. The affidavit did briefly describe the Salem robbery, stating:

A short time later, the North Shore Bank located on Highland Avenue in Salem, Massachusetts was robbed by a male party with the same clothing description previously seen at the TD Bank in Peábody, Massachusetts. In this incident there was a suspicious vehicle observed in the area described as a black Volvo, Massachusetts registration 353PY1. ■ . ,

While one witness had reportedly seen a Volvo with Massachusetts plates in the vicinity of the Salem robbery, she actually had not been able to provide the license plate number.

The warrant was granted and officers installed the GPS device on the Volvo. On July 22, 2014, officers observed a female, Dawn Spurr (“Spurr”), remove the 353PY1 license plate from the Volvo. Officers returned later in the - day ■ and found the 353PY1 license plate affixed to a tan Acura parked on the street outside 9 Dark Lane.

On July 23, 2014, Detective Welch applied for and received a second warrant to affix a GPS tracking device to the tan Acura seen bearing the 353PY1 license plate registered to the Volvo. The supporting affidavit again summarized the five robberies and included verbatim the description from the first affidavit of the Peabody incident and subsequent Salem robbery on July 20, 2014. The affidavit also noted that “suspects will often remove license plates ... to avoid detection from law [enforcement,”

For approximately the next two weeks, FBI agents and police officers from Beverly, Salem and Peabody coordinated surveillance of the tan Acura which at all times had'the 353PY1 license plate attached. During this time, authorities identified defendant as the unknown suspect tied' to the robberies. On multiple occasions, defendant and Spurr were observed driving slowly in front of banks.

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120 F. Supp. 3d 12, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105366, 2015 WL 4750846, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-patterson-mad-2015.