United States v. Pérez-Vega

250 F. Supp. 429, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6428
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedJanuary 28, 1966
DocketCr. No. 85-65
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 250 F. Supp. 429 (United States v. Pérez-Vega) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Pérez-Vega, 250 F. Supp. 429, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6428 (prd 1966).

Opinion

CANCIO, District Judge.

The defendants in this case are a private detective, his wife, his son, and an employee. Defendant José A. PérezVega has been working as a private detective 1 for the past fourteen years. He is the owner of three corporations: “Escuela Alianza para el Progreso, Inc.” (Alliance for Progress School, Inc.) [held out to be a correspondence school for detectives]; “Sociedad Internacional de Investigadores Profesionales, Inc.” (International Society of Professional Investigators, Inc.) [claimed to be a detective agency]; and “Yira, Inc.” Defendants’ offices consist of two rooms. The records of all three corporations are kept there.

On February 11, 1964, a federal marshal and several postal agents went to the offices of the above mentioned corporations. Under color of a search warrant, they carried out an exhaustive search of the premises and admittedly carried away six sacks of materials, constituting the totality of the papers on the premises, as well as a considerable amount of uncashed checks and money orders. Defendants claim that this seizure was illegal.

A complaint was brought against the defendants but on July 9, 1965, Chief Judge Ruiz-Nazario entered an order requiring the United States Attorney to bring an indictment against the defendants before August 11, 1965, or that, otherwise, the case would be dismissed. The United States Attorney failed to bring an indictment within the specified period and the complaint was dismissed on August 17, 1965 by Senior Judge William C. Mathes.2

On September 21, 1965, defendants filed a motion for return of property. On September 30, 1965, a true bill in twenty-five counts was returned by the Grand Jury; arraignment was set, and [431]*431warrants of arrest were ordered issued against the defendants.

On October 22,1965, the motion for return of property of September 21, 1965 was withdrawn and in its stead, a motion for return of property and to suppress evidence was filed. It is this motion we now have before us.

Defendants allege two main grounds in support of their motion: (1) the search warrant was invalid as being too broad and not meeting the stautory requirements; and (2) the search is not cured as being incidental to an arrest.3

The United States Attorney in open court defended the validity of the search warrant; but, upon being pressed by the presiding judge, he conceded that the affidavit upon which it was issued was insufficient. This is patently so. But since this has been conceded, we need not go into this aspect of the case.

The United States Attorney urges, however, that the search and seizure is valid since it can be considered as a search and seizure incidental to a valid arrest. We feel that the United States Attorney has taken this position, forced by the circumstances, trying to save a case he believes in. Clearly, the argument that he presented in open Court was an afterthought, suggested by the pressing urgency created when it was obvious that the search warrant was invalid. There can be no doubt whatsoever that the parties searching the premises here in question had no other thought but that they were acting under the authority of a search warrant. The search that they carried out shows that they complied with the requirements of a search pursuant to a search warrant, which are certainly more ample than those of a search pursuant to a valid arrest. Nobody can seriously contend that they were acting knowingly pursuant to a warrant for arrest and as an incident to the arrest and not pursuant to the search warrant in their possession. The argument is specious. Such a theory would make unnecessary the securing of search warrants and would fly in the face of the Fourth Amendment.

The Fourth Amendment assures [“t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” Fruits of governmental violations of this guarantee can not be used in a criminal prosecution. Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383, 34 S.Ct. 341, 58 L.Ed. 652.

Irrespective of whether or not a. search is valid at its inception, the Fourth Amendment forbids any search which is unreasonable. The Amendment is to be construed liberally in order to safeguard the rights of individuals to the privacy of their homes and their places of business as well. Byars v. United States, 273 U.S. 28, 47 S.Ct. 248, 71 L.Ed. 520. The protection is guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment to potential offenders as well as to the law abiding. Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383, 34 S.Ct. 341, 58 L.Ed. 652; Agnello v. United States, 269 U.S. 20, 46 S.Ct. 4, 70 L.Ed. 145.

Under our system,of law, all persons are presumed to be innocent until they are proven guilty before a court of law. Those who proceed with or without warrants for search or arrest must keep in mind that they are going against suspects and not against convicted criminals.

The authority of officers to search an individual’s house or place of business contemporaneously with or incidental to the arrest of that individual pursuant to a valid warrant of arrest, certainly is not greater than that conferred by a search warrant issued upon adequate proof and sufficiently describing the premises and objects sought to be obtained. United States v. Lefkowitz, 285 U.S. 452, 52 S.Ct. 420, 76 L.Ed. 877; Go-Bart Importing Co. v. United States, 282 U.S. 344, 51 S.Ct. 153, 75 L.Ed. 374.

As the United States Attorney points out, a reasonable search without [432]*432a search warrant is justifiable where it is pursuant to a lawful arrest. United States v. Jeffers, 342 U.S. 48, 72 S.Ct. 93, 96 L.Ed. 59; United States v. Rabinowitz, 339 U.S. 56, 70 S.Ct. 430, 94 L.Ed. 653; Harris v. United States, 331 U.S. 145, 67 S.Ct. 1098, 91 L.Ed. 1399.

If respondents’ papers were wanted by the officers, solely for use as evidence of the crime of which respondents were accused or suspected, they could not lawfully be searched for and taken, even under a search warrant issued upon ample evidence, and precisely describing such things and disclosing exactly where they were. United States v. Lefkowitz, 285 U.S. 452, 52 S.Ct. 420, 76 L.Ed. 877; Gouled v. United States, 255 U.S. 298, 41 S.Ct. 261, 65 L.Ed. 647. Here, the search was exploratory and general and made for the purpose of finding evidence of respondents’ guilt of the crime alleged. It must further be remembered that the objects obtained here were obtained through the use of an illegal search warrant. Besides, everything that was obtained as a result of the search was what was described in the search warrant.

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Related

United States ex rel. Schnitzler v. Follette
267 F. Supp. 337 (S.D. New York, 1967)

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Bluebook (online)
250 F. Supp. 429, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6428, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-perez-vega-prd-1966.