United States v. Premises Known as 1007 Morningside Avenue

625 F. Supp. 1343, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12325
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Iowa
DecidedDecember 26, 1985
Docket85-4008M
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 625 F. Supp. 1343 (United States v. Premises Known as 1007 Morningside Avenue) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Premises Known as 1007 Morningside Avenue, 625 F. Supp. 1343, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12325 (N.D. Iowa 1985).

Opinion

ORDER

DONALD E. O’BRIEN, Chief Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on respondent’s resisted Motion for the Return of Seized Property. A hearing was held at which all parties were represented by counsel. After fully considering the evidence at the hearing and the arguments of counsel in the briefs and at the hearing, the Court sustains Respondent’s motion in part and denies the motion in part. 1

Two warrants are at issue here, the first warrant was issued April 4, 1985 by Judge McManus directing a search of:

Premises known as 1007 Morningside Avenue, Sioux City, Iowa 51106, being further described as a single story chiropractic office building, excluding the attached two-story frame residential dwelling. 2

The respondent contends this first warrant is invalid for (1) defects on the face of the warrant, (2) lack of probable cause for the search, (3) overbreadth, and (4) lack of particularity.

The second warrant was issued April 5, 1985 by Magistrate Deck while the first warrant was being executed. It directed a search of:

Premises known as 1007 Morningside Avenue, Sioux City, Iowa 51106, being further described as the first floor of a two story frame residential dwelling, and that attached thereto is a single story chiropractic office building, (emphasis added)

The respondent contends that it is invalid on the grounds of (1) pretext, (2) defects on the face of the warrant, (3) lack of probable cause, (4) overbreadth, and (5) lack of particularity.

On April 4, 1985, IRS Special Agent Nathan J. Woodard applied for the first search warrant on the basis of a nine page affidavit alleging probable cause to believe that Respondent Gary Rosenberger had committed violations of the United States Code, 18 U.S.C. Section 371 (conspiracy), 26 U.S.C. Section 7201 and 7203 (tax evasion and willful failure to file a tax return), and 31 U.S.C. Section 5322 (violation of the currency transactions reporting law), all for the years 1978 through present.

The search of the Rosenberger premises was part of a simultaneous search of persons or entities suspected of similar violations at six locations. Counsel for this respondent represents other respondents in the related actions and states that the other premises searched were owned and/or controlled by (1) Norbert Stelten (Minnesota), (2) Walter J. Clifford (Minnesota), *1346 Robert and Audrey Hawley (South Dakota), (5) the National Commodity and Barter Association/National Commodity Exchange (N.C.B.A./N.C.E.), Joseph Gorman, and Mel & Cathy Houser (Colorado), and (6) the American Freeman Association/National Currency Exchange (A.F.A./N.Cu.E.) (Oregon). The stated purpose common to the searches and seizures was to search for and seize evidence of a conspiracy to violate the Currency Transactions Reporting laws.

The first warrant on the Rosenberger premises was executed beginning at about 1:00 p.m. April 5, 1985 during Rosenberger’s absence for lunch and the search continued until approximately 6:30 p.m. Rosenberger returned to the premises within a few minutes after the search started and remained until the search concluded.

Attached to the Rosenberger chiropractic office is a dwelling in which a tenant of Rosenberger lives. The attached dwelling was specifically excluded from the first warrant. However, shortly after the arrival of the search party, the agents entered the dwelling and visually searched the first floor. This entry was made as a security sweep.

Later, officers in the search party re-entered the attached dwelling with their guns drawn in response to a thumping noise they heard from the dwelling. The officers noticed some financial records during this second entry. The officers sought and obtained a second warrant for the search of the dwelling based on this information.

The officers’ search yielded approximately 31 boxes of paper and books, i.e. the government estimated that the volume of paper seized would stack to a height of over 25 feet. The Court required the government to file a report after the hearing categorizing the seized property. The government’s report set forth three categories of items seized, together with an estimate of the volume seized under each category:

Financial.........................27%
Intent...........................36% 3
Items to Return..................37% 4

The Court ordered the prompt return of the items the government agreed should be returned on August 12, 1985, and this has been accomplished. This Order deals only with the first two categories of items still being held by the Internal Revenue Service.

I. The First Warrant

Defective on its Face?

The respondent continues to press for the return of all seized material. The respondent contends that the first warrant is defective on its face. The respondent argues that the warrant does not describe the premises to be searched and items to be seized and that the sole limitation on the warrant is that the items seized must relate to a time from 1978 through present. He further argues that the warrant does not contain any language informing the executing officers or himself the nature of the criminal activity under investigation; nor that any language on the warrant incorporates the affidavit of Agent Woodard into the warrant for purpose of informing the respondent of the cause of the intrusion or limiting the discretion of the executing officers. The description in a warrant passes muster if it is sufficient to identify the place to be searched and items to be seized. Steele v. United States, 267 U.S. 498, 503-04, 45 S.Ct. 414, 416-17, 69 L.Ed. 757 (1925); United States v. Williams, 687 F.2d 290, 292-93 (9th Cir.1982). The particularity requirement “makes general searches ... impossible and prevents the seizure of one thing under a warrant describing another. As to what is to be taken, nothing is left to the discretion of the officer executing the warrant.” Andresen v. Maryland, 427 U.S. 463, 480, 96 S.Ct. 2737, 2748, 49 L.Ed.2d 627 (1976) quoting Stanford v. Texas, 379 U.S. 476, at 485, 85 S.Ct. 506, 511, 13 L.Ed.2d 431 (1965). *1347

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625 F. Supp. 1343, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12325, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-premises-known-as-1007-morningside-avenue-iand-1985.