United States v. Smith

714 F. Supp. 1393, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6748, 1989 WL 63684
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedMay 26, 1989
DocketCrim. No. 4-88-104-E
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 714 F. Supp. 1393 (United States v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Smith, 714 F. Supp. 1393, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6748, 1989 WL 63684 (N.D. Tex. 1989).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MAHON, District Judge.

This case involves the importation of controlled substances into the United States from Panama. On June 21, 1988, Defendants Carmen Delynn Green and John Phillip Hansen were arrested at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (“DFW”) for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and for aiding and abetting interstate travel in commission of a felony. Both of the Defendants seek to suppress the evidence obtained following their allegedly illegal arrests. After an evidentiary hearing, the Court makes the following determination.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The events which led to the arrests begin on June 20,1988, the day before the Defendants were arrested, at the Miami International Airport. On June 20, 1988, a third Defendant, Roger Bernard Smith, was apprehended by U.S. Customs officials at the Miami International Airport. Smith had arrived at the Miami airport from a flight which had originated in Panama where it is believed Smith was stationed in the United States Army. When Smith attempted to pass through Customs after departing from the flight from Panama, officials of the U.S. Customs Service detected a package taped around his waist. This package contained a white, powdery substance later identified as 433.5 grams of cocaine. Thereafter, the Customs officials took Smith into custody and called the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) to the scene. Matthew Addington, a special agent with the DEA, testified that he responded to a call from Customs and arrived at the scene where other DEA agents had already arrested Smith and seized the cocaine. After questioning by DEA agents, Smith revealed that he had intended to deliver the cocaine to another individual in Dallas, Texas and that such individual was to give him further instructions with regard to the cocaine. Officer Addington testified that the name “Green” was the name used by Smith as the person he was to meet in Dallas. The DEA agents then began to make arrangements for a “controlled delivery” of the cocaine to the unknown individual in Dallas. In a “controlled delivery,” the DEA stages a delivery as originally planned. Then, when the unknown individuals emerge for the delivery, the DEA agents are able to ascertain the identities of the co-conspirators and make the arrests.

The agents allowed Smith to make three telephone calls — which were recorded — to attempt to contact the unknown individual in Dallas. The first phone call was allegedly to a Marvin Stansfield, whose name, according to agent Addington, “kept coming up” in Miami. Upon dialing the number given to the agents by Smith, a recording came over the line stating that the number had been disconnected and was no longer in service. The second telephone call was to a man named “Carmen,” allegedly a friend of Marvin Stansfield, and [1395]*1395later identified as the Defendant, Carmen Green. Smith asked for “Carmen” and the voice on the other end replied “Yea.” The two then made arrangements for Green to meet Smith when he arrived in Texas. In a third telephone call, Smith again contacted Green and made arrangements with Green to pick him up at the DFW airport the following evening and told him that he would be arriving on Delta flight No. 574. Smith further told Green, “If you can get a hold of Marvin, bring him along with you if you can,” to which Green — as though he was having difficulty in hearing — responded, “Who’s that?” Smith then repeated, “If you get a hold of Marvin, tell him to come along,” to which Green replied, “Okay.”

Smith arrived with the DEA agents at DFW on an earlier flight than the one disclosed to Green. After a briefing with Dallas DEA agents, Smith’s arrival was staged from Delta flight No. 574 — the flight disclosed to Green — which arrived at 11:08 p.m. on July 21,1988. Upon deboard-ing the plane, Smith was followed by two DEA agents who walked approximately fifteen feet behind him and kept constant surveillance of him. Other DEA agents were likewise scattered about the airport to observe the anticipated delivery. The DEA agents testified that they saw Smith make eye contact with either Hansen or Green while Smith was deboarding.1 Officer Add-ington was following Smith. Addington testified that he saw Green make eye contact with Smith and say to Hansen, “That’s him.” The agents then kept surveillance of Smith, Green, and Hansen for an hour to an hour and a half, during which time the three would walk around, sit down periodically, and so forth. The time was between 11:00 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. and the airport traffic was relatively sparse.2 While the men were being watched inside the airport, other DEA agents ran a registration check on Green’s car, which the agents observed Green and Hansen arrive in together. As a result, the agents discovered that the car was registered to Barbara Greeii and Carmen Green from Bryan, Texas.

By this time the agents had given up on the prospect of a delivery. Three DEA agents approached Green, identified themselves as DEA agents, disclosed their badges, and asked if they could speak with him. Green consented. The agents asked for proof of his identification and Green produced his driver’s license. Upon reading that his name was Carmen Green, and comparing the picture on the license with Green, the agents placed him under arrest without a warrant. The agents then searched Green and seized a piece of paper found in his back pocket with the flight information and several numerical calculations written on it.

Meanwhile, Defendant Hansen had been observed driving Green’s car around to and fro in the airport parking lot. Officer Cloud, a Fort Worth police officer who. had been assigned to the drug task force at DFW for three years, testified that, while sitting on a curb bench by the passenger unloading area earlier that evening, he had observed Green and Hansen when they originally arrived at the airport.3 He later remembered Hansen because he was wearing a brightly colored shirt. While Green was being arrested inside, the agents who had been observing Hansen arrested him outside of the airport. Hansen was arrested inside Green’s car, placed under arrest, removed from the vehicle, and read his Miranda4 warnings.

Upon arresting Hansen, the agents made a cursory search of the car for weapons. The car was then seized and taken to the [1396]*1396task force office where the DEA agents again made a search of the car, this time for valuables and contraband. It was during this search that a small amount of marijuana was found in a plastic bag in a compartment in the back seat of the car. The compartment was described as a pouch attached to the back of the front seat. Officer Couch testified that he did not recall anyone making an inventory list of the search and does not know if anything else was seized by the several other agents who also searched the car. Couch said that an inventory list was not required because no valuables were found in the car.

The Defendants were transported to the task force office where Officer Addington testified that he read Defendant Hansen his Miranda warnings twice. After Hansen agreed to waive his rights, Addington began questioning him. Agent Addington testified that the agents told Hansen if he was truthful and cooperative, the agents would go before the judge on his behalf and tell the judge that he had cooperated. “If you lie,” Addington told him, “it’s going to hurt you.

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234 F. Supp. 2d 471 (D. New Jersey, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
714 F. Supp. 1393, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6748, 1989 WL 63684, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-smith-txnd-1989.