United States v. Swanson

155 F. Supp. 2d 992, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9786, 2001 WL 884078
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. Illinois
DecidedJuly 11, 2001
Docket00-30018
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 155 F. Supp. 2d 992 (United States v. Swanson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Swanson, 155 F. Supp. 2d 992, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9786, 2001 WL 884078 (C.D. Ill. 2001).

Opinion

ORDER

SCOTT, District Judge.

This case is before the Court on Defendant’s objections to Magistrate Judge Cud-more’s Report and Recommendation on Defendant’s Motion to Suppress Evidence (d/e 53). Pursuant to this Court’s referral, Magistrate Judge Cudmore conducted an *994 evidentiary hearing on the Motion to Suppress Evidence and issued his Report and Recommendation (d/e 61). Defendant filed timely objections to the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation, and the parties have filed briefs with this Court. This Court has reviewed a transcript of the evidentiary hearing, the written arguments filed by the parties, and the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation and has considered the issues raised pursuant to a de novo standard of review. For the reasons stated below, the Court accepts in part and rejects in part the Report and Recommendation. The Court allows the Motion to Suppress with respect to Swanson’s statement given at the Alton Police Department and with respect to the hair and saliva samples (without prejudice to the grand Jury’s right to issue another subpoena) and denies the motion in all other respects.

FACTS

At approximately 9:10 A.M. on January 6, 2000, the Citizens National Bank in Bunker Hill, Illinois, was robbed of $2863 by two black males who wore masks. One of the robbers had a gun and fired a shot during the robbery. Mr. John Jarden (Jarden) saw the robbers leave the bank and run to a maroon colored, older model vehicle (early 80’s), which he believed was either a Plymouth or Chrysler product, and make them escape. Jarden told police the vehicle had four headlights and four doors. Jarden described the men as 5'10" to 6' tall. He indicated that one of them was wearing a jacket with two pockets on top and two pockets on the bottom; he was unsure of the color but thought it was faded brown or green.

Another person outside the bank, Mr. Charlie Day (Day), stated that one of the robbers wore a dark gray coat, dark pants and some type of head covering. Day described the other individual as wearing a light colored coat, possibly black or gray. Day described the men as being approximately 6' tall.

Mrs. Norma Botterbush, who was across the street from the bank, told officers that both perpetrators wore long coats and that one of the coats was purplish. Mr. Alan Moore, the President of the bank, said one of the robbers wore green coveralls. Several of the witnesses inside the bank indicated that the robbers wore gloves and Ms. Lara Dively, a witness inside the bank, said that the perpetrators work masks covering their faces, with the eyes cut out.

During the robbery, one of the robbers jumped onto a counter in the bank and left a shoe print on the counter. The print was raised and secured by Illinois State Police crime lab technician Carter; a sketch of the print was made by FBI Agent Adams. About 11:15 A.M. a Macou-pin County Sheriffs Deputy found three gloves, a ski mask, and some black clothes off a country road near Bunker Hill, about five minutes away from the bank (northwest of the bank). The next day officers found a purple coat alongside a country road near Bunker Hill, Illinois.

At 9:27 A.M. on January 6, 2000, a police ISPERN Broadcast was made which said that the bank in Bunker Hill had been robbed and further indicated “small maroon vehicle, two black males, blank shots fired.” Alton police Sgt. David Hayes (Hayes) said he heard a later ISPERN broadcast, ten minutes after the first, that stated the vehicle had four front headlights and that the robbers were wearing dark clothes. No one else testified to having heard the second ISPERN broadcast. The witnesses did not provide any license plate number.

At 10:55 A.M. that same day, Alton police officer Winka and probationary police officer Alexander saw a maroon 1981 Pontiac Gran Prix pass them in Alton. They *995 observed that the vehicle had a cracked windshield and an expired registration sticker and that there were three black males in the car. Winka and Alexander had heard the 9:27 A.M. ISPEEN broadcast about the bank robbery in Bunker Hill. They stopped the vehicle, according to Alexander, only for the traffic offenses. Winka asked the driver for his license and proof of insurance; Alexander testified that the driver (Defendant) provided an expired driver’s license to Winka. (Swanson was later ticketed for not having a valid driver’s license on his person rather than driving on an expired license.) The others in the car had no identification on their persons, but they verbally identified themselves as Myron Zollicoffer and Anthony Carrothers (later determined in fact to be Lee’C Walton). All three of them told officers they lived in the Shipman, Illinois, area, which is near Bunker Hill. Alton, where the vehicle was stopped by police, is 22-25 miles from the bank in Bunker Hill.

Alexander testified that prior to the stop he and Winka did not discuss that the occupants of the car might have been involved in the robbery; he said the only reason for the stop was the traffic offenses they had observed. However, Alexander added that after he learned that the occupants of the car were living in the area of Bunker Hill, the ISPERN broadcast entered into his thinking.

Shortly after the traffic stop was made, other officers arrived to provide back up for Winka and Alexander. Those officers were officers Penny, Botterbush, and Sgt. Hayes. Winka told Hayes he suspected that the occupants might have been the ones who had committed the Bunker Hill bank robbery. Hayes recognized Defendant Swanson from an earlier police investigation and knew that he had been arrested in Shipman, Illinois in 1995 for a shooting. Hayes also recognized Zollicof-fer as someone the police had previously investigated for trafficking drugs in the area. Hayes expressed a concern that the three in the car might be armed and told Winka to remove them from the car and pat them down. Before the time that officers patted down the three, officers had learned from them that they lived in the Shipman area.

Winka patted down Defendant Swanson and found a bulge in his back pocket. Winka asked what it was, and Swanson said it was his money. Winka asked Swanson if he could remove it to see what it was and Swanson agreed. Winka removed a large wad of money from Swanson’s pocket, thumbed through it, and then replaced it in Swanson’s pocket. The other two passengers were patted down and found to have similar bulges of money on their persons. Winka then checked the car to make sure there were no guns in the passenger area; he found no weapons but did see a dark colored coat and a black stocking cap (according to Hayes). Hayes then radioed his headquarters and asked them to contact the FBI and Macoupin County authorities. Within five minutes Hayes was notified by radio that the FBI and Macoupin County authorities were sending agents from the scene of the robbery to the location of the stopped vehicle. Hayes had each of the three occupants of the maroon car handcuffed and placed in a different squad car to wait for the FBI agent to arrive.

Shortly after 11:00 A.M. Det. Scott Gol-icke of the Alton police department arrived. The three from the maroon car had already been handcuffed and placed in separate squad cars before he arrived at the location. At 11:15 A.M. Golicke advised Defendant Swanson of his Miranda

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Lee
964 So. 2d 967 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
155 F. Supp. 2d 992, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9786, 2001 WL 884078, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-swanson-ilcd-2001.