United States v. Thompson

667 F. Supp. 2d 758, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102212, 2009 WL 3584126
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedNovember 3, 2009
DocketCase CR2-09-043
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 667 F. Supp. 2d 758 (United States v. Thompson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Thompson, 667 F. Supp. 2d 758, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102212, 2009 WL 3584126 (S.D. Ohio 2009).

Opinion

ORDER

ALGENON L. MARBLEY, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

This matter is before the Court on Defendant Terry Thompson’s (“Thompson”) Motion to Suppress Evidence. Thompson alleges that the evidence in question was obtained as the result of search of his home on June 18, 2008, that violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. He seeks suppression of all evidence seized from his home on that date. On July 27, 2009, a hearing was held on Thompson’s Motion to Suppress. For the reasons set forth below, this Court GRANTS Thompson’s Motion.

II. BACKGROUND

On June 18, 2008, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (“Agents”) executed a search warrant on Thompson’s residence in Zanesville, Ohio. That morning, shortly after leaving his residence, Thompson was stopped by the *761 Agents and detained while his home was searched. The Agents entered the home through the garage, 1 which contained caged lions and tigers. The only person in the house during the search was Defendant’s wife, Marian Thompson (“Mrs. Thompson”).

According to the testimony of Agent Beckman, who was part of the entry team, the Agents knocked on the garage door and announced their presence before entering. They received no response and entered after waiting approximately 30^45 seconds. Mrs. Thompson was naked in the kitchen at the time the Agents entered. Mrs. Thompson was unclothed because she was in the process of changing her clothes between feeding the various exotic animals that she and her husband owned. According to Mrs. Thompson, she thought she heard her name being called and went to look for clothing to put on when the door burst open and eight to ten Agents entered wearing Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms uniforms and pointing them guns at her.

The Agents instructed Mrs. Thompson to put on a t-shirt and then told her to wait outside on the pool patio. During the course of the search, she was allowed to leave the patio area once to take a bear out of its cage and walk the animal. The search lasted approximately five hours, and with the exception of walking the bear, Mrs. Thompson remained on the patio in the hot sun, without anything to eat or drink, and in the plain view of the fourteen officers, clothed only in a t-shirt and no undergarments or pants. Mrs. Thompson claims that she repeatedly asked Agent Ash to see a search warrant during the course of the search, but that her requests were rebuffed. Agent Ash testified that he did not remember Mrs. Thompson asking to see the warrant, but did not dispute that she did. After the conclusion of the search, Mrs. Thompson was provided with a copy of the search warrant. At that time, Agent Ash reviewed the inventory of the property with Mrs. Thompson. The Agents seized a number of machine guns in the course of the search.

III. LAW & ANALYSIS

Thompson asserts that any evidence obtained in the search of his residence must be suppressed because the evidence was obtained as a result of an unconstitutional search and seizure. Thompson alleges that the search and seizure was unconstitutional because: (1) the executing Agents violated the “knock-and-announce” requirement of 18 U.S.C. § 3109; and (2) the Agents failed to present Mrs. Thompson with a copy of the search warrant at the outset of the search in violation of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(f)(1). The Government argues that the executing agents did knock and announce their presence before entering the house, and that even if they failed to do so, violation of the knock and announce statute is not grounds to suppress evidence under recent Supreme Court precedent. The Government also asserts that the Agents’ actions did not violate Rule 41(f)(1).

A. Knock & Announce

18 U.S.C. § 3109 2 codifies the common-law principle “that law enforcement *762 officers must announce their presence and provide residents an opportunity to open the door.” Hudson v. Michigan, 547 U.S. 586, 589, 126 S.Ct. 2159, 165 L.Ed.2d 56 (2006). Agent Beckman testified that the Agents knocked and announced their presence before entering the Thompson house. Mrs. Thompson implies that they did not, although she admits that she thought she heard someone calling her name before the Agents entered.

The Court finds that no knock-and-announce violation occurred. Agent Beck-man testified that the entry team knocked on the garage door, announced their presence, and waited before entering. Although she did not hear what the Agents were saying and thought someone was calling her name, Mrs. Thompson’s testimony was consistent with the Agents’ having announced their presence prior to entry. Moreover, even if the Court found that the executing agents failed to knock-and-announce their presence before executing the warrant, Thompson is not entitled to suppression because “[suppression is not a remedy for violation of the knock-and-an-nounee rule.” United States v. Roberge, 565 F.3d 1005, 1010 (6th Cir.2009); see also Hudson, 547 U.S. at 594, 126 S.Ct. 2159 (holding that the exclusionary rule does not apply to knock-and-announce violations). Therefore, Thompson’s request for suppression on this ground is DENIED.

B. The Fourth Amendment & Rule Jpl(f)

Thompson also argues that the evidence obtained should be suppressed because the executing Agents intentionally refused to present Mrs. Thompson with a copy of the warrant at the outset of the search or upon request during the search. The Government claims that the executing agents satisfied the requirements of Rule 41(f)(1) because there is no dispute that Agent Ash ultimately left a copy of the warrant with Mrs. Thompson at the conclusion of the search and performed an inventory of items seized.

The Fourth Amendment is a curb on the police power of the state. It guarantees: “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” U.S. Const., Amdt. 4. Unlike Miranda warnings and knock and announce — rules incorporated into the Fourth Amendment by the Supreme court — the requirement of reasonableness is in the text of the Constitution itself. Wilson v. Arkansas, 514 U.S. 927, 115 S.Ct. 1914, 131 L.Ed.2d 976 (1995); Miranda v. Arizona,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
667 F. Supp. 2d 758, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102212, 2009 WL 3584126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-thompson-ohsd-2009.