United States v. Villagrana-Flores

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedNovember 7, 2006
Docket05-4313
StatusPublished

This text of United States v. Villagrana-Flores (United States v. Villagrana-Flores) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Villagrana-Flores, (10th Cir. 2006).

Opinion

F I L E D United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit PUBLISH November 7, 2006 UNITED STATES CO URT O F APPEALS Elisabeth A. Shumaker Clerk of Court TENTH CIRCUIT

U N ITED STA TES O F A M ER ICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee, No. 05-4313 vs.

EN RIQUE V ILLA GRA NA-FLO RES, also know n as Henry Villagran, also known as Enrique Villagrano,

Defendant - Appellant.

A PPE AL FR OM T HE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR T HE DISTRICT OF UTAH (D .C . N o. 2:05-C R-297-D AK )

Karin M . Fojtik, Assistant United States Attorney (and Stephen J. Sorenson, Acting United States Attorney, on the brief), Salt Lake City, Utah, for Plaintiff - Appellee.

Theordore R. W eckel, Salt Lake City, Utah, for D efendant - Appellant.

Before KELLY, B EA M , * and HA RTZ, Circuit Judges.

KELLY, Circuit Judge.

* The H onorable C. Arlen Beam, Senior Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, sitting by designation. Defendant-Appellant Enrique Villagrana-Flores appeals the denial of his

motion to suppress identity evidence obtained during his detention by the St.

George, Utah police on April 16, 2004. M r. Villagrana-Flores pleaded guilty to

one-count of illegal reentry in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and was sentenced

to 77 months’ imprisonment followed by 36 months’ supervised release. Pursuant

to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(a)(2), he reserved his right to appeal the

denial of his suppression motion. Our jurisdiction arises under 28 U.S.C. § 1291,

and we affirm.

Background

At approximately 4:20 a.m., on April 16, 2004, the St. George police

received a call from a patron at a Denny’s restaurant indicating that “a man

outside was trying to kill himself.” The police responded, and the man w as

identified as M r. Villagrana-Flores. Rather than arresting M r. Villagrana-Flores,

the police called an ambulance, which transported him to a local hospital for an

emergency mental health evaluation. After the police indicated they were not

going to arrest M r. Villagrana-Flores, the hospital released him at approximately

6:10 a.m.

After his release, M r. Villagrana-Flores, still wearing his hospital

wristband, walked to a nearby public office building and situated himself in a

stairwell. At approximately 7:00 a.m., a construction crew arrived at the building

-2- and observed M r. Villagrana-Flores in a delusional state. A witness, who was a

member of the construction crew, claimed that M r. Villagrana-Flores was talking

to door knobs, had a dazed look on his face, and was disoriented. The w itness

called the police for M r. Villagrana-Flores’s and the construction crew’s safety;

however, the police did not respond at that time.

Three hours later, at approximately 10:00 a.m., another passerby called the

police and notified them that M r. Villagrana-Flores w as mentally ill. This

passerby also informed another individual on scene that, at the time the passerby

called the police, M r. Villagrana-Flores was hitting his head against the walls and

windows of the office building.

Following this second call, an officer responded and arrived on scene at

10:11 a.m. At the time of the officer’s arrival, M r. Villagrana-Flores continued to

exhibit delusional and paranoid behavior. The officer did not take M r.

Villagrana-Flores to the hospital but, rather, detained him. The officer’s police

report stated that he thought M r. Villagrana-Flores was a danger to himself and

possibly to others.

At approximately 10:18 a.m., the officer ran a w arrants check on M r.

Villagrana-Flores and discovered that he had outstanding warrants and prior

deportations and, as a result, the officer placed M r. Villagrana-Flores under

arrest. M r. Villagrana-Flores was subsequently indicted for reentry by a

previously removed alien. On appeal, M r. Villagrana-Flores argues that: (1) the

-3- St. George police violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights because

they ran a warrants check when he was exhibiting mentally ill behavior; (2) the

government is judicially estopped from arguing there was no Fourth Amendment

violation because it took a contrary position below; (3) the information police

obtained as a result of the warrants check is fruit of the poisonous tree and

attenuation principles will not save it; (4) his outstanding warrants and prior

deportations w ould not have been inevitably discovered without the Fourth

Amendment violation; and (5) the booking exception does not apply to his

fingerprints in this case.

Discussion

“W hen reviewing a district court’s denial of a motion to suppress, we view

the evidence in the light most favorable to the government, accepting the district

court’s factual findings unless clearly erroneous.” United States v. Gregoire, 425

F.3d 872, 875 (10th Cir. 2005). On the other hand, “the ultimate determination of

whether a search and seizure were reasonable under the Fourth Amendment is

subject to de novo review .” U nited States v. Garcia, 459 F.3d 1059, 1062 (10th

Cir. 2006).

I. Reasonableness of the W arrants Check

M r. Villagrana-Flores first argues that his Fourth and Fourteenth

Amendment rights were violated when the detaining officer ran a warrants check.

-4- He contends that, at the time the warrants check occurred, he was the subject of a

Terry stop for mental health reasons and that running a warrants check for

criminal purposes is beyond the permissible scope of such a stop. See Terry v.

Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968). The government counters that the warrants check

occurred after M r. Villagrana-Flores had been arrested for criminal trespass and

disorderly conduct and that a w arrants check is permissible following a full-

fledged arrest.

The Fourth Amendment is not confined to the criminal arena but applies

whenever government authorities take an individual into custody against his will.

Pino v. Higgs, 75 F.3d 1461, 1467 (10th Cir. 1996). In analyzing the various

levels of Fourth Amendment protection, the Supreme Court has demarcated three

types of police-citizen encounters: consensual encounters, investigative stops, and

arrests. Oliver v. W oods, 209 F.3d 1179, 1186 (10th Cir. 2000).

Consensual encounters between police and citizens are not considered

“seizures” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment and consequently do not

require any suspicion of criminal wrongdoing. United States v. Drayton, 536 U.S.

194, 200-01 (2002). Investigative Terry stops, are, however, “seizures” within

the meaning of the Fourth Amendment; accordingly, a law enforcement officer,

based on the totality of the circumstances, “must have a particularized and

objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity.”

United States v. Cortez, 449 U .S. 411, 417-18 (1981). Finally, actual arrests,

-5- which are characterized by a “highly intrusive or lengthy search or detention,”

United States v.

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