United States v. Wilson

220 F. Supp. 2d 469, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17689, 2002 WL 31026984
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 15, 2002
DocketCriminal 02-13J
StatusPublished

This text of 220 F. Supp. 2d 469 (United States v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Wilson, 220 F. Supp. 2d 469, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17689, 2002 WL 31026984 (W.D. Pa. 2002).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM and ORDER

D. BROOKS SMITH, Chief Judge.

I. Introduction

On November 2, 2001 at approximately 1:00 a.m., Police Officer Scott Haymaker spotted defendants Kevin Lamar Wilson and Lawrence Brown while the pair were walking on Franklin Street in Johnstown. He stopped them, and subsequently seized crack cocaine from both men. A three count indictment was returned by a grand jury in April 2002, charging the defendants with violations of the Controlled Substances Act. The defendants moved to suppress the crack cocaine, dkt. nos. 28, 33, challenging the constitutionality of a curfew ordinance that was cited by the government as the basis for initially stopping the defendants and arguing that the investigating officer lacked a reasonable suspicion to justify the stop. In addition, the defendants asserted that subsequent pat down and strip searches violated the constitution.

An evidentiary hearing was conducted on July 23, 2002. The following constitute my findings of fact and conclusions of law. Because I have concluded that the initial stop was not supported by a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, I will grant the motions to suppress.

II. Facts

Officer Scott Haymaker of the Johns-town, Pennsylvania Police Department worked the night shift from November 1, 2001 at 11:00 p.m. until November 2, 2001 at 7:00 a.m. At five minutes before 1:00 a.m., Haymaker brought his marked police cruiser to a stop on South Street at its intersection with Franklin Street. Dkt. no. 40, at 14-15 (hereinafter cited as “Tr.”). He observed two young black males, who were walking along the 800 block of Franklin Street, approach the intersection. Tr. at 16. The young men crossed the intersection, walking directly in front of Haymaker’s police cruiser, and continued walking. Tr. at 16-17. Hay-maker followed the men, turning right onto Franklin Street, so he could get another look at them as they approached the Jolly Fiddler, a bar in the'700 block of Franklin Street that was “notorious” for drug transactions. Tr. 20, 49. According to Haymaker, the men were “just walking,” tr. at 17, and they did not accelerate their pace or act suspiciously in any manner after walking in front of police cruiser. Tr. at 40. Haymaker circled the block after his second look and “decided [he] was going to stop them and find out what they were doing.” Tr. at 20. He pulled his cruiser to the curb so that it was in front of the two men and advised the department’s dispatcher of his position on Franklin Street. Tr. at 23.

After stopping his cruiser, Haymaker exited the vehicle and walked towards its trunk and the two men. By this time, the pair were on the sidewalk near the rear of Haymaker’s cruiser. Haymaker remarked that he had never seen them before and asked where they were from. Tr. at 106. After informing Haymaker that they were from Philadelphia, Haymaker asked if they were “slinging dope.” Id. The men denied that they “slinging dope,” and when Hay-maker inquired further, the men reiterated that they were from Philadelphia and that they were staying with someone named “Craig.” Although neither man knew Craig’s surname, they knew he lived at 614 Franklin Street. Because of the address, Haymaker believed the “Craig” being referred to was Craig King, an individual whom Haymaker knew had been involved in drug trafficking and weapons violations. Tr. 26. Eventually, in response to additional questioning, the younger-looking of *471 the two men, defendant Lawrence Brown, identified himself and indicated that he was seventeen years old. The older man, defendant Kevin Lamar Wilson, stated that he was Lamar Wilson and that he was twenty-one years old. Neither man produced identification. Tr. 21-22.

By this time, Sergeant Andrew Frear, the shift supervisor for the Johnstown Police Department, arrived on the scene, parking his police vehicle immediately behind Haymaker’s cruiser. Upon exiting his vehicle, Frear asked “what he [ (Hay-maker) ] had going on.” Tr. at 75. Hay-maker advised Frear that Brown was only seventeen years old and that Wilson was twenty-one years old. Id. In response to Frear’s inquiry about his age, Brown again stated that he was seventeen. Id. Frear informed Brown that he was in violation of the curfew ordinance and handcuffed Brown’s hands behind his back. Tr. at 76.

The curfew ordinance Frear cited was an ordinance of the City of Johnstown. It prohibits “minors under eighteen years of age” from loitering “in and upon public streets ... or other public grounds” between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. of the following day. Court Exh.l.

Incident to Brown’s arrest for the curfew violation, Frear conducted a search of Brown’s person. Tr. at 76-77. He recovered a Motorola Micro Talk Cobra radio, a kind of walkie-talkie, and a fairly large lump of cash which was folded in half and at least two inches thick. Tr. at 77. Frear asked Brown about the money and Brown advised that he had sold shoes at Sears. Tr. at 44, 80. After this exchange, Frear put Brown inside Haymaker’s police cruiser. Tr. at 48.

After Frear arrived on the scene, Hay-maker focused his attention on Wilson, who was near the rear wheel on the passenger side of Haymaker’s police cruiser. Further conversation with Wilson, who was cooperative and did not make any furtive movements, tr. 57-58, revealed that both men had arrived from Philadelphia that morning by train. Tr. 25. Hearing the exchange between Frear and Brown, Haymaker momentarily directed his attention to Frear and observed a “wad” of money and the radio. Tr. at 28-29. Hay-maker then simultaneously advised Wilson that he was going to pat him down for weapons and initiated the pat-down search. The search recovered only another Motorola Micro Talk Cobra radio. Tr. at 29.

Because Haymaker knew that these radios were often used by drug dealers to communicate with one another, Haymaker requested that the dispatcher run the name of Lamar Wilson and his date of birth to check for warrants for his arrest. 1 While he waited, Haymaker continued his conversation with Wilson, during which Wilson said that he used the radio to “talk back and forth” with Brown. Tr. at 31. Wilson also repeated that he was staying *472 with Craig and that Craig’s girlfriend was Tessa. Tr. at 26. This additional information further buttressed Haymaker’s belief that the “Craig” at issue was indeed Craig King, who had been charged in the past with both drug and weapon violations. Id.

The police dispatcher then inquired whether Frear had his cell phone or the site was “secure.” Tr. at 31-32. This inquiry, according to the officers, was a signal that “something was going on” with respect to the search for warrants and that information could not be transmitted over the radio unless the scene was secure. In response to this inquiry, Haymaker directed Wilson to put his hands on the trunk of the police cruiser and Frear returned to his vehicle, where he immediately contacted the dispatcher. The dispatcher advised that there was a “hit” for a “Kevin Lamar Wilson,” with the same date of birth, for an assault. Tr. at 84.

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Bluebook (online)
220 F. Supp. 2d 469, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17689, 2002 WL 31026984, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-wilson-pawd-2002.