United States v. Xavier Exum

657 F. App'x 153
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedJuly 27, 2016
Docket14-4227
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 657 F. App'x 153 (United States v. Xavier Exum) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth 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. Xavier Exum, 657 F. App'x 153 (4th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:

Xavier Stanley Exum appeals his conviction and 78-month sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (2012). Exum argues that the district court-erroneously failed to suppress the fruits of a search of an apartment, his postarrest statements, and cell-site location information (“GSLI”). Exum also argues that the district court erred by allowing a Government expert witness to testify despite inadequate notice, denying his Fed. R. Crim. P. 29 motion, and applying a sentence enhancement for possessing a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking offense. We affirm.

I.

Exum challenges the denial of his motions to suppress. We review factual findings underlying a district court’s denial of a motion to suppress for clear error and legal conclusions de novo. United States v. Foster, 634 F.3d 243, 246 (4th Cir. 2011). We also 'construe the evidence “in the light most favorable to the Government, as the party prevailing below.” United States v. Black, 707 F.3d 531, 534 (4th Cir. 2013).

Exum first argues that the officers improperly entered the apartment where he was staying when they were seeking to arrest him for a parole violation. “[A]n arrest warrant founded on probable cause implicitly carries with it the limited authority to enter a dwelling in which the suspect lives when there is reason to believe the suspect is within.” Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 603, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980). Although Exum argues that the officers had no reason to believe he was home at the time they entered the apartment, see United States v. Hill, 649 F.3d 258, 262 (4th Cir. 2011) (providing standard), we disagree.

Assuming, without deciding, that probable cause is required, * courts use a “totality-of-the-circumstances approach” in making that determination. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 230, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). “[P]robable cause involves probabilities—judgment calls that are tethered to context and rooted in common sense.” United States v. White, 549 F.3d 946, 947 (4th Cir. 2008); see Gates, 462 U.S. at 232, 103 S.Ct. 2317 (describing probable cause as “fluid concept”). “Under this pragmatic, common sense approach, we defer to the expertise and experience of law enforcement officers at the scene.” United States v. Dickey-Bey, 393 F.3d 449, 453 (4th Cir. 2004).

Here, an officer found Exum’s vehicle parked near the apartment and saw someone peeking through the apartment’s blinds. Moreover, the apartment manager told the officer that Exum spent his days at the apartment and that, if his car was there, Exum would be there. Based on this information, we conclude that the officers reasonably believed that Exum was home and that their entry into the apartment was proper.

Exum also argues that the officers exceeded the scope of their search when they moved a door and an air mattress to confirm the presence of firearms. Because *156 the officers were lawfully present in the apartment and had a lawful right to access the firearms from their positions, and because the incriminating character of the firearms was immediately apparent due to Exum’s prior felony, we conclude that the seizure of the firearms under the plain-view doctrine was proper. See United States v. Green, 599 F.3d 360, 376 (4th Cir. 2010) (discussing doctrine and holding that officer seeking to execute arrest warrant could seize cash from under bed where cash was visible without moving bed). Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s denial of the motion to suppress the fruits of the apartment search.

Next, Exum challenges the district court’s failure to suppress all of his postar-rest statements. Because Exum was in custody and had not been informed of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), any statements that he made as a result of interrogation must be suppressed. See Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 300-01, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 64 L.Ed.2d 297 (1980) (defining interrogation); see also United States v. Johnson, 734 F.3d 270, 277 (4th Cir. 2013) (“[W]hen the police have no reason to expect that a question will lead a suspect to incriminate himself, that question cannot constitute an interrogation under Miranda.”). Our review of the record leads us to conclude that there is no evidence any of Exum’s unsuppressed, in-culpatory statements were foreseeably precipitated by the officers’ remarks. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s denial of the motion to suppress Exum’s postarrest statements.

Finally, Exum argues that the Government’s acquisition of his CSLI under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d) (2012) was improper. Because Exum did not assert this argument below, our review is for plain error. United States v. Fuertes, 805 F.3d 485, 497 (4th Cir. 2015), cert. denied,-U.S.-, 136 S.Ct. 1220, 194 L.Ed.2d 221 (2016) (providing standard); see Henderson v. United States,-U.S.-, 133 S.Ct. 1121, 1126-27, 185 L.Ed.2d 85 (2013) (same). While this appeal was pending, we held that the Government is not required to obtain a warrant before procuring a defendant’s CSLI. United States v. Graham, 824 F.3d 421, 424, 426-27 (4th Cir. 2016). Accordingly, we affirm the denial of Exum’s motion to suppress his CSLI.

II.

Exum argues that the district court erred by admitting the testimony of an expert witness who, Exum believes, had not been timely disclosed pursuant to Fed. R. Crim. P. 16(a)(1)(G). Because “Rule 16 is silent as to the timing of expert witness disclosures” and “there is no pre-trial discovery order governing such timing in this case, our review considers whether the district court abused its discretion in finding that as a matter of general fairness, [the Government’s] disclosure was [ ]timely.” United States v. Holmes, 670 F.3d 586, 598 (4th Cir. 2012) (affirming exclusion of expert witness who was disclosed “with only three days remaining before trial, two of which fell during the weekend”). .

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Bluebook (online)
657 F. App'x 153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-xavier-exum-ca4-2016.