THOMPSON, Circuit Judge.
Defendant-appellant Lamar Young (Young) entered a conditional guilty plea and was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a) & (b)(1)(B), and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A). Before us, Young challenges the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained by law enforcement officers while executing a warrant for his arrest. Young argues that the evidence was improperly seized when the officers entered his girlfriend's apartment without consent. After careful consideration, we conclude that the officers had insufficient grounds to reasonably believe that Young lived at or would be present at the apartment and, therefore, lacked the necessary level of belief to justify entering the apartment to execute the arrest warrant without consent. Accordingly, we vacate Young's conviction, reverse the district court's denial of his motion to suppress, and remand for further proceedings.
We recite the key facts as found by the district court,
On March 11, 2014, the district court issued an arrest warrant for Young following his indictment for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute "28 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base." That evening, six Lewiston, Maine law-enforcement officers set out in search of Young, traveling to three different residences and making four different stops, before finally locating Young at a fourth location. The search team included Lewiston police officer and United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) task force officer Ryan Rawstron (Rawstron), Maine State Police trooper Thomas Pappas (Pappas), who was assigned to the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA), Lewiston police officer and MDEA task force officer Tyler Michaud (Michaud), Joey Brown (Brown) from the Lewiston Police Department, Auburn police officer David Madore (Madore), and trooper Kevin Rooney (Rooney) from the Maine State Police Department (collectively, and for simplicity's sake, we will refer to the task force officers, police officers, and trooper as "officers").
The officers began their search at the Howe Street residence of Kayla Davidson (Davidson), where the officers had located Young during a prior investigation. Officer Rawstron had also spoken with Davidson "shortly before" that night, and Davidson had informed him during that conversation that she was dating Young. Davidson had further informed officer Rawstron that Young had stayed with her at another apartment on Ash Street. Neither Young nor Davidson was at the Howe Street apartment when the officers arrived. The officers then decided to check the Ash Street apartment, where Young and Davidson had previously stayed with another woman, Stephanie Webster (Webster). Young and Davidson were not at the Ash Street apartment either.
At this point, the officers traveled to the residence of yet another woman, Crystal, who lived on Horton Street. The officers apparently "had information" that Young had, at some point in the past, also been staying with Crystal. Officer Rawstron testified at the suppression hearing that the officers "were familiar with" Crystal and the Horton Street address because they "had [] done a controlled buy at that ... address ... fairly shortly before." When the officers arrived, Crystal was there, with someone she was dating (not Young), but Young was, once again, not present.
Out of ideas, and having failed to locate Young — or Davidson — thus far, the officers circled back to where they had begun their night, Davidson's Howe Street apartment. This time they ran into Webster, whose Ash Street apartment they had visited earlier in the evening. Webster, in exchange for the officer's promise to forgo taking her to jail that night on outstanding warrants and instead allow her to turn herself in the following day, told them that if Young was not at her apartment on Ash Street, or Davidson's apartment on Howe Street, or Crystal's on Horton Street, then "he had to be back with his former girlfriend"
Although the officers had no way of knowing that Young was not, in fact, with Davidson as they had failed to locate either of them, the officers then traveled to the Walnut Street apartment building Webster had described. The six officers arrived at approximately 11:00 p.m. Spotting a familiar car parked outside the apartment building, officer Rawstron realized that "Jen" was Jennifer Coleman (Coleman). Officer Rawstron knew Coleman from a prior investigation, and knew that she had previously lived with Young in an apartment on Tampa Street. Based on that prior investigation, officer Michaud also knew that Coleman and Young had an "off-again, on-again" relationship.
Upon their arrival, officers Michaud and Brown positioned themselves at the front of Coleman's apartment building by a fire escape, while officers Rooney and Madore guarded the back of the building. Meanwhile officers Rawstron and Pappas, both armed and wearing bulletproof vests emblazoned with the word "police," entered Coleman's apartment building through a back door and climbed the three flights of stairs to Coleman's apartment. The landing in front of Coleman's door was too narrow for both officers Rawstron and Pappas to stand on with their equipment. So, they quickly positioned themselves with Rawstron in the front at Coleman's door and Pappas behind him, three or four steps down, with his head level with the doorknob. Once in position, officer Rawstron knocked on Coleman's apartment door. He heard someone from inside the apartment ask who was at the door, but did not respond as was his usual practice.
Less than a minute later, Coleman's 22-year-old daughter opened the door. Officer Rawstron asked her where her mother was and began to ask about Young when he noticed Coleman — who had been lying in bed in her room at the opposite end of the hallway — walking down the hallway to the front door. Coleman reached the officers within seconds but, by that time, officer Rawstron had, without consent, stepped into the apartment, and Pappas had moved to stand in the doorway so that he could scan the hallway.
As officers Rawstron and Pappas reached Coleman's bedroom, officer Michaud, who was still guarding the front of Coleman's apartment building, observed one of Coleman's front blinds lift up, Young look out the window, and then the blinds close.
Back inside the apartment, officer Rawstron had reached Coleman's bedroom door, pushed aside a curtain that was covering the doorway, and discovered Young kneeling on the bed. Seeing Young on the bed, officer Rawstron immediately pointed his firearm and flashlight at Young and ordered him to show his hands. Officer Pappas, who was positioned behind officer Rawstron, also pointed his firearm at Young. Young complied. Officer Rawstron holstered his weapon, grabbed Young's right arm, and ordered Young to move away from the bed. Young followed officer Rawstron's orders, and then trooper Pappas also holstered his firearm.
Having secured Young, officers Rawstron and Pappas began to question him. Over the course of the next hour the officers interviewed Young, who ultimately revealed the location of two large bundles of what appeared to be crack cocaine, which were inside a dresser drawer, and a firearm, which had been hidden under the mattress. The officers did not have a warrant, or, at that time, Coleman's consent to search Coleman's residence. During the interrogation of Young, officer Michaud "kept watch over" Coleman and her family in the apartment's kitchen and living area.
The district court found that "[f]rom the time police entered the Coleman apartment, they were in control of it." In the hour they spent in Coleman's apartment, neither Rawstron nor Pappas raised their voices, touched Young, or handcuffed him. They also did not advise Young of his
Young subsequently moved to suppress the evidence seized at the time of his arrest, arguing that the officers had illegally entered Coleman's apartment without consent because they lacked a reasonable belief that Young lived there and that he was present. Young also sought to suppress all statements made on March 11, 2014, and the fruits thereof, on the grounds that those statements were made in violation of
Applying
In addition, the district court determined that "[t]he time of day that officers knocked on the door ... 11:00 p.m., when people typically are home — coupled with Coleman's confirmation of the defendant's presence, sufficed to confer a reasonable belief that [Young] was there." The district court further concluded that the drugs and firearm seized "need not be excluded simply because [they were] discovered as a result of unwarned questioning in violation of
As a result, Young conditionally pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute at least 28 grams of cocaine base and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, reserving his right to appeal the district court's adverse suppression rulings. The district court then sentenced Young to 108 months' imprisonment on the conspiracy count and a mandatory consecutive 60 months' imprisonment on the firearm count. This appeal followed.
Here, Young challenges the officers' initial entry into Coleman's apartment. He argues that the officers violated his Fourth Amendment rights because they lacked a reasonable belief that he resided at Coleman's apartment and was present when they entered the residence. Alternatively, Young argues that the search was conducted without voluntary consent, and that no other exception to the warrant requirement applies.
In reviewing the district court's denial of a motion to suppress, we review its factual findings for clear error and its legal conclusions de novo.
We begin with Young's challenge to the officers' initial entry into Coleman's apartment, "understanding that if we find this entry unjustified the evidence discovered subsequent to it must be suppressed."
Young asserts that neither the residency nor the presence inquiry was satisfied, arguing that there was insufficient evidence that officers reasonably believed that he lived at Coleman's apartment or was present, and that the district court erred by considering "information gathered only after the officers crossed the threshold" of Coleman's apartment to find that the officers had the requisite level of belief necessary to support their entry. In particular, Young challenges the district court's reliance on Coleman's
As an initial matter, we agree with Young that, to the extent that the district court relied on post-entry information to "cinch" or "strengthen" its finding that the officers reasonably believed that Young resided at and was present at Coleman's apartment, the district court erred.
Mindful that we must "examine the information known to the officers in the totality and not in isolation,"
To justify the officers' entry, the government relies heavily on Webster's reliability and on her statement that "if [Young] was not at the Ash Street, Howe Street, or Horton Street apartments, he had to be back with his former girlfriend." But this statement was not sufficiently definitive or reliable to support a reasonable suspicion that Young was living with Coleman. To be sure, in some circumstances a statement by a reliable informant that a suspect is "staying" with or "living" with a particular person might support a reasonable suspicion that the suspect lives there,
Moreover, Webster's statement did not appear to be based on any actual, present knowledge of Young's whereabouts. She did not suggest that she had actually seen Young at Coleman's apartment. Nor did she state conclusively that she knew that Coleman and Young were back together. She merely stated that Young had previously stayed with Coleman and must be back there if the officers could not find him anywhere else, but she never explained why this must be so or gave the basis for this knowledge. And the officers took no steps (e.g., conducting surveillance or other interviews) to verify that Young's prior relationship with Coleman had continued. The fact that officers Rawstron and Michaud also knew from a prior investigation that Coleman and Young had previously lived together does nothing to get them over this hurdle because their information was similarly dated. And, prior to speaking to Webster, it does not seem that the officers had reason to believe that Young and Coleman's relationship was ongoing since her apartment was not among those they had thought to visit.
In response to Young's argument that the officers' behavior on the evening of March 11 amounted to impermissible canvasing, the government notes correctly that suspects may have more than one residence for purposes of the Payton inquiry. But the officers did not begin their night knowing that Young would be at one of several apartments where he was known to reside and simply proceed to check each one. To the contrary, the officers thought that Young was with Davidson because of Davidson's statement to officer Rawstron "shortly before" that night that they were dating, and, prior to Webster's statement, the officers seemed to have no inkling that Young was living at Coleman's apartment. Nor did they seem to believe, prior to speaking to Webster, that Coleman's apartment was one of several places that Young currently lived.
Even assuming that the officers had a reasonable belief that Young resided at Coleman's apartment, however, there is nothing in this record to support Payton's presence requirement — that the officers reasonably believed that Young was present when they entered Coleman's apartment. The district court relied on only one pre-entry piece of information to justify the officer's entry, that being "[t]he time of day that officers knocked on the door." Officers arrived at Coleman's apartment at approximately 11:00 p.m., but the time of day, standing alone, is insufficient to support the conclusion that the officers had a reasonable basis to believe that Young was present at Coleman's apartment.
Viewing the information known to the officers in totality, we therefore conclude that the information that was available to them before they entered Coleman's apartment was insufficient to support a reasonable belief that Young resided there and was present. Accordingly, the officers' entry into Coleman's apartment violated Young's Fourth Amendment rights. Having reached this conclusion, we need go no further as any evidence discovered subsequent to this unlawful entry must be suppressed.
LYNCH, Circuit Judge, concurring.
Lamar Young was convicted, pursuant to his conditional guilty plea, of drug and weapons charges. That conviction has now been set aside. The police had a warrant for Young's arrest, and in my view — in accord with the factfinding in the district court — the officers acted reasonably in locating and arresting him. The positions the prosecution chose to take, and chose not to take, on two different issues lead me to this concurrence.
I agree with the majority that there was insufficient evidence to support a reasonable belief
Rather, I consider this case to be about whether the police had a reasonable belief that Young, for whom there was an outstanding arrest warrant, would be located at the premises on Walnut Street. In answering that question, I would employ the standard adopted by our sister court in
I concur, nevertheless, because the prosecution failed to satisfy Payton's residence inquiry. The prosecution agreed with the defense's position that Payton's two-part inquiry applied and so represented to the district court — both to the magistrate judge and to the district judge. And, in my view, the prosecution should be bound by the theory it adopted. I do not fault either that court or ours for adhering to the path agreed upon by both the government and the defendant.
The prosecution also made a second choice that leads me to concur. The inevitable discovery doctrine "allows for the admission of [otherwise excludable] evidence that would have been discovered even without the unconstitutional source."
Having failed to take advantage of these justifications for its search of Coleman's residence, the government must now live with the consequences.