U.S. v. Materas
| Citation | 483 F.3d 27 |
| Decision Date | 10 April 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 06-1920.,06-1920. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Keith MATERAS, Defendant, Appellant. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (1st Circuit) |
Frank L. Bruno, for appellant.
Terry L. Ollila, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Thomas P. Colantuono, United States Attorney, and Aixa Maldonado-Quiñones, Assistant United States Attorney, were on brief, for appellee.
Before Boudin, Chief Judge, Torruella, and Lynch, Circuit Judges.
Defendant-appellant Keith Materas appeals the district court's denial of his motions to suppress evidence seized and statements made during the search that led to his arrest for possession with intent to distribute ecstasy and methamphetamine. We agree with the district court that Materas was not entitled to a Franks hearing1 on the suppression of the evidence, and that Materas was not entitled to suppression of statements made after he waived his Miranda rights.
On October 14, 2004, Detective Frank Bourgeois of the Nashua Police Department applied for a no-knock search warrant for 374 Thornton Street, Manchester, New Hampshire, which he alleged was Materas's residence. In his supporting affidavit, Detective Bourgeois relied on the following events as a basis for the warrant.
In January 2004, a man complained to the Manchester Police Department that his boyfriend was being held against his will by Materas and Peter Deprisco at 374 Thornton Street. He expressed his belief that Materas and Deprisco were supplying large amounts of methamphetamine to dealers in Manchester, and eventually admitted that he had bought drugs from them in the past.
Six months later, another man told the Manchester Police Department that he had been held against his will at 454 Hanover Street in Manchester. He claimed that he had smoked what he believed to be methamphetamine with several people, including one named Keith. The police responded to the same address and identified "Keith" as Keith Materas.
In September 2004, the Manchester Police Department responded to a domestic dispute at 374 Thornton Street, where Materas and Deprisco identified themselves as co-owners and residents of that address.
During the same month, the New Hampshire Drug Task Force, of which Detective Bourgeois was a member, received information that an individual named Keith, a homosexual man who lived in Manchester, was the largest supplier of methamphetamine in the state. In an unrelated incident, the Nashua Police Department also learned from a cooperating individual in its custody that two men named Keith and Peter of 454 Hanover Street were selling methamphetamine.
On October 12, 2004, Detective Bourgeois arranged a controlled purchase of a small amount of methamphetamine by a confidential informant at 374 Thornton Street. The informant entered the residence and returned with methamphetamine, which he claimed to have bought inside from Materas.
After the Manchester District Court issued the no-knock warrant on October 14, 2005, the police executed the warrant the same day, led by Detective Bourgeois. Ten to fifteen officers entered the residence with guns drawn2 and proceeded directly toward the basement, where they believed Materas and Deprisco were residing while the upper floors of the residence were under construction. In fact, Materas did not reside at 374 Thornton Street; he had been living at 454 Hanover Street for more than three months prior to the application for the search warrant. Nonetheless, the officers found Materas and Deprisco standing in the hall, where they were apprehended and handcuffed. Materas maintains that he was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of entry.
Detective Bourgeois proceeded into the basement, where he found Materas's dog. Materas claims that the detective threatened to shoot the dog if he did not keep him under control. Detective Bourgeois denied making such a threat, testifying that he put the dog in a closet in order to allow the officers to search the room.
The officers then moved the two men into the basement, where Deprisco became uncooperative. After Deprisco was removed from the room, and while approximately six other officers searched the room, Detective Bourgeois told Materas, who was still handcuffed, that if he would tell them where the drugs were, it would save them from having to tear the place apart. Detective Bourgeois testified at trial that his intent was to make the process easier for everyone, given the clutter in the room and his belief that the drugs were there. Materas then indicated that the drugs were located in a clear plastic case behind Detective Bourgeois.
At some point, Detective Bourgeois searched Materas, and in the process asked him to undo his pants. Because he was not wearing underwear, his genitals were exposed for a brief period.
After the drugs were found, Materas was removed upstairs to the kitchen area, where he was read his Miranda rights and questioned further. Detective Bourgeois testified that Materas did not exhibit signs of being under the influence of any substance, although Materas did tell the detective that he was a methamphetamine addict, using one to two grams a day. No guns were drawn during Materas's interrogation.
Materas was cooperative and answered Bourgeois's questions, as well as those of a DEA agent also present. Materas stated that he received just under a pound of methamphetamine every six to eight weeks, which he used and distributed to friends. He admitted that most of the drugs found in the search were his. Some of the drugs, however, he attributed to Deprisco, with whom he had lived at the 374 Thornton Street residence for twelve years. He indicated that he and Deprisco had broken up, but were recently reunited.
Materas was then moved to the Manchester Police Department. There, Detective Bourgeois read him his Miranda rights again, and asked Materas to sign a form waiving his rights, which he did. Later, Detective Bourgeois relayed a message to Materas that his attorney had called and was trying to reach him. Materas voluntarily signed another form waiving his rights and indicated that he wanted to continue to cooperate. During his questioning at the police station, Materas reiterated the statements he had previously made after waiving his Miranda rights at the residence.
On March 23, 2005, a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Materas. Count 1 charged Materas with distribution of methamphetamine, and Counts 2 and 3 charged him with possession with intent to distribute ecstasy and five or more grams of methamphetamine, respectively, all in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1).
On July 18, 2005, Materas filed a motion to suppress the statements he made during the search. He asserted that he should have been read his Miranda rights before being questioned on the location of the drugs and that he was interrogated under coercive circumstances while the police knew that he was under the influence of methamphetamine. Materas also filed a separate motion to suppress the evidence seized as a result of the search. He argued that the search was invalid because Detective Bourgeois failed to provide proof of his informant's credibility, which was undermined by the informant's failure to tell the police that Materas did not reside at 374 Thornton Street.
On August 19, 2005, the district court heard and denied both motions. The court ruled that the circumstances of the controlled buy at 374 Thornton Street constituted adequate probable cause to justify the search, whether or not the warrant contained other material omissions or false statements. The judge clarified at the defense's request that Materas was not entitled to a Franks hearing because even if he could prove everything that he claimed, it still would not be enough to support suppression.
With respect to Materas's statements subsequent to being read his Miranda rights, the court specifically determined that there was nothing "unusually coercive about the circumstances" surrounding Materas's waiver of his Miranda rights. It also concluded that Detective Bourgeois had acted "entirely in good faith" and that his initial question about the location of the drugs was not intended to undermine Materas's rights. The court went on to note that Materas's initial statement concerning the location of the drugs would be suppressed and that the government had no intention of using the statement in its principal case. Finally, the court deferred the determination of whether the statement could be used for impeachment purposes.
Following the denial of his motions to suppress, Materas changed his plea to guilty on the two counts of possession, reserving his right to appeal the court's suppression rulings. On May 24, 2006, the court dismissed Count 1 and sentenced Materas to seventy months imprisonment on each of Counts 2 and 3, to be served concurrently.
On appeal, Materas argues that the district court erred in imposing too high a burden for his preliminary showing that he was entitled to a Franks hearing. He further argues that the police coerced him into making his initial statement indicating where the drugs were located, and that suppression of only that initial statement, rather than all statements made to the police thereafter, is an inadequate remedy for the violation of his constitutional rights. After carefully considering Materas's arguments, we affirm the district court's denial of his motions to suppress.
We review the denial of a Franks hearing for clear error. United States v. Nelson-Rodríguez, 319 F.3d 12, 34 (1st Cir. 2003). Under Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154, 155-56, 98 S.Ct. 2674, 57 L.Ed.2d 667 (1978), a defendant may request an evidentiary hearing to challenge police misconduct in drafting an affidavit in support of a...
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