United States v. White

• Citation: 748 F.3d 507
• Decision Date: 14 April 2014
• Docket Number: No. 13–2130.,13–2130.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Joseph Vincent WHITE, Appellant.

748 F.3d 507

UNITED STATES of America
v.
Joseph Vincent WHITE, Appellant.

No. 13–2130.

United States Court of Appeals,
Third Circuit.

Argued Jan. 22, 2014.
Opinion Filed: April 14, 2014.

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Zane David Memeger, Esq., Robert A. Zauzmer, Esq., Robert J. Livermore, Esq., Paul G. Shapiro, Esq., [Argued], U.S. Department of Justice, Philadelphia, PA, Counsel for Appellee.

Leigh M. Skipper, Esq., Brett G. Sweitzer, Esq., Sarah S. Gannett, Esq., Keith M. Donoghue, Esq., [Argued], Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, Counsel for Appellant.

Before: FUENTES and FISHER, Circuit Judges, and STARK,^* District Judge.

OPINION OF THE COURT
STARK, District Judge.

Joseph Vincent White appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence of his unlawful possession of two firearms. Because we conclude the District Court erred in its legal analysis, we vacate its order and remand for further proceedings.

I A ¹

In the early morning of April 12, 2012, Pennsylvania State Police Troopers James John Hoban, Jr. and Travis Hill were radioed from their dispatch station about a potential domestic disturbance between a father and his daughter. The dispatch supervisor stated “something to the effect of” someone “under the influence of drugs or alcohol” was “waving a loaded firearm around” and “dragging his daughter from room to room,” or may have been “barricaded inside the bathroom.” (A67–68) The daughter's boyfriend had reported the incident to police, relaying information the daughter was sending him via text message. The dispatcher further advised the troopers that the father was believed to be the defendant, White, who on a prior occasion had fought with the police and resisted arrest.

Within approximately 15 minutes, Troopers Hoban and Hill arrived at the residence, which was a trailer home with a mud room attached to the front. The troopers observed two individuals looking out from behind the screen door of the mud room. With their guns drawn, the troopers ordered both individuals to come outside. The taller of the two—who turned out to be White—emerged first and walked unsteadily towards the troopers, leading them to conclude he was intoxicated or under the influence of drugs. When White was at a distance of about 20 feet from the entrance to the home, the troopers instructed him to lay face down on the ground; White complied and was handcuffed. Trooper Hill then escorted White to the police cruiser, which was parked farther away from the residence, conducted a pat down search, and found that White was not in possession of a firearm or any other weapon.

The second of the two individuals, White's adult daughter, Samantha White, came out of the home slightly behind her father. Samantha hesitated to come all the way towards the officers, instead remaining approximately five to ten feet away from the entrance to the residence. Given her size and apparent victim status, Trooper Hoban decided there was no need to handcuff Samantha. When he asked her if anyone was in the home, she responded there was not.

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Trooper Hoban decided to check for himself. As he walked into the front door of the mud room, Trooper Hoban saw two guns—a revolver and a shotgun—lying on the floor just inside the threshold, the same area in which the troopers had first seen White and Samantha upon arriving at the residence. Trooper Hoban seized the guns, carried them to the police cruiser, and placed them in the trunk. He then returned to the home and, with Samantha, walked through the rooms, finding no other person but observing several gun cases and a partly burnt marijuana cigarette, none of which he seized.

Additional troopers arrived on the scene. At some point, an officer advised White of his Miranda rights and asked whether he had any other firearms. White stated he was a gun collector, owned many firearms, and had been carrying the guns because he believed there were people trying to kill him. He also said he had shot at some animals on his property earlier that day.²

Weeks later, on May 4, 2012, after obtaining a search warrant based in part on the two firearms Trooper Hoban seized from inside the mud room of the home, police executed a search of the residence and seized 91 additional firearms.

B

On August 8, 2012, a grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania returned an indictment charging White with unlawful possession of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a felony, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). The charge was based on White's possession of the revolver and shotgun uncovered during Trooper Hoban's search. White moved to suppress those two firearms plus the additional guns seized during execution of the search warrant, as well as any inculpatory statements he made. Specifically with respect to the revolver and shotgun, White argued that Trooper Hoban's warrantless search of his home was unreasonable and violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment.

After receiving extensive briefing on White's motion, on November 30, 2012 the District Court held an evidentiary hearing at which both Troopers Hoban and Hill testified. Trooper Hoban explained that he entered White's home “to make sure that there was no one inside the residence,” “just to see if there were any additional people inside the residence.” (A85, A89) Hoban stated that he merely undertook “a cursory sweep of the residence,” “for everyone's safety because of a report of a firearm and, also, for myself to determine that there was no one in need of medical attention inside the residence.” (A84) According to his testimony, he searched for people, not evidence, looking only for “an injured person or a person that could be a threat to myself;” he did not open drawers or look at papers. (A84–85) Trooper Hill, who was standing by the police cruiser talking with White while Trooper Hoban and Samantha walked through the home, corroborated that Hoban searched only “to make sure there was no one else inside injured or who was a threat to us.” (A123)

White did not call any witnesses. Neither party sought to argue the motion nor

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to file post-hearing submissions. The District Court ruled from the bench and denied White's motion.

Relying on the Supreme Court's decision in Maryland v. Buie, 494 U.S. 325, 110 S.Ct. 1093, 108 L.Ed.2d 276 (1990), and our non-precedential decision in United States v. Latz, 162 Fed.Appx. 113 (3d Cir.2005), the District Court held that Trooper Hoban's search was a lawful “search incident to the arrest,” which did not require reasonable suspicion in order to be lawful. (A142–43) Finding Troopers Hoban and Hill “to be most credible” and “straight shooters, in all respect[s]” (A140; see also A141–42 (“I credit the testimony of Trooper Hoban and Trooper Hill....”)), the District Court found that they encountered a situation “fraught with danger” (A141). In turn, the District Court concluded that the dispatch report combined with what Hoban and Hill observed on the scene gave rise to “a profound objectively-reasonable concern about their safety.” (A142) Further, the “very limited search incident to the arrest” was undertaken “with great fidelity to [the officers'] Fourth Amendment duties,” and “that's as far as we need to go here under the jurisprudence.” (A143–44)

C

On January 7, 2013, White pled guilty to the felon in possession of a firearm charge, expressly reserving his right to appeal the denial of his suppression motion. On April 5, 2013, the District Court sentenced White to 96 months of imprisonment. He then timely filed this appeal, solely challenging the District Court's denial of his motion to suppress.

II

The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. See generally United States v. Robertson, 305 F.3d 164, 165 (3d Cir.2002) (reviewing District Court's denial of suppression motion following conditional guilty plea).

We “review the District Court's denial of a motion to suppress for clear error as to the underlying factual determinations but exercise plenary review over the District Court's application of law to those facts.” United States v. Stabile, 633 F.3d 219, 230 (3d Cir.2011). White's appeal presents solely a question of law: whether it was correct to apply the analysis of Buie's “prong 1” to the undisputed facts relating to the search of White's home.

III A

The District Court held that the...