U.S. v. Tartaglia, 87-3079

• Citation: 864 F.2d 837,275 U.S.App.D.C. 15
• Decision Date: 06 January 1989
• Docket Number: No. 87-3079,87-3079
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Ronald J. TARTAGLIA, Jr., Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (District of Columbia)

Page 837

864 F.2d 837

275 U.S.App.D.C. 15

UNITED STATES of America v. Ronald J. TARTAGLIA, Jr., Appellant.

No. 87-3079.

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued May 5, 1988.

Decided Jan. 6, 1989.

As Amended Jan. 6, 1989.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Criminal No. 87-0101).

David N. Cicilline, Providence, R.I., was on the brief, for appellant.

Michael W. Farrell, Mary Ellen Abrecht, Betty Ann Soiefer, Washington, D.C., Oliver W. McDaniel, Asst. U.S. Attys., Jay B. Stephens, U.S. Atty., Washington, D.C., were on the brief, for appellee.

Before EDWARDS and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges, and OBERDORFER, ^* District Judge.

Opinion for the Court filed by District Judge OBERDORFER.

OBERDORFER, District Judge:

On February 24, 1987, defendant Ronald J. Tartaglia was arrested at Union Station in Washington, D.C. and subsequently indicted on a charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine. A police detail had found and seized an incriminating quantity of cocaine when, without a warrant, they entered a roomette occupied by defendant in an Amtrak train's passenger car standing in Union Station. The train had stopped in Washington en route from Miami, Florida to New York City. The District Court denied defendant's motion to suppress the evidence so seized on the alternate grounds that (1) the warrantless search of defendant's roomette and knapsack was based upon probable cause stemming from police observations and the reaction of a well-trained, qualified narcotics detection dog while it sniffed at the door of the roomette; (2) the search could be regarded as a Terry stop based on reasonably suspicious circumstances arising from police scrutiny of a passenger list before the train departed from Miami; (3) an extension of the so-called "automobile exception" to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment justified the warrantless search; and (4) the imminent departure of the train pending issuance of a warrant and the difficulty of delaying the train were exigent circumstances which justified the warrantless search and seizure. The District Court not only found that there was probable cause to justify a search, but also specifically found that it was "practically impossible to get a warrant for a person on board a train which is only going to stop for 25 minutes." Transcript of Motion to Suppress held on May 21, 1987, ("Tr."), at 55a. Thereupon, defendant pled guilty pursuant to stipulation which allowed him to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress. After sentence, defendant appealed. Appellant argues here that the trial court erred in relying on the "exigent circumstances exception" and on the "automobile exception" to excuse the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment. We affirm because we are satisfied that the record here portrays exigent circumstances that fully justify the District Court's denial of the motion to suppress.

I.

The investigation leading to the search, seizure, and arrest evolved incrementally. Amtrak officials, aware of the use of Amtrak facilities by drug couriers travelling from South Florida to drug sources in the Northeast corridor markets, have created a Drug Interdiction Unit. Experience with detection of drug couriers who use Amtrak service has established characteristics of those couriers: "[u]nusual nervousness, travelling from a source city, paying cash for a ticket, unusual itinerary, associating with a known drug trafficker, making a call to a pay phone upon deplaning, travelling under a false name, giving a false call-back number." Tr. at 42-43.

William Pearson is an inspector with the Amtrak Police Department in charge of the Drug Interdiction Unit in Washington, D.C. He came to Amtrak in 1986 after 26 years of service in the Dade County (Florida) Police Department, 18 of those years in various drug enforcement investigative assignments. Tr. at 21. Beginning in 1980, he worked in a transportation unit with the mission of interdicting the movement of drugs by plane, train, and bus from South Florida. He had learned from that experience that train "compartments were the means of choice" for drug couriers on that route. Tr. at 22. On February 23, 1987, Pearson examined the manifest, or passenger list, of Amtrak Train 98, then en route from Miami to New York, focusing on the information about passengers travelling in compartments. The name of B. Johnson occupying roomette 3 on Train 98 caught Pearson's eye. Train 98 was due to arrive at Union Station in Washington, D.C. at 6:45 A.M. on February 24. The manifest indicated a telephone number for Johnson (401-232-8040) and also indicated that he had paid cash for a one-way ticket from Miami to Providence, Rhode Island. Pearson called that number to learn whether it was a "working number." Tr. at 23. The Providence police, on inquiry, reported that the number had been out of service for some time. Tr. at 24. This information led Pearson to attempt to interview B. Johnson when Train 98 arrived at Union Station and to notify members of the Drug Enforcement Agency. Pearson requested and received the assistance of Detective Michael C. Bernier and his narcotics detector dog.

In 1982, the dog handler, Detective Bernier, had received four months of training in the management of a particular dog, Max 25. The dog was trained to react to the presence of certain narcotics. The handler was trained to control the dog and to recognize reactions of the dog to the presence of those narcotics. By February 24, 1987, the two had worked together on numerous occasions. They had been credited with accurately detecting 52 deposits of narcotics. On only two occasions, Bernier had noted a reaction suggesting that the dog had detected narcotics which did not lead to a measurable deposit. Bernier had frequently testified about searches conducted with the aid of the dog in this and other area courts. Tr. at 6-7.

At 6:30 A.M., February 24, 1987, Pearson, Bernier and two other investigators met at Union Station. Train 98 arrived on schedule and the several officers with Max 25 boarded it. Train 98 was scheduled to remain in Union Station for 25 minutes while its engine was changed from diesel to electric. At stations between Washington and New York no stop was scheduled for longer than three minutes.

Pearson, Bernier leading Max 25, and another Metropolitan Police Officer entered the car in which B. Johnson was reported to occupy roomette 3. Max 25 walked down the corridor of the car sniffing at the vents situated just above floor level of each roomette. According to Bernier, when Max 25 reached roomette 3, he "started scratching on the door and then he backed off and starting [sic] whining as if wanting to get in the room...." Tr. at 9. Bernier notified Pearson of a "narcotics alert". Pearson then took over. The door of roomette 3 was closed. Pearson approached the door and knocked on it, while Bernier, who had left Max 25 under the control of another officer, stood in the corridor. Tr. at 15. A voice from inside asked something like, "Who is it?" Pearson responded, "Amtrak." A male opened the door, at which time Pearson identified himself by his badge and credentials, saying further, "Police Officer, can I talk to you for a minute?" The male responded, "No." Tr. at 27. However, when Pearson asked for the passenger's ticket, he produced a one-way ticket to Providence issued to "B. Johnson." On further inquiry defendant identified himself as B. Johnson. He was not able to produce any identification. When asked if he would consent to a search, he replied, "Well, I'm not sure." Tr. at 28. In response to still further inquiry, he said that he had flown to Florida. Pearson indicated that during this colloquy he stood outside the roomette while the man who claimed to be B. Johnson sat, partially dressed, on the roomette bed and "appeared over-nervous," his "eyes darting in a nervous manner, around the compartment." Tr. at 28. Eventually, Pearson told the suspect about the positive alert by the trained drug detection dog that indicated the presence of a controlled substance in his compartment. Pearson said that based on that alert he was going to search the compartment. He asked the, by then, suspect to get dressed and step out of the compartment while the search was being conducted. The suspect complied without saying anything that Pearson could recall. Pearson then searched the compartment and found under the roomette bed a knapsack which had no locks on it, but was tightly closed with little straps. Tr. at 31. He opened the knapsack. Inside the knapsack he found a towel. Inside the towel he found a wrapped package with a bandaid over one portion of it. Pulling the bandaid away, Pearson saw a white crystalized powder which he believed to be cocaine. Later, chemical analysis established that the substance was indeed cocaine--500 grams. Pearson advised Bernier that he had found a deposit of narcotics and that Bernier should place defendant under arrest. This he did. There followed the instant indictment and defendant's motion to suppress the use of the seized cocaine as evidence.

II.

When examining a claim of exigent circumstances, we review the District Court's legal conclusions under a de novo standard, but review its factual findings under a clearly erroneous standard. United States v. Socey, 846 F.2d 1439, 1445 (D.C.Cir.1988). Because the facts in this case are not in dispute, we focus on the district court's legal conclusions.

The presence of exigent circumstances necessitating an immediate search is one of the "few specially established and well-delineated exceptions" to the rule that warrantless searches are per se unreasonable. United States v. McClinnhan, 660 F.2d 500, 503 (D.C.Cir.1981) (quoting Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 357, 88 S.Ct. 507, 514, 19 L.Ed.2d 576 (1967)). The Supreme Court has recognized that the likelihood of destruction of evidence...