Londono v. Com.

Decision Date29 April 2003
Docket NumberRecord No. 2628-01-2.
Citation579 S.E.2d 641,40 Va. App. 377
PartiesJohn LONDONO v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia.
CourtVirginia Court of Appeals

Stephen R. Cutright (David L. Carlson, on brief), Richmond, for appellant.

John H. McLees, Senior Assistant Attorney General (Jerry W. Kilgore, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.

Present: HUMPHREYS, CLEMENTS and AGEE,1 JJ.

CLEMENTS, Judge.

John Londono was convicted of transporting into the Commonwealth more than one ounce of heroin with intent to distribute, in violation of Code § 18.2-248.01, and of conspiring to transport into the Commonwealth more than one ounce of heroin with intent to distribute, in violation of Code § 18.2-248.01. On appeal, Londono contends the trial court erred (1) in denying his motion to dismiss under Code § 19.2-294 on the grounds he had already been prosecuted for the same conduct and acts in federal court, (2) in denying his motion to suppress on the grounds he was illegally seized in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights, and (3) in denying his motion to exclude evidence previously suppressed in federal court under the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel. Finding no error, we affirm the convictions.

I. BACKGROUND

In accordance with familiar principles of appellate review, we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences fairly deducible from that evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the party that prevailed below. See Dowden v. Commonwealth, 260 Va. 459, 461, 536 S.E.2d 437, 438 (2000)

.

So viewed, the evidence established that, on October 7, 2000, at approximately 10:00 a.m., Detective Anthony Patterson of the Petersburg Police Department and Detective Jack O'Connor of the Richmond Police Department boarded Amtrak train number 92 at the Amtrak Station located on Staples Mill Road in Henrico County. Patterson and O'Connor were both narcotics detectives assigned at the time to the Richmond Metropolitan Interdiction Unit (RMIU or Unit), a cooperative task force made up of officers assigned to it from the police departments of the Cities of Richmond and Petersburg; the Counties of Henrico, Chesterfield, and Hanover; the Virginia State Police; and the Richmond International Airport and an agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The RMIU is a hybrid entity. The salary of each officer or agent assigned to the Unit is paid by his or her respective police department or agency, and the participating jurisdictions contribute to underwrite the expenses of the Unit. The Unit was created and is operated pursuant to a written agreement entered into by the chief law enforcement officials of the participating jurisdictions and the DEA. The RMIU's mission is to interdict, arrest, and prosecute "narcotic couriers using public transportation, specifically, rail, aircraft, bus and parcel packages" in the Richmond metropolitan area. Each officer in the Unit is sworn in as a special officer with the Virginia State Police and, thus, empowered with the authority of the State Police to enforce the narcotics laws of the Commonwealth.

Based upon information received from the DEA regarding a "suspicious ticket" purchased by "two subjects riding from Miami to New York in a sleeper car," Detectives Patterson and O'Connor went to Sleeper Car 9211, Room 8. Patterson's role was to speak to the occupants of the room, and O'Connor's role was to back up Patterson. Both detectives were in plain clothes and did not have their weapons displayed.

Detective O'Connor rang the bell and stepped back into the doorway of the vacant sleeper-car room across the hall to allow passengers to pass while the confrontation was occurring. When Londono opened the sliding door to the room, Detective Patterson displayed his badge, identified himself as a police officer, and asked if he could speak with Londono. Londono replied, "Yes," in English. Another man, later identified as Orlando Betancourt, was sitting on the bed inside the room.

Following his standard procedure, Patterson advised the men that he was "trying to stem the flow of narcotics coming to the Commonwealth and through the Commonwealth." He did not accuse the men of having narcotics in the room or otherwise make any accusatory statements. Patterson then asked Londono and Betancourt if they had "any weapons, large amounts of money, or drugs" on their persons or in the room. Londono answered that he did not. Patterson turned to Betancourt to obtain his response to the question but Londono told him that Betancourt did not speak English.

Patterson then asked to see Londono's tickets. Londono retrieved the tickets from inside the room, stepped back into the doorway, and showed the tickets to Patterson. Patterson did not take the tickets but observed that Londono was breathing heavily, had a look of panic on his face, and was visibly shaking as he displayed the tickets to the detective. Patterson, who was also standing in the doorway in order to allow passengers to pass behind him through the narrow hallway, asked again whether Londono had any guns, drugs, or large amounts of money, and Londono again answered, "No."

Detective Patterson then asked Londono if he could search the sleeper-car room. Londono said, "Yes, go ahead," and motioned Patterson into the room. Patterson asked Londono and Betancourt to step out into the hallway while he conducted the search, and they left the room. Neither exit of the train car was blocked while Londono and Betancourt were in the hall.

Detective O'Connor testified that Detective Patterson did not raise his voice during the encounter and was his usual "soft-spoken" and "low key" self. Patterson testified that, throughout the encounter with Londono, he and Londono spoke entirely in English and that at no time did Londono indicate that he did not understand what the detective was saying and doing. Patterson further testified that he "[d]id not have any concerns about [Londono's] ability to understand [him]."

Searching the sleeper-car room, Patterson found a black tote bag in an upper compartment of the room. Patterson asked Londono whose bag it was, and Londono said, "It's mine." Patterson opened the bag and found a "large amount" of what he suspected were illegal drugs inside. The suspected drugs, which were later determined by laboratory analysis to be nearly two thousand grams of heroin with eighty-eight percent purity, were packaged in the "fingertips of latex gloves cut out, wrapped in black tape." At that point, Detective Patterson told Detective O'Connor what he had found and told him to place Londono under arrest. O'Connor handcuffed Londono, and Patterson handcuffed Betancourt. O'Connor advised both men of their Miranda rights in English while Patterson continued searching the sleeper-car room. Londono indicated in English, that he understood his rights and informed O'Connor that Betancourt did not speak English.

After Detective Patterson had gathered up all the belongings from the sleeper-car room, Detective O'Connor led Londono and Betancourt out of the train onto the platform and into the terminal. O'Connor and Londono conversed in English as they walked. During that conversation, Londono asked O'Connor to let him go, assuring him that he would "never do it again." He also told O'Connor that he was interested in cooperating with the detectives.

Detective Patterson then drove Betancourt to the interdiction task force office on Westwood Avenue in Richmond, and Detective O'Connor followed with Londono in his car. During the drive, O'Connor and Londono resumed their conversation, which was again held in English. Londono told O'Connor that a man named "Alonzo" had given the drugs to Betancourt and him in Florida and told them to take them by train to New York City, where he would meet them to pick up the drugs, reimburse them for their train tickets, and pay them each "around a thousand dollars." Londono also told O'Connor that he would be interested in helping himself and the police by delivering the drugs to Alonzo.

Upon reaching the interdiction task force office, Londono continued to talk with Detective O'Connor, telling him about where he lived and worked. When asked why he had decided to transport the drugs, Londono said, "I just got greedy." Saying it was "the first time" and he would "never do it again," Londono again asked O'Connor to let him go. Eventually, Londono stated that he was "getting afraid" and was "going to call a lawyer," at which point the interrogation ceased.

Detective O'Connor testified that Londono gave no indication that he had any difficulty understanding the detective during any of their conversations. According to O'Connor, he and Londono engaged in "back and forth" discussion and Londono spoke in "complete sentences in English." O'Connor testified that, based on Londono's ability to converse in English and his appropriate responses to the questions put to him in English, the detective had no doubt that Londono "spoke English" and that he "understood what was going on" and "what [the detectives] were asking" during the encounter on the train and during the ensuing conversations.

Because the weight of the suspected drugs recovered from the sleeper-car room exceeded the amount necessary for federal mandatory minimum sentencing provisions to apply, Detectives Patterson and O'Connor contacted Brian Bonifant, the DEA agent assigned to the RMIU, who indicated that he wanted to present the case to federal prosecutors.2 Accordingly, Londono was taken to the DEA offices and processed there. During that processing, Bonifant engaged in conversation with Londono, in English, for approximately five minutes. According to Bonifant, he had no difficulty communicating in English with Londono and Londono gave no indication that he had any trouble understanding the DEA agent.

Later, while being held on federal charges in the Northern Neck Correctional Facility, Londono had "counseling sessions"...

To continue reading

Request your trial
22 cases
  • Jones v. Com.
    • United States
    • Virginia Court of Appeals
    • 26 Agosto 2008
    ...listen." United States v. Drayton, 536 U.S. 194, 200, 122 S.Ct. 2105, 2110, 153 L.Ed.2d 242 (2002). Thus, in Londono v. Commonwealth, 40 Va.App. 377, 399, 579 S.E.2d 641, 651 (2003), we quoted with approval the following from McGee, 25 Va.App. 193, 487 S.E.2d 259: "An encounter between a la......
  • Davis v. Commonwealth of Va..
    • United States
    • Virginia Court of Appeals
    • 11 Enero 2011
    ...it provides a defense of former jeopardy, ‘it amounts to such a defense in purpose and desired effect.’ ” Londono v. Commonwealth, 40 Va.App. 377, 393, 579 S.E.2d 641, 648 (2003) (quoting Epps v. Commonwealth, 216 Va. 150, 155, 216 S.E.2d 64, 68 (1975)). This statute “speaks to ‘acts' of th......
  • Sanders v. Commonwealth
    • United States
    • Virginia Court of Appeals
    • 26 Mayo 2015
    ...expectation of privacy in the relevant areas of the rooming house. 47 Va.App. at 171, 622 S.E.2d at 772–73. In Londono v. Commonwealth, 40 Va.App. 377, 397, 579 S.E.2d 641, 650–51 (2003), the Court evaluated the expectation of privacy of the occupant of a sleeping compartment on a train. It......
  • White v. Commonwealth
    • United States
    • Virginia Court of Appeals
    • 5 Diciembre 2017
    ...nature and consequences of the sexual act." (quoting Adkins, 20 Va. App. at 346, 457 S.E.2d at 389 )); Londono v. Commonwealth, 40 Va. App. 377, 404 n.6, 579 S.E.2d 641, 654 n.6 (2003) (noting that an issue was not before this Court on appeal because neither party raised the question).8 We ......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT