State v. Richardson
| Decision Date | 15 May 2020 |
| Docket Number | DOCKET NO. A-1288-18T2 |
| Parties | STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. LANCE S. RICHARDSON, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | New Jersey Superior Court — Appellate Division |
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
Before Judges Fasciale and Mitterhoff.
On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Passaic County, Indictment No. 13-03-0272.
Alan Dexter Bowman argued the cause for appellant.
Ali Y. Ozbek, Assistant Prosecutor, argued the cause for respondent (Camelia M. Valdes, Passaic County Prosecutor, attorney; Ali Y. Ozbek, of counsel and on the brief).
Defendant Lance S. Richardson appeals from a September 5, 2018 judgment of conviction. Following the denial of his motion to suppress, defendant pled guilty to second-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute, in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5(a)(1) and N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5(b)(10),1 and was sentenced to a one-year term of non-custodial probation. On appeal, he raises the following issues:
Based on the testimony elicited at the suppression hearing, we agree with Judge Joseph A. Portelli's conclusions that there was no expectation of privacy in the common area of the storage facility and that defendant was lawfully detained. Accordingly, we affirm.
We discern the following facts from the suppression hearing, where a single witness, Captain Daniel Bachok2 of the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office Narcotics Unit (the Narcotics Unit) testified.
During the summer of 2012,3 the Narcotics Unit began investigating two individuals, Darren E. Richardson4 (defendant's uncle) and J.S., after confidential informants (CIs) reported that Darren and J.S. were dealing marijuana in the Wanaque area. According to the CIs and a citizen informant, Darren would buy marijuana in California and ship it to New Jersey through the mail, and an anonymous female told Detective Sergeant Charlie Sahanas of the Wanaque Police Department that J.S. planned to travel to San Diego with Darren. Although Captain Bachok did not learn this information firsthand, asthe investigation involved several officers, he generally understood this to be the basis for the investigation, and he also understood that Darren and J.S. had planned to ship the marijuana in a suitcase.
Based on the CIs' tips, the Narcotics Unit prepared to apply for a communications data warrant (CDW), or tracker, to track the vehicle J.S. drove to identify the "stash location," defined as the "place[] where drug dealers would leave their drugs sometimes, [but] not at their personal residence." During the week of September 9, arrangements were made for a controlled buy of marijuana from J.S., and thereafter, surveillance of her and Darren continued.
On September 20, Detective Stephen Day of the Narcotics Unit applied for the CDW. After the warrant was authorized, Captain Bachok installed the tracker on J.S.'s black BMW. Through efforts to track the vehicle, the Narcotics Unit observed what was believed to be "hand to hand drug transactions on several occasions."
On October 1, the Narcotics Unit observed Darren, in a blue BMW, and J.S., in the black BMW, drive to a storage facility on Hamburg Turnpike in Wayne (the storage facility). Captain Bachok described the storage facility as "wide open," meaning storage units could be seen from the street. A chain link fence surrounded the property, and the entrance was guarded by a gate andkeypad. On the property, there were "a bunch of garages all over and . . . surrounding the perimeter."
Darren drove the blue BMW into unit 3020. According to Captain Bachok, unit 3020 was a garage-like unit accessible from the storage facility's common space, and it was the third unit in from the perimeter. It was about 300 feet away from the entrance and could be "clearly" seen from the public street. After Darren entered the unit, he exited his vehicle and got into the black BMW, and he and J.S. drove away from the storage facility. The Narcotics Unit followed the black BMW to the George Washington Bridge and then tracked it first to John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) and then to LaGuardia Airport (LaGuardia).
On October 3, the Narcotics Unit tracked J.S.'s car to a parking garage at LaGuardia. Inside the airport, it "identif[ied] the airline that [J.S.] had used to fly out to California" and learned that she planned to return to New Jersey on October 4. The following day, it observed J.S. depart from the airplane and leave the LaGuardia parking lot in the black BMW.
On the morning of October 5, the Narcotics Unit tracked J.S. to her mother's home in Wanaque, and Captain Bachok observed her accept a FedEx package, although he was unable to see where she placed the package after sheaccepted it. Soon after, the Narcotics Unit observed J.S. driving away in the black BMW and tracked her to the storage facility. By the time they arrived at the storage facility, J.S. was driving away in the black BMW, so Captain Bachok entered the premises through an open gate, parked in the parking lot, and asked an employee in the office to view the security video. Upon viewing the video, he observed J.S. park in front of unit 3020, get out of the vehicle, enter the storage unit, and get back into the vehicle, but he could not "see her actually do anything."
After J.S. left the storage facility, she was tracked to JFK and then to her and Darren's Oakland residence, and Darren was observed riding in the black BMW upon her return from JFK. Around 8 p.m., they returned to the storage facility. J.S. was driving, Darren was in the front passenger seat, and defendant and a woman were in the back. Darren and defendant exited the vehicle, and J.S. and the female passenger departed in the black BMW.
Darren and defendant then opened unit 3020. A surveillance unit drove onto the premises of the storage facility "to see what they were doing." Captain Bachok had been unable to observe how the unit gained access to the premises but testified that he was not aware of anyone having an access code to open the gate. The surveillance unit parked on the far side of the storage facility, leavingthe center building between them and unit 3020. Detective Sergeant Sahanas also approached unit 3020 on foot and observed from the bushes located on the far side of the end unit nearby. Captain Bachok remained outside the facility and could not "see [what was] going on." At this time, neither he nor anyone else involved in the investigation had seen any contraband on the premises.
After Darren and defendant entered unit 3020, Captain Bachok entered the storage facility and parked his car facing the street. The facility's office was not open at the time, but he was able to enter the premises without a key or passcode because according to him, the gate was open. Captain Bachok watched Darren through his rearview mirror and noticed there was light inside the unit. Then, he and Detective Sergeant Sahanas observed Darren inside unit 3020, rolling a suitcase toward the trunk of his vehicle, which was also inside the unit. He also observed Darren and defendant notice his vehicle. Upon seeing Darren with the suitcase, Captain Bachok ordered "everybody to move in to . . . further investigate," believing that the suitcase contained marijuana. Captain Bachok testified that it was not until he saw Darren with the suitcase that he determined there was probable cause.
As Captain Bachok and the other officers approached unit 3020, Darren threw the suitcase into the trunk and closed it. The officers identifiedthemselves, informed Darren and defendant about the investigation, and read them their Miranda5 rights. Darren verbally consented to a search of the storage unit and his vehicle, but a decision was made to apply for a search warrant, after a conversation with the chief assistant prosecutor.
After the storage facility was secured, within an hour of arriving at the facility, Darren and defendant were transported to the Wayne Police Department to be held until the search warrant was executed. According to Captain Bachok, although he could not be sure that defendant knew there was marijuana in the suitcase, defendant was detained because he and Darren "were together" at the storage facility. Captain Bachok further explained that Darren had "other people selling for him," and defendant "was [also] a target of the investigation."
While waiting to search unit 3020, a previously obtained search warrant was executed on the Oakland residence. Outside of the home, the box that had been delivered to J.S. the previous day was discovered. It was empty, but law enforcement later determined that the Darren's suitcase fit inside.
Around 1:20 a.m. on October 6, a Wayne municipal court judge signed the search warrant for unit 3020, including Darren's vehicle. At 1:35 a.m., lawenforcement returned to the storage facility through an open gate and executed the search warrant, recovering a medium-sized suitcase containing seventeen pounds of marijuana and a safe holding $9500 in cash.
Captain Bachok returned to the storage facility one morning about a month before the suppression hearing to record a video of the premises. During his visit, the gate was open. He also testified that he had "driven there many times after [5 p.m.] and at times it was open."
At the conclusion of the suppression hearing, the judge...
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