U.S. v. Akins

• Decision Date: 20 February 1998
• Docket Number: No. 3:97-00068.,3:97-00068.
• Citation: 995 F.Supp. 797
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Ronald T. AKINS, Carmack Odom, Jr. a/k/a "Ivan Wright".
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee

995 F.Supp. 797

UNITED STATES of America v. Ronald T. AKINS, Carmack Odom, Jr. a/k/a "Ivan Wright".

No. 3:97-00068.

United States District Court, M.D. Tennessee, Nashville Division.

February 20, 1998.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Sonny A.M. Koshy, Nashville, TN, for Plaintiff.

Carl Douglas Thoresen, Nashville, TN, Ernest Wilson Williams, Franklin, TN, for Akins.

Jack Edward Seaman, Nashville, TN, for Odom.

MEMORANDUM

JOHN T. NIXON, Chief Judge.

Pending before the Court is the Defendants Ronald T. Akins and Carmack Odom's respective Motions to Suppress (Doc. Nos. 35 & 36), both of which the Government opposes. Also pending is the Defendant Ronald T. Akins' Motion for Severance of Defendants (Doc. No. 37). The Court conducted a hearing and heard testimony with respect to these two matters from August 11-12, 1997. All parties submitted proposed findings of fact and law subsequent to the hearing. For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies the Defendants' Motions to Suppress in part and grants them in part, and grants Defendant Ronald T. Akins' Motion for Severance.

I. FINDINGS OF FACT

Having heard testimony from Drug Enforcement Agency ("DEA") Task Force Agents Ricky Stewart ("Stewart") and Ron Delton Riddle ("Riddle"), and from Defendant Carmack Odom ("Odom"), and reviewed the record in this case, the Court makes the following findings of fact:

On April 28, 1997, Officer Riddle was on duty at the Nashville International Airport. TR1 at 6-7.¹ As part of his job, Riddle reviewed Passenger Name Records ("PNR's"), documents compiled by the airlines which list the name, method of payment, home phone number, time, and flight information of passengers making reservations. TR1 at 95. He noticed three reservations which he considered to be suspicious. The reservations, made on April 28, 1997, were for persons whose names were listed as Ivan Wright, Ronald Akins, and Howard Lillard, for travel on the same flight between Nashville and Los Angeles, California. Id. The reservations were made within six minutes of each other, and were only for one-way travel. Two of the passengers, Akins and Wright, purchased their tickets at around the same time, with cash, on the day of the flight. Id. The third, Lillard, also purchased his ticket with cash about an hour and a half after Akins and Wright did so. Id. All three men made return reservations approximately three hours after arriving in Los Angeles, for a flight which was set to depart the following day. TRI at 96. Again, the tickets were paid for in cash. Id. The call-back numbers they listed on their reservations back to Nashville had a Los Angeles area code and were similar: Wright's number was 410-1224, Lillard's was 417-1224, and Akins was 410-1270. TR1 at 96-97. These flights were also suspicious in that they were destined for a source city: many narcotics purchasers buy their drugs in Los Angeles to transport back to Nashville, in order to take advantage of lower prices. TR1 at 98. Riddle concluded that from his experience as a narcotics agent, all three of these men were traveling together and exhibited the typical characteristics of drug couriers. TR1 at 97. Riddle also had reason to believe that Akins was involved in drug activity because Riddle had previously arrested Akins' twin brother, Donald, on drug trafficking charges, and had been informed by other officers in the nearby town of Murfreesboro that Ronald Akins had also been arrested for sale or possession for resale of marijuana. TR1 at 7, 93-94, 98.

Riddle telephoned Stewart on the evening of April 29, 1997, and asked Stewart to accompany him at the airport to await the arrival of the flight. TR1 at 6-7, TR3 at 47. The two officers arrived at the gate and noticed that one of the first people to exit the plane bore a physical resemblance to Donald Akins. TR1 at 7-8. This person was later identified as Donald Akins' twin brother, Ronald. TR1 at 99. The officers noticed that after leaving the gate, Ronald Akins hesitated in the middle of the concourse and appeared to be looking for someone. TR1 at 9. He made eye contact and nodded to another passenger, who the officers later learned was flying under the name Howard Lillard, but whose real name was Jesse Davidson. TR1 at 99. Akins then walked over to the pay phone and picked up the receiver. However, the officers did not observe him to actually deposit money into the phone, or to dial any numbers. TR1 at 9. Akins whistled and motioned to Davidson, and Davidson walked towards Akins, and stood about thirty feet away from him. TR3 at 5. After a few minutes, Akins hung up the phone and he and Davidson continued down the concourse together. TR1 at 10.

Officers Riddle and Stewart followed behind them. Id. The officers noticed that Akins looked behind him several times as he walked down the concourse, and made eye contact with a third man, who appeared to nod to him. TR1 a 10-11. It was later discovered that this third man was Carmack Odom ("Odom"). TR1 at 11. At that point, the officers decided to split up: Stewart approached Akins and Davidson, and Riddle contacted Odom. TR1 at 11, 100.

Riddle approached Odom as he was standing in the middle of the concourse. Odom was carrying a blue and green duffel bag tightly under his arm. TR at 101. Riddle identified himself as a DEA agent, and asked to see Odom's identification. Odom placed the duffle bag under his feet, and searched all of his pockets in an abrupt, brisk manner, leading Riddle to believe that he was nervous. He eventually produced an airplane ticket which bore the name "Ivan Wright." Riddle recognized the name as one of the ones he had pulled on the PNR. TR at 102. Riddle then asked Odom for some picture identification, and Odom produced one in the name of Ivan Wright. Odom then indicated he needed to use the restroom. Riddle permitted him to go, and followed him there. Fearing that Odom might flush any narcotics in his possession down the toilet, Riddle stepped into the restroom first.

Instead of going into the restroom, however, Odom took the opportunity to run away, carrying his bag with him. TR1 at 103. Riddle ordered him to stop and pursued him. He was able to tackle him just outside the airport at the edge of the curb. TR1 at 104. When Odom hit the ground, a pill bottle containing dilaudid, a bag of crack cocaine, a pack of cigarettes and some airline food packets fell from his person. TR1 at 105. Riddle stabbed his finger into Odom's back, pretending that it was a gun, and held Odom to the ground until an airport security officer came and provided handcuffs. Before Riddle could get to it, however, a car ran over the pill bottle that had fallen during the struggle. Riddle picked up the pieces, placed them in Odom's hat, and took possession of Odom's duffel bag. He also advised Odom that he was under arrest, and read him his Miranda rights. TR1 at 106. Riddle then escorted Odom to the DEA Interdiction office.

In the meantime, Stewart had presented his DEA credentials to Akins and Davidson at the security checkpoint and asked the two men if they would be willing to speak with him. TR1 at 12. Both men agreed to do so. Ronald Akins insisted that Stewart search him immediately. Stewart testified that to this end, Akins even unbuttoned his pants, and started to pull them down. TR1 at 13. Believing that this behavior was causing a commotion, Stewart asked Akins to relax. He then attempted to obtain identification from Davidson, but his attempts to question him were somewhat frustrated because Akins would repeatedly interject his request to be searched and "get this over with." TR1 at 14.

After a period of time, Akins asked Stewart if they could "take this into the bathroom." TR1 at 15. The three men then stepped into a restroom which was located to their right. Once inside, Stewart identified himself and his purpose for questioning them more fully. He also asked the men to identify themselves, to state the purpose of their travel, and asked if either of them were carrying large sums of money, narcotics proceeds, or narcotics. Akins indicated that he had some money with him, and pulled out three thousand dollars from his pants pocket. TR1 at 16. Akins also produced his boarding pass, and explained that he had traveled to California to purchase a car. TR1 at 17. Stewart then conducted a cursory pat-down of Akins, and squeezed his pockets to determine if he was carrying anything inside. TR1 at 19. He noticed that Akins was wearing two pairs of pants, which is a common method of hiding narcotics. However, he was unable to find any narcotics in Akins' possession. When asked, Akins denied being acquainted with Davidson, or in general with anyone else on his flight. Id. Before anything further transpired, however, Stewart heard over the radio about Odom's attempt to flee, and asked Akins and Davidson to accompany him to the general vicinity where Riddle was present. On the way, Stewart received word that Riddle had custody of Odom, and asked Akins and Davidson to accompany him to the DEA Interdiction Office. The two men complied. TR1 at 21. Stewart, Akins, and Davidson were already present at the DEA office by the time Odom and Riddle arrived. TR1 at 107. Akins and Davidson were informed that Odom had attempted to flee, and had been caught carrying narcotics.

The officers then began to question each of the men individually. Riddle first took Davidson aside for questioning. Davidson stated that he was a friend of Akins, and had flown to Los Angeles with him because Akins offered him a free ticket. TR1 at 108. However, he denied being acquainted with Odom. Riddle read him his Miranda rights, and searched him. He found a crack pipe stored in the pocket of his waistband. TR3 at 10. Riddle then directed Davidson back to the area where Akins was sitting, and noticed Akins' wallet on the table. Without first obtaining Akins' consent, and for the purpose of finding additional evidence, Riddle searched...