U.S. v. Casteel
| Decision Date | 29 July 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:08-cr-00053.,1:08-cr-00053. |
| Citation | 638 F.Supp.2d 1089 |
| Parties | United States of America, Plaintiff, v. Tiran Rodez CASTEEL and Devan Rodez Casteel, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa |
Clifford D. Wendel, U.S. Attorney's Office, Des Moines, IA, for Plaintiff.
Chad Douglas Primmer, Primmer Law, Council Bluffs, IA, James F. Whalen, Joseph D. Herrold, Federal Public Defenders Office, Des Moines, IA, for Defendants.
Before the Court are nine motions filed by Tiran Casteel and Devan Casteel (collectively "Defendants") between March 3, 2009 and June 3, 2009:
1) Devan Casteel's Motion to Suppress and Motion to Dismiss Counts Six and Seven, filed March 3, 2009.1 Clerk's No. 85.
2) Devan Casteel's Motion to Sever, filed March 10, 2009.2 Clerk's No. 89.
3) Devan Casteel's Supplement to [his] Motion to Suppress, filed April 28, 2009.3 Clerk's No. 123.
4) Devan Casteel's Motion in Limine, filed April 28, 2009.4 Clerk's No. 124.
5) Tiran Casteel's Motion to Suppress Identification Testimony, filed May 26, 2009.5 Clerk's No. 139 6) Tiran Casteel's Motion to Dismiss Counts VI and VII, filed May 26, 2009.6 Clerk's No. 140.
7) Tiran Casteel's Motion to Sever Counts, filed May 27, 2009.7 Clerk's No. 141.
8) Tiran Casteel's Motion to Suppress, filed May 27, 2009.8 Clerk's No. 142.
9) Devan Casteel's Supplement to [his] Motion to Sever (hereinafter "Devan Casteel's Supp. Mot. to Sever"), filed June 3, 2009.9 Clerk's No. 146.
The Court commenced a hearing on the pending motions on May 29, 2009. Clerk's No. 144. After an extended recess, the hearing concluded on June 17, 2009. Clerk's No. 154. All of these matters are now fully submitted.
On September 11, 2008, at approximately 11:00 p.m., two armed men forcibly entered the home of Darlene Eitzen ("Eitzen"), a 76 year-old widow who lived alone and who was sewing at the time. Tr. at 10-11, 35. The intruders immediately ordered her to sit in a chair, and the younger intruder, who was wearing a mask that revealed only his eyes, remained with her for the next hour, while the older, unmasked intruder searched the residence. Id. at 11-14, 61-62. The intruders eventually left after stealing a portion of her rare coin collection, the money in her purse, and her vehicle. Id. at 15. Prior to leaving, though, the intruders cut Eitzen's phone lines and destroyed her cell phone. Id. at 16-17. Eitzen proceeded to wait in her home for "quite awhile" due to her fright before finally venturing to her neighbor's house, where she called her daughter, Deborah Potter ("Potter"). Id. at 17, 36. The police were then called, and Deputy Sheriff Jake Daly ("Deputy Daly") responded, arriving at approximately 1:30 a.m. on September 12, 2008. Id. at 217-18; Ex. 1.
Later that day, Special Agent Paul White ("Agent White") of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms ("ATF") conducted an undercover sale of two firearms to Tiran Casteel. Id. at 87. Agent White arranged the sale with Tiran Casteel, an individual prohibited from possessing firearms, after responding to Tiran Casteel's solicitation for firearms on Craigslist. Id. Tiran Casteel used the alias Don Hutt during the negotiations and agreed to meet Agent White at America's Best Value Inn between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. Id. Tiran Casteel arrived at the meeting in a green Bonneville driven by his son Devan Casteel, which surprised Agent White because Tiran Casteel never mentioned Devan Casteel during any of the negotiations. Id. at 89, 95. Agent White then conducted the sale, dealing exclusively with Tiran Casteel. Id. at 90. Devan Casteel did not participate in the sale beyond being present and placing the purchased firearms in the backseat of his Bonneville. Id. After Agent White completed the sale, his support team moved in and arrested both Tiran and Devan Casteel. Id. at 90, 158-59.
ATF Agent Tully Kessler ("Agent Kessler"), a member of the support team, proceeded to photograph and to search the Bonneville incident to the arrest of both Defendants. Id. at 159-60. During the search, Agent Tully discovered not only the two firearms involved in the sale, but also coins in a bank bag and a box. Id. at 162. Agent Tully found the coins after locating the firearms, but he did not seize the coins at that time because they were not related to his search for firearms, ammunition, and corresponding documentation. However, he, or another ATF agent, did request that the assisting Iowa State Trooper John Hitchcock ("Trooper Hitchcock") check to see if any robberies had recently been reported. Id. at 163-64, 277. Trooper Hitchcock informed the ATF agents of the robbery involving Eitzen, and the Bonneville was secured until a search warrant for the coins could be obtained and executed. Id.
Following Defendants' arrest, ATF Special Agent Darren Hampton ("Agent Hampton") obtained a search warrant for Tiran Casteel's residence. Id. at 368; Ex. E. The search warrant permitted the Government to search Tiran Casteel's residence for evidence of weapons trafficking. Ex. E. The search warrant was executed on September 12, 2008, and Agent Kessler, who assisted in the search, found a map with directions to Eitzen's residence in the office area of the home. Tr. at 165, 295. Special Agent David Dales ("Agent Dales") of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation ("DCI") also assisted in the search and obtained a separate state search warrant for the map, as well as for collectible coins found in the gun safe that was located in the garage of the residence. Id. at 289-92.
In the meantime, DCI Special Agent Donald Shreffler ("Agent Shreffler") drove to Potter's house to interview Eitzen. Id. at 183-84. Prior to arriving that afternoon, Agent Shreffler had been made aware that a number of coins had been taken from Eitzen's residence and that the police believed some of those coins had been found in the possession of Defendants. Id. at 183. During the interview, Agent Shreffler showed Eitzen a series of three photographs, one of Timothy Blank ("Blank") and one of each of Defendants, and he asked if she recognized any of the men. Id. at 185-86. Eitzen identified the masked intruder as Devan Casteel by the eyes in the photographs. Id. at 187. She also identified the older, unmasked intruder as Tiran Casteel. Id. On October 9, Eitzen again positively identified Defendants as the intruders during a six panel photographic lineup conducted by the Government. Id. at 370-72.
Based mostly on these facts, the Government secured a third superceding indictment against Defendants on February 19, 2009. Clerk's No. 72. Count One of the Indictment charges Tiran Casteel with being a felon in possession of a firearm on or about August 10, 2008. Count Two charges Devan Casteel with the sale or transfer of a firearm to a prohibited person on or about August 10, 2008. Count Three charges Tiran Casteel again with being a felon in possession of a firearm on or about September 12, 2008. Count Four charges both Defendants with carjacking on or about September 11, 2008. Count Five charges both Defendants with using or carrying a firearm in relation to a violent crime, namely carjacking as charged in Count Four, on or about September 11, 2008. Count Six charges both Defendants with interference with commerce by robbery on or about September 11, 2008. Count Seven charges both Defendants with using or carrying a firearm in relation to a violent crime, namely interference with commerce by robbery as charged in Count Six, on or about September 11, 2008. Count Eight charges Tiran Casteel with attempting to obstruct justice from on or about September 15, 2008 to on or about February 19, 2009. Count Nine charges Tiran Casteel with tampering with a witness by attempting to kill, from on or about September 11, 2008 to on or about February 19, 2009. Defendants now challenge both the charges and the admissibility of the evidence against them.
Defendants make several overlapping requests in their numerous motions. Defendants both move to dismiss Counts Six and Seven, claiming that the Court lacks jurisdiction because the Government cannot "demonstrate a sufficient effect on interstate commerce to establish a violation of the Hobbs Act." Devan Casteel's Mot. to Suppress & Mot. to Dismiss ¶¶ 14-15; Tiran Casteel's Mot. to Dismiss ¶ 3. Defendants also both move to sever several counts for trial, arguing that the Indictment covers separate and distinct crimes and that a joint trial would undermine any potential for a fair trial. Tiran Casteel's Mot. to Sever Counts; Devan Casteel's Supp. Mot. to Sever. Devan Casteel further requests that his trial be severed from Tiran Casteel's trial because the evidence and charges against Tiran Casteel are more severe and "would likely call for the jury to unfairly speculate concerning the charges against Devan Rodez Casteel." Devan Casteel's Mot. to Sever ¶ 4. Finally, both Defendants move for the suppression of most of the evidence against them, asserting that the Government's searches infringed on their Fourth Amendment rights and that the Government's lineups infringed on their Fifth Amendment due process rights. Devan Casteel's Mot. to Suppress and Mot. to Dismiss ¶¶ 2-4; Tiran Casteel's Mot. to Suppress Identification Testimony. The Court will address each of Defendants' arguments in turn.
The Hobbs Act proscribes robberies that "in any way or degree obstruct[], delay[], or affect[] commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce." 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a). Commerce includes "all commerce between any point in a State, Territory, Possession, or the District of Columbia and any point outside thereof." Id. § 1951(b)(3). "This definition of commerce reaches as broadly as Congress's commerce power." United States v. Quigley, 53 F.3d 909, 910 (8th Cir.1...
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