U.S. v. Goodridge, Criminal Action No. 96-30015 FHF.

• Citation: 945 F.Supp. 359
• Decision Date: 11 October 1996
• Docket Number: Criminal Action No. 96-30015 FHF.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Ralph Arthur GOODRIDGE, and Willie Albert Brown, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

945 F.Supp. 359

UNITED STATES of America v. Ralph Arthur GOODRIDGE, and Willie Albert Brown, Defendants.

Criminal Action No. 96-30015 FHF.

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts.

October 11, 1996.

William J. O'Grady, Springfield, MA, for Ralph Goodridge.

David P. Hoose, Katz, Sasson & Hoose, Springfield, MA, for Willie Albert Brown.

William M. Welch, II, United States Attorney's Office, Springfield, MA, for the U.S.

FREEDMAN, Senior District Judge.

Report and recommendation is adopted.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION WITH REGARD TO DEFENDANT GOODRIDGE'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS STATEMENTS MADE BY THE DEFENDANT (Docket No. 26), MOTION TO SUPPRESS EVIDENCE ILLEGALLY SEIZED (Docket No. 27) and MOTION TO SUPPRESS EVIDENCE ILLEGALLY SEIZED (Docket No. 28)

NEIMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

An evidentiary hearing was held on August 2, 1996 with respect to Defendant Ralph Arthur Goodridge ("Goodridge")'s motions to suppress any statements made by and all evidence seized from him on March 22, 1996, the date of his arrest. After the hearing, Goodridge and the Government submitted memoranda supporting their respective positions. Goodridge asserts in his memorandum that the statements and evidence seized were the result of a custodial interrogation, that he was entitled to be advised of his Miranda rights and that he was questioned without the benefit of being so informed. In response, the Government contends that Goodridge was never subject to a custodial interrogation, that his statements were voluntary and that any physical evidence was seized properly. Goodridge's motion has been referred to the Court for a report and recommendation pursuant to Rule 3 of the Rules of the United States Magistrates of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B). For the reasons set forth below, the Court recommends that Goodridge's motions be allowed in part, but otherwise denied.

II. FACTS

The facts as presented by the four Government witnesses, as described by Goodridge and with which the Government generally agrees, follow. Additional facts germane to the legal analysis are set forth in the discussion section below.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on March 22, 1996, Goodridge was stopped outside his home at 24 Chester Lane in Waltham, Massachusetts, by Sergeant Michael Tobin ("Tobin") of the Massachusetts State Police, who was investigating a bank robbery in West Springfield earlier that day. He was briefly questioned about his whereabouts that day and asked to produce his license and registration. Goodridge complied and cooperated with Sergeant Tobin. Goodridge was then allowed to enter his home, although Sergeant Tobin, who had been joined by FBI Special Agent Judy Stilla ("Stilla") shortly after Goodridge was stopped, both kept watch on the house. According to Tobin, they could see the front door and most of the backyard from Tobin's vehicle parked in front of the house. During this initial stop and questioning, Goodridge asked for but was denied permission by Stilla to get a coat out of his car.

Both Tobin and Stilla testified that Goodridge was wearing black sweat pants and black boots when he was first stopped. Both also indicated that a short time after Goodridge entered the house, he emerged walking a dog and wearing blue jeans and white sneakers. Goodridge then re-entered the house. A short time later, FBI Special Agents Todd Richards ("Richards") and Gerald Montonari ("Montonari") arrived and entered the home.¹ Montonari immediately sat down at the kitchen table with Goodridge and began to question him.

Montonari questioned Goodridge for approximately forty-five minutes, while Richards monitored the situation. At one point Richards "took" Goodridge's wife to an adjacent room and spoke with her there — although he kept his eye on Montonari and Goodridge "for the safety of the agents." There were at all times at least two and as many as four law enforcement officers in the kitchen with Goodridge during this time. Both Montonari and Richards testified that from the moment Montonari began to question Goodridge, Goodridge was not, in their opinion, free to leave. Montonari and Richards did not communicate this opinion to Goodridge. Similarly, Stilla, who observed the questioning at various points, testified that she did not feel that Goodridge was free to leave. At another point in her testimony, however, she indicated that she could not determine whether Goodridge was free to leave.

In response to the questioning by Montonari, Goodridge described his activities that day, a discussion which Montonari later summarized in writing. See Government's Exhibit A. On at least one and possibly two occasions, Goodridge indicated to Montonari that "I've got nothing more to say," stated that "I better talk to an attorney" and asked his wife to call an attorney. Each of those statements followed an exchange between Montonari and Goodridge in which Montonari accused Goodridge of lying. On each occasion when Goodridge mentioned an attorney, Montonari would pause and continue to ask questions, although on one occasion Montonari asked who his lawyer was, to which Goodridge replied, "Why should I tell you guys?" Richards testified that at least once he observed Goodridge's wife make a telephone call and presumed that call was made to an attorney.

Approximately one hour after Tobin initially stopped Goodridge and approximately forty-five minutes after Montonari began his questioning, a decision was communicated to Tobin by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston, and through Tobin to Montonari, to formally place Goodridge under arrest. Goodridge was so informed and was asked to step outside so that he would not have to be handcuffed in front of his children. Goodridge complied with the directions and stepped onto the front steps to be placed under arrest. At that point, Tobin asked Goodridge about the sweat pants and boots which he had worn into the house when he first entered. Specifically, Tobin asked Goodridge where the clothes were and requested Goodridge to take him there. Goodridge complied and took the agents to an upstairs bedroom. There, the agents also seized a knife and sheath on the bedroom bureau, asked Goodridge if they were his, to which he said "yes," and also seized and questioned Goodridge about a rifle scope which they found.

At no point throughout the time described above did any law enforcement official tell Goodridge that he had a right to consult with an attorney or that he had a right not to talk to law enforcement personnel. Even after they formally made a decision to place him under arrest, took him outside to arrest him and questioned him about the clothing, no law enforcement officer gave Goodridge Miranda warnings.

III. DISCUSSION

There are at least three distinct time frames which bear scrutiny:

1. the initial stop of Goodridge by Tobin, and then Stilla, outside Goodridge's residence (first time frame);

2. the questioning of Goodridge by Montonari in Goodridge's kitchen for approximately forty-five minutes (second time frame); and

3. the further questioning of Goodridge by the police and the seizure of his black boots and black sweat pants after he had been formally placed under arrest but before being provided any Miranda warning (third time frame).

The Court will address these three time frames in turn and conclude with a discussion of Stilla's search of Goodridge's car.

A. FIRST TIME FRAME

The only challenge which Goodridge mounts in his motion to suppress any statements he may have made during the first time frame is that the stop by Tobin and Stilla was impermissible under the standards of Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). He makes no viable claims with regard to the Fifth Amendment or Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).

Pursuant to Terry, an officer may make a brief investigatory stop of a person when he "observes unusual conduct which leads him reasonably to conclude in light of his experience that criminal activity may be afoot and that the person[] with whom he is dealing may be armed and presently dangerous." Terry, 392 U.S. at 30, 88 S.Ct. at 1884. The factors supporting a finding of reasonable suspicion must be viewed in light of the inferences and deductions that a trained and experienced officer would make, see United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 418, 101 S.Ct. 690, 695, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981), and may be based on the collective knowledge of several law enforcement personnel, see United States v. Hensley, 469 U.S. 221, 229-35, 105 S.Ct. 675, 680-84, 83 L.Ed.2d 604 (1985). In determining whether a stop is supported by reasonable suspicion, the totality of the circumstances must be taken into account. Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 330-32, 110 S.Ct. 2412, 2416-17, 110 L.Ed.2d 301 (1990); United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 8, 109 S.Ct. 1581, 1585-86, 104 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989); Cortez, 449 U.S. at 417, 101 S.Ct. at 694-95. While the Supreme Court has made it clear that an objective justification must be more than an inchoate suspicion or hunch, "the level of suspicion required for a Terry stop is obviously less demanding than that for probable cause." Sokolow, 490 U.S. at 7, 109 S.Ct. at 1585 (citations omitted). See also United States v. McCarthy, 77 F.3d 522, 529 (1st Cir.), petition for cert. filed, No. 96-5017 (May 22, 1996). ("The Fourth Amendment does not demand that probable cause exist prior to all police action"). As the First Circuit explained:

In determining whether a challenged action is reasonable, and, thus, falls within the range of permissible investigatory stops or detentions, a court should engage in a two-step inquiry, asking (1) whether the officer's action was justified at its inception; and (2) whether the action taken was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances justifying the interference in the first place.... [I]n...