U.S. v. Hatfield
| Decision Date | 23 April 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-4403.,03-4403. |
| Citation | 365 F.3d 332 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. David Lynn HATFIELD, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit |
ARGUED: Joshua Clarke Hanks, Assistant United States Attorney, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellant. Jonathan David Byrne, Legal Research and Writing Specialist, Office of The Federal Public Defender, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Kasey Warner, United States Attorney, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellant. Mary Lou Newberger, Federal Public Defender, George H. Lancaster, Jr., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Charleston, West Virginia, for Appellee.
Before WIDENER, MOTZ and GREGORY, Circuit Judges.
Vacated and remanded by published opinion. Judge WIDENER wrote the opinion, in which Judge MOTZ and Judge GREGORY concurred.
This is a case of an unannounced entry under the Fourth Amendment.
In this criminal case, the United States appeals from the district court's order excluding from evidence a pistol found in the pocket of the defendant upon his arrest on an unrelated charge by Wyoming County, West Virginia deputy sheriffs. The defendant was indicted for possession of the pistol by a convicted felon under 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). The district court, however, concluded that the deputies violated the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights. The government appeals, and we vacate the order of the district court.
During the evening hours of January 3, 2002, Wyoming County deputies Donald Cook and Jerry McClain went to David Lynn Hatfield's house near Baileysville, West Virginia, in order to serve a state felony warrant for Hatfield's arrest. Another deputy had originated the warrant, which was for the delivery of a controlled substance. The deputies, both in uniform, arrived at Hatfield's residence at about 8:00 p.m. in a marked patrol vehicle. Upon reaching the residence, Deputy McClain knocked on the door of Hatfield's home.
At the suppression hearing in the district court, Deputy McClain testified that after he knocked, "[he] heard a voice say, `[t]he door is open; come on in.'" McClain recognized the voice as that of Hatfield from three or four previous conversations over the years when he had come to know Hatfield, whose voice was "a little different from others, and [he] could tell [Hatfield's] voice." Upon hearing Hatfield's statement, Deputies McClain and Cook "opened the door and went on in" Hatfield's residence and immediately saw Hatfield on a couch about ten feet in front of them. Deputy Cook's testimony corroborated McClain's version of events. Neither Cook nor McClain announced their presence as law enforcement officers prior to entering Hatfield's residence. Deputy Cook did testify that he saw Hatfield, apparently through the door prior to getting inside.
After entering Hatfield's residence, the two deputies approached Hatfield, and McClain informed Hatfield that he and Cook had a warrant for Hatfield's arrest for delivery of a controlled substance. As he approached, McClain asked Hatfield if Hatfield had any guns on his person. Hatfield stated that he had a gun in his inside coat pocket. McClain patted Hatfield down and discovered a gun in Hatfield's inside coat pocket. The deputies also found prescription drug bottles in Hatfield's jacket pocket and pants pocket. Upon recovering the gun, an H & K .40 caliber pistol, the deputies placed Hatfield under arrest and handcuffed him, and Deputy McClain took Hatfield to the patrol vehicle outside the residence. Two other individuals were in Hatfield's residence at the time the deputies arrived. As soon as Hatfield was arrested, these two individuals left Hatfield's residence.
Deputy Cook remained in the residence for fifteen minutes after McClain escorted Hatfield to the patrol vehicle. Cook retrieved only other items that had been discovered in plain view or during the search of Hatfield's person, including Hatfield's prescription drug bottles and a small amount of marijuana that was found on the coffee table after the deputies entered the residence. Deputy Cook did search each room in the residence, but he testified that he only looked into each room and did not open drawers or conduct an extensive search. In the kitchen, he found and seized various unmarked prescription bottles and 50 to 60 pills.
At the hearing in the district court, Hatfield testified that he did not say "come on in" to the deputies. Hatfield did state, however, that after the deputies entered his trailer, they did tell him that he had either said "come — the door is open," or "come on in." Hatfield also testified that he could not be certain of what the deputies said to him. Hatfield has a prior state felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
A federal grand jury indicted Hatfield on the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, the .40 caliber H & K pistol, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Hatfield filed a motion to suppress any evidence seized by the deputies after their entry into Hatfield's residence. In his motion, Hatfield contended that the deputies violated his constitutional rights by failing to identify themselves as law enforcement officers before entering his residence. The district court held a hearing on the motion to suppress on February 11, 2003.
Following a suppression hearing, the district court made the following written findings of fact, which are not clearly erroneous and are supported by the record:
I. Findings of Fact
On the evening of January 3, 2002, Wyoming County Sheriff's Deputies Cook and McClain went to the residence of the defendant in Wyoming County, West Virginia, to execute a state felony warrant for the arrest of the defendant. Upon their arrival, the deputies knocked on the door of the defendant's residence but did not announce their identities or purpose, although no exigent circumstances prevented them from doing so. A male voice from inside the defendant's residence replied to the knock, "The door is open; come on in." Deputy McClain, who had spoken to the defendant several times in the past, recognized the voice coming from the defendant's residence as the voice of the defendant. This invitation to enter was a voluntary act upon the defendant's part.
Still without announcing their identities, purpose, or authority the deputies opened the closed but unlocked door of the defendant's residence and entered, finding the defendant seated upon his couch in plain view of the doorway. After entering the residence, the deputies explained to the defendant that they held a warrant for his arrest. Prior to advising the defendant of his Miranda rights, Deputy McClain asked the defendant if he possessed any weapons. The defendant replied that he had a gun in his coat pocket. The deputies then conducted a search of the defendant's person and found in his coat a.40 caliber handgun. That handgun forms part of the evidentiary basis for the indictment in this case, which charges the defendant with being a felon in possession of a firearm. (Footnote omitted.)
On April 11, 2003, the district court granted Hatfield's motion to suppress. United States v. Hatfield, No. 5:02-00219-01, slip. op. (S.D.W.Va. Apr. 11, 2003). The district court concluded that what is known as the "knock-and-announce" rule in Richards v. Wisconsin, 520 U.S. 385, 387, 117 S.Ct. 1416, 137 L.Ed.2d 615 (1997), and Wilson v. Arkansas, 514 U.S. 927, 934, 115 S.Ct. 1914, 131 L.Ed.2d 976 (1995), applied to the deputies' conduct. Under Richards and Wilson, under some circumstances, law enforcement officers must knock and announce their presence before attempting forcible entry of a dwelling. Richards, 520 U.S. at 387, 117 S.Ct. 1416; Wilson 514 U.S. at 934, 115 S.Ct. 1914. The district court noted that the knock-and-announce rule allows law enforcement officers to forcibly enter a dwelling without knocking and announcing their presence only "under circumstances presenting a threat of physical violence" or "where police officers have reason to believe that evidence would likely be destroyed if advance notice were given." Hatfield, slip op. at 4 (quoting Richards, 520 U.S. at 391, 117 S.Ct. 1416). The district court determined that the government failed to produce any evidence that either of the two exigent circumstances were present at the time Deputies McClain and Cook entered Hatfield's residence. (J.A. 73)
The district court next determined that Hatfield's statement "come on in" did not manifest consent sufficient to allow the deputies to enter the house. According to the district court, Hatfield's statement was given in response to a knock only, not a knock and an announcement that law enforcement officers were at his door. If it upheld the entry, the district court reasoned, it would be creating an exception to the knock-and-announce rule that would transform the rule from knock and announce to "knock." (J.A. 74-75)
The district court concluded that Hatfield's invitation to the deputies to enter the residence was not an "intervening act of free will." (citing Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963)). Under the district court's analysis, the invitation was not intervening because it occurred after the deputies knocked on the door but before the deputies completed the constitutional violation by opening Hatfield's door and entering the residence. Based on the timing of the entry, the district court deduced that "a Wong Sun analysis is inapposite herein and may not serve to remove the taint from the challenged evidence." (J.A. 75) The district court decided that the firearm found on Hatfield was obtained through a violation of Hatfield's Fourth Amendment Constitutional rights and ordered the firearm excluded from evidence. (J.A. 76)
On May 9, 2003, the government...
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