U.S. v. Koubriti

• Decision Date: 15 April 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-CR-80778.,01-CR-80778.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Karim KOUBRITI; Ahmed Hannan; Youssef Hmimssa, a/k/a Patrick J. Vuillaume, a/k/a, Michael Saisa, a/k/a Jalali; Abdella Lnu, a/k/a Jean Pierre Tardelli, a/k/a George Labibe, a/k/a Hussein Mohsen Safiddine, a/k/a Nabil Hayamm; and Farouk Ali-Haimoud, a/k/a "Khalid," Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

199 F.Supp.2d 656

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Karim KOUBRITI; Ahmed Hannan; Youssef Hmimssa, a/k/a Patrick J. Vuillaume, a/k/a, Michael Saisa, a/k/a Jalali; Abdella Lnu, a/k/a Jean Pierre Tardelli, a/k/a George Labibe, a/k/a Hussein Mohsen Safiddine, a/k/a Nabil Hayamm; and Farouk Ali-Haimoud, a/k/a "Khalid," Defendants.

No. 01-CR-80778.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

April 15, 2002.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Richard Convertino, Asst. U.S. Atty., Detroit, MI, for U.S.

Richard Helfrick, Detroit, MI, for Koubriti.

Stephen T. Rabaut, St. Clair Shores, MI, for Hmimmsa.

James C. Thomas, Detroit, MI, for Hannan.

Kevin S. Ernst, Detroit, MI, for Ali-Hammoud.

OPINION AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO SUPPRESS

ROSEN, District Judge.

On September 27, 2001, the Grand Jury returned a two-count Indictment charging Karim Koubriti, Ahmed Hannan, and Youssef Hmimssa with "Fraud and Misuse of Visas, Permits and Other Documents" in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a) and 2, and "Fraud and Related Activities in Connection with Identification Documents and Information" in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(6) and 2.¹ The charges against Defendants arose out of the FBI's search for Nabil Al-Marabh, a suspect/potential witness concerning the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center which led the FBI to a residence at 2653 Norman Street in Detroit which was found to be occupied by Koubriti and Hannan. The false documents giving rise to the initiation of this action were found in the Norman Street residence on September 17, 2001.

This matter is presently before the Court on Defendant Koubriti's Motion to Suppress Evidence in which Koubriti seeks an Order suppressing the evidence seized in the search of the Norman Street residence and suppressing statements made by him during the search. Defendant Hannan has joined in his co-defendant's motion.² The Court conducted a two-day evidentiary hearing on this matter on January 28, 2002 and February 7, 2002, at which hearing the Court heard the testimony of FBI Agents Mary Ann Manescu and Michael Thomas, INS Agent Mark Pilat, and Arabic language specialist Nazih "George" Moaikel, who acted as an interpreter at the time of the search. At the close of the hearing, the Court directed the parties to file briefs addressing the Miranda and Fourth Amendment issues raised by Defendants. The parties have complied with the Court's directive and filed their post-hearing briefs on February 28, 2002.

Having heard the testimony of the witnesses, and having reviewed and considered the parties' briefs and the arguments of counsel, the Court is now prepared to rule on this matter. This Opinion and Order sets forth the Court's ruling.

I. PERTINENT FACTS

On September 17, 2001, at approximately 5:45 p.m., Agents of the Detroit Joint Terrorism Task Force,³ went to 2653 Norman Street in Detroit, Michigan to interview Nabil Al-Marabh, a potential witness concerning the September 11, 2001 attacks six days earlier on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Al-Marabh was listed as on the FBI "Watch List" of people believed to participate in possible terrorist activities. He also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest for assault with a dangerous weapon.

The FBI had connected Al-Marabh with two possible addresses in Detroit — the Norman Street address and another address on Wyoming Street. Based upon the information they had obtained, Task Force agents determined that the Norman Street address looked like a good address. Therefore, FBI Special Agents Mike Thomas, Paul Heyard, and Mary Ann Manescu; INS Agents Joe Gillette and Mark Pilat, State Department Special Agent Edward Seitz and FBI language specialist Nazih "George" Moaikel were dispatched to that address to locate and interview Al-Marabh.

Because the information the Task Force had on Al-Marabh indicated that he could be dangerous, when the agents arrived at the house, Agents Heyard, Manescu, Pilat and Seitz proceeded to the backyard of the house, while Agents Thomas and Gillette proceeded to the front door. Language Specialist Moaikel also proceeded the front of the house, but he remained on the sidewalk at the bottom of the stairs.

2653 Norman Street is the upper flat of a two-flat house. It is entered by a street-level door that opens to a stairway leading up to the upper-level apartment. Upon approaching the door, the agents noticed that Al-Marabh's name was on the mail box for the upper flat. Agent Thomas testified that he knocked on the door and Defendant Karim Koubriti answered. At the time, Mr. Koubriti was wearing only boxer shorts and a tee shirt. Agent Thomas identified himself to Koubriti and told him that the agents were looking for Al-Marabh and showed him a picture of Al-Marabh for identification. Koubriti told Agent Thomas that he did not know Al-Marabh. When asked about the name on the mailbox, Koubriti replied that he had only lived there for two weeks and that Al-Marabh may have previously lived in the apartment.

Agent Thomas then asked Koubriti for his identification. Koubriti said that it was upstairs in the apartment. As Koubriti turned to go up the stairs, Agent Thomas asked, "Excuse me. Do you mind if we come up with you?" [1/28/02 Tr. p. 188.] Koubriti answered, "No, not at all." Id. Accordingly, Agents Thomas and Gillette followed Koubriti up the stairs. Agent Thomas testified that the conversation with Koubriti at the door was conducted entirely in English. Id. at 187.

Upon entering the upper-flat apartment, Agents Thomas and Gillette conducted a protective sweep of the premises during which they found Defendants Ahmed Hannan and Farouk Ali-Haimoud. Ali-Haimoud was immediately observed sleeping in the dining room area. Mr. Hannan was found sleeping on the floor in the back bedroom on the left-hand side. Agent Thomas woke him and ordered both Hannan and Ali-Haimoud into the living room.

Once all three men were gathered together, Agent Thomas went downstairs and signaled to the others that it was safe for them to enter. (Agent Gillette, meanwhile, remained with the three Defendants.) Agents Manescu, Pilat, Heyard and Language Specialist Moaikel then went up the stairs and entered the upper flat. Special Agent Seitz remained outside of the house.

The agents then proceeded to interview the three Defendants. All of the agents testified that while talking to the Defendants, the atmosphere was very calm, very matter-of-fact and conversational. The Defendants sat or stood, as they chose, and at least one of them smoked cigarettes. The testimony was uniform that no threats were made, nobody made any threatening gestures, and no guns were unholstered.

The agents questioned the Defendants about their citizenship, United States residency and employment history. While Agents Manescu and Thomas questioned the men about their employment history, Agent Pilat questioned the men about their alien registration and then verified their status with the INS. Only Defendant Koubriti was able to produce a resident alien "green" card. Hannan and Ali-Haimoud told the agents that their green cards were in a safe deposit box. Agent Pilat testified that it is a violation of federal law for a resident alien over 18 years old not to be in possession of his resident alien "green" card.⁴ [See 2/7/02 Tr. pp. 74-75.]

During the protective sweep of the Norman Street residence conducted by Agents Thomas and Gillette, Agent Thomas observed in plain view on top of a dresser in one of the bedrooms two SkyChef/Detroit Metropolitan Airport employee identification badges bearing Koubriti's and Hannan's pictures. Agent Thomas testified that when he discovered the SkyChef badges, he did not know what level of airport access those badges allowed.

However, when the Defendants were asked about where they had been employed since entering the United States, Defendants Koubriti and Hannan never mentioned SkyChef. They stated that they worked at Technicolor in Livonia and detailed several other restaurant/dishwashing jobs, but did not indicate that they had ever worked at SkyChef.

When confronted with the SkyChef IDs, Hannan and Koubriti appeared surprised. [See Agent Manescu testimony, 1/28/02 Tr. pp. 28-30.] When they were asked to explain why they had them, the men indicated that they had worked at SkyChef until they were involved in a car accident.

Agent Thomas testified that his overriding concern was that the Defendants may have had access to aircraft at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. [2/7/02 Tr. p. 46.]⁵ Because the Defendants' story "did not add up," Agent Thomas testified that he was suspicious and, therefore, decided that the agents should search the flat. He told the Defendants that he wanted to handcuff them for the safety of both the agents and the Defendants. [2/7/02 Tr. p. 22.]

Before beginning the search, the agents asked for the Defendants' consent to do so. Language Specialist Moaikel testified that he translated the agents' request for permission to search and asked all three of the Defendants for their consent. [See 1/28/02 Tr. pp. 130-131; 168-169] Mr. Moaikel testified that Koubriti immediately said that it was okay, id. at 130, and that Koubriti turned to the other two Defendants and asked them if they had any objection, and that they said, no, because they had nothing to hide. Id. at 169. [See also, Testimony of Mary Ann Manescu, 1/28/02 Tr. p. 34.] Mr. Koubriti also executed a written consent which Mr. Moaikel testified he translated into Arabic for the Defendants, sentence-by-sentence.⁶

The agents then began the search in one of the bedrooms. (Agent Pilat and Language Specialist Moaikel remained in the living room with the three Defendants while the search was being conducted by the other agents.) Within five minutes of initiating the search, Koubriti told Language Specialist Moaikel that there were false documents in the bedroom. [1/28/02 Tr. p. 137-138.] Moaikel...