U.S. v. Martin

• Decision Date: 18 July 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-15691.,01-15691.
• Citation: 297 F.3d 1308
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Corey MARTIN, a.k.a. Corey Milton, etc., Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

297 F.3d 1308

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Corey MARTIN, a.k.a. Corey Milton, etc., Defendant-Appellant.

No. 01-15691.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

July 18, 2002.

Jane Wilcox Swift, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Allison Veronica Dawson, Atlanta, GA, for Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Before WILSON, HILL and ALARCON^*, Circuit Judges.

WILSON, Circuit Judge:

Corey Martin appeals the district court's denial of his motion to suppress certain firearms, crack cocaine, and marijuana seized as a result of the execution of a state search warrant. The district court found that although the search warrant was not based upon probable cause, the seized evidence is admissible because the Leon good faith exception¹ to the exclusionary rule applies. In so finding, the district court took into consideration additional evidence not contained within the four corners of the search warrant. This examination taken by the district court leads us to an issue of first impression in this Circuit: in deciding whether the Leon good faith exception applies, may the reviewing court consider facts known to the affiant, but not contained on the face of the affidavit and underlying search warrant? If so, does the Leon good faith exception apply in this case?

We agree with the majority of circuits that have examined this issue and find that a reviewing court may look outside the four corners of the affidavit in determining whether an officer acted in good faith when relying upon an invalid warrant. We therefore affirm the district court's holding and agree that the Leon good faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies in this case.

BACKGROUND

On May 14, 2000, Atlanta Police Homicide Detective Brett Zimbrick unexpectedly received a telephone call from a man named Sabastian Volataire. Volataire, whose actual name is Troy Terry, had been arrested three days earlier and was being held at the Atlanta pretrial detention facility.² Haunted by his past, Terry decided to come clean and confess to two murders he committed in North Carolina. Zimbrick asked Terry for details regarding the incident so that he could confirm Terry's story before he met him in person.

And so began Terry's story. As soon as he was released from prison in Perry, New York, Terry walked across the street, broke into a home, and stole a handgun he found inside. He then proceeded to Rochester, New York, where he stole a GMC Jimmy truck and traveled down the east coast burglarizing homes, pawning the stolen items, and purchasing crack cocaine. Specifically, Terry admitted to breaking into the home of Cornelius Ashe in North Carolina and stealing four firearms. After committing the burglary, he stayed at a nearby campground called Five Springs Campground. He then wandered over to a flea market where he met two men. While high on cocaine, the three decided to go fishing. Paranoid that the two men were going to steal his remaining cocaine, Terry ended up shooting both men at the bank of the river and burying their bodies nearby. He then left the campground and continued his journey south toward Atlanta.

Once in Atlanta, Terry sold Ashe's weapons at a crack house/apartment. He received three hundred dollars worth of cocaine for one of the weapons and one hundred dollars for the second weapon. After returning to the apartment the following day, Terry received one hundred and fifty dollars for the other two guns. While smoking the crack he received, Terry loaned the GMC truck to a man named Issac Deloach. Deloach was later arrested in the truck because the truck had been reported stolen. The next day, Terry attempted to steal another vehicle and was subsequently arrested.

During his phone conversation and face-to-face meeting with Zimbrick, Terry continued to provide details regarding his far-reaching crime spree — for example, where the burglaries occurred, what items were taken, that the shell casings from the campground shootings were still in the GMC truck, etc.

Zimbrick attempted to confirm Terry's incredulous story. He verified that Terry stayed at the campground he identified in North Carolina, that Ashe's residence had been burglarized, and that several firearms, as described by Terry, were stolen. He also verified that the GMC truck was recovered on May 10, 2000 from Deloach and determined that the truck had been stolen on April 21, 2000 in Rochester.

Terry gave Zimbrick a general description of the location of the apartment where he sold and traded the weapons. A few hours later, Terry pointed out the apartment to two detectives. These detectives subsequently provided Zimbrick with the apartment's address. Based upon Terry's description of the events, including the fact that he had been living in the GMC truck since his stay in Atlanta,³ Zimbrick believed Terry had only been in Atlanta for a few days before his May 11th arrest. Zimbrick also believed Terry to be reliable — Terry had no money and a crack habit to support, he had no trouble directing the officers to the apartment, and although he was addicted to crack cocaine, he was still in good health, which indicated that he had not been out of custody in New York for a long period of time.

Zimbrick sought a warrant for the apartment, hoping to locate the firearm used in the murders described by Terry. Zimbrick filled out the request for a search warrant and the ensuing affidavit. The items listed on the search warrant to be seized were four handguns and a VCR. The affidavit sets forth the following facts:

On 05/15/00 Troy Terry initiated contact with the Atlanta Police Department and confessed to several crimes that took place outside the City of Atlanta. While taking a taped statement, the suspect admits to taking several weapons from a home in North Carolina and subsequently selling the weapons to the occupants of the listed apartment. Troy Terry directed the Atlanta Police to the specific apartment and personally pointed out the apartment in the presence of the Atlanta Police. It is believed that the weapons that have been verified as stolen out of North Carolina were in fact sold and presently are in the listed apartment.

On May 15, 2000, twelve or fourteen hours after his interview with Terry, Zimbrick sought out Atlanta Municipal Court Judge Andrew Mickle to get approval for a search warrant on both the GMC truck and the apartment. Zimbrick proceeded to Judge Mickle's house because the judges were between court sessions and all the judges were away from the city court-house at the time. Zimbrick advised Judge Mickle that Terry had confessed to two murders, that Terry traveled down the east coast committing burglaries and selling guns for crack and money, that Terry had been in jail a few days, and that he believed the guns were sold immediately prior to Terry's arrest. Zimbrick then swore to the accuracy of the information in the warrant, and the judge signed it.

Later that day, Zimbrick requested assistance from members of the Atlanta Police Gun Unit and an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in executing the search warrant issued by Judge Mickle on the apartment described by Terry, located at 590 Whitehall Terrace, Apartment 4C, Atlanta, Georgia.⁴ The lessees of the apartment were identified as Johnnie Mann and Lois Jones, who were both in the living room/kitchen area during the search. Martin, who indicated that he rented the bedroom from Mann, was in the bedroom. After finding a Taurus 38 caliber pistol and what the officers believed to be crack cocaine and marijuana in the bedroom, Martin was arrested on weapons and narcotics charges.

Martin was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g) and 924(e). Martin subsequently filed a motion to suppress the cocaine and handgun found in the apartment on the basis that there was no probable cause to grant the search warrant.⁵ Initially, the federal magistrate judge assigned to the case found that the search warrant did not establish probable cause and that the Leon good faith exception to the exclusionary rule did not apply based upon the affidavit presented to support the search warrant. The government objected to the finding that the Leon good faith exception did not apply and requested an evidentiary hearing to supplement the record with information not previously presented to the court.

On March 13, 2001, the magistrate judge held an evidentiary hearing on the matter. Zimbrick testified regarding the information he had obtained prior to seeking the search warrant and the events leading up to the execution of the search warrant. Judge Mickle also testified at the evidentiary hearing. Judge Mickle could not recall whether Zimbrick provided additional information about the case that was not included in the affidavit. In response to an inquiry as to whether he had any doubts about the freshness of the information in the warrant, the judge responded, "No, because I've been signing warrants for Zimbrick for years. I wouldn't expect him to bring me a stale warrant."

With the evidentiary hearing concluded, the magistrate judge found that the facts known to Zimbrick, but not presented in the affidavit in support of the warrant application, could be taken into consideration in determining whether the Leon good faith exception was applicable. The magistrate judge then concluded that Zimbrick had a good faith belief that the warrant was based upon probable cause. The district court, adopting the magistrate judge's report and recommendation, found that although the search warrant in this case was not based upon probable cause, the Leon good faith exception applied. Thus, the search was upheld.

On appeal, Martin claims that the district court improperly denied his motion to suppress. Specifically, Martin contends that (1) the magistrate judge should...