U.S. v. Mendez

• Decision Date: 30 December 2002
• Docket Number: Docket No. 02-1100.
• Citation: 315 F.3d 132
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Angel Antonio MENDEZ, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

315 F.3d 132

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Angel Antonio MENDEZ, Defendant-Appellant.

Docket No. 02-1100.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: September 26, 2002.

Decided: December 30, 2002.

Thomas G. Dennis, Federal Public Defender's Office, Hartford, CT, for Defendant-Appellant.

Thomas V. Daily, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut (John A. Danaher, III, United States Attorney, Jeffrey A. Meyer, Assistant United States Attorney, of counsel), Hartford, CT, for Appellee.

Before MESKILL, SACK, and KATZMANN, Circuit Judges.

SACK, Circuit Judge.

The defendant, Angel Antonio Mendez, appeals from a judgment entered on April 26, 2001, in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Alfred V. Covello, Chief Judge), convicting him, after a guilty plea, of possession of a firearm as a previously convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). In accordance with a conditional plea agreement, Mendez reserved the right to appeal the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence. See United States v. Mendez, 139 F.Supp.2d 273, 282 (D.Conn.2001) (denying Mendez's motion to suppress evidence). Mendez alleges that the evidence was obtained in a search that violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We conclude that the search was constitutionally valid. We therefore affirm the judgment of the district court.

BACKGROUND

On July 31, 2000, Officer Edward Foster of the Hartford Police Department was on duty, in uniform, driving a marked police cruiser. Foster saw the defendant Mendez on the grounds of a gasoline station and convenience store, leaning into an open passenger-side window of a parked Chevrolet automobile. Foster also saw another man, whom he could not identify, in the driver's seat of the automobile.

Foster recognized Mendez, whom he had encountered several times before on patrol. Foster knew that Mendez had been convicted for narcotics violations, was a gang member, and was wanted for auto theft.

As Foster drove closer, Mendez stood up and looked directly at Foster. In a series of quick movements, Mendez leaned his torso into, and then removed it from, the passenger-side window of the automobile. Foster did not see Mendez's hands, but he considered Mendez's movements to be suspicious. Foster surmised that Mendez might have thrown something into the car. Mendez then walked into the convenience store.

Foster parked his cruiser, got out, and walked into the store. As Foster entered, Mendez, with his back to Foster, said, "What's up, Foster?" without turning around. Foster advised Mendez of the auto-theft warrant. Based upon the authority of the warrant, Forster then arrested Mendez, handcuffed him, and escorted him out of the convenience store and into the back seat of the cruiser.¹

Without first advising Mendez of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), Foster asked Mendez whether he owned the Chevrolet. Mendez said that he had recently bought it, but that it was neither registered nor insured. Foster ran the Chevrolet's license plate number through the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles computer system. The resulting report showed that the plate had been registered to another car and then canceled. Foster also ran the Chevrolet's vehicle identification number through the computer system. The resulting report disclosed that the automobile was registered to another license plate, which was not displayed on the vehicle.

As Foster placed Mendez in the cruiser, another Hartford police officer, Heriberto Resto, arrived at the gasoline station. Foster told Resto that Mendez had ducked into the Chevrolet earlier, and that he thought that Mendez might have thrown something into it. Resto opened the unlocked glove compartment and found a loaded Heritage Stealth Shadow .40 caliber pistol, which is the basis of Mendez's conviction here on appeal. Resto gave the handgun to Foster. Foster secured it, returned to the automobile, and then searched the glove compartment himself. There he discovered a heat-sealed packet of heroin and the car's bill of sale. The bill of sale indicated that Mendez was, in fact, the owner of the automobile. Because Mendez was under arrest, no one else was present to take custody of the automobile, and the automobile was parked in a highly trafficked location, Foster ordered that the automobile be towed and impounded.

After a privately owned tow truck arrived, Foster filled out a "tow slip," which was provided by the towing company. The tow slip, which was admitted into evidence at the suppression hearing, is entitled "POLICE IMPOUND." It includes information about the vehicle, the reason the vehicle was towed, and various indicators of the vehicle's status, such as whether it had a tape deck, a key, a battery, or tires. There is also a box on the form, marked "OTHER," and next to it there is a blank line. Foster neither checked the "OTHER" box nor wrote anything on the adjacent line.

On September 20, 2000, a federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment charging Mendez with possession of a firearm as a previously convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). On October 30, 2000, Mendez filed a motion in the district court to suppress the evidence obtained during the search of the automobile.

The district court held an evidentiary hearing in which Officers Foster and Resto testified to the circumstances of the search and to the "inventory search" policies of the Hartford Police Department. The district court concluded that the police lacked "probable cause" to search the glove compartment of Mendez's automobile, Mendez, 139 F.Supp.2d at 278, and that the evidence was not admissible under the "search-incident-to-arrest" exception to the exclusionary rule, id. at 279. The court held, however, that the evidence was admissible under the "inventory search" and "inevitable discovery" exceptions to the exclusionary rule. Id. at 281. Accordingly, the court denied Mendez's motion to suppress the evidence. Id. at 282. Mendez then pled guilty pursuant to a conditional plea agreement in which he reserved the right to appeal the district court's denial of his motion to suppress. Mendez now appeals, challenging the district court's factual findings and legal conclusions regarding the inventory search and inevitable discovery issues.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of Review

We may not disturb the district court's findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous. United States v. Eng, 997 F.2d 987, 990 (2d Cir.1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1045, 114 S.Ct. 693, 126 L.Ed.2d 660 (1994). Where the district court's factual findings are premised upon credibility determinations, we grant particularly strong deference to those findings. United States v. John Doe No. 1, 272 F.3d 116, 124 (2d Cir.2001), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 123 S.Ct. 204, 154 L.Ed.2d 82 (2002); United States v. Champion, 234 F.3d 106, 109 (2d Cir.2000); Mathie v. Fries, 121 F.3d 808, 812 (2d Cir.1997). But the district court's applications of the inevitable discovery and inventory search doctrines raise mixed questions of fact and law, which we review de novo. Cf. Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 696-99, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996) (holding that lower court determinations of reasonable suspicion and probable cause are mixed questions of law and fact that appellate courts should review de novo); accord United States v. Bayless, 201 F.3d 116, 132 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 529 U.S. 1061, 120 S.Ct. 1571, 146 L.Ed.2d 474 (2000).

II. Mendez's Motion to Suppress Evidence

In the evidentiary hearing, the district court heard testimony from Officers Foster and Resto and reviewed documentary evidence submitted by both parties. In deciding to deny the suppression motion, the district court relied chiefly on what it termed the "uncontradicted testimony" of the two officers. Mendez, 139 F.Supp.2d at 280. The court made the following factual findings: (1) The written policy of the Hartford Police Department required Foster to have the car towed and impounded; (2) the unwritten policy and practice of the Hartford Police Department required Foster to conduct an inventory search of the car; (3) to conduct the inventory search, Foster was required to complete a "tow slip" that noted, among other things, any valuables that remained in the car; (4) to complete the tow slip, the officers were specifically trained to search the glove compartment of the automobile to be towed; (5) Foster did, in fact, conduct such an inventory search and complete such a tow slip. Id. at 276. The court concluded that "Foster and Resto found the handgun and heroin by following this established, standardized routine ... [and] that the inventory search procedure [of the Hartford Police Department] is sufficiently regulated to satisfy the Fourth Amendment." Id. at 281.

On appeal, Mendez argues that the evidence does not support the district court's factual findings, and that in any event, those factual findings do not support the court's legal conclusions. Specifically, Mendez asserts that the testimony of the two officers was ambiguous and contradictory, and that the tow slip was not properly completed because it did not list any valuables. Therefore, Mendez contends, the search was not an "inventory search" conducted "in good faith pursuant to `standardized criteria ... or established routine.'" United States v. Thompson, 29 F.3d 62, 65 (2d Cir.1994) (quoting Florida v. Wells, 495 U.S. 1, 4, 110 S.Ct. 1632, 109 L.Ed.2d 1 (1990)).

III. The District Court's Factual Findings

Having carefully reviewed the record, we conclude that the district court's factual findings were not clearly erroneous. While there are some ambiguities in the testimony of the two officers, they are largely confined to secondary matters, and the district court...