U.S. v. Quintero

• Decision Date: 08 August 2011
• Docket Number: No. 10–3280.,10–3280.
• Citation: 648 F.3d 660
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellant,v.Manuel QUINTERO, and Michelle Marie Quintero, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

648 F.3d 660

UNITED STATES of America, Appellant,

v.Manuel QUINTERO, and Michelle Marie Quintero, Appellees.

No. 10–3280.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: May 13, 2011.Filed: Aug. 8, 2011.

Timothy Q. Purdon, AUSA, argued, Fargo, ND, for appellant.Paul Henry Myerchin, argued, Bismarck, ND, for appellee, Manuel Quintero.Lorelle Ann Moeckel, argued, Fargo, ND, for appellee, Michelle Quintero.Before WOLLMAN, BYE, and SHEPHERD, Circuit Judges.BYE, Circuit Judge.

Manuel and Michelle Quintero were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute in excess of 50 grams of methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846 and 18 U.S.C. § 2; possession with intent to distribute in excess of 50 grams of methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2; and conspiracy to engage in money laundering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956. The Quinteros moved to suppress evidence seized from a warrantless search of their hotel room, contending Michelle did not voluntarily consent to the search. The district court ¹ agreed, granting the motions to suppress from which the government now appeals. We affirm.

I

On September 15, 2009, security personnel at the Dakota Magic Casino and Hotel in Hankinson, North Dakota, reported to Agent Jason Weber of the Richland County Sheriff's Office a glass lightbulb in one of the hotel rooms had apparently been used as a smoking device for narcotics. Although the occupant of the room where the bulb was found, Manuel Quintero, had recently checked out, hotel staff discovered reservations for the upcoming night under the name of Michelle Quintero, Manuel's wife. Weber, who was familiar with the Quinteros, requested the hotel security personnel notify him when the couple returned. Around 4:30 p.m., hotel security informed Weber of the Quinteros's return, and Weber thereafter asked the security team to conduct surveillance of the couple until law enforcement arrived.

Over five hours later, around 9:45 p.m., Weber and two other task force officers reached the hotel. The officers began their investigation by utilizing a K–9 sniff on two vehicles believed to be associated with the Quinteros, as well as a sniff outside the hotel rooms the Quinteros and their friends had rented for the night. The dog failed to alert at the respective locations, however, leading the officers to conduct a “knock-and-talk” with the Quinteros around 10:35 p.m. due to the absence of any probable cause. At this time, Weber—surrounded by another agent, hotel security personnel, and an associate manager—knocked on the Quinteros's hotel room door three separate times.² After the third round of knocking, a man inside the room, later identified as Manuel, asked, “Who is it?” Rather than identifying himself with the Sheriff's Department, Weber answered, “Security.” Upon opening the door, Manuel asked if he should step outside the room. He also informed the officers his “girlfriend,” later identified as Michelle, was undressed in the darkened room. While Manuel stood in the hallway, Weber directed Michelle to get dressed on multiple occasions and come to the door.

After four or five minutes, Michelle approached the door and proclaimed to the officers, “You're scaring the shit out of me, what happened?” Weber asked Michelle if she rented the room and if the officers could come inside. Although the government asserts Michelle answered in the affirmative, the district court noted a tape recording of the incident was inaudible as to her response. After her remarks, Weber asserted, “We'll come in with you so we're not making a spectacle in the hallway.” Once inside, the officers turned the light on and asked Michelle if there was anything in the room she wanted to inform the officers of, to which she replied “no” and “not that I know of.” Weber then probed multiple times whether the officers could “tak[e] a look around.” He explained to Michelle the request stemmed from the discovery of the lightbulb in the room rented by Manuel the previous night. On the recording, Michelle was heard asking if she had a “right to ah,” as well as stating, “I don't know” and “I don't understand.” She also reiterated multiple times the officers were scaring her, prompting Weber to attempt to reassure Michelle by clarifying the officers just wanted to take “a quick peek around.”

After Michelle finally consented to a search of the room, the officers began conducting a thorough inspection, including an examination of the Quinteros's personal belongings, despite Weber's prior representations indicating the officers only wanted to take “a quick peek around.” Weber further embellished the evidence the officers maintained against the Quinteros, as he told Manuel the lightbulb discovered the previous night had been dusted for fingerprints, which matched Manuel's fingerprints, and he asked Manuel about the incident. During the suppression hearing, Weber admitted he never actually dusted the lightbulb and he intentionally misrepresented the evidence to Manuel.

Amid the officers' search of the room, Michelle objected, “Can you stop and get out of here?” Weber stated the officers could stop searching, but they would not leave. Seconds later, another officer declared he found apparent methamphetamine residue on a plastic wrapper in Michelle's purse, which was located inside a night stand drawer. The officers then ceased the search immediately and informed the Quinteros they would be detained pending a search warrant. After the officers subsequently discovered a syringe needle and ziploc baggies on Michelle's person, both Michelle and Manuel were arrested. Upon obtaining a search warrant the following day, officers uncovered more than 200 grams of methamphetamine.

The Quinteros were charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Manuel, later joined by Michelle, moved to suppress evidence based on the unlawful search of the hotel room. Following an evidentiary hearing, the district court issued an order bifurcating its analysis into two stages, considering whether Michelle voluntarily consented to the officers' (1) entry into the room and (2) search of the room. Taking up the first issue, the court noted whether Michelle consented was “a close call,” given Weber's conduct outside the room, but the court ultimately held a reasonable person could find Michelle impliedly consented to the officers' entry into the room. Once the officers gained entry to the room, the court held the totality of the circumstances did not demonstrate Michelle voluntarily consented to their search. Specifically, the court discussed the officers' unexplained five-and-a-half-hour delay in arriving at the hotel, which resulted in them rousing the Quinteros from sleep after 10:30 p.m. The court was also concerned with the officers' pressure on Michelle, the number of officers involved, the coercive environment surrounding the search, and Michelle's repeated expressions of fear. Under these circumstances, the court granted the Quinteros's motions to suppress all evidence seized as a result of the search of the hotel room. The government filed this interlocutory appeal under 18 U.S.C. § 3731, challenging the court's voluntariness determination based on the court's (1) consideration of irrelevant factors; (2) failure to consider proper factors; and (3) misapplication of factors.³

II

A. Standard of Review

Before reaching the merits of the government's appeal, we first address the applicable standard of review. When reviewing a district court's suppression determination, we review the court's factual findings for clear error and its legal conclusions de novo. United States v. Johnson, 619 F.3d 910, 917 (8th Cir.2010). “The voluntariness of a consent to search is a factual question that is reviewed for clear error.” Id. at 918.

Although the government recognizes the voluntariness inquiry is a factual question reviewed for clear error, it seeks a de novo review in light of the recording of the September 15, 2009, search of the Quinteros's hotel room, which was admitted into evidence at the suppression hearing. According to the government, because the entire encounter was recorded, and Michelle did not testify at the hearing, the recording is the undisputed factual record in this case. Thus, the government argues it is only challenging the court's legal conclusions based upon the undisputed facts.

We decline to apply a de novo standard of review. First, we are guided by our well-established precedent demonstrating the voluntariness determination is a factual question reviewed for clear error. See United States v. Garcia, 613 F.3d 749, 753 (8th Cir.2010) (“Whether consent is voluntary is a question of fact, reviewed for clear error”); United States v. Saenz, 474 F.3d 1132, 1136 (8th Cir.2007) (“The voluntariness of a consent to a search is a factual question that is reviewed for clear error.”). Were we to accept the government's argument, we would run afoul of these cases—none of which apply a de novo standard of review in the voluntariness context, as the government acknowledges.

Second, we are unpersuaded by the government's efforts to distinguish this case based on the tape recording. As an initial matter, the recording fails to provide a complete accounting of the facts of the encounter, which may help explain why the government felt it necessary to call two officers at the suppression hearing to testify as to their version of the events, rather than relying solely on the recording as the complete factual record. For instance, there is a void in the recording concerning the number of officers present during the search, the officers' blocking of the hotel room door, and the officers' physical appearance, i.e., Weber's frame of standing 6'4? and 260 pounds and...