U.S. v. Sibley

• Decision Date: 04 May 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-10063.,05-10063.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jeff SIBLEY, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 754

448 F.3d 754

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jeff SIBLEY, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 05-10063.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

May 4, 2006.

Charles William Brown, Dallas, TX, Bret E. Helmer, Fort Worth, TX, for U.S.

Raymond J. Rodgers, Fort Worth, TX, for Sibley.

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

Before REAVLEY, CLEMENT and PRADO, Circuit Judges.

PRADO, Circuit Judge:

Jeff Sibley pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), and § 846, and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Sibley claims that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress and by relying on his post-arrest statements to determine drug quantity. Sibley also contends that his sentence violates the Sixth Amendment because it was based in part on facts that were neither admitted by him nor found beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury. Finally, Sibley argues that the district court erred by sentencing him pursuant to a mandatory application of the Sentencing Guidelines. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM the district court's ruling on Sibley's motions to suppress, VACATE his sentence and REMAND for resentencing.

I. BACKGROUND

On March 11, 2004, Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") agents secured a search warrant for apartment 1425 of the "Providence in the Park Apartment Homes" in Arlington, Texas, where they believed Sibley was dealing marihuana, ecstasy cocaine, and methamphetamine. After executing the search warrant and finding marihuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and five guns in the apartment, the officers arrested Sibley and gave him his Miranda warnings. Sibley stated that all of the drugs and guns belonged to him, and he subsequently was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute, using a drug-involved premises, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Sibley filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained in the search of the Arlington apartment and all statements that he made following his arrest. He argued that the search was without probable cause because the warrant was based on unreliable information and the affidavit supporting the warrant failed to include details concerning the source of the information. The district court denied Sibley's suppression motion without conducting an evidentiary hearing because it found that Sibley failed to show that the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule did not apply.

Sibley sought reconsideration of his suppression motion and requested a hearing regarding the suppression issues. He then pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. His plea agreement does not contain an appeal waiver, but it contains language in which Sibley consents to being sentenced under the Sentencing Guidelines. Additionally, Sibley agreed that the facts determining his sentence would be found by the sentencing court by a preponderance of the evidence and that the sentencing court could consider any reliable evidence in its sentencing determination.

At Sibley's re-arraignment, the district court ordered the parties to excise a sentence from the plea agreement that provided: "Defendant also agrees to waive all constitutional challenges to the validity of the sentencing guidelines." It also noted that Sibley's motion for reconsideration of its suppression ruling was moot in light of Sibley's plea agreement. However, Sibley reserved the right to have an appellate court review the denial of his suppression motion.

The presentence report ("PSR") held Sibley accountable for the quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, and marihuana that were seized at his home, as well as the quantities of drugs he confessed to purchasing from a codefendant and that a codefendant reported having purchased from Sibley. Sibley objected, arguing, inter alia, that the PSR's determination of drug quantity violated Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), because the calculation was based on quantities not charged in his indictment, proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, or stipulated between himself and the Government.

Sibley's sentencing hearing took place on December 30, 2004, prior to the issuance of United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). At the hearing, the district court overruled Sibley's Blakely objection and his other objections, and adopted the facts and conclusions set forth in the PSR. Upon hearing the Government's motion for a downward departure because of assistance Sibley rendered to the Government, the district court granted Sibley "a rather significant downward departure." The district court imposed a term of 175 months for the controlled substance offense and a consecutive term of 60 months for the weapons offense.¹ Sibley timely filed a notice of appeal.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Suppression of Evidence

Sibley argues that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence seized in the search of the Arlington apartment and the statements he made following his arrest. He contends that the officers could not have relied on the search warrant in good faith because the affidavit submitted in support of the warrant was misleading and deliberately or recklessly omitted material information that would have negated probable cause; thus, Sibley claims the evidence should be suppressed under the exclusionary rule.² Additionally, he claims that the district court erred by denying his suppression motion without first conducting an evidentiary hearing.

In reviewing a district court's denial of a motion to suppress, this Court reviews factual findings for clear error and the trial court's conclusions regarding the constitutionality of law enforcement action and the sufficiency of a warrant de novo. United States v. Cherna, 184 F.3d 403, 406 (5th Cir.1999). "The district court's determination of the reasonableness of a law enforcement officer's reliance upon a warrant issued by a magistrate-for purposes of determining the applicability of the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule-is also reviewed de novo." Id. at 406-07.

Review of the denial of a motion to suppress evidence discovered pursuant to a search warrant is a two-step process. Cherna, 184 F.3d at 407. First, we decide whether the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule applies.³ Id. "The good-faith exception provides that where probable cause for a search warrant is founded on incorrect information, but the officer's reliance upon the information's truth was objectively reasonable, the evidence obtained from the search will not be excluded." United States v. Cavazos, 288 F.3d 706, 709 (5th Cir.2002). If the good-faith exception applies, we affirm the district court's denial of the motion to suppress. Cherna, 184 F.3d at 407. The good-faith exception does not apply when: (1) the magistrate issuing the warrant was misled by information in an affidavit that the affiant knew or should have known was false; (2) the issuing magistrate abandoned the judicial role; (3) the warrant was based on an affidavit so lacking in indicia of probable cause as to render belief in its existence entirely unreasonable; or (4) the warrant was so facially deficient that the executing officers could not have reasonably presumed it to be valid. Id. at 407-08. If the good-faith exception does not apply, we proceed to the second step ensuring that the magistrate issuing the warrant had a substantial basis for concluding that probable cause existed. Id. at 407.

Sibley's primary complaint is that the affidavit should have stated that the agent who observed Patrick Wright putting trash bags containing marihuana into the apartment complex's dumpster did not actually observe Wright leave apartment 1425. He argues that the only evidence connecting the apartment to the crime is the marihuana-laden trash bags. He contends that because there is no link between the trash bags and the apartment there was no probable cause to search the apartment.

The search was conducted at apartment 1425 of the Providence in the Park Apartment Homes in Arlington, Texas, pursuant to a warrant issued by a Texas state court judge and supported by the affidavit of Tarrant County District Attorney Investigator Keith Brown. Brown's affidavit provides that on March 11, 2004, DEA investigators received information that Sibley and Wright lived at apartment 1425 and were dealing marihuana, ecstasy, cocaine, and methamphetamine. The affidavit provides, inter alia, that an agent observed Wright taking garbage bags to the complex's dumpster. Brown and another agent searched the bags and found marihuana. Brown further attested that the apartment manager had previously contacted the Arlington Police Department and filed a report indicating that the complex's maintenance man, on a prior occasion, had detected marihuana in garbage that was dumped in a remote location by the occupants of apartment 1425. Also, apartment management reported to Brown that the occupants of the apartment had installed surveillance cameras at the apartment.

Sibley's argument falls short of establishing that the magistrate issuing the warrant was misled by information in the affidavit that the affiant knew or should have known was false or that the warrant was based on an affidavit so lacking in indicia of probable cause as to render belief in its existence entirely unreasonable. The affidavit is not misleading because it does not suggest that an agent actually witnessed Wright leave the apartment with the garbage bags. Moreover, there was...