U.S. v. Singleton

• Citation: 441 F.3d 290
• Decision Date: 23 March 2006
• Docket Number: No. 04-4108.,04-4108.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Anthony SINGLETON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)

Page 290

441 F.3d 290

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Anthony SINGLETON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 04-4108.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued February 3, 2006.

Decided March 23, 2006.

ARGUED: John Hanjin Chun, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Office of the Federal Public Defender, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Craig Michael Wolff, Assistant United States Attorney, Office of the United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: James Wyda, Federal Public Defender, Denise C. Barrett, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellant. Allen F. Loucks, United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.

Before NIEMEYER, MOTZ, and KING, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded by published opinion. Judge MOTZ wrote the opinion, in which Judge NIEMEYER and Judge KING joined.

OPINION

DIANA GRIBBON MOTZ, Circuit Judge.

A jury convicted Anthony Singleton of drug trafficking, possession of a firearm in relation to drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm while a felon, all on the basis of contraband found in his apartment after a no-knock search. On appeal, he challenges the district court's denial of his suppression motion, its admission into evidence of several documents, and its imposition of a sentence based upon judge-found facts. For the reasons that follow, we affirm Singleton's convictions but vacate his sentence and remand the case for resentencing.

I.

In 2001, a confidential informant told the Harford County police that two individuals known as "Eva" and "BK" were selling cocaine inside an apartment in Edgewood, Maryland. In August of that year, the informant made a controlled purchase of cocaine from "Eva" inside the Edgewood apartment. Later, police received a separate tip that two individuals known as "Eva Hall" and "BK" were selling cocaine in the area. Upon further investigation, the police discovered that one of the cars near the apartment was registered to a woman named Eva Mae Hall. The police also learned that "BK" was a pseudonym for a man named Anthony Singleton. An examination of court records revealed that Singleton had a fairly extensive arrest record including arrests in the mid-1980s for second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. In September 2001, the confidential informant made a second controlled purchase of cocaine inside the Edgewood apartment, this time from Singleton.

On September 26, 2001, the police applied for a search warrant in the Circuit Court of Harford County, alleging probable cause to believe that the inhabitants of the Edgewood apartment were selling drugs. The application also sought authorization for a no-knock entry, averring that "any advance notice given to the occupants of the above residence would greatly diminish the chance of a safe and secure entry by law enforcement officers executing the issued search warrant." The court granted the search warrant and authorized a no-knock entry.¹

On October 3, 2001, the confidential informant made (or attempted to make—the record is unclear) his third and final controlled purchase of cocaine in the Edgewood apartment, again from Singleton. The express purpose of this controlled purchase was to verify that Singleton still resided there.

Under Maryland law, the police had fifteen days to execute the issued warrant. On the morning of October 9, 2001, within the time permitted, law enforcement officers entered the Edgewood apartment by forcibly breaking down the door without first knocking and announcing their presence. Inside, they found Singleton, Hall, and Hall's five-year-old son, whom the police had expected to be at school. The police also found a locked safe in the apartment's bedroom that contained 42 grams of crack cocaine in the form of a crack "cookie" and over 50 plastic bags of crack; $1,400 cash separated into 14 separate $100 bundles; three plastic bags with marijuana; and a loaded Smith & Wesson 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. The police also recovered a Sprint telephone bill addressed to Singleton at the Edgewood apartment. After being read his Miranda rights, Singleton made several incriminating admissions to the police acknowledging his ownership and possession of the contraband.

A grand jury charged Singleton with one count of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of crack, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) (2000) (Count 1); one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (2000) (Count 2); and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (2000) (Count 3).

Before trial, Singleton moved to suppress the evidence seized from the Edgewood apartment, asserting that exigent circumstances did not justify the police's no-knock entry. The district court denied the motion. During trial, Singleton objected to the admission of several pieces of evidence introduced by the Government to prove that he resided in the Edgewood apartment. The district court overruled those objections. The jury convicted Singleton of all charges.

During sentencing, which occurred prior to United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), the district court found that Singleton was responsible for 50 to 150 grams of crack cocaine even though the jury had only convicted Singleton of intent to distribute five grams or more of crack cocaine. The court based its calculation on the contents of the safe: namely, 42 grams of crack cocaine and $1,400 cash that the court converted into a drug quantity of at least 8 grams. The court sentenced Singleton to 188 months on Counts 1 and 3, to run concurrently, and 60 consecutive months on Count 2.²

II.

Singleton initially argues that the district court improperly denied his motion to suppress the drugs and gun found in his apartment during the no-knock search. He contends that exigent circumstances did not justify the search and that the good-faith exception articulated in United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984), cannot excuse this defect. Although Singleton may be correct with respect to his first contention, his second fails.

The Fourth Amendment generally requires police officers entering a dwelling to "knock on the door and announce their identity and purpose before attempting forcible entry." Richards v. Wisconsin, 520 U.S. 385, 387, 117 S.Ct. 1416, 137 L.Ed.2d 615 (1997). However, exigent circumstances—like "a threat of physical violence" to officers—may allow officers to conduct a no-knock entry. Wilson v. Arkansas, 514 U.S. 927, 936, 115 S.Ct. 1914, 131 L.Ed.2d 976 (1995). We review de novo whether exigent circumstances excused the police's failure to follow the knock-and-announce requirement. United States v. Mattison, 153 F.3d 406, 410 (7th Cir.1998).

In the application for a no-knock warrant, the police listed three reasons to suspect that knocking and announcing their presence at the Edgewood apartment would imperil them. First, they cited Singleton's criminal history, which included several arrests in the 1980s for firearms offenses, an arrest for second-degree murder in 1987, and then nothing until 2000, when Singleton was arrested for marijuana possession and importation and for driving with a revoked license.³ Second, the application explained that the apartment was in "a known open air drug market, having a history of shootings and weapons related violence." Third, the application stated that the only way into the apartment was an open area in which the approaching police would be visible to the inhabitants of the Edgewood apartment. (The application also relied on several generalizations about the inherent violence of drug dealers, such as their tendency to own weapons and to protect their property by force.)

It is not clear that these facts sufficiently establish "a particularized basis to reasonably suspect that knocking and announcing would be met with violent resistance." United States v. Grogins, 163 F.3d 795, 798 (4th Cir.1998) (emphasis added). Of the three specific factors cited by the police, only the first—Singleton's criminal history—distinguishes this particular search from many others that police conduct on a daily basis. The other factors alone would be insufficient to justify a no-knock search: the Fourth Amendment countenances neither a blanket rule allowing no-knock searches for drug investigations, see Richards, 520 U.S. at 394, 117 S.Ct. 1416, nor a marginally narrower rule allowing no-knock searches for drug investigations in dangerous neighborhoods.

The addition of Singleton's criminal history does not decisively tip the balance toward forgoing the knock-and-announce requirement. Singleton may have had a rough past, but his history of violence ended (as far as the police knew) in 1987, with his conviction for second-degree murder. He then managed to avoid violating the law for fourteen years, until he again ran into trouble in 2000—but even then he was only convicted of driving with a revoked license. Furthermore, the police had no contemporary evidence that Singleton owned a firearm—even though the confidential informant had been in the Edgewood apartment several times. Cf. United States v. Smith, 386 F.3d 753, 759-60 (6th Cir.2004) (insufficient exigent circumstances even when confidential informant tells police that firearms are present). Given the lack of any contemporary evidence that Singleton might prove violent to police, it is unclear whether the police reasonably believed that knocking and announcing their presence would be dangerous.

However, we need not resolve this question because the police reasonably relied in good faith upon a properly obtained search warrant that specifically authorized a no-knock search. More than twenty years ago, the Supreme Court held that "reliable physical evidence seized by officers...