U.S. v. Stokely
| Decision Date | 05 August 2010 |
| Docket Number | No. 3:10-CR-24,3:10-CR-24 |
| Citation | 733 F.Supp.2d 868 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Beverly STOKELY, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Tennessee |
Melissa M. Millican, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of U.S. Attorney, Knoxville, TN, for Plaintiff.
This criminal action is before the Court on the Report and Recommendation (the "R & R") [Doc. 27], issued on June 17, 2010 by United States Magistrate Judge C. Clifford Shirley, Jr. Defendant Beverly Stokely is charged in the single-count indictment in this case [Doc. 1] with being a felon in possession of a firearm on September 10, 2009, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
On March 29, 2010, defendant filed a Motion to Suppress Evidence and Memorandum in Support (the "motion to suppress")[Doc. 14], arguing that the search of her residence by law enforcement officers violated the Fourth Amendment because the searching officers did not have a search warrant, no exigent circumstances existed, defendant refused consent to the search, and defendant's husband did not voluntarily give his consent to the search. On April 12, 2010, the United States filed a response in opposition [Doc. 15], arguing that the officers searched defendant's residence pursuant to a valid, voluntary consent to search by defendant's husband and that, even if the Court finds defendant's husband's consent to be invalid, application of the exclusionary rule is unwarranted.
On April 28, 2010, Magistrate Judge Shirley held an evidentiary hearing on the pending motion [ see Doc. 16]. Following the presentation of testimony and evidence, Judge Shirley permitted the parties to file supplemental briefs on an officer's authority to handcuff a resident upon his arrival, prior to the search of the residence, and pursuant to the resident's alleged consent. Both parties filed supplemental briefs [Docs. 20, 21] and the government filed a reply brief [Doc. 23].
On June 17, 2010, Magistrate Judge Shirley issued the R & R finding that the warrantless search of defendant's residence violated the Fourth Amendment because the officers did not have valid consent because defendant's husband, Mr. Toby Stokely ("Mr. Stokely"), was illegally detained and his illegal detention vitiated his subsequent consent. Accordingly, Judge Shirley recommended that defendant's motion to suppress [Doc. 14] be granted.
On July 1, 2010, the government filed objections to the R & R [Doc. 29], requesting that this Court receive additional evidence to clarify certain factual inaccuracies for proper application to the law pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C) and Rule 72(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, or, alternatively, recommit the matter to the magistrate judge. The government also requests that the Court reject in part the portion of the R & R that recommends suppression of evidence and deny defendant's motion to suppress as a whole. Defendant has not responded to the government's objections. This matter is now before the Court on the government's objections.
The findings of fact of the magistrate judge are as follows:
On September 10, 2009, Detective Krystal Gibson ("Detective Gibson") of the Knox County Sheriff's Office (the "KCSO") went to defendant's residence to arrest defendant for the December 2008 armed robbery of the Holiday Inn in Dandridge, Tennessee. No one was at the residence, so Detective Gibson went to lunch. While having lunch, she received word that defendant had been stopped. Defendant was pulled over at a Family Dollar store by two local law enforcement patrol cars and ordered out of her car and arrested pursuant to an arrest warrant. Special Agent Rebecca Bobich ("Agent Bobich"), with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (the "ATF"), arrived at the scene of defendant's arrest shortly thereafter. At some point after defendant's arrest and while she was detained in a police car, KCSO Detectives Matt Sexton ("Detective Sexton") and Walt Schmidt ("Detective Schmidt") asked defendant to give consent to search her residence. Defendantdid not give consent but deferred to her husband, Mr. Stokely. Detective Schmidt tried to call Mr. Stokely but could not reach him. Although the detectives tried to get defendant to make a decision about granting consent to search her residence, she continued to defer to her husband.
Approximately forty minutes after defendant was stopped, Agent Bobich reviewed her Miranda rights, using a rights waiver form. Defendant agreed that she understood her rights and waived them, signing the rights waiver form. Ten minutes before signing the rights waiver form, but after defendant had received oral advice of her Miranda rights, defendant signed a consent form, agreeing to permit the officers to search her car. While at the scene of her arrest, defendant told Agent Bobich that she kept a twelve gauge shotgun under her bed at her residence. Agent Bobich asked defendant if she would consent to the search of her residence, but she deferred to her husband, Mr. Stokely. Defendant gave Agent Bobich Mr. Stokely's cellular telephone number but warned the agent that he would not answer a call from a number that he did not know. At 1:56 P.M., Agent Bobich called Mr. Stokely and left a message that his wife was in custody and that he needed to call Agent Bobich. Shortly after 2:00 P.M., Mr. Stokely returned Agent Bobich's call. She told him that his wife was in custody and asked if he would meet her at his residence. Mr. Stokely agreed.
After hearing that defendant had been stopped, Detective Gibson returned to defendant's residence to await Mr. Stokely's arrival. When Mr. Stokely arrived around 2:10 P.M., Detective Gibson called for backup. She then approached Mr. Stokely and handcuffed him for what she testified was her "safety." About five minutes later, another officer, Officer Scalf, arrived at the residence, and Detective Gibson moved Mr. Stokely's handcuffs to the front and placed him in double cuffs. Detective Gibson and Officer Scalf stood in the driveway talking with Mr. Stokely, who was seated on the front porch. Mr. Stokely was permitted to smoke during this time.
About twenty minutes later, Agent Bobich, Investigator Glen Morrell ("Investigator Morrell"), and defendant arrived at the residence. Investigator Morrell waited in the car with defendant for about ten minutes before defendant was transported from the scene. Agent Bobich approached Mr. Stokely and was present when Detective Gibson reviewed the consent to search form with him. Mr. Stokely signed the consent form at 2:35 P.M. Agent Bobich and Detective Gibson performed a brief security sweep of the house and saw a marijuana plant and loose marijuana inside. A forensic unit and a narcotics unit were called to the scene and arrived approximately thirty to forty-five minutes later.
Investigator Veverly Hill ("Investigator Hill") of the narcotics unit got the consent form, which Mr. Stokely had already signed, and reviewed it with him again. Mr. Stokely, who was still handcuffed, accompanied the officers in the search of the house and was seated in the living room in a position to see into the master bedroom at the time that the firearms were seized. Investigator Morrell seized a twelve gauge shotgun from under the bed and a nine millimeter pistol from between the mattresses of the bed in the master bedroom. While Mr. Stokely was seated on the living room couch, Investigator Hill inventoried the marijuana and drug paraphernalia seized from the residence.
As required by 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1), the Court has undertaken a de novo reviewof those portions of the R & R to which the government has objected. In doing so, the Court has carefully considered Magistrate Judge Shirley's R & R [Doc. 27], the underlying and supporting briefs, the hearing transcript, the parties' supplemental briefs [Docs. 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 26], and the government's objections [Doc. 29], all in light of the relevant law. For the reasons set forth herein, the Court will overrule the government's objections [Doc. 29], accept in whole the R & R [Doc. 27], and grant defendant's motion to suppress [Doc. 14].
The basis of defendant's motion to suppress evidence is two-fold, (1) that she never consented to the search of her residence, and (2) that the consent the officers allegedly obtained from Mr. Stokely was not voluntary. The government's objections to the R & R pertain to the issue of whether Mr. Stokely's consent to the search of the residence was valid and voluntary.
As to this issue, the magistrate judge found that Mr. Stokely was seized within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment when Detective Gibson placed him in handcuffs. Judge Shirley noted that at the time Detective Gibson seized Mr. Stokely at his residence, she had the following information: (1) Mr. Stokely lived at the residence, the same residence as defendant, and there was a warrant for defendant's arrest; (2) defendant was not at the residence but had been arrested at another location; (3) defendant had told her arresting officers there was a firearm at the residence; (4) Mr. Stokely was on his way to the residence to meet law enforcement officers; (5) and Detective Gibson was to detain Mr. Stokely until the ATF arrived at the residence.2 As to the specific facts Detective Gibson knew about Mr. Stokely at the time she arrived at the residence and placed him in handcuffs, Judge Shirley found that she knew:
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