U.S. v. Wilson
| Citation | 36 F.3d 1298 |
| Decision Date | 21 October 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 94-10117,94-10117 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Patrick WILSON, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit) |
F. Clinton Broden, Asst. Federal Public Defender, Ira Kirkendoll, Federal Public Defender, Dallas, TX, for appellant.
Michael R. Snipes, Asst. U.S. Atty., Paul E. Coggins, U.S. Atty., Dallas, TX, for appellee.
Appeal from United States District Court from the Northern District of Texas.
Before REAVLEY, DeMOSS and STEWART, Circuit Judges.
Patrick Wilson was indicted for possession of stolen mail, to-wit: a personal check which had been mailed to Brant or Tricia Whetstone in a letter or parcel, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1708 and 2. Wilson filed a motion to suppress the checkbook and to suppress the statement which he made at the postal inspection office. The district court overruled the motion to suppress. Wilson entered a conditional plea of guilty to possession of a check stolen from the mail, but reserved his right to appeal the adverse ruling on his motion to suppress. Wilson was sentenced to ten months imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release. He appeals the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence and a statement. We reverse.
At the hearing on the motion to suppress, the parties adduced the following evidence:
David McDermott, a U.S. Postal Inspector, was contacted by a confidential informant who reported that Wilson was in room 129 in a hotel in Arlington, Texas. Based on conversations with other individuals, Inspector McDermott believed that there was a good chance that Wilson was involved in the possession of stolen United States mail. Inspector McDermott called Sergeant Robert Cowcert, an officer with the Arlington Police Department, and asked Sgt. Cowcert to accompany him to the hotel room to check for a possibly wanted person. The hotel was frequented by drug users and Inspector McDermott would not have gone alone to the area. Inspector McDermott had previously arrested Wilson and at that time Wilson had been armed.
On or about March 30, 1993 or April 2, 1993, Inspector McDermott and Sgt. Cowcert went to the hotel and determined that room 129 was registered to James Stiles. The officers knocked on the door of the room and, without hesitation, Stiles invited them into the room. When they first entered the room, Stiles' girlfriend was in the room and Wilson was in the bathroom. Inspector McDermott introduced himself to Stiles. At that time, the inspector did not have probable cause to arrest Wilson.
James Stiles had resided in the hotel room for three years. Wilson had slept in Stiles' hotel room the previous night with Stiles' permission. Stiles told the officers that Wilson was in the bathroom and Wilson came out of the bathroom after the officer told him to do so. Sgt. Cowcert made a "protective sweep" of the hotel room, including the bathroom, to insure that there was no one else in the room and no weapons. Sgt. Cowcert stepped into the darkened bathroom with his flashlight on and observed a checkbook in a small trash can. The checkbook was in a colored checkbook cover. The officers then asked Wilson about the checks which were discovered in the bathroom. Wilson and the other two occupants of the room denied any knowledge of the checkbook.
Sgt. Cowcert returned to his car to check the computer for Wilson's name, but found no warrant outstanding for Wilson's arrest. After the checks were discovered, the officers asked Stiles' permission to do a complete search of the room. Stiles gave his written consent to search the room because he had nothing in there to hide.
Inspector McDermott called the person whose name was on the checks and found out that she had been expecting the checks in the mail. Inspector McDermott then requested that Wilson provide him with samples of his handwriting. Wilson agreed to do so and began writing. However, when Inspector McDermott looked at the writing and told Wilson that it appeared that Wilson had written the checks, Wilson refused to return the writing. Inspector McDermott forcefully told Wilson that he could not keep the writing because it was government property, and Wilson ultimately gave the writing to the inspector.
Inspector McDermott indicated to Wilson that he had obtained sufficient evidence to At the postal inspection office, Wilson and Inspector McDermott were "buzzed" into the office. Wilson believed that he was in custody at that time. Inspector McDermott advised Wilson of his Miranda 1 rights. Wilson waived these rights, gave an oral and written confession to having possession of the stolen mail, and provided a handwriting exemplar. He was photographed and finger printed at the end of the meeting and was then told that he was free to leave the office.
have Wilson jailed and told Wilson that he would call the police or the U.S. Attorney's office about Wilson, or Wilson could accompany him to the postal inspection office. Wilson decided to accompany Inspector McDermott and followed him to the office. According to Inspector McDermott, Wilson was not under arrest at that time and was free to proceed in another direction.
According to Inspector McDermott, Wilson was free to leave the postal inspection office at any time. However, according to Wilson, Inspector McDermott had said that if he did not come to the postal inspection office, the police would arrest him to obtain the exemplar and would hold him for two days; Wilson did not believe that he was free to go after that discussion. Inspector McDermott did not recall what he had said to Wilson about the choice between calling the police and going to the postal inspection office.
Wilson testified that the checks were his and/or he had a possessory interest in the checks. At the conclusion of the hearing, the district court found that Wilson had no standing to contest the search because he had no expectation of privacy in Stiles' hotel apartment. The district court also determined that Sgt. Cowcert went into the bathroom and, by using the flashlight, saw something in the trash can; upon closer inspection, Sgt. Cowcert found that it was the checks. The district court determined that, because Stiles subsequently consented to the search, it was clear that the checkbook would ultimately have been discovered. The district court concluded that the seizure was justified because (1) Wilson has no standing to complain and (2) the checkbook was in plain view. With regard to Wilson's confession, the district court determined that Wilson voluntarily followed Inspector McDermott to the postal inspection office and that he voluntarily gave the challenged statement.
Wilson pled guilty to possession of stolen mail, but reserved his right to appeal the ruling on the motion to suppress. The district court sentenced Wilson to ten months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. Wilson appeals the denial of his motion to suppress asserting, inter alia, that he does have standing to challenge the search and seizure of the checks, that the warrantless seizure was unreasonable and therefore prohibited by the Fourth Amendment, and that his confession was tainted by the illegal seizure. Because we agree with these contentions, we do not reach either his remaining arguments or the government's response thereto.
The government asserts, and the district court found, that Wilson has no standing to contest the search or seizure of the checkbook because he had no expectation of privacy in Stiles' hotel apartment.
Wilson has the burden of showing that he has standing. Once the defendant produces evidence that the search and seizure were warrantless, the burden shifts to the government to justify the warrantless search and seizure. United States v. De La Fuente, 548 F.2d 528, 533 (5th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom., Stewart v. U.S., 431 U.S. 932, 97 S.Ct. 2640, 53 L.Ed.2d 249 (1977).
In general, a person who is aggrieved by an illegal search and seizure only through the introduction of damaging evidence secured by a search of a third person's premises or property has not had any of his Fourth Amendment rights infringed. Rakas v. Illinois, 439 U.S. 128, 99 S.Ct. 421, 425, 58 L.Ed.2d 387 (1978), citing Alderman v. United States, 394 U.S. 165, 174, 89 S.Ct. 961, 966, 22 L.Ed.2d 176 (1969). In order to have Fourth Amendment standing, a defendant Wilson asserts that, under Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91, 110 S.Ct. 1684, 109 L.Ed.2d 85 (1990), he has standing. We agree. Although the facts in Olson are dissimilar, 2 its language is broad: Olson states that "... status as an overnight guest is alone enough to show that he had an expectation of privacy in the home that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable." Olson, 495 U.S. at 96-97, 110 S.Ct. at 1688. In the instant case, Stiles lived in a hotel room and had lived there for approximately three years. Wilson was an overnight guest in Stiles' "home". Thus, Wilson had an Olson expectation of privacy and he may challenge the district court's ruling on his motion to suppress. Accordingly, we find that the district court erred in its determination that Wilson had no expectation of privacy in Stiles' hotel-residence. Due to his Olson expectation of privacy, Wilson has discharged his burden to show that he has standing to challenge the search and seizure of the checkbook. The burden thus shifts to the government to justify the warrantless search and seizure of the checkbook.
must show 1) an actual, subjective expectation of privacy with respect to the place being searched or items being seized, and 2) that the expectation is one that society would recognize as reasonable. United States v. Doe, 801 F.Supp. 1562, 1572 (E.D.Tex.1992), citing United States v. Lee, 898 F.2d 1034, 1037-1038 (5th Cir.1990).
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