U.S. v. Winchenbach, Criminal No. 98-38-P-C.

• Decision Date: 27 October 1998
• Docket Number: Criminal No. 98-38-P-C.
• Citation: 31 F.Supp.2d 159
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Ralph WINCHENBACH, Jr., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maine

31 F.Supp.2d 159

UNITED STATES of America v. Ralph WINCHENBACH, Jr., Defendant.

Criminal No. 98-38-P-C.

United States District Court, D. Maine.

October 27, 1998.

Jonathan R. Chapman, Asst. U.S. Atty., Office of U.S. Atty., Portland, ME, for U.S.

Mary A. Davis, Tisdale & Davis, Portland, ME, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS

GENE CARTER, District Judge.

Defendant Ralph Winchenbach, Jr. faces a charge of intentional distribution of a controlled substance containing cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. Indictment (Docket No. 1). Now before the Court is Defendant's Motion to Suppress (Docket No. 9). In that motion, Defendant asks this Court to suppress as evidence in this case any evidence obtained as a result of his arrest and as a result of a search of his person at the time of his arrest. After reviewing counsels' memoranda, hearing argument, and reviewing the stipulated record, the Court concludes that Defendant's motion should be denied.

I. BACKGROUND

The following facts are gathered from the evidentiary record stipulated to by the parties for purpose of the Court's consideration of the pending motion to suppress evidence. Stipulated Record (Docket No. 13). On September 3, 1997, at approximately 11:00 p.m., law enforcement agents arrested Defendant at his mobile home on Ralph Wink Road in Waldoboro, Maine. Id. At the time of Defendant's arrest, the officers were executing a search warrant for Defendant's premises and did not possess a warrant for his arrest. Id.

According to the record, agents of the Maine Drug Enforcement Unit of the Maine Department of Public Safety had surveilled four controlled buys of cocaine by a wired informant from Wendy Spinney, the original target of a drug distribution investigation. Stipulated Record, Exhibit B at ¶¶ 2-6. The officers observed Spinney traveling in the direction of Ralph Wink Road where Defendant resides when Spinney went to collect the cocaine for each purchase. Id. at ¶¶ 1-6. Specifically, during one controlled buy, the officers observed Spinney going directly to Defendant's mobile home to purchase the cocaine. Id. at ¶ 3. Upon their arrest, Spinney and William Holmstrom, Jr. who accompanied Spinney to collect the drugs, provided police with information that reasonably identified Defendant as the source of the cocaine. Id. at ¶¶ 7-8. The facts revealed from the investigation are set forth in detail below.

At the end of April 1997, agents supervised the first controlled buy from Spinney. The informant was equipped with a body wire, given $250 of recorded money, and searched for contraband. Id. at ¶ 1. The informant called Spinney and arranged to meet at the Oyster Shell Motel to purchase cocaine. At the motel the informant spoke to Spinney and an unidentified male about purchasing some cocaine. Id. Spinney told the informant she was going to Rockland to get the cocaine and that he should come back later to pick it up.¹ Id. Despite the fact that Spinney mentioned that she would pick the cocaine up in Rockland, Spinney and the male were followed by the officers on Route One northbound toward Duck Puddle Road in Waldoboro which leads to Ralph Wink Road.² Id.; See Map of Duck Puddle, Appendix A. The officers continued to follow Spinney to Ralph Wink Road.³ Id. Stipulated Record, Exhibit B at ¶ 1. The suspects were gone for about ten minutes before they were seen returning on Duck Puddle from the direction of Ralph Wink Road. Id. They were followed back to the motel, wherein they gave the informant an unknown amount of cocaine. Id.

On May 30, 1997, a similar transaction transpired. This time, the agents recorded the informant and Spinney making arrangements for a purchase of cocaine. Id. at ¶ 2. Spinney told the informant to come to her house. Id. The informant was equipped with a body wire, given $250 of recorded money and searched for drugs. Id. After meeting with the informant at her house, Spinney again told the informant that she would pick up the cocaine from Rockland. Id. An agent followed Spinney on Route One northbound onto Duck Puddle Road in the direction of Ralph Wink Road. Id. Spinney was seen on Duck Puddle Road coming from the direction of Ralph Wink Road approximately ten minutes later. Id. Spinney returned home, called the informant, and informed him that she could not get the cocaine from Rockland and that the people in Waldoboro were out. Id.

Again, on June 5, 1997, the informant called and arranged to buy an "eight ball" of cocaine from Spinney with marked bills. This time Spinney told the informant that she would go to Waldoboro to get the cocaine. Id. at ¶ 3. The informant was again equipped with a body wire, given $250 of recorded money, and driven by officers to Spinney's house. Id. The surveilling officer heard Spinney and the informant discuss the purchase of cocaine. Id. The informant reported that Spinney told the informant she gets the cocaine from a "Junior" in Waldoboro. Spinney was then followed by an officer to Defendant's mobile home on the Ralph Wink Road in Waldoboro. Id. Spinney entered the mobile home and remained inside for ten minutes. Id. Spinney was followed back to her home and was inside for seven minutes before the informant arrived to pick up the cocaine. When the informant exited Spinney's home, he had an "eight ball" of cocaine on his person. Id.

Finally, on September 3, 1997, the informant, who again was wired, provided with $250 of marked bills, and searched for contraband, arranged to purchase cocaine from Spinney for the last time. The informant arranged to meet Spinney at her home to give her the money for the drugs. Id. at ¶ 4. Spinney told him that she would pick up the cocaine from Duck Puddle and that they were waiting for her at "Junior's" house. Id. A law enforcement officer drove the informant to Spinney's home. Id. at ¶ 5. At Spinney's home, the informant arranged with Spinney and a man, later identified as William Holmstrom, Jr., to meet at Houston Dodges — a local junkyard. Spinney and Holmstrom then left to pick up the cocaine. Id. Spinney and Holmstrom were followed north on Route One to the intersection with Duck Puddle Road, where they turned down toward Ralph Wink Road. Id. After approximately ten minutes of waiting, a detective observed Spinney returning down Duck Puddle Road from the direction of Ralph Wink Road. Id. He continued to follow them south on Route One until police stopped them. Both Spinney and Holmstrom were searched, and an "eight ball" of cocaine and $50 of the marked bills were seized. Id.

In the hopes of gaining consideration for cooperation on their charges, both Spinney and Holmstrom cooperated during questioning with police at the Lincoln County Jail.⁴ After being read her Miranda rights and indicating she understood her rights, Spinney told law enforcement agents that she had bought the cocaine seized at the time of her arrest, from "Junior Winchenbach" immediately prior to her arrest. Id. at ¶ 7. When asked whether Junior Winchenbach was Ralph Winchenbach, Spinney stated that she thought so. Id. Spinney told officers that she had used $200 of the informant's money to purchase the cocaine. Id. She also told police that she had bought cocaine from Winchenbach about thirty times and each time went to his home. Id. Holmstrom told detectives that he had gone with Spinney to Ralph Wink Road in Waldoboro to pick up the cocaine. Id.

Shortly thereafter MDEA agents applied for a search warrant for Defendant's home.⁵ The Affidavit and Request for the Search Warrant stated that the police had probable cause that drug trafficking evidence would be found in Defendant's residence and in "[a]ny and all people present and arriving at the residence at the time of the search, including but not limited to Ralph Winchenbach Jr. and Arlene Winchenbach."⁶ Stipulated Record, Exhibit B at 1. Based upon the above information, the agents obtained a search warrant for Defendant's home on Ralph Wink Road in Waldoboro from Maine District Court.⁷ The warrant did not provide for the arrest of Defendant.

Later in the evening of September 3, 1997, law enforcement agents went to Defendant's mobile home on Ralph Wink Road in Waldoboro to execute the search warrant. When Defendant came to the front door, police immediately arrested him for trafficking in cocaine.

II. DISCUSSION

Defendant moves to suppress the evidence found upon the search of his person incident to his arrest. Defendant argues that, because he was arrested at home, federal law requires an arrest warrant. Furthermore, even if a warrant is not required, the officers lacked probable cause to arrest him. This Court will address the following legal issues identified by the parties: (1) whether the officers had probable cause for Defendant's arrest and (2) whether the Defendant's arrest was unlawful because it was without a warrant.

A. Probable Cause To Arrest

Defendant argues that the officers lacked probable cause to arrest him because the information from the ongoing investigation of Spinney was not sufficient to warrant the belief that Defendant had distributed cocaine. The Government counters that probable cause for Defendant's arrest is supported by the facts of the investigation as set forth in the stipulated record. The Court agrees with the Government.

The constitutionality of a warrantless arrest is determined under the probable cause standard. Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 91, 85 S.Ct. 223, 225-26, 13 L.Ed.2d 142 (1964). The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to announce any bright-line test to determine the presence of probable cause in any given case. This reluctance reflects the Court's view that probable cause is a "practical, nontechnical conception," Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 176, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 1311, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (1949), and that "the evidence thus collected must be seen and weighed not in terms of library analysis...