U.S. v. Wolfe
| Decision Date | 13 January 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. CRIM. 97-50065.,CRIM. 97-50065. |
| Citation | 32 F.Supp.2d 945 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Ronald Napoleon WOLFE, Sr., Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan |
Presently before the Court is defendant Ronald Napoleon Wolfe, Sr.'s Amended and Supplemental Motion to Suppress the Fruits of a State Search Warrant filed on September 30, 1998. The government responded to defendant's motion on October 23, 1998. On November 23, 1998, defendant untimely filed a reply brief entitled, "defendant's response to the government's October 23, 1998 response." On December 30, 1998, this Court issued an order granting the United States' motion to strike said reply brief pursuant to Local Rule 7.1 (E.D.Mich. Sept. 8, 1998).
Also before the Court is defendant's Motion to Quash Warrants of 12/23/96 and 1/15/97, Suppress Evidence, Dismiss the Indictment, and/or Dismiss Counts I through IX, Count XII, and Counts XVI through XVIII of the First Superseding Indictment. The government responded to defendant's motion to quash on October 26, 1998.
Previously, on September 1, 1998, this Court issued a memorandum opinion and order denying defendant's motion to suppress fruits of a state search warrant. Evidentiary hearings were conducted on July 30, July 31, and August 24, 1998. The above-entitled case arises out of the execution of a six-page state search warrant at defendant's residence on December 23, 1996. On that date, officers from the Livingston County Sheriff's Department, Michigan State Police and Brighton State Police went to defendant's premises to assist in the entry of the premises and/or execution of the warrant. After entering the house, defendant was arrested and his wife, Marie Wolfe, was given a copy of the search warrant to review. As a result of the ensuing search, the officers seized from a vault located in the basement of the house, and behind a secret door, the following items: a long "plant growing light," a water pump, electric timers, a humidity gauge, 8 plastic pots and 17 marijuana growing plants. Also inside the vault the officers found scores of firearms. After locating receipts for only twelve weapons, the officers seized 86 firearms. See U.S. v. Wolfe, 22 F.Supp.2d 627, 630-31 (E.D.Mich.1998)(Gadola, J.).
For the reasons set forth below, the Court will deny defendant's Amended and Supplemental Motion to Suppress the Fruits of a State Search Warrant and deny defendant's Motion to Quash Warrants of 12/23/96 and 1/15/97, Suppress Evidence, Dismiss the Indictment, and/or Dismiss Counts I through IX, Count XII, and Counts XVI through XVIII of the First Superseding Indictment.
The instant case commenced December 3, 1997, when the grand jury returned an indictment charging defendant Wolfe with 21 federal firearms violations. Each count of the indictment was based on weapons seized by state officers during the execution of a state search warrant on December 21, 1996 at defendant's residence. Defendant moved to suppress from evidence all seized firearms, alleging that the warrant was invalidly issued and executed. As mentioned above, this Court conducted an evidentiary hearing on July 30, July 31, and August 24, 1998. On September 1, 1998, this Court issued a memorandum opinion and order discussing the various issues raised in defendant's motion to suppress. The Court held that (1) Detective Perry properly swore to the affidavit; (2) the affidavit sworn to by Detective Perry on December 23, 1996 is not invalid on the basis of defendant's claim that it contained false or misleading assertions of material fact; (3) there was probable cause to search defendant's entire premise based on the affidavit; (4) even if the affidavit does not establish probable cause, the good faith exception to the warrant requirement is applicable to validate the search in the case at bar; (5) whether the defendant consented to a search of the vault is moot; (6) seizure of the firearms is valid under the plain view exception to the warrant requirement; and (7) M.C.L. § 780.656 was not violated. See U.S. v. Wolfe, 22 F.Supp.2d 627 (E.D.Mich.1998)(Gadola, J.).
The original indictment was returned by a grand jury which had been unconstitutionally selected, pursuant to the Sixth Circuit's ruling in U.S. v. Ovalle, 136 F.3d 1092 (6th Cir.1998). The government therefore presented the case to a new grand jury, which subsequently returned a First Superseding Indictment on August 19, 1998. The First Superseding Indictment is identical to the original indictment, except that it adds a new Count 22. That count charges defendant with illegally manufacturing marijuana at his residence beginning on an unknown date and continuing until the date of the search, December 21, 1996, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841.
In the amended and supplemental motion, defendant concedes that the following issues have been adequately resolved for purposes of appellate review:
1. Whether Detective Perry swore to the affidavit submitted to Judge Hegarty on December 23, 1996;
2. Whether the affidavit presented to Judge Hegarty on December 23, 1996 contained false or misleading assertions of material facts;
3. Whether the affidavit presented to Judge Hegarty set forth sufficient facts, attributable to reliable sources, to support a finding of probable cause;
4. Whether Judge Hegarty critically evaluated the affidavit, or did he simply accede to the requests made in the affidavit and search warrant;
5. Whether there was a sufficient factual basis within the four corners of the affidavit to support a finding that Detective Perry relied in good faith on the search warrant;
6. Whether Detective Perry's entry into the gun vault complied with the requirements of M.C.L. § 780.656;
7. Whether Detective Perry's seizure of the firearms from the gun vault occurred in conformity with the plain view exception; and
8. Whether defendant consented to the search of the gun vault.1
Defendant states that he is uncertain as to whether the following issues have been resolved:
1. Whether the search warrant described the property to be searched for and seized with sufficient particularity to satisfy the Fourth Amendment;
2. Whether the search warrant described the place to be searched with sufficient particularity to satisfy the Fourth Amendment;
3. Whether the execution of the search warrant was overly broad so as to require suppression of all evidence seized from defendant's home on December 23, 1996.
See Defendant's Amended and Supplemental Motion, p. 11. The government contends that this Court's previous opinion has resolved these issues, albeit by implication, against defendant, at least with respect to the seized firearms. The government concedes that the Court did not decide these issues with respect to the seized marijuana because Count 22 was added by the First Superseding Indictment, and was not addressed in defendant's prior motion to suppress.
These three issues all concern the validity of the underlying search warrant, as well as the manner of its execution. In the previous opinion, this Court explicitly stated that it found the warrant to be valid and enforceable, based upon probable cause as evidenced by the supporting affidavit of Detective Perry. See Wolfe, 22 F.Supp.2d at 636. In addition, the Court held that even if the warrant were defective, the search would still have been proper based upon the good faith exception to the exclusionary rule. See id. at 640 (citing U.S. v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 920-21, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984), reh'g denied, 468 U.S. 1250, 105 S.Ct. 52, 82 L.Ed.2d 942 (1984)). Furthermore, the Court expressly acknowledged that the state search warrant did not authorize the police to search for and seize firearms. Id. at 641. Nevertheless, seizure of the firearms was held to be valid under the plain view exception to the warrant requirement. See id. (citing Horton v. California, 496 U.S. 128, 142, 110 S.Ct. 2301, 110 L.Ed.2d 112 (1990)).
In light of this Court's previous rulings on the subject, defendant will not be permitted to relitigate issues regarding the validity of the search warrant and its execution. With respect to the applicability of these prior rulings to the marijuana seized during the search on December 23, 1996, defendant has advanced no reason why the plain view exception, as discussed and applied in the previous opinion, would not apply equally to both the seized firearms and to the marijuana. See id. The three requirements of the plain view exception have been satisfied, to wit: (1) the marijuana was in plain view; (2) the incriminating character of the marijuana was immediately apparent, and (3) the marijuana was viewed by an officer lawfully located in a place from which the marijuana could be seen and seized by an officer who had a lawful right of access to the marijuana itself. See id. Therefore, this Court finds that the prior rulings as set forth in the September 1, 1998 opinion will be extended to encompass the seizure of the marijuana and associated items.
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