United States v. Churchill
| Decision Date | 12 January 2022 |
| Docket Number | 1:21-cr-00129-JAW |
| Citation | 579 F.Supp.3d 207 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America v. Kristopher CHURCHILL |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maine |
Raphaelle A. Silver, Assistant US Attorney, Office of the U.S. Attorney, Bangor, ME, for United States of America.
Verne E. Paradie, Jr., Paradie & Rabasco, Lewiston, ME, for Kristopher Churchill.
ORDER ON MOTION TO SUPPRESS
Considering the totality of the circumstances, the Court grants a defendant's motion to suppress his interrogation statements due to law enforcement's failure to give Miranda1 warnings when required and its misrepresentation of the right to counsel when given.
On August 12, 2021, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Kristopher Churchill with one count of possession with intent to distribute four-hundred grams or more of fentanyl, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), with a related forfeiture allegation as to the $3,200 cash seized from his car by the Maine State Police on April 5, 2021. Indictment (ECF No. 16). On September 24, 2021, Mr. Churchill filed a motion to suppress his statements made during a jailhouse interview with federal agents several days after his arrest. Mot. to Suppress Statements (ECF No. 28). On October 18, 2021, Mr. Churchill filed an amended motion to suppress. Am. Mot. to Suppress Statements (ECF No. 33) (Def.’s Mot. ). On November 12, 2021, the Government responded in opposition to Mr. Churchill's motion to suppress. Gov't’s Resp. in Opp'n to Def. Def.’s Am. Mot. to Suppress (ECF No. 34) (Gov't’s Opp'n ). The Government filed additional materials with its opposition, including narratives and video from the Maine State Troopers who conducted the traffic stop, roadside search, and arrest. Id. , Attach. 1, Maine State Police Narrative Report Trooper Harrington (Trooper Harrington Report ); id. , Attach. 2, Maine State Police Continuation Report Trooper Roddy (Trooper Roddy Report ); id. , Attach. 3, Trooper Roddy's Cruiser Video (Cruiser Video ). The Government also submitted the video and transcript from Mr. Churchill's jailhouse interview and the interviewing DEA agent's accompanying report. Id. , Attach. 4, TFO Jonathan Richards Report of Investigation Re: Interview of Kristopher Churchill (TFO Richards Report ); id. , Attach. 5, Video Interview of Kristopher Churchill, Kennebec Sheriff's Dept. (Interview Video ); id. , Attach. 6, Tr., Interview of Kristopher Churchill (Interview Tr. ).
On April 5, 2021, at approximately 11:29 p.m., Maine State Trooper Tyler Harrington pulled over a vehicle just north of the West Gardiner Toll Plaza. Trooper Harrington Report at 1. There were two males in the car, and neither had identification. Id. The driver, Mr. Churchill, did not have his driver's license with him but supplied the car's registration and said the car was registered to him. Id.
Trooper Harrington asked the driver whether he would step out of the car, which Mr. Churchill did. Id. at 2. After confirming that Mr. Churchill did not have any weapons, Trooper Harrington asked him where he was heading, and Mr. Churchill replied that he was going back home to Bangor, Maine. Id. Trooper Harrington asked Mr. Churchill where he was coming from and Mr. Churchill stated that he was coming from Methuen, Massachusetts. Id. Upon further questioning Mr. Churchill told Trooper Harrington that he had gone to Massachusetts to pick up a friend and that the passenger in the vehicle was Juanito. Id. Mr. Churchill told Trooper Harrington that he was dropping off Juanito to visit family in Maine. Id.
As it was drizzling, Trooper Harrington suggested to Mr. Churchill that they get in his cruiser and Mr. Churchill agreed to do so. Id. In the cruiser, Mr. Churchill verbally identified himself as Kristopher Churchill. Id. At that point, Trooper Harrington called for backup. Id. Trooper Harrington asked Mr. Churchill whether he had ever before been in trouble with the police and Mr. Churchill acknowledged that he had "a couple of OUIs back in the day." Id. Upon questioning, Mr. Churchill said he did not know Juanito's last name and that he was going to drop off Juanito in Brewer, Maine. Id.
On further questioning from Trooper Harrington, Mr. Churchill said that he had been paid by "some guy [he] know[s] from Bangor" to pick up Juanito, who "he did not really know ... at all." Id. He explained that he was currently living out of his car, occasionally did things like this for money, and was "just trying to do a favor for a friend" by bringing Juanito from a house in Massachusetts up to his family. Id.
At this point, Trooper Harrington told Mr. Churchill that he was having trouble believing his story. Id. at 3. Trooper Harrington told Mr. Churchill that Methuen was a high drug area and Mr. Churchill quickly said that it was not Methuen, but Salem, Massachusetts, where he picked up Juanito. Id. Upon questioning, Mr. Churchill also said that Juanito did not have any luggage with him. Id.
Finding Mr. Churchill's responses inconsistent and the circumstances indicative of potential drug activity, Trooper Harrington called a narcotics K-9 to the scene. Id. Shortly thereafter, in response to Trooper Harrington's earlier request for backup, Trooper Lauren Roddy arrived on the scene and at Trooper Harrington's request, began to deal with Juanito, the passenger. Id. While waiting for the K-9, Trooper Harrington continued to question Mr. Churchill. Id. When asked more closely about whether he had ever been arrested for anything drug-related, Mr. Churchill initially denied it but then admitted he had been arrested last year for possessing methamphetamine. Id. Specifically, Mr. Churchill told Trooper Harrington that he had gotten in trouble for having a small amount of methamphetamine and fentanyl on him. Id. Mr. Churchill also admitted that he had been clean but had relapsed, and in fact, he had used drugs that very morning. Id.
Trooper Harrington pressed Mr. Churchill about whether he had drugs in his car. Id. Mr. Churchill said that he only had a crack pipe in the car door and that was it. Id. Trooper Harrington expressed skepticism, saying that he doubted Mr. Churchill would drive all the way to Salem and not return with a useable amount for himself. Id. At that point, Trooper Harrington's attention was diverted for a time to Juanito and he secured Mr. Churchill in handcuffs in his cruiser. Id. After talking to Juanito and having difficulty communicating with him because he spoke Spanish and did not appear to speak English, Trooper Harrington placed Juanito in his cruiser and transferred Mr. Churchill to Trooper Roddy's cruiser. Id. Corporal Record arrived on the scene with the K-9. Id. at 4. Corporal Record reported that the K-9 had indicated on the driver's side of Mr. Churchill's vehicle. Id. Corporal Record and Trooper Harrington searched the vehicle interior and found inside a first aid kit some brownish powder and loose U.S. currency. Id. Corporal Record found what was later identified as approximately 1.5 kilos of fentanyl, in a black plastic bag between the back-seat floorboard area, and $3,200 in U.S. currency. Id. ; Trooper Roddy Report at 1. The troopers did not locate any other contraband in the vehicle. Trooper Roddy Report at 1.
After the large quantity of what appeared to be narcotics was found in Mr. Churchill's vehicle, Trooper Roddy returned to her cruiser and advised Mr. Churchill of his Miranda rights. Id. Mr. Churchill answered her questions. Id. ; Cruiser Video. Trooper Roddy asked Mr. Churchill whose black sweatshirt was inside the vehicle and Mr. Churchill acknowledged it was his. Trooper Roddy Report at 1. Trooper Roddy was advised that a scale found inside the sweatshirt was used to measure narcotics. Id.
Both Mr. Churchill and his passenger were arrested and transported to the Kennebec County Jail, where they were charged with aggravated trafficking of fentanyl under state of Maine law. Trooper Harrington Report at 5. United States Customs and Border Patrol confirmed to Trooper Harrington that the passenger's name was Erick Mejia, that he was in the United States illegally, and that he had been arrested in 2020 in Massachusetts for drug possession. Id. at 4. Mr. Mejia's trafficking charge was dismissed prior to his initial appearance. Gov't’s Opp'n at 2 n.2. Mr. Churchill became the only suspect left in custody. See id.
About two and a half days later, on April 8, 2021, at approximately 8:40 a.m., corrections officers handcuffed Mr. Churchill and placed him in a Kennebec County Sheriff's Department interview room with DEA Task Force Officer (TFO) Jonathan Richards and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Agent Stephen Morrill. TFO Richards Report at 1. The entire interview was captured on video. Id. ; see Interview Video. During the first thirteen minutes, TFO Richards introduced himself and Agent Morrill and asked Mr. Churchill for some basic identifying information. TFO Richards Report at 2; Interview Tr. at 1-14. TFO Richards also asked Mr. Churchill about his criminal record, his drug use and drug of choice, whether the cellphone found in the car belonged to him, and whether the car belonged to him. TFO Richards Report at 2; Interview Tr. at 1-14; Def.’s Mot. at 2. TFO Richards reminded Mr. Churchill multiple times that he was the only individual from the traffic stop seizure still in custody as his passenger had been released. Interview Tr. at 3:11-19, 4:11-12, 8:23-25.
After thirteen minutes, TFO Richards informed Mr. Churchill of his Miranda rights, saying:
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