United States v. Clayton
| Decision Date | 04 June 2020 |
| Docket Number | CRIMINAL ACTION NO. 18-524 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. VICTOR CLAYTON |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
Presently before the Court is Defendant Victor Clayton's Motion to Suppress All Evidence and Statements Obtained as a Result of the Warrantless Search and Arrest on March 15, 2018. (ECF No. 56.) Clayton's Motion will be granted in part and denied in part.
The Baymont Inn and Suites is a two-story motel in Dunn, North Carolina. Its rooms are accessible by exterior doors, rather than by an interior hallway. An exterior stairway allows access to the second floor, with half of the rooms on one side of the stairway and the other half of the rooms on the other side of the stairway. Occupants are able to park their vehicles in front of the ground floor rooms. (Transcript of March 13, 2020 Suppression Hearing ("Tr.") at 7-8, 20-21, ECF No. 67.)
At approximately 8:00 a.m. on March 15, 2018, Sergeant Calvin Johnson of the Dunn Police Department received a request to report to the Baymont. (Id. at 5-7.) He was advised that there was a missing juvenile at the location, as well as potential solicitation and drug activity. (Id. at 8.) Around the same time, Officer Megan Dean of the Dunn Police Department also received a radio dispatch to report to the Baymont in regard to a missing juvenile and potential solicitation. (Id. at 17-20, 28-29.)
Johnson and Dean arrived at the Baymont around the same time. (Id. at 7, 19, 29-30.) Shortly after their arrival, they found a girl sitting on the stairway. She appeared to be about 14 to 16 years old. (Id. at 9, 20.) The girl ("Minor 1") informed the officers that she was a runaway and that she had been staying in Room 214 with another missing girl ("Minor 2") and a male. She also informed the officers that she and Minor 2 were being prostituted and that the man and Minor 2 were in the room. (Id. at 9, 20, 31.) After speaking with Minor 1, the officers placed her in Johnson's patrol car and confirmed through the National Crime Information Center that she was in fact a missing juvenile. (Id at 10.) Dean and Johnson then proceeded to Room 214. (Id. at 10, 21.)
Neither Dean nor Johnson remembers how exactly they entered Room 214. They believe either that the door was open or—more likely, according to Dean—that someone let them in after knocking. They are sure, however, that they did not force themselves into the room. (Id. at 10-11, 21-22, 33.) Once they entered the room, they saw two beds to the right of the doorway. One bed was empty. In the other bed were Minor 2 and Clayton.1 Minor 2 appeared to be about 14 to 16 years old and was scantily clothed. (Id. at 11-12, 21-23, 34-35.) The officers instructed Minor 2 to get out of the bed and put on more clothes. Dean took her to the bathroom to comply, while Johnson stayed with Clayton. (Id. at 12, 21-23.)
Dean transported one of the juveniles back to the Dunn Police Department. She does not recall which minor she transported, but she believes that she left the motel at about 8:30 a.m. She also recalls that when she returned to the police station, both minors were present. Shebelieves that another law enforcement officer, Lieutenant Hanson, transported the other minor from the motel to the police department. (Id. at 23-24.)2
Meanwhile, Sergeant Charles Barbour of the Dunn Police Department arrived at the Baymont shortly before 9:00 a.m. (Id. at 39-41.) After he arrived, he went to Room 214 and spoke to Johnson. (Id. at 41.) He saw Clayton handcuffed to the bed closest to the door. By this time, neither of the minors was present. (Id. at 42.) Johnson asked Barbour to take Clayton to Barbour's car, which Barbour did. Barbour understood that Clayton was being detained and that he was to sit with Clayton in his police car. (Id.) He also understood, as per Johnson, that the FBI was being contacted. (Id. at 42-43.)
Barbour sat with Clayton in his vehicle for about four hours. During that time, Clayton was in the front passenger seat, beside Barbour. (Id. at 43.) According to Barbour, he kept Clayton in the parking lot of the Baymont because the Dunn Police Department was a very small building and he did not want to risk Clayton running into the minors there. (Id.) Barbour testified that while he was in the car with Clayton, he told Clayton that he was being detained pending the arrival of other investigators. (Id. at 44.) He does not recall Clayton asking to use the restroom or taking Clayton to a restroom. (Id.) He also does not recall Clayton asking for food or giving Clayton food while they were in the car. (Id. at 44-45.)
While Barbour and Clayton were still at the motel, other law enforcement officers interviewed the two minors at the Dunn Police Department. They wanted to get as much information from the minors before interviewing Clayton (Id. at 80-81.) The minors were interviewed separately and each of the interviews lasted about 45 to 60 minutes. (Id. at 80-84.)
At about 1:15 p.m., Barbour took Clayton to the Dunn Police Department. (Id. at 45.) When they arrived in Barbour's office, Barbour offered Clayton food and drink. Clayton accepted a bottle of water and some crackers. (Id. at 45.) At about 1:25 p.m., Clayton was Mirandized by Barbour and FBI Special Agent Kiernan Whitworth, who had since arrived at the Dunn Police station. (Id. at 60-61, 77-79.) Clayton then signed a form acknowledging his Miranda rights, without resistance. (Ex. 3; Tr. at 60-61.) A video shows that Barbour and Whitworth read Clayton his Miranda rights before they began asking him questions. Based on the video and transcript of the video, Clayton appeared to understand those rights and did not appear resistant. (Ex. 4; Tr. at 57-59, 85-87.) The bottle of water Barbour gave to Clayton also appears in the video. (Ex. 4; Tr. at 59.)
Barbour and Whitworth interviewed Clayton together, for about an hour. (Tr. at 45, 61, 80.) Another video shows that at the conclusion of the interview, Clayton acknowledged that Barbour had been "fair" to him that day. (Ex. 5; Tr. at 62, 89-90.) The video also shows Barbour offering Clayton more food and water. (Ex. 5; Tr. at 62.)
Clayton was formally placed under arrest following the interview and was taken to jail at approximately 4:00 p.m. that day. (Id. at 45-46, 64.) He was not taken back to the Baymont before being arrested. (Id. at 74.)
At some point after March 15, 2018, the FBI obtained from the Dunn Police Department two cell phones belonging to Clayton. The FBI did not search those phones until after they obtained search warrants. (Tr. at 75-76.) The FBI also obtained two additional cell phones belonging to the minor victims. (Id. at 76-77.)3
On July 24, 2019, a grand jury returned a two-count Indictment charging Clayton with knowingly recruiting, enticing, harboring, transporting, providing, obtaining, and maintaining Minor 1 and Minor 2, and attempting to do so, knowingly and in reckless disregard for the fact that Minor 1 and Minor 2 were under the age of 18 and would be caused to engage in commercial sex acts, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1591(a)(1) and 1594(a). (ECF No. 1.) On February 7, 2020, Clayton filed a Motion to Suppress All Evidence and Statements Obtained as a Result of the Warrantless Search and Arrest on March 15, 2018. (Def.'s Mot., ECF No. 56.) The Government filed a response in opposition on February 28, 2020. (ECF No. 62.) A suppression hearing was held on March 13, 2020. (ECF No. 67.)
At the March 13 suppression hearing, the Government introduced two property receipts showing that two cell phones belonging to Clayton were seized from Room 214 at about 8:40 a.m. on March 15, 2018. (Ex. 1.) Hanson filled out these forms. Although the receipts indicate that Officer Dean seized the phones, she testified that she did not seize any evidence from Room 214 and that it is possible Hanson made a mistake when filling out the forms. (Tr. at 25-28.) She testified that although it is possible her memory is mistaken and that she did in fact obtain the phones, she doubts that that is what happened. (Id. at 37.) Barbour also testified that based on his observation of events on March 15, 2018, it is possible that the forms were incorrect. (Id. at 56.) He also testified that although he does not recall specifically, it is possible he was the one who obtained the two phones belonging to Clayton. (Id.)
The Government also introduced two consent-to-search forms, one for Room 214 and the other for Clayton's car, which was in the Baymont parking lot. (Ex. 2; Tr. at 46-47.) Clayton executed both forms without any resistance. (Ex. 2; Tr. at 48.) There is no timestamp on the forms, but the forms indicate that Clayton signed them at the police station. (Ex. 2; Tr. at 47, 49,67.) Barbour does not recall when Clayton signed the consent forms. (Id. at 49.) Barbour testified that pursuant to his typical practice, a suspect would be present during the search so he or she could "revoke the consent at any time." (Id.) He also recalls that at some point after 10:00 a.m., while he was waiting at the motel with Clayton, Butch Halpin of the Dunn Police Department arrived and took photographs of Room 214 and Clayton's vehicle. (Id. at 49-50.) Relying on a Computer-Aided Dispatch ("CAD") report, Barbour testified that the search of the car and room began at 12:42 p.m. and ended at 1:15 p.m. (Id. at 50-51; Ex. 7.) Barbour recalls that he was involved with the search of the vehicle and that during the vehicle search, he frequently looked back at his car to make sure Clayton was still there. (Tr. at 50, 73.) No search warrants were ever obtained for the room or the car. (Id. at 67.)
Finally, the Government introduced some photographs of Room 214, taken by Halpin. (Ex. 6; Tr. at 52.) The photographs show that upon entrance into the room, there was a TV stand against a wall on the left on which various coins, a towel, and a cell phone were spread out. In the...
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