United States v. Hohman

• Docket Number: CRIMINAL ACTION 21-30007-MGM,21-30042-MGM
• Decision Date: 31 August 2023
• Parties: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. BRIAN HOHMAN, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
v.
BRIAN HOHMAN, Defendant.

CRIMINAL ACTION Nos. 21-30007-MGM, 21-30042-MGM

United States District Court, D. Massachusetts

August 31, 2023

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER REGARDING MOTION TO SUPPRESS

MARK G. MASTROIANNI UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

I. INTRODUCTION

Brian Hohman (“Defendant”) has filed a Motion to Suppress, seeking an order suppressing the fruits of a search of his residence. He asserts, among other arguments, that the affidavit in support of the search warrant intentionally or recklessly omitted and misrepresented certain material information. Defendant therefore requests an evidentiary hearing pursuant to Franks v. Delaware, 438 U.S. 154 (1978). For the following reasons, the court concludes Defendant has made the requisite showing to obtain a Franks hearing.

II. BACKGROUND^[1]

1. Application for Search Warrant

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The warrant to search Defendant's residence was authorized by a Massachusetts clerk magistrate on September 21, 2020. (Dkt. No. 63-2). The application sought permission to search 7 Lower West Road, Sandisfield, Massachusetts, for evidence relating to indecent assault and battery, secret sexual surveillance, and illegal possession of a firearm. Attached to the application was an affidavit drafted by Massachusetts State Trooper Timothy M. Murphy. (Dkt. No. 63-3). After a number of pages reciting general police observations about certain criminal behaviors, recounting Defendant's criminal history, and disclosing a prior investigation that did not result in charges against Defendant, the affiant asserted the following in his affidavit.

On September 16, 2020, the Berkshire State Police Detective Unit became aware of an allegation by Hunter Sarcia's mother that her 21-year-old son may have been sexually assaulted. Specifically, Sarcia's mother initially reported the allegation to Sandisfield Chief of Police Michael Morrison. Upon learning of the allegation, Murphy and Sergeant Thomas Forest conducted a phone interview with Sarcia the following day, which was not recorded at Sarcia's request. (Id. at 59). Sarcia explained he recently reunited with an old friend, Brooke Lacasse, who invited him to her friend Brian's house for dinner. Sarcia did not know Brian, later identified as Defendant, and interpreted Brooke's invitation as “somewhat of a date.” At about 7:00 p.m. on September 11, 2020, Lacasse and Sarcia arrived to Defendant's residence at 7 Lower West Road in Sandisfield. Sarcia described Defendant as a “lunatic” and stated that, while he was giving Sarcia a tour of the home, Defendant “bragged to him about his sawed-off shotgun which Sarcia viewed in one of the bedrooms” and “also bragged to him about selling his prescription medications to kids.” (Id. at 60).

Sarcia told the police investigators that Patron tequila shots were consumed while dinner was being cooked and that he believes he was drugged around that time in the kitchen. Sarcia also recalled being alone in the kitchen with Defendant at one point, around the same time. After dinner on the home's side deck, Lacasse and another dinner attendee, Dylan Dunham, went inside to do dishes,

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leaving Sarcia alone with Defendant, who “would not shut up.” (Id.). Sarcia then blacked out and when he came to, his pants were down and Defendant was holding his testicles and taking pictures of his genitals. Sarcia remembers saying, “What are you doing, I'm straight,” to which Defendant replied, “We had a deal!” Sarcia stated he believed Lacasse drove him home that evening; he woke up in his own bed the next morning and was out of sorts for two days. Sarcia advised Trooper Murphy “that he knows his limits and did not drink to excess on the evening in question.” (Id.). He also disclosed that he obtained an “expensive drug test kit,” which yielded positive results for MDMA, Xanax, and cocaine. (Id.). Sarcia discarded the test kit shortly after. Sarcia also alleged he noticed a “bug” on his phone a few days after the incident, which he described as a Windows 10 app that he had not downloaded. (Id.).

The affidavit then stated: “While much of the information is self-corroborative within Sarcia's statement (i.e. description of suspect driveway, porch and residence), officers performed CJIS checks on Sarcia to ensure [no] history existed relative to making false reports, misleading police or perjuring himself. Sarcia's credibility was further enhanced by these records checks resulting in negative results.” (Id. at 61). The affidavit also noted that “Sarcia was currently under electronic monitoring as part of his pretrial conditions of an unrelated offense,” but did not elaborate on that offense. (Id.).

The remainder of the affidavit recounts Sergeant Ryan Dickinson's interviews with several family members regarding the incident. Sarcia's father told Sergeant Dickinson he received a call from his son on September 12, 2020, the morning after the incident. Sarcia told his dad he went to a house to see a girl. At some point while there, he told the girl and an “older guy” who was present that he had a “big dick” and showed it to them. When Sarcia dropped his pants, the older man “fondled his balls.” (Id. at 62). When Sarcia again discussed the incident with his father on September 14, 2020, he stated he had been “lured” to the house by a girl, was fed dinner, and felt he had been drugged before being “molested” by the older man. (Id. at 62-63). On September 17, 2020, Sarcia told his father he

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had a shot of tequila at the house and stated his belief he may have been drugged via the alcohol. (Id. at 63).

Sergeant Dickinson also spoke with Sarcia's grandmother. She relayed she took a walk with Sarcia the afternoon after the incident. During that walk, Sarcia told her he'd been invited to a dinner by a girl the night before and thought he had been drugged while there because he “woke up to find himself with an erection and an older man was leaning over him taking pictures with his phone.” (Id.). Sarcia told his grandmother he took a drug test that morning, which returned positive results for several drugs he believed he had been given. (Id. at 64). Sarcia's grandmother indicated she had no further discussions with Sarcia about the incident.

In the summary of probable cause, the affidavit reiterates Sarcia's statements to investigators that: he observed a sawed-off shotgun in Defendant's home the evening of the incident; Defendant used a cell phone to photograph him; Sarcia believed his phone was “bugged”; after the alleged sexual assault, “Sarcia self-administered a drug test in which Sarcia stated the test results indicated he had tested positive for MDMA, Xanax, and Cocaine,” but had disposed of the test; he advised he had “consumed Patron Tequila that night”; and “Sarcia denied knowingly taking any of those drugs or consuming enough alcohol as to make him black out.” (Id. at 64). Based on these statements, the affidavit sought a warrant to search Defendant's home. While Murphy authored the affidavit, the matter was discussed with Detective Lieutenant Edward Culver, Sergeant Forest, Sergeant Dickinson, and a Berkshire Assistant District Attorney. The affidavit itself was reviewed by Sergeant Dickinson and Lieutenant Culver.

2. Pending Charges Against Sarcia^[2]

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At the time of the incident and affidavit, Sarcia had two criminal cases pending against him, the underlying facts of which were not included in the affidavit. In relevant part, at around 7:30 p.m. on September 27, 2019, Sarcia was operating a Jeep Cherokee, driving between 20-40 mph over the speed limit on Route 44 in Barkhamsted, Connecticut. As an elderly couple in a Dodge Ram pickup truck were exiting the parking lot of the Log House restaurant after having dinner there, they each looked both ways before they began pulling out of the parking lot, noting no vehicles. They were then suddenly hit by the Jeep. Both the driver and the passenger in the Dodge Ram had to be extracted using the Jaws of Life and suffered extensive injuries from the collision. When police arrived on the scene, a Connecticut State Trooper observed an open beer can in the center console of the Jeep, which contained beer. In the ambulance, another officer noted a marijuana grinder and pipe on Sarcia's person. A few days after the incident, Sarcia gave a statement to police. He indicated he was at his cabin the evening before the collision but “[did not] remember what happened.” When he woke up the next morning, he weed whacked the property, stole two beers from his dad, drank them both, and then smoked marijuana. He could not recall how much. He then went to a friend's house, smoked more marijuana, and “the next thing I remember was waking up in the LifeStar helicopter” after the collision. (Dkt. No. 63-4).

Sarcia's then-girlfriend, Sarah Turick, also gave a statement to police. She explained Sarcia had come to her apartment the evening of the incident at around 7:00 p.m. to talk about their relationship. When he arrived, he parked his Jeep in a manner that concerned her and both she and a neighbor commented that he was driving recklessly. Turick got in Sarcia's vehicle and he drove to a nearby pub and parked. She stated Sarcia was “acting strangely” so she asked him “what he was on.” He said he “drank a couple of beers earlier, but he ‘danced' around the subject.” Turick immediately asked him to take her home because “he was making me nervous because [she didn't] know what he was on.”

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Sarcia then brought her back to her apartment complex and, according to Turick, was again “driving recklessly.” (Id.).

Based on blood samples taken while Sarcia was in the hospital, Connecticut State Police determined his blood alcohol level was 0.13% and also contained marijuana. In June 2020, Sarcia was charged with two counts of assault in the second degree by motor vehicle; drinking while driving; use of a drug, less than half an ounce;...