United States v. Jones

• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit
• Writing for the Court: Bauer, Circuit Judge.
• Citation: United States v. Jones, 861 F.3d 638 (7th Cir. 2017)
• Decision Date: 28 June 2017
• Docket Number: No. 16-4254,16-4254
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Vincent JONES, Defendant-Appellant.

861 F.3d 638

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Vincent JONES, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 16-4254

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued May 16, 2017

Decided June 28, 2017

Amended June 30, 2017

Nathaniel Whalen, Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Hammond, IN, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Matthew S. Hellman, Attorney, JENNER & BLOCK LLP, Washington, DC, Sarah Marie Konsky, David A. Strauss, Attorneys, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LAW SCHOOL, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellant.

Before Bauer, Flaum, and Kanne, Circuit Judges.

Bauer, Circuit Judge.

Defendant-appellant Vincent Jones was convicted on one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). On appeal, Jones challenges the denials of his motions to suppress the guns found in his home. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Jones lived with his girlfriend, Jennifer Kelley, and her three children in a mobile home located in Westville, Indiana. On June 5, 2013, Kelley's daughter ("MK") went to a neighbor's residence to call the police to report that Jones sexually assaulted her. Officers James Gunning and Jason Yagelski of the Westville Police Department were dispatched to the scene. There, both officers encountered Kelley and MK. Kelley told the officers that she was afraid of Jones; the officers transported Kelley and MK to the police department for further inquiry.

At the police department, MK told the officers that she had been sexually assaulted by Jones for several years. Kelley told the officers that Jones was a convicted felon who had tendencies of being violent and aggressive, that he had guns in a safe in their shared bedroom, and that she feared for her life and the lives of her children. The officers ran a criminal history check, which confirmed that Jones was a convicted felon.

The Kelleys and the officers returned to the residence with three additional officers: James Jackson, Brian Piergalski, and Corey Chavez. The officers were greeted by Jones, who opened the door. Officer Gunning observed knives on a counter and told Jones that he needed to vacate the premises, but allowed him to retrieve his personal belongings. Jones followed the officers' instructions to step outside of the home. An officer immediately handcuffed Jones and escorted him to a picnic table located ten to twenty feet from the entrance of the residence. Two officers remained with Jones.

With Jones being detained, the officers presented Kelley with a consent to search form. She signed the form and agreed to a warrantless search of her "residence and all rooms including enclosed boxes, safes etc. to clear the home of possible weapons and/or drugs."

Officer Piergalski searched Kelley and Jones' shared bedroom. In the bedroom, he saw two gun safes (a smaller safe on top of a larger one), boxes of ammunition, and empty gun holsters. He viewed several guns in the smaller safe, which was partially open. He opened the safe's door further to better see the guns. Officer Jackson observed that the smaller safe's door was open a couple of inches.

After seeing the contents of the open safe and in consultation with a state prosecutor, the officers ceased the search and sought a search warrant. The LaPorte County Superior Court issued a search warrant to search the home and the contents of the safe for evidence of sexual assault and firearms.

The officers conducted a full search of the home and seized twelve firearms, over a thousand rounds of ammunition, seventeen clips, and several firearm scopes. Jones was arrested and charged with one count of possession of a firearm by a felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).

Jones moved to suppress the products of the search; the district court referred the case to a magistrate judge. At the hearing, Jones argued that Kelley's consent to search was invalid against him because the officers did not ask him for consent, and he did not consent, citing Georgia v. Randolph , 547 U.S. 103, 126 S.Ct. 1515, 164 L.Ed.2d 208 (2006). Jones contended that the first search was illegal and the search pursuant to the warrant was tainted by the warrantless search. The magistrate judge rejected these arguments, concluding that Randolph was not applicable because Jones failed to object to the search when it occurred. The magistrate judge also found that because the initial search was conducted with Kelley's consent and the guns were observed in plain view, there was nothing to taint the subsequent search warrant. The magistrate judge recommended that the motion be denied.

The district court adopted the magistrate judge's report and denied the motion. In denying the motion, the court rejected two newly asserted claims raised in the objections to the magistrate judge's report. Relying upon Randolph , Jones argued that the officers removed him for the purpose of preventing him from objecting to the search, and thus Kelley's consent was invalid as to him. The court found that Jones did not object to the search and that the officers did not unlawfully detain or remove him. Instead, the court found that he voluntarily exited the residence. Second, Jones again challenged the search of the gun safe, arguing that the safes were closed and thus the guns were not observed in plain view. As support, Jones relied upon Officer Piergalski's post-search report, which indicated that he pulled open the door in order to see the guns. The court rejected this argument, crediting the officers' testimony that the safe was open and concluding that the guns were observed in plain view. Lastly, the court alternativelyconcluded that either the inevitable discovery rule or independent source doctrine would prevent exclusion.

After the denial of his first suppression motion, Jones moved to reconsider; the court granted Jones' motion to reopen the evidentiary hearing to allow him to testify. Jones testified that he objected to the search, and therefore Kelley's consent was invalid as to him. According to Jones, two officers stepped inside of the residence as he retrieved his keys and wallet. He testified that he told the officers that he did not "need any help finding my keys or wallet, and I didn't invite you in." Jones also testified that he noticed one officer "poking around through boxes and whatnot," and he asked the officer, "Don't you need a warrant?"

On June 21, 2016, the district court denied the motion to reconsider, finding that Jones' testimony was not credible and concluding that Jones' purported statements to the officers would not amount to an express refusal of consent as required under Randolph . Additionally, the court found that, even if Jones was correct that the officers unlawfully opened the safe prior to securing the search warrant, the evidence would have been admitted under either the inevitable discovery or independent source exceptions to the exclusionary rule.

Jones filed another motion to reconsider, which the district court denied on August 1, 2016. The court rejected both Jones' new and previously raised arguments. The court found that, after Jones voluntarily exited the residence and was subsequently handcuffed by the officers, his detention was lawful, both for the officers' safety and because the officers had probable cause to arrest him. The court declined to reconsider its alternative holding that the inevitable discovery doctrine applied.

At trial, Officer Piergalski made inconsistent statements as to whether the gun safe's door was initially open. After that testimony, Jones orally renewed his motion to suppress; the district court denied the motion. Ultimately, a jury convicted Jones on one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. The court entered its final judgment on December 19, 2016. The court sentenced Jones to 97 months' imprisonment to run concurrently with the sentence he received for his state child molestation conviction. This appeal followed.

II. DISCUSSION

Jones argues the district court erred in denying his motions to suppress the guns found in his home. First, he contends that the district court erred in considering various issues arising under Randolph . Second, he argues that the district court was wrong in concluding that the guns would have been inevitably discovered.

When reviewing a district court's denial of a motion to suppress, we review legal questions de novo and factual findings for clear error. United States v. James , 571 F.3d 707, 713 (7th Cir. 2009). We "may affirm the judgment of the district court on any ground supported in the record." United States v. Reaves , 796 F.3d 738, 741–42 (7th Cir. 2015).

A. Randolph Issues

The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and provides that a warrant may not be issued without probable cause. U.S. Const. amend. IV. A warrantless search conducted inside a person's home is presumptively unreasonable and a violation of the Fourth Amendment unless an established exception applies. United States v. Henderson , 536 F.3d 776, 779 (7th Cir. 2008) (citation omitted). One established exception is a search of a home that is conducted pursuant to an occupant's voluntary consent. Fernandez v. California , ––– U.S. ––––, 134 S.Ct. 1126, 1132, 188 L.Ed.2d 25 (2014).

With the exception of Jones' gun safes, there is no dispute that Kelley had the authority to consent to the search of the home. In Randolph , however, the Supreme Court carved out a narrow exception to the consent exception, holding that "a physically present inhabitant's express refusal of consent to a police search [of his home] is dispositive as to him, regardless of the consent of a fellow occupant." Randolph , 547 U.S. at 122–23, 126 S.Ct. 1515. In dicta, the Court also noted that consent by a resident might not be sufficient if there is "evidence that the police have removed the potentially objecting tenant from the entrance [of their home] for the sake of avoiding a possible objection...." Id. at 121, 126 S.Ct. 1515. Justice Breyer's concurrence defined the outer limits of the majority...