United States v. Lemay
| Decision Date | 17 April 2013 |
| Docket Number | No. 12-CR-56 ML,12-CR-56 ML |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Plaintiff, v. JARED LEMAY AND COREY RIDOLFI Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island |
This matter is before the Court on Corey Ridolfi's ("Ridolfi") and Jared Lemay's ("Lemay") (collectively "Defendants") joint motion to suppress physical evidence seized from an automobile. For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' motion is denied.
The Court conducted an evidentiary hearing on Defendants' motion on March 20, 2013. At the hearing the Government presented two witnesses: Cumberland, Rhode Island Police Officers Jonathan Cook ("Cook") and David Rosa ("Rosa"). Ridolfi presented one witness, Cumberland Detective Jackie Hooper ("Hooper"). The following findings of fact are based upon the Court's evaluation of the evidence and its determination that the witnesses were all credible.
At approximately 4:17 a.m. on November 28, 2011, Cook received a dispatch advising him that a resident at 10 Birchwood Drive in Cumberland reported that an individual had rung the doorbell. The complainant saw a male, wearing dark clothing and a winter hat with ear flaps, walking away from the residence. Cook arrived on Birchwood Drive in less than a minute after he received the dispatch.
Birchwood Drive is in a thickly settled residential section of Cumberland. When Cook arrived in the area he noticed a Ford Focus ("Focus") parked on the side of the road. The Focus was parked in the area of 28 Birchwood Drive. The vehicle was parked legally; its lights were off and the engine was not running.
Upon approaching the vehicle, Cook positioned his vehicle next to the Focus, driver's side door to driver's side door. Cook observed two males in the Focus; Ridolfi in the driver's seat and Lemay in the front passenger seat. Cook noticed that both males were dressed in similar fashion: dark colored jackets, red bandannas loosely tied around their necks, and winter hats with ear flaps. Cook testified that at the time the weather was unusually mild with the temperature in the fifties.
While Cook, Ridolfi, and Lemay remained in their respective vehicles, Cook started a conversation. Cook asked Ridolfi what he was doing in the area. Ridolfi stated that he was on his way home to Green Street in Cumberland. Ridolfi explained that he was coming from North Attleboro, Massachusetts, and that he was checking his Global Positioning System ("GPS") because he was lost. At this point, Cook exited his vehicle and positioned himself outside of the driver's-side-door of the Focus. Cook noticed that Ridolfi was wearing dark colored pants and that he was beginning to sweat. Cook also questioned Lemay. Lemay explained that he had picked up Ridolfi from Ridolfi's girlfriend's house in North Attleboro and they were returning to Green Street. Cook did not believe that Ridolfi and Lemay were being truthful.
After the initial inquiry concerning what Ridolfi and Lemay were doing in the area, Cook asked Lemay and Ridolfi for their names and dates of birth. They responded and Cook conveyed the information to dispatch. Dispatch informed Cook that both Ridolfi and Lemay hadsuspended drivers' licenses. Around this time, Rosa arrived on the scene and parked his vehicle behind the Focus. Cook briefed him on the situation. Rosa observed that Ridolfi was wearing a dark heavy winter jacket, a winter hat with ear flaps, and a red bandanna around his neck.
While Ridolfi and Lemay were still in the Focus, Cook and Rosa decided to separate them. Rosa had Lemay exit the Focus and proceed to the area of Rosa's vehicle. Rosa asked Lemay to place his hands on the back of his vehicle and Rosa performed a Terry pat.1 Rosa did not discover any weapons or contraband on Lemay. After the Terry pat, Rosa placed Lemay in the back seat of Rosa's vehicle.
While Lemay was in Rosa's vehicle, Rosa asked him if he had rung the doorbell at 10 Birchwood Drive. Lemay answered Rosa that he had not. Lemay told Rosa that he had been with Ridolfi all night in North Attlelboro at Ridolfi's girlfriend's house. Lemay explained that, around 4 a.m., they decided to leave North Attleboro and go to Green Street. Lemay stated that he was not sure why they had stopped, but it may have been because they were lost. While Rosa was speaking to Lemay, Cumberland Police Officer Rex Kirkman ("Kirkman") arrived at the scene.
After questioning Lemay, Rosa left Lemay in his vehicle and returned to the Focus where Rosa briefed Cook on his discussion with Lemay. Cook was standing outside of the Focus and Ridolfi was still inside the vehicle. Rosa asked Ridolfi whether he had rung the doorbell at 10 Birchwood Drive. Ridolfi answered that he had not. Ridolfi told Rosa that he had been at his girlfriend's house in North Attleboro. Ridolfi, however, told Rosa that only he and his girlfriend were at her house. He told Rosa that he telephoned Lemay, who was in Woonsocket, RhodeIsland, and asked Lemay to pick him up in North Attleboro. Rosa asked Ridolfi if he knew the time that he placed the telephone call to Lemay. Ridolfi then showed Rosa a time stamp of a call on his cell phone, purportedly to Lemay, at 4:08 a.m. When Rosa asked Ridolfi how Lemay could leave Woonsocket, travel to North Attleboro, and then to Birchwood Drive in a matter of approximately 10 minutes, Ridolfi could only muster a blank stare. By this time, Ridolfi appeared very nervous, he was sweating and making poor eye contact.
After this conversation, Rosa asked Ridolfi to exit the vehicle and Ridolfi did as asked. Rosa then began to perform a Terry pat on Ridolfi. Rosa testified that Ridolfi's jacket covered his waist area. Rosa asked Ridolfi if he had any weapons on his person. Ridolfi informed Rosa that he had a knife on his belt. Ridolfi lifted up his jacket, which concealed the knife, and Rosa retrieved the knife. The knife was in a sheath on Ridolfi's belt loop. Because the knife blade was over three inches in length, Rosa handcuffed Ridolfi and placed him under arrest for possession of the knife.2 Around the time of the Terry pat of Ridolfi, Kirkman informed Cook that Ridolfi was a suspect in a burglary. After Ridolfi's arrest, Lemay was placed in Kirkman's vehicle and Ridolfi was placed in Rosa's vehicle.
While at the scene, dispatch informed Cook that Lemay's father was the registered owner of the Focus. Another police officer at the Cumberland police station attempted to contact Lemay's father. The officer, however, was unsuccessful. After Cook learned that the registered owner of the Focus could not be reached, and because Ridolfi was under arrest and Lemay had asuspended driver's license, Cook elected to have the vehicle towed.3
Cook testified that, consistent with the Cumberland Police Department Impound and Tow Policy ("Impound Policy") and its Inventory Policy, he and Rosa began an inventory of the vehicle at the scene. They began with the passenger compartment. Cook and Rosa discovered a folding knife in the driver's side door panel pocket, currency (some of it foreign) on the front seat, a shotgun shell on the rear driver's side seat, and a gold colored ring, which appeared to have a diamond stone, under the rear seat.4 Rosa also noticed a GPS device on the front seat. Rosa testified that the inside of the Focus was messy and contained many different items.
After conducting the inventory of the passenger compartment, consistent with the Inventory Policy, Cook opened the trunk of the Focus and noticed that it was full of items. Among the items in the trunk, Cook observed two marijuana pipes and a gun case. Cook, however, did not examine these items at the scene. Cook testified that, because of the volume of items in the trunk, he would have had to lay the contents of the trunk on the street if he had performed the inventory at the scene. Cook therefore decided to have the Focus towed to the Cumberland police station to continue the inventory search in the secure impound lot.
Once Cook decided to have the Focus towed to the impound lot, Ridolfi was transported to the Cumberland police station by Rosa; Lemay was given a ride to his home by Kirkman. Cook followed the Focus as it was towed to the Cumberland police station. Rosa brought the two knives, ring and shotgun shell to the police station. After Rosa returned to the police station, he completed an "evidence log sheet." The log sheet listed the items discovered in the inventorysearch and other items seized at the scene.
After the Focus was secured in the impound lot, Cook resumed the inventory of the contents of the trunk. He first removed the gun case that he had observed at the scene. He then observed another gun case. He opened both cases and removed two shotguns, each with an obliterated serial number. Cook also removed a replica handgun from the trunk. Cook testified that, at this point, he terminated his inventory and decided to turn the matter over to the detective division. Cook assigned the guns property numbers and placed the guns in the police department's evidence room. Later that morning, Cook conferred with two detectives and briefed them on the matter.
Based on information provided to her, Detective Jackie Hooper completed an affidavit in support of an application for a search warrant for the vehicle. A Rhode Island District Court judge issued a search warrant to search the Focus.
As an initial matter, the Government challenges Ridolfi's standing to argue for the suppression of the items seized from the Focus.5 "The concept of standing under the Fourth Amendment refers to a defendant's burden of proving a legitimate expectation of privacy as a prerequisite to challenge unlawful police conduct." United States v. Gomez-Vega, 519 F. Supp. 2d 241, 255 (D.P.R. 2007); see also United States v. Romain, 393 F.3d 63, 68 (1st Cir. 2004) ...
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