United States v. Mason

• Decision Date: 20 October 2020
• Docket Number: CASE NO. 1:20-cr-287
• Parties: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PLAINTIFF, v. PATRICK MASON, JR., DEFENDANT.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PLAINTIFF, v. PATRICK MASON, JR., DEFENDANT.

CASE NO. 1:20-cr-287

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO EASTERN DIVISION

October 20, 2020

JUDGE SARA LIOI

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

On April 22, 2020, a criminal complaint was filed charging defendant Patrick Mason, Jr. ("defendant" or "Mason") with being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). (Doc. No. 1 ["Compl."].) On June 11, 2020, an indictment issued charging Mason with one count of felon in possession and one count of possession of a firearm by a person with a prior misdemeanor domestic violence conviction, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(9) and 924(a)(2). (Doc. No. 20 ["Ind"].)

Mason now moves to suppress evidence seized during an encounter with police on January 29, 2020. (Doc. No. 35 ["MTS Evid."].) He also seeks an order suppressing statements he made to law enforcement following his arrest on April 23, 2020. (Doc. No. 36 ["MTS Stm."].) The United States of America (the "government") opposes both motions. (Doc. No. 39 ["MTS Evid. Opp'n"]; Doc. No. 40 ["MTS Stm. Opp'n"].) The Court conducted an evidentiary hearing on the motions on September 30, 2020, and, at the conclusion of the hearing, the Court took the matters under advisement. For the reasons that follow, both motions are DENIED.

I. MOTION TO SUPPRESS EVIDENCE

A. Factual Background

At approximately 2:40 pm on January 29, 2020, the Willoughby Hills Police Department received a call reporting two people unresponsive in a motor vehicle parked at the gas pumps of the Shell Gas Station at 2770 Bishop Road. Patrol Officer Anthony Mino testified that he was one of the officers dispatched to the scene. The dashboard camera from Mino's cruiser recorded the encounter, and the recording was played at the hearing. (Defendant's Exhibit ["D. Ex."] B.)

The car in question was parked next to the gas pumps with the engine turned off. Officer Craig Anderson, also of the Willoughby Police Department, was already on scene when Officer Mino arrived and was attempting to wake the subjects by yelling into the vehicle. Officer Anderson's police cruiser was parked in front of the vehicle. As he approached, Officer Mino noticed that the windows were fogged up but that he could barely make out the outline of Mason, who was seated in the passenger seat and slumped to the right, and a female, who was in the driver's seat and slumped to the left. Neither individual was moving. Using his baton, Officer Mino tapped on the window and yelled into the vehicle, but both occupants remained unconscious and unresponsive. He planned to break the window to gain entry to the vehicle because he believed that the vehicle's occupants had overdosed on drugs and/or alcohol and were in need of medical assistance.

Forced entry ultimately proved unnecessary as the female in the driver's seat eventually sat up partially conscious. At the officers' urging, the woman attempted to unlock the door but kept hitting the lock button.¹ Eventually, she managed to unlock the door, and Officer Minoopened the passenger side door. He looked into the vehicle and observed Mason still unconscious. He was breathing but was not responsive to Officer Mino's efforts to wake him. The vehicle omitted a strong smell of alcohol, and Officer Mino observed that Mason's hand was down the front of his pants over a black gun holster. Officer Mino testified that this was a "red flag" that a weapon might be present in the vehicle, and he is heard on the video recording sharing his concern with others on the scene. He also noticed ammunition on the floor, as well as an open container of gin located on the console, which was consistent with the alcohol smell in the vehicle. He continued to try to wake Mason and administered a sternal rub, which temporarily caused Mason to open his eyes before he fell unresponsive again.

With the assistance of emergency medical technicians ("EMTs") and fire department personnel on the scene, Office Mino removed Mason from the vehicle and a gun dropped from Mason's pants. Officer Mino took Mason, who had awakened during the transfer, to the ground to render aid, as he verbally signaled that he had discovered a gun.

While Officer Mino and EMTs were attending to Mason, an unidentified EMT instructed the other occupant to remain in the vehicle. The EMT asked her whether Mason had taken anything, but she was either unable or unwilling to provide any information. As she exited the vehicle, she is seen on the video staggering before she is secured by Officer Anderson and removed out of view of the cruiser camera. In the background, a conversation between the female driver and Officer Anderson can be heard wherein she stated that she could not tell him what Mason consumed before she admitted that she had been drinking. From the audio, it was clear that she was having difficulty answering the officers' basic questions regarding her identity and address.

Once the weapon was secured and Mason was detained, Officer Mino ran Mason's license, determined that he had outstanding warrants, and arrested him. The female driver was also arrested and taken into custody, as she was believed to be intoxicated and had become belligerent and combative with Officer Anderson. Because both of the vehicle's occupants had been taken into custody, the vehicle was towed to an impoundment lot where its contents were inventoried. In addition to the aforementioned ammunition and open alcohol container, the inventory search revealed an ammunition box.

Mason now moves the Court for an order suppressing all evidence obtained during the January 29, 2020 warrantless search of the vehicle. He argues that officers engaged in an unlawful investigatory search, as they lacked reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot or probable cause to arrest him when he "was only peacefully sleeping in the vehicle's passenger seat." (Mot. Evid. at 215.²) He suggests that all evidence obtained by the police constitutes "tainted fruit" of the "poisonous tree" that must be suppressed under the exclusionary rule. (Id)

B. Consensual Encounters

The Fourth Amendment protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const. amend. VI. A seizure occurs when an officer, "by means of physical force or show of authority, has in some way restrained the liberty of a citizen[.]" Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19 n.16, 88 S. Ct. 1868, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889 (1968).

"Not every interaction between an officer and a citizen is a seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, however." United States v. Russ, 772 F. Supp. 2d 880, 885 (N.D. Ohio2011). "There are three types of permissible encounters between police officers and citizens: '(1) the consensual encounter, which may be initiated without any objective level of suspicion; (2) the investigative detention, which, if non-consensual, must be supported by a reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity; and (3) the arrest, valid only if supported by probable cause.'" Id. (quoting United States v. Smith, 594 F.3d 530, 535 (6th Cir. 2010) (further quotation marks and citation omitted). Investigative detentions and arrests are considered seizures "and thus must be conducted consistent with Fourth Amendment principles." United States v. Avery, 137 F.3d 343, 352 (6th Cir. 1997). A consensual encounter, however, is not a seizure and, therefore, the Fourth Amendment is not implicated, "as long as [an] officer's actions do not convert it into an investigative detention." Id.

A consensual encounter transforms into a seizure when, "in view of all the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave." United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 100 S. Ct. 1870, 64 L. Ed. 2d 497 (1980). "Circumstances indicative of a seizure include 'the threatening presence of several officers, the display of a weapon by an officer, some physical touching of the person of the citizen, or the use of language or tone of voice indicating that compliance with the officer's request might be compelled.'" United States v. Jones, 562 F.3d 768, 772 (6th Cir. 2009) (quoting Mendenhall, 446 U.S. at 554).

The government maintains that the initial encounter with Willoughby Hills police officers was consensual and cites United States v. Townsend, 206 F. App'x 444 (6th Cir. 2006), a case the Court finds persuasive and instructive. In Townsend, police responded to a complaint of a suspicious person "asleep or passed out" at a gas pump. Police arrived at the gas station andfound the defendant "slumped in the driver's seat." Id. at 445-46. When the defendant did not respond to verbal inquiries, the officer shined his flashlight into the vehicle and noticed what appeared to be the handle of a handgun between the driver's seat and the console. He then opened the vehicle's door and removed the keys from the ignition. As the officer was removing the keys, defendant awoke, reached for his keys, and tussled with the officer before he was secured. After determining that defendant had outstanding warrants and was not permitted to possess a weapon, he was arrested. Id. at 446.

The court determined that, until defendant awoke, the interaction with police "can only be characterized as a permissible consensual encounter. Although [defendant] being asleep, could hardly have consented to the encounter, the officers' plain view observations in a public place did not entail any impermissible intrusion into [defendant's] privacy." Id. at 448. And once the officers observed the gun, the court ruled that the officers had reasonable suspicion to search the vehicle. Id. In so ruling, the court underscored the fact that the defendant

had been asleep at the wheel of a parked vehicle in front of an open-for-business gas pump for an extended period of time. He did not respond to verbal inquiry. Under these circumstances, it was not unreasonable for [the officer] to

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