United States v. Rios-Orama
| Docket Number | CRIMINAL 22-174 (RAM/BJM) |
| Decision Date | 31 July 2023 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. HECTOR RIOS-ORAMA, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Puerto Rico |
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Hector Rios-Orama (“Rios-Orama”) is charged with one count of carjacking in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119(1). Docket No. (“Dkt.”) 3. He moved to suppress the victim's identification of him in a lineup. Dkt. 28. The government opposed, Dkt. 42, Rios-Orama replied, Dkt. 47, and the government surreplied. Dkt. 53. Rios-Orama also moved to suppress evidence seized during the search of a residence in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, Dkt. 36, which the government likewise opposed. Dkt. 62. Both motions were referred to me for a suppression hearing and a report and recommendation. Dkts. 55, 63. I held a suppression hearing on June 16, 26 and 30, 2023, Dkts. 73, 74, 75, at which the parties submitted exhibits. Dkts. 76, 77. For the reasons below Rios-Orama's motions should be DENIED.
The following account of the facts is drawn from the testimonial and documentary evidence received at the hearing. The government presented as witnesses Puerto Rico Police Department (“PRPD”) Agent Francisco Cortes (“Agent Cortes”), Efram Delgado-Rodriguez (“Delgado-Rodriguez”), PRPD Agent Francisco Javier Fonseca-Perez (“Fonseca-Perez”) and PRPD Agent Edwin Zayas-Roldan (“Agent Zayas-Roldan”). Rios-Orama presented the following witnesses: PRPD Officers Hector M. Rivera-Rosa (“Rivera-Rosa”), Juan G Baez-Vazquez (“Baez-Vazquez”), Jose D. Campos-De Alba (“Campos-De Alba”), and Edgar X Rivera-Rivera (“Rivera-Rivera”). Further Rios-Orama testified on his own behalf.
Around 3:00 p.m. on March 22, 2022, Carmen Diaz-Trinidad (“Diaz-Trinidad”) parked her Nissan Pathfinder at a strip mall in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. Cortes Test. June 16, 2023; Gov. Ex. 1 at 5:40-6:00. As she exited the vehicle, a man wearing a baseball hat, facemask, reflective vest, blue or black shirt, and jeans waved to get her attention. Id. at 6:00-7:06. She later told police he signaled to her that her door was open. Cortes Test. June 16, 2023. While returning to her car to close the door, she felt a pull from behind. Id. A man then tried to grab her keys from her. Id.; Gov. Ex. 1 at 7:06-7:31. Diaz-Trinidad recognized him as the same person who waved at her moments earlier and realized he had a gun. Cortes Test. June 16, 2023. After this man forced her to the ground, he took her keys and purse and sped away in her vehicle. Id.; Gov. Ex. 7:06-7:55.
Bystanders called police and Agent Fonseca-Perez arrived, followed by Agent Cortes. Fonseca-Perez Test. June 26, 2023; Cortes Test. June 16, 2023. Officers did not interview Diaz-Trinidad at the scene because paramedics were treating her and they prioritized the 74-year-old's health. Id. Though Fonseca-Perez submitted a report stating the complainant, Diaz-Trinidad, summarized the events to him, this information actually came from witnesses to the carjacking. Dkt. 77-1 at 11, 17; Fonseca-Perez Test. June 26, 2023. Instead of interviewing Diaz-Trinidad, agents visited a Chinese restaurant, jewelry store, and Liberty cell phone store to view security footage. Cortes Test. June 16, 2023. Id. Agent Cortes also seized a blue Pepsi cup, straw, and plastic lid from a column in front of the Liberty store because surveillance footage showed the assailant drinking from a similar cup immediately before the carjacking. Id.; Gov. Ex. 3:55-4:25; Dkt. 76-1 at 1.
Agent Cortes interviewed Diaz-Trinidad the following day, March 23, 2023. Cortes Test. June 16, 2023. She stated she could observe her assailant well and described him as a tall, dark, skinny person who wore a black shirt and an orange and yellow reflective vest. Id. She did not mention he had a towel on his shoulder. Id.; Dkt. 76-1 at 2. Agent Cortes did not ask about the attacker's eyebrows, forehead, or eye color and Diaz-Trinidad offered no information about these features. Cortes Test. June 16, 2023.
Agent Antonio Rosado arrested Rios-Orama around 11:00 p.m. on March 24, 2023. Id. Agent Cortes testified police arrested Rios-Orama in Diaz-Trinidad's Nissan Pathfinder. Id. After Agent Cortes read Rios-Orama his Miranda rights, he asked Rios-Orama where he lived and contends Rios-Orama replied that he was homeless. Cortes Test. June 16, 2023; Dkt. 76-1 at 7. When Rios-Orama refused to answer questions about the carjacking, police placed him in a cell early in the morning on March 25th. Id. While completing necessary paperwork, police again asked Rios-Orama his address and Agent Cortes asserts Rios-Orama again stated he was homeless. Id.; Dkt. 76-1 at 10. While buying Rios-Orama breakfast later that morning, Agent Cortes received a call that he was in a delicate state of health and paramedics were summoned. Cortes Test. June 16, 2023. By the time Agent Cortes returned, paramedics were treating Rios-Orama and taking his vital signs. Id. At this time, paramedics asked Rios-Orama for his address and he responded that he lived on the street. Id.; Dkt. 76-1 at 13. Rios-Orama ultimately declined further medical treatment and said he was in pain due to drug withdrawals. Cortes Test. June 16, 2023; Rios-Orama Test. June 26, 2023.
Rios-Orama remembers his arrest differently. I note that he testified he was using drugs on the day he was arrested and would often be “out of it” for days at a time. Id. He says he was arrested leaving his basement apartment in San Lorenzo. Rios-Orama Test. June 26, 2023. He further testified he never stated he was homeless and that officers never asked where he lived. Id. Instead, he says they mocked him by inquiring why he was in San Lorenzo, a section of Caguas approximately 45 minutes south of San Juan, if he was from Manati, a town approximately 45 minutes west Puerto Rico's capital. Id. He says he responded that he had recently been released from jail in Ponce and the only available place to stay was at the Los Peregrinos homeless shelter in Caguas. Id. He says he then explained that, while at Los Peregrinos, he met Delgado-Rodriguez who hired him and invited him to live in the San Lorenzo apartment. Id. Rios-Orama maintains that he always gave PRPD agents this explanation when they asked about his living situation during their investigation. Id. Records from Rios-Orama's March 25 appearance in Puerto Rico court regarding his stolen-vehicle-possession charge show that he was unrepresented by counsel and state his address is in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico although the source of this address is unclear. Dkt. 76-1 at 16.
Rios-Orama's former employer and landlord, Delgado-Rodriguez, testified regarding his living situation. I note that Delgado-Rodriguez currently faces federal felony identity theft and bank fraud charges in an unrelated case. Delgado-Rodriguez Test. June 26, 2023; Crim. No. 22136 (SCC). He also acknowledged skirting payroll taxes and Social Security deductions by paying Rios-Orama and other employees off the books. Delgado-Rodriguez Test. June 26, 2023. He said he allowed Rios-Orama to live in the basement of a house in San Lorenzo that he used as storage in the year leading up to Rios-Orama's arrest. Delgado-Rodriguez Test. June 26, 2023. In exchange, he asked Rios-Orama to repair the premises. Id. During this period, Delgado-Rodriguez said he entered and left the apartment with his own set of keys on a near-daily basis to pick up materials he was storing, some of which remained there when police searched the apartment after Rios-Orama's arrest. Id. Delgado-Rodriguez said he would give Rios-Orama practically no notice before visiting because the pair were close mends. Id. He added he would often find Rios-Orama sleeping and wake him up. Id. Though Rios-Orama stopped working on the apartment, Delgado-Rodriguez never charged him rent or sought to evict him. Id. Rios-Orama lived with a girlfriend for a few months but Delgado-Rodriguez testified he told Rios-Orama she needed to move out and Rios-Orama complied with this demand. Id. Delgado-Rodriguez also contends that he allowed another of his employees to live in the apartment for a few months without asking Rios-Orama's permission. Id. That employee's stay ended when Delgado-Rodriguez fired and evicted him for stealing company tools. Id.
In late February 2022, Delgado-Rodriguez suspected Rios-Orama of this same behavior, and Rios-Orama disputed this accusation with Delgado-Rodriguez's wife, Jacqueline Santana (“Santana”). Rios-Orama Test. June 26, 2023; Delgado-Rodriguez Test. June 26, 2023. After this situation got out of hand, Delgado-Rodriguez fired Rios-Orama and gave him one week to move out. Id. He heard nothing about the situation until neighbors called approximately three weeks later saying that Rios-Orama had been arrested. Id. After hearing this, Delgado-Rodriguez asked Santana to clean the property so the couple could rent it to someone new. Id. While doing so, Santana found someone else's personal items and called Delgado-Rodriguez. Id. He told her to leave the items in the apartment and call police because he thought the items might be related to the case against Rios-Orama. Id.
Though Rios-Orama agrees he was allowed to live rent-free in the apartment while repairing it, he disputes nearly all of Delgado-Rodriguez's remaining testimony. He testified he had the one and only set of keys to the property, which he retained until the day of his arrest. Rios-Orama Test. June 26, 2023. He said Delgado-Rodriguez stored nothing at the property and almost never visited. Id. He said paint and other construction materials found at the apartment were for a project he was working on in Caguas and his...
To continue reading
Request your trial