United States v. Rodriguez
| Decision Date | 10 August 2011 |
| Docket Number | CRIMINAL ACTION 1:11-00122-KD-C |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JAVIER RAMON RODRIGUEZ, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Alabama |
This action is before the Court on the defendant Javier Ramon Rodriguez's Motion to Suppress (Doc. 38) and the response filed by the Government (Doc. 40). An evidentiary hearing with oral argument was held on July 1, 2011, and the parties have submitted additional briefing in the matter pursuant to the Court's oral order at the hearing (Docs. 48, 53). Upon consideration of the motion, response, supplemental briefing and evidence presented at the hearing, and for the reasons set forth herein, the motion to suppress (Doc. 38) is due to be GRANTED as to the wallet and to any statement made by Rodriguez and DENIED as to the remaining items found during the search.
Joshua Rhodes ("Rhodes") is a deputy with the Mobile County Sheriff's office who has served as such for two-and-a-half or three years. (Suppression Hearing Transcript ("SHT"), p. 3). As a sheriff's deputy, his duties include interstate interdiction, which involves attempting to catch criminals traveling on the interstate with contraband. (Id., pp. 4-5). Previously, Rhodes worked for three years with the City of Mobile police department, during which he participated in "hundreds or thousands" of traffic stops. (Id., pp. 3-4).
On May 6, 2011, Rhodes, who was traveling alone in his marked patrol car on Interstate 10, came upon a red GMC Sierra towing a white Hyundai. (Id., pp. 5, 8, 38; Gov't's Exh. C). Rhodes observed that the Sierra was following too closely to the vehicle in front of it. (SHT, p. 5). He pulled up behind the Sierra, ran its tag and found it was registered to the vehicle, indicating it was not stolen. (Id., pp. 5-6, 60). During the five to ten seconds it took for Rhodes to run the tag, the Sierra continued to follow too closely, at a distance estimated by Rhodes to be around forty feet, maintaining the same speed as the car it was following. (Id., pp. 60-62).
Pursuant to Alabama Code § 32-5A-89, which makes it a traffic violation for a driver to follow a vehicle too closely, (Gov't's Exh. B), Rhodes stopped the Sierra. To avoid the danger posed by oncoming interstate traffic, Rhodes approached the Sierra on the passenger side. (SHT, pp. 7-8). At the time of the stop, Rhodes was in uniform and carrying a gun. (Id., pp. 37-38). The windows of the vehicle were down, and Rhodes noted that it was occupied by two males: Defendants Pedro Lamela-Cardenas ("Lamela"), who was the driver of the vehicle, and Javier Ramon Rodriguez ("Rodriguez"). (Id., pp. 8-9). Lamela is a native of Cuba who lives in Miami, Florida, and claims not to speak English. (Id., pp. 156-57).
Upon approaching the vehicle, Rhodes first noticed that Rodriguez was acting very nervous. (Id., p. 9). Rhodes "could literally see his heart beating in his chest through his clothes and his neck[,]" and he was shaking. (Id., pp. 9-10). To Rhodes, Rodriguez appeared more nervous than was normal for the circumstances. (Id., p. 10). Rhodes asked both men for their identification. (Id.). At all times relevant to this matter, Rhodes verbally addressed Lamela and Rodriguez in English, as he does not speak Spanish. (Id. at pp. 10, 16, 25, 44-45). Both men complied without giving any indication that they didn't understand. (Id., pp. 10-11). Lamela claims, however, that he already had his license in hand before Rhodes asked for it. (Id., p.174).
Rodriguez had taken his identification out of his wallet, which Rhodes observed him retrieve from his back pocket. (Id., pp. 12-13, 53-54). After handing Rhodes his identification, Rodriguez set his wallet down on the Sierra's center console. (Id., p. 13, 54). Rodriguez continued to act nervous, so Rhodes asked him to step out of the car. (Id., p. 13). Rodriguez complied though he appeared "[a] little scared, a little angry" with the request. (Id., pp. 13-14). At this point, Deputy Richard Sorrell ("Sorrell"), who had been following behind Rhodes when he made the stop, had pulled up behind Rhodes' vehicle and was approaching the scene. (Id., pp. 14, 81, 95). Rhodes had Sorrell take Rodriguez back to his vehicle in order to separate the two men for safety reasons. (Id., pp. 14-15). While with Sorrell, Rodriguez stood with his back to Rhodes and the Sierra and did not see or hear Rhodes' further interaction with Lamela. (Id., pp. 15, 56).
Rhodes then asked Lamela, the driver, from where he was coming and where he was going. (Id., pp. 15-16). Appearing to understand Rhodes, Lamela responded in broken English that he was coming from Louisiana and was going to Florida. (Id., p. 16). The two men had gone to Louisiana to tow a car they had purchased. (Id., p. 158). Rhodes then asked Lamela for permission to search the vehicle, moving his arms in a circular motion inside the vehicle to indicate the area he wished to search. (Id., pp. 16-17). At this point, about a minute or two had passed since Rhodes had pulled the Sierra over. (Id., pp. 24-25). Lamela acted like he did not understand the request, so Rhodes produced a copy of Spanish for Law Enforcement from his pocket. (Id., p. 17). Turning to page 205 of the book, Rhodes pointed out to Lamela the last two lines on the page, the first line containing the phrase "May I search your car?" and the second line containing its Spanish equivalent, "¿Me da permiso para registrar su coche?" (Id., pp. 18-20; Gov't's Exh. D). Because Lamela was still in the driver's seat, and because Rhodes was still standing on the passenger side, Rhodes had to reach through the open passenger door and across the interior of the Sierra to show Lamela the page. (SHT, pp. 46-47). After being shown the page, Lamela then said yes. (SHT, p. 20).
Upon commencing his search, Rhodes first turned his attention to the wallet Rodriguez had left on the center console, as he felt that Rodriguez might have been trying to hide something by leaving it there. (Id., pp. 20-21, 63-64). In the wallet, Rhodes found a Louisiana identification card that had a picture of Rodriguez on it but was in the name of "Josh Johnson." (Id., pp. 72-73; Doc. 34-1 at 2). After searching the wallet, Rhodes searched the center console of the vehicle, where he found a bundle of credit cards and gift cards hidden under the cup holder, some of which were in the name of "Josh Johnson." (SHT, pp. 22, 72-73, 177; Doc. 34-1 at 2). Rhodes then searched a gym bag behind the passenger seat, in which he found a jacket which contained several more cards, all also in the name of "Josh Johnson." (SHT, pp. 23, 46, 74). After searching the jacket, Rhodes ceased searching the Sierra further at that time. (Id., p. 23). Throughout the search conducted on the side of the interstate, Lamela remained in the Sierra and never indicated that he wished the search to stop. (Id., pp. 20, 22-24, 180). In addition, Rhodes was never made aware of who owned the gym bag, and the only identification found in it was the cards in the name of "Josh Johnson." (Id., pp. 58-59).
Rhodes then asked Lamela to follow him to a substation in Theodore. (Id., p. 25, 106). In English and without hesitation, Lamela said okay. (Id.). Lamela followed Rhodes to the substation. (Id., p. 26). Sorrell brought up the rear, carrying Rodriguez in his vehicle. (Id.). Before they left for the substation, Rhodes signaled Sorrell to handcuff Rodriguez for safety reasons. (Id., pp. 27-28, 84). Sorrell complied with the order. (Id., pp. 84, 98). At this point,neither Lamela nor Rodriguez had been placed under arrest by the deputies. (Id., p. 28).
The deputies and the two defendants arrived at the substation without incident, and the defendants were brought inside. (Id., pp. 29-30). Rhodes printed and filled out two forms asking permission to search a vehicle, one for the Sierra and one for the Hyundai being towed. (Id., p. 30). Rhodes explained the permission forms to Lamela, who appeared to understand them and signed both, though he claims he thought the forms were for permission to move his car. . Rhodes proceeded to conduct a further search of the two vehicles on the premises. (SHT, p. 32). The search of the Sierra by Rhodes and another deputy yielded a number of other credit and gift cards hidden beneath the dashboard and under the carpet, on both the driver and passenger sides. (Id., pp. 75-78, 127-28).
Chris Graham ("Graham"), a United States Secret Service agent, was called to the substation and brought a card-reading device with him. (Id., pp. 120-21). Graham used the device to scan the magnetic strips of the credit cards to see what was on them. (Id., p. 121). Graham estimates he examined forty or more credit cards. (Id., p. 122). Some of the credit cards had nothing encoded on them, some had encoded information that matched the numbers embossed on them, and some were encoded with numbers different from those embossed on them. (Id.). Each credit card was also embossed with the name of either "Josh Johnson," "Javier Rodriguez," and "Pedro Lamela-Cardenas." (Id., pp. 122-23). Graham concluded that a majority of the credit cards were counterfeit. (Id., p. 123). Graham was also presented with fifty or more gift cards. (Id., p. 125). After examining the cards, Graham interviewed Lamela using a Spanish-speaking ICE agent, asking him about what was found in the Sierra. (Id., pp. 134-36). The ICE agent would wait until Graham had finished speaking to translate his words, though Lamela would nod his head while Graham was still speaking English. (Id., pp. 135-36).Lamela, however, remained silent during Graham's questioning. (Id., p. 183).
Upon arriving at the substation, Sorrell sat Rodriguez at a conference table in the substation, then placed him in a cell about fifteen minutes later. ((Id., pp. 84-85). About forty-five minutes later, Sorrell and Immigration and Customs...
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