United States v. Shaw
| Decision Date | 23 October 2016 |
| Docket Number | CASE NO: 2:16-cr-65-FtM-UAMRM |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. IRA SHAWNTAE SHAW |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida |
This matter comes before the Court on Defendant, Ira Shawntae Shaw's Motion to Suppress (Doc. #25) filed on August 19, 2016. The Government filed its Response in Opposition (Doc. #31) on September 6, 2016. A hearing was held on the Motion on October 4, 2016, before the undersigned.
At the hearing, the Government was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Michelland. The Government presented evidence and called Fort Myers Police Officer Lesa Breneman and Detective Emily DeStefanis as witnesses.2 The Defendant was present and represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Russell Rosenthal. Shaw also admitted evidence to support his Motion.3
On May 25, 2016, officers from the Fort Myers Police Department (FMPD) investigated a report that Ira Shaw was outside the Thomas Street Apartments (the Apartments) located at 2930 Thomas Street, Fort Myers, Florida threatening people with a hand gun. Ofc. Lisa Breneman of the FMPD received a call to investigate the incident at 12:27pm. Ofc Breneman confronted Shaw at the scene. Shaw informed Ofc. Breneman that he was at the Apartment to smoke weed with his cousin. Ofc. Breneman observed part of a plastic baggie protruding from the front pocket of Shaw's pants. She inquired of Shaw as to the contents of the baggie. Shaw informed her that the baggie contained weed. Ofc Breneman asked Shaw to hand her the baggie. Shaw gave the baggie to Ofc. Breneman. Ofc. Breneman testified that the baggie contained a green leafy substance which she recognized by sight and odor as marijuana.
Shaw was arrested for being in possession of marijuana at approximately 12:40:30pm. Ofc. Breneman placed Shaw in the back of her patrol car while officers conducted a search of the area. An officer of the FMPD along with his canine Thor conducted a search of the area and found a firearm laying on the ground in an adjacent yard. The FMPD log shows the firearm was located at 1:05pm. Shaw remained in the back of the police cruiser until 1:34pm at which time he was transported to Police Headquarters arriving at approximately 1:38pm.
Det. Emily DeStefanis arrived on the scene approximately 12:45pm. She spoke with Ofc. Breneman and then spoke with Shaw's grandfather who resided at the Apartments. Det. Destefanis went through the Grandfathers apartment and foundammunition but could not attribute it to Shaw. Det. Destefanis was informed that a firearm was recovered from a yard that was adjacent to the Apartment's grounds. Det. Destefanis remained at the Apartment for another thirty to forty minutes after Shaw was transported. Det. DeStefanis took possession of the firearm. The magazine was removed from the firearm and the firearm and magazine were placed in a paper bag. Det. DeStefanis then delivered the firearm to the FMPD Crime Scene Unit from approximately 3:00pm to 3:15pm.
Crime Scene Technician, Marissa Poppell found a fingerprint on the magazine. The fingerprint recovered from the firearm's magazine was analyzed by Trina Maurice an FMPD Crime Scene/ Latent Print Analyst. Maurice found that the print on the magazine matched a known print of Shaw taken from a FMPD file. Maurice also took a fresh set of prints from Shaw's fingerprints while he was waiting in the interrogation room. Maurice then confirmed that the print on the firearm's magazine also matched the freshly rolled prints from Shaw.
Shaw was being held in an interview room at FMPD where he had been brought at approximately 4:11pm. Det. DeStefanis began the interview around 4:30pm. Det. DeStefanis knew that Shaw was a suspect in two homicides. During the interview, Det. DeStefanis told Shaw that she wanted to talk to him about the murder of an individual known to Shaw named Pop which occurred approximately five years prior to Shaw's instant arrest. Det. DeStefanis also told Shaw she wanted to know what he knew about the murder of Victor Johnson which had occurred recently. She informed Shaw that since he was considered as a witness to the murders she would need to swear him in as a witness.
After swearing Shaw, Det. DeStefanis informed him that since he was under arrest and not free to leave because of the instant possession charge, she was going to read him his Miranda rights. Det. DeStefanis read Shaw his Miranda rights from an FMPD form. Det. DeStefanis read the form as follows:
After hearing his Miranda rights, Shaw signed the consent form waiving his Miranda rights at approximately 4:26pm. Upon signing the consent to waive his rights,Shaw acknowledged that Det. DeStefanis did not threaten, coerce, or make him uncomfortable in anyway and then agreed to speak with Det. DeStefanis.
During questioning, Shaw at first denied that he had possession of the firearm. When asked by Det. DeStefanis if there was any reason why his fingerprints would be on the firearm recovered by the FMPD, Shaw stated that he threw the firearm into the adjacent yard for somebody else. The interview continued as follows:
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