United States v. Skyfield

• Docket Number: 23-cr-569 (LJL)
• Decision Date: 22 December 2023
• Parties: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. TYRIEK SKYFIELD Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
v.
TYRIEK SKYFIELD Defendant.

No. 23-cr-569 (LJL)

United States District Court, S.D. New York

December 22, 2023

OPINION AND ORDER

LEWIS J. LIMAN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE:

Defendant Tyriek Skyfield (“Skyfield”) moves, pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(3)(B)(v), to dismiss the Indictment for failure to state an offense and, pursuant to Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 12(b)(3)(C) and 41(h), to suppress certain evidence. Dkt. No. 28. For the following reasons, the motion is denied.

BACKGROUND

For purposes of this motion, the Court assumes the truth of the undisputed facts in the parties' briefs and accompanying documents. See United States v. Juarez, 2013 WL 357570, at *1 n.1 (E.D.N.Y. Jan. 29, 2013).

This case arose out of a shooting that occurred shortly before 10:00 P.M. on July 22, 2023 in the Bronx, New York. Dkt. No. 30 at 4-5; Dkt. No. 36 at 2. As the victim (the “Victim”) subsequently told the police, he came to New York City with $10,000 in cash to purchase a car. Dkt. No. 30 at 3-4. He then collected another $6,000 in cash from a friend who owed him a debt. Id. at 4. On the night of July 22, the Victim and his friend (the “Witness”) drove to the Bronx to pick up a suitcase from a man named “Ty,” which the Victim believed was short for “Tyrone.” Dkt. No. 36 at 3. When the Victim and Witness arrived at the agreed-upon

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location-the intersection of Laconia Avenue and East 224th-Ty was not there. Dkt. No. 30 at 4; Dkt. No. 36 at 4. The Victim called Ty, but he did not answer. Dkt. No. 30 at 4. Approximately fifteen minutes later, Ty texted the Victim that he was five minutes away and that they should instead meet at the intersection of Needham Avenue and East 224th Street, a few blocks from the original meeting point. Id. The Victim and Witness drove to that new location and found the suitcase sitting on the street. Id. They retrieved the suitcase, placed it in the back seat, and sat in the car smoking. Id. Five minutes later, two men brandishing pistols approached the car and demanded money. Id. The robbers proceeded to take the Victim's debit card, credit card, and iPhone. Id.; Dkt. No. 36 at 4. As the robbers walked away, the Victim followed, asking one of them to give back his iPhone. Dkt. No. 30 at 4. That robber fired his pistol. Id. The bullet ricocheted off the ground and struck the Victim in his foot. Id. When the Victim persisted in following the robber, the robber fired a second shot that did not hit the Victim. Id.; Dkt. No. 36 at 4.

The New York Police Department (“NYPD”) ShotSpotter system recorded the shots and alerted officers in the 47th Precinct. Dkt. No. 30 at 5. Upon arriving at the scene, police officers found the Victim, whom they transported to a nearby hospital to treat his gunshot wound. Dkt. No. 36 at 3. The officers also discovered a bullet fragment on the sidewalk where the Victim was shot and another approximately a block away where the fragment had apparently fallen out of the Victim's sock. Id. at 4.

The following day, the NYPD canvassed the area again and recovered a shell casing in the yard of a residence at the intersection of Needham Avenue and East 223rd Street, approximately where the second gunshot was fired. Id. at 4. The NYPD also collected and reviewed video footage from cameras in the area. Id. at 5. Although the cameras did not capture

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the robbery itself, the NYPD obtained footage of the robber firing the first gunshot at the Victim and, thirteen seconds later, the Victim reacting to the second gunshot. Id. The footage also showed the white SUV that the robbers emerged from and later used to flee the scene. Dkt. No. 30 at 5; Dkt. No. 36 at 2. Based on the apparent make and model of the SUV and its distinctive all-black tires and rims, the NYPD examined License Plate Reader (“LPR”) reports and found that a white BMW that seemed to match the car in the footage had been captured by an LPR at the intersection of Boston Road and East 213th Street, 0.6 miles away from the shooting, at 7:13 P.M. Dkt. No. 30 at 5; Dkt. No. 36 at 5. Another search revealed that an LPR had detected the white BMW at 3:12 A.M. on the following morning, July 23, 2023, near the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue in Queens, New York. Dkt. No. 36 at 5. The NYPD collected footage from cameras near that intersection, which showed a man with “the same build, hairstyle and clothing” as the shooter exiting the white BMW shortly before 3:00 A.M. on July 23, 2023 and entering the Atlantis Gentlemen's Club (the “Club”). Dkt. No. 30 at 5-6. Video footage from the Club showed a man, wearing a shirt similar to that worn by the robber, present proof of identification to enter. Dkt. No. 36 at 5. The Club's records revealed that the identification document presented by the man stated that his name was “Tyriek Maliek Skyfield.” Id.

On August 3, 2023, an NYPD officer investigating a separate incident in which Skyfield was shot reviewed an image of the man entering the Club. Id. at 6. The officer confirmed that the man in the image was Skyfield. Id. As a result, the NYPD activated a “probable cause” Suspect Information Card for Skyfield in connection with the July 22 shooting. Id. Skyfield was on both federal supervised release and New York parole at the time. Id. at 2. After several years' imprisonment for Hobbs Act robbery, Skyfield had been resentenced by the Honorable

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Ronnie Abrams of this Court to time served followed by three years of supervised release. Dkt. No. 30 at 3. Skyfield had begun his term of supervised release on December 9, 2022. Id.

On August 4, 2023, the NYPD contacted U.S. Probation Officer William Pompei, explained their investigative findings, and provided him three photos of the shooter and a fourth photo of the man entering the Club. Dkt. No. 30 at 6; Dkt. No. 36 at 6; see also Dkt. No. 30-10. That same day, Pompei submitted a petition to Judge Abrams requesting a warrant for Skyfield's arrest. Dkt. No. 30-1. The petition alleged that Skyfield had violated the conditions of his supervised release on July 22, 2023 by possessing a pistol and committing second-degree assault by shooting an individual in the heel. Id. at ECF p. 3. Pompei declared under penalty of perjury:

According to a New York City Police Department incident report, on July 22, 2023, Skyfield has been identified as an individual involved in a shooting and robbery of the victim who is identified in the report. After an altercation with two individuals attempting to rob him, the male victim suffered a gunshot wound to his right heel in the Bronx, New York. Skyfield has been identified as the shooter in this incident. . . . Based on the violent nature of this incident the Probation Office is respectfully recommending the issuance of a warrant for Skyfield's arrest.

Id. at ECF p. 4.^[1] Judge Abrams issued an arrest warrant that day. Id. at ECF p. 5. The warrant commanded “[a]ny authorized law enforcement officer” to “arrest and bring before a United States Magistrate Judge without unnecessary delay Tyriek Skyfield who is accused of . . . Non-ompliance with supervised release conditions as outlined in the petition.” Id. at ECF p. 6.

On August 9, 2023, the Government and U.S. Marshals Service (the “Marshals”) applied to the Honorable Gabriel W. Gorenstein for a warrant for prospective and historical cell site location information (“CSLI”) and pen register information for the purpose of locating Skyfield as a “person to be arrested.” Dkt. No. 36 at 7; see Dkt. No. 30-2. In support of that application,

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the Government submitted an affidavit from Deputy U.S. Marshal Charles Kemmlein who stated that Skyfield was on a term of supervised release pursuant to a case before Judge Abrams, that Judge Abrams had issued a warrant for Skyfield's arrest for violating the terms of his supervised release, and that the warrant “remain[ed] active.” Dkt. No. 30-2 at ECF p. 11. Kemmlein further asserted that there was probable cause to conclude that Skyfield used the target cellphone because he had given the phone number to his probation officer as his contact information and had recently used that number to call his probation officer. Id. Magistrate Judge Gorenstein issued the requested warrant. Id. at ECF pp. 14-17.

The Marshals and NYPD executed the warrant for Skyfield's arrest on August 15, 2023. Dkt. No. 30 at 11. The arrest commenced at approximately 5:50 A.M. at a location in New Rochelle, New York that the Marshals had identified with the CSLI.^[2] Dkt. No. 36 at 7. The location proved to be the Skyfield family residence. Id. at 7-8. Officers knocked on the door and spoke with Skyfield's mother, who denied he was home. Id. at 8. After they entered the apartment and called out for Skyfield, the officers located him in a bedroom and handcuffed him. Id. Skyfield indicated that an iPhone in the bedroom was his and asked to use it to call his probation officer. Id. The officers seized the iPhone. Id.

After Skyfield's arrest, the Marshals temporarily ceded custody over him to the NYPD. Dkt. No. 30 at 12. He was taken to the 47th Precinct for processing, where he verbally waived his Miranda rights, was interviewed by the NYPD, and was held overnight. Dkt. No. 36 at 8.

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During that interview, he admitted that he was the person depicted in the image of the man entering the Club, but he denied any involvement in the shooting. Id.

Skyfield appeared in federal court on the violation of supervised release (“VOSR”) charge the next day. Id. On August 22, 2023, the Government filed a Complaint that charged Skyfield with possessing ammunition after a felony conviction in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) based on his alleged role in the July 22 shooting. Id. at 9; Dkt. No. 1.

The Government applied for a warrant to search the seized iPhone on August 29, 2023. Dkt. No. 30-5. Steven...