United States v. Strange
| Decision Date | 17 May 2021 |
| Docket Number | 5:20-CR-00217-FL-4 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of North Carolina |
| Parties | United States of America, v. Kendale Tyrone Strange, |
MEMORANDUM & RECOMMENDATION
Defendant. Defendant Kendale Tyrone Strange, who faces gun- and drug-related charges, has three motions before the court. To begin with, Strange asks the court to prohibit the Government from using DNA evidence and evidence obtained during the search of 522 School Street at trial. He claims that the searches that led to this evidence violated his constitutional rights. Mot. to Suppress, D.E. 101 at 1.
Along with the motion to suppress, Strange asks the court to allow him to have two trials, one on his gun charge and one on his drug-related charges. He argues that he would be prejudiced by having to defend himself against all the charges during one trial.
Finally he challenges the level of detail in the indictment's drug conspiracy count. He says it does not provide him with enough information to prepare his defense. He wants the court to order the Government to give him a bill of particulars.
The court will address each of these issues separately.
A federal grand jury returned a Superseding Indictment in July 2020 charging Strange with three drug-related charges including being involved in a drug conspiracy, as well as a charge for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Two warrant applications from March 2020 recount the events that led to these charges. The court will review the facts in each application and the testimony Strange gave at the evidentiary hearing before addressing the motions' merits.
Fayetteville Police Officers Newman and Maldonado applied for a warrant to search 522 School Street on March 17, 2020. Their application discussed two investigations into Strange's alleged criminal activity. First, the application discusses Strange's alleged involvement with an assault in a restaurant parking lot, and then it addresses his alleged drug dealing.
In late February 2020, Fayetteville police officers received a report of a shooting. Through their investigation, officers learned that the victim had gotten into a verbal altercation with a person driving a Mercedes. The argument began outside a gas station convenience store but carried over into the parking lot of a nearby restaurant.
Once in the parking lot, the Mercedes' driver got out of the car with a gun in his hand. The driver and the victim once again exchanged words. At some point the driver began to raise the gun and the victim turned his head. The victim “felt an impact on his head” and heard a gunshot. He thought he had been shot in the head. The driver fled the scene in the Mercedes.
Newman obtained video footage from the gas station. He compared the footage to a photograph of Strange and concluded that Strange was the Mercedes' driver.
After discussing the assault investigation, the application reviewed Strange's criminal history. It revealed that between 1993 and 2013, Strange had been convicted of drug-related offenses 13 times. He had also been convicted of illegally possessing a firearm twice.
The affidavit then moved on to the investigation of 522 School Street, which began in April 2019. As part of the investigation, Maldonado and Detective Kurt Stein and met with a confidential informant.[1] The informant, who had a record of being credible and reliable and had participated in controlled purchases, shared that Strange was selling crack and heroin from 522 School Street.
About four months later, in August 2020, law enforcement received an anonymous tip stating that Strange was selling drugs from a house on School Street that was set up as a car detailing body shop. The tipster also said that “crack heads” were always on School Street and around the house.
In January 2020, Fayetteville Police Officer Creech spoke with a woman in the front yard of 522 School Street. She said she was there to see “Ghost, ” which Creech knew to be Strange's nickname. While talking with the woman, Creech saw drug paraphernalia in her car. He searched the car and found two crack pipes, a spoon with burnt residue, needles, and a cotton ball. Creech “knew” that these items were drug paraphernalia. A field test revealed that the cotton ball had heroin on it.
As all this was going on, Strange left 522 School Street. But upon seeing law enforcement he went back inside.
In the month before the March 2020 warrant application, Maldonado conducted surveillance at 522 School Street. She saw Strange there “daily.” She also noticed “frequent visitors” arrive at the house during the day on bicycles and foot. The visitors stayed for only a brief time. While at the house, the visitors would meet with Strange in the front yard or go inside. Maldonado believed that this conduct was consistent with someone selling drugs at the house. Id.
During that same time, Maldonado met with a confidential source who knew various drug dealers. The source knew of a black male by the name of “Ghost” who sold crack and heroin on School Street. Id. at 8-9. After being shown a photo of Strange, the source confirmed that Strange was the person he knew as Ghost. Id. at 9.
Then, in the week before applying for the warrant, Maldonado used a confidential source to purchase crack from Strange. After being searched for contraband and being given money by law enforcement, the source went to 522 School Street. The source went inside, met with Strange, and bought crack from him. The entire transaction took about a minute.
The last piece of the investigation involved information from the Public Works Commission. In response to an inquiry from Maldonado, the Commission shared that it had an active account under Strange's name for 522 School Street.
Based on the application North Carolina Superior Court Judge Marry Ann Tally issued a warrant allowing officers to search 522 School Street. Along with searching the property, they could also search Strange, anyone present on the property “that may possess the evidence sought within [the] affidavit[, ]” cars found on the property, and any other cars “operated with keys found inside” 522 School Street. The warrant also authorized the seizure of 13 categories of items, including drugs, drug paraphernalia, weapons, money, and proof of ownership or control of the property.
Law enforcement executed the warrant the next day, March 18, 2020. In an upstairs bedroom they found Strange and a set of keys to a BMW. Also in the house were drugs, a gun, and mail addressed to Strange.
Officers learned that the BMW keys they found in the house unlocked a BMW sitting in the driveway of 522 School Street. A search of the car turned up a gun in its trunk.
After the search of the School Street property, Maldonado applied for a warrant to obtain a DNA sample from Strange. The application said that law enforcement had searched 522 School Street on “March 13, 2020” and found Strange and two firearms. It also noted that Strange had been convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon. According to the application, the DNA taken from Strange would be compared to any DNA collected from the guns. North Carolina Magistrate JC Stafford issued the warrant and officers obtained the DNA swabs from Strange.
Strange testified at the motions hearing about his connection to 522 School Street.[2] He said that he purchased the property with someone else to fix it up and sell it. During the relevant period, Strange lived at 522 School Street and kept his belongings there.
Although he discussed his connection to the School Street Property, he provided no testimony about the BMW that officers found there.
The Fourth Amendment provides two distinct, but related protections to the people. To begin with, it provides that “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated[.]” U.S. Const. amend. IV. And then it then provides that “no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Id.
Following his indictment, Strange identified what he believes are discrepancies and inadequacies in the search warrant applications that defeat a finding of probable cause. For the residential search warrant, he challenges both the content of the application and the scope of the resulting warran. And for the DNA collection warrant, Strange says that an incorrect date in the application renders the entire warrant invalid. He argues that a reasonable officer could not have relied on these warrants and asks the court to suppress evidence from the resulting searches.
The undersigned will address each of Strange's arguments below. But, ultimately, they are not persuasive. To begin with, Strange has not shown that he has standing to challenge the search of the BMW. While he does have standing to challenge the search of 522 School Street, his arguments do not stand up to scrutiny. And the incorrect date listed in the DNA collection application did not render the warrant invalid. So the district court should deny Strange's motion.
The Government argued that Strange had not established that he has standing[3] to challenge the search of 522 School Street and a BMW...
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