United States v. White

• Decision Date: 25 July 2018
• Docket Number: Case No. 17-00257-01-CR-W-DGK
• Parties: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. LAMONT WHITE, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Missouri

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. LAMONT WHITE, Defendant.

Case No. 17-00257-01-CR-W-DGK

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI WESTERN DIVISION

July 25, 2018

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

This matter is currently before the Court on defendant's Motion to Suppress Evidence and Statement (doc #15). For the reasons set forth below, it is recommended that the motion be denied.

I. BACKGROUND

On August 9, 2017, the Grand Jury returned a one-count indictment against defendant Lamont White. The indictment charges defendant with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

An evidentiary hearing on the motion to suppress was held on February 28, 2018. Defendant White was represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Ronna Holloman-Hughes. The Government was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew A. Moeder. The Government called Sergeant Scott Simons, Sergeant John Bryant, and Detective John Straubel of the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department as witnesses. The defense called no witnesses to testify.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

On the basis of the evidence presented at the evidentiary hearing, the undersigned submits the following proposed findings of fact:

1. At approximately 1:43 p.m. on March 15, 2017, Kansas City, Missouri police officers were dispatched to the area of 41^st and Garfield regarding a call for suspicious car occupants. (Tr. at 11) The 911 call advised that there was an unknown female, possibly named Tonya or ABC, occupying a black Cadillac sedan with rear damage, and a black male with dreads and an unknown female occupying a blue Honda or Toyota two-door sedan, and that the occupants of those vehicles were involved with narcotics and possibly had guns. (Tr. at 11, 13; Government's Exs. 2 and 3) Sergeant Scott Simons testified that he gave credibility to the call because he was familiar with a female named Tonya, whose moniker was ABC, and who drove a black Cadillac with rear damage. (Tr. at 14-15) Sergeant Simons has encountered Tonya on quite a few occasions in locations where police deal with narcotics sales and violence. (Tr. at 14) However, Sergeant Simons had never arrested Tonya for drug distribution or seen her with any weapons. (Tr. at 26) Sergeant Simons testified that the area of 41^st and Garfield is an area where there has been a lot of criminal activity, such as shootings, stabbings, and narcotics sales. (Tr. at 10-11) Sergeant John Bryant testified that there are a lot of abandoned houses in that area with prostitution and narcotics activities taking place. (Tr. at 30)

2. Sergeant Simons responded to the area of 41^st and Garfield. (Tr. at 16) Sergeant Simons testified that as he was pulling up, he did not observe the black Cadillac, but he did see a blue two-door Honda. (Tr. at 16-17) The hood was up on the car. (Tr. at 17) As Sergeant Simons arrived on the scene, Officer Zoellner was also pulling up. (Tr. at 17) Sergeant Simons testified that as he was parking, he saw a black male with dreads (later identified as Lamont White) open the driver's door of the Honda, exit the vehicle, and start tinkering with the engine. (Tr. at 17-19) Sergeant Simons also saw a passenger in the front seat of the vehicle. (Tr. at 17) Sergeant Simons became suspicious when White exited the car immediately upon seeing the police pull up. (Tr. at 18) Sergeant Simons suspected that the car's hood was up because White was trying to make it look like he was having car problems and was stranded to distract from what was really going on. (Tr. at 18)

3. Officer Zoellner made contact with the female occupant of the Honda. (Tr. at 22) Sergeant Simons walked up to the male (defendant White) and asked if everything was okay. (Tr. at 18-19) Sergeant Simons testified that White said he was doing something with the oil. (Tr. at 20, 27) There was an oil bottle on the engine area. (Tr. at 27) Sergeant Simons testified that due to the nature of the call and from experience dealing with the violent crime in that neighborhood, he asked White if he had any weapons on him. (Tr. at 19, 21, 23) White said that he did not. (Tr. at 19) Sergeant Simons then asked White if he could frisk him. (Tr. at 19) Sergeant Simons testified that White gave Simons permission to frisk him. (Tr. at 19, 21-22) Sergeant Simons found no weapons or illegal contraband on White. (Tr. at 19, 23) Sergeant Simons testified that when he asked to frisk White, his gun was not drawn, he did not use any forceful language, and he did not make anythreats. (Tr. at 22-23) Sergeant Bryant showed up at the scene about the time that Sergeant Simons had started to conduct the frisk. (Tr. at 22-24, 37) Sergeant Bryant's vehicle was equipped with a dash camera. (Tr. at 31) The video of Sergeant Bryant's dash camera was admitted as Defendant's Exhibit 1. (Tr. at 31-34)

4. When Sergeant Bryant arrived at the scene, he walked up to the driver's door of the Honda. (Tr. at 24, 37) The hood was up and Sergeant Simons was with defendant White in front of the car. (Tr. at 40) Sergeant Bryant testified that he thought that Sergeant Simons had White handcuffed and under arrest. (Tr. at 40-41) Sergeant Bryant testified that the call was dispatched that there were firearms in the vehicle. (Tr. at 37) Standing outside the vehicle, Sergeant Bryant looked through the window into the vehicle to see if there were any weapons in plain view that might injure a citizen and/or his officers. (Tr. at 37, 39) Sergeant Bryant testified that the vehicle was parked on a public street and that when he looked in the vehicle he was on public property. (Tr. at 37-38) The windows of the vehicle were not tinted and there was nothing obstructing Sergeant Bryant's vision. (Tr. at 39) In the cup holder in the center console, Sergeant Bryant observed a sandwich baggie full of white rock crystalline-like substances that, through his years of experience as a police officer, he identified as possible crack cocaine. (Tr. at 38) There were miscellaneous items underneath the baggie, which raised it up above the cup holder. (Tr. at 38) Sergeant Bryant testified that in his 29 years of law enforcement experience, he has dealt with crack cocaine thousands of times. (Tr. at 38) Sergeant Bryant testified that after he saw what he believed to be crack cocaine, he continued to look through the window to see if there were any firearms in plain view. (Tr. at 40)

5. Sergeant Bryant then opened the car door and looked around inside the vehicle for a firearm. (Tr. at 40) Sergeant Bryant believed he had authority to enter the vehicle once he saw the crack cocaine. (Tr. at 40) Sergeant Bryant testified that the dispatched call had said there were narcotics and a firearm in the vehicle. (Tr. at 40) Since he had already seen the narcotics, Sergeant Bryant figured there would also be a firearm in the vehicle like the caller said. (Tr. at 40) Sergeant Bryant testified that he did not immediately notify the other officers about the crack cocaine because his focus was on getting into the car to make sure there were no firearms. (Tr. at 40) As he was looking for firearms, Sergeant Bryant saw through the crack in the hood that the individual standing and talking with Sergeant Simons (defendant White) was not in custody and was not handcuffed. (Tr. at 41) Sergeant Bryant stepped back out of the vehicle and tried to nod to Sergeant Simons to signal to him that the individual needed to be arrested. (Tr. at 42)

6. Sergeant Simons testified that he saw Sergeant Bryant look at him and give an affirmative nod, which Simons took to mean that Bryant had observed something that would cause the officers to place defendant White in handcuffs and take himinto custody. (Tr. at 24) Sergeant Simons assumed that White saw the nod at the same time because as Simons started to reach for White to place him in handcuffs, White took off running. (Tr. at 24) Sergeant Simons and Sergeant Bryant pursued White. (Tr. at 24, 42) White ran through some backyards and over some fences, but was eventually taken into custody. (Tr. at 24-25, 42) Sergeant Bryant was involved in the struggle that took place when officers caught White and arrested him. (Tr. at 42-43) On the video tape, Sergeant Bryant can be heard yelling, "Dope's in the console." (Tr. at 43, 50; Defendant's Ex. 1 at 1:51:31) Sergeant Bryant testified that he yelled this to alert the other officers of the location of the drugs so that an officer would recover those drugs quickly before someone else picked them up and took them away. (Tr. at 43)

7. Sergeant Bryant did not observe a firearm in the vehicle when he was looking prior to defendant White running off. (Tr. at 44) The vehicle was later searched by other officers and a firearm was recovered from under the driver's seat. (Tr. at 44, 55-56)

8. Detective John Straubel interviewed defendant White. (Tr. at 53) A recording of the interview was admitted as Government's Exhibit 6. (Tr. at 55) Prior to the interview, Detective Straubel read White his Miranda rights. (Tr. at 54; Government's Ex. 6 at 4:57-5:26) Detective Straubel asked White to sign a waiver form, but White would not sign stating that he had always been told never to sign anything. (Tr. at 54; Government's Ex. 6 at 5:29-5:46) However, White agreed to talk with Detective Straubel. (Tr. at 54; Government's Ex. 6 at 5:48-5:51) White stated that he was not in the vehicle when the police arrived and that he had not even been in the vehicle that day. (Tr. at 56; Government's Ex. 6 at 13:12-14:04) White denied ownership of the vehicle and possession of the vehicle on that day. (Tr. at 56)

III. DISCUSSION

Defendant White seeks to suppress all evidence, and testimony related to such evidence, obtained as a result of the search and seizure of defendant and the vehicle he was driving. (Motion to Suppress Evidence and Statement (doc #15) at 1) Defendant argues that the search and seizure violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment because the police detained defendan...