United States v. Young

• Decision Date: 31 August 2018
• Docket Number: No. CR 17-0694 JB,CR 17-0694 JB
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Apache YOUNG, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico

347 F.Supp.3d 747

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff,

v.Apache YOUNG, Defendant.

No. CR 17-0694 JB

United States District Court, D. New Mexico.

Filed August 31, 2018

John C. Anderson, United States Attorney, Paul H. Spiers, Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney's Office, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorneys for the Plaintiffs.

Charles E. Knoblauch, Charles E. Knoblauch Attorney at Law, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Attorney for the Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JAMES O. BROWNING, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the Defendant's Motion to Suppress the Fruits of Illegal Arrest and Supporting Brief, filed May 10, 2018 (Doc. 43)("Motion"). The primary issues are: (i) whether Albuquerque Police Department ("APD") Officer Jason Harvey detained Defendant Apache Young when he took Young's pocketknife and told Young to wait with another police officer while Harvey inspected the scene and investigated Young's criminal history; (ii) whether Harvey had reasonable suspicion to detain Young after he saw Young on Albuquerque, New Mexico's West Mesa emerge from an empty water tank shirtless and covered in tattoos, and place what Harvey suspected was a firearm in a holster into a pickup truck bed; (iii) whether the circumstances justify the length and manner of Young's detention; (iv) whether the Court should suppress Young's post-arrest statements, because no one Mirandized¹ Young; and (v) whether Harvey violated Young's constitutional rights, because Harvey -- an APD officer -- arrested Young outside Albuquerque's city limits. The Court concludes that: (i) Harvey detained Young, because a reasonable person in Young's position would not have felt free to leave; (ii) Harvey had reasonable suspicion to detain Young, because the circumstances' totality suggests that Young might have been involved in a crime; (iii) the circumstances justify the length and manner of Young's detention, because it was reasonable for Harvey to detain Young long enough to determine whether he had outstanding warrants or is a felon; (iv) the Court will not suppress Young's post-arrest statements under Miranda v. Arizona, because Harvey did not interrogate Young; and (v) Harvey was authorized to operate throughout the County of Bernalillo, but, even if he was not so authorized, the arrest did not violate the Constitution of the United States of America. Accordingly, the Court denies the Motion.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Rule 12(d) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure requires the Court to state its essential findings on the record when deciding a motion that involves factual issues. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 12(d) ("When factual issues are involved in deciding a motion, the court must state its essential findings on the record."). The findings of fact in this Memorandum Opinion and Order serve as the Court's essential findings for rule 12(d) purposes. The Court makes these findings under the authority of rule 104(a) of the Federal Rules of Evidence, which requires a judge to decide preliminary questions relating to the admissibility of evidence, including the legality of a search or seizure, and the voluntariness of an individual's confession or consent to a search. See United States v. Merritt, 695 F.2d 1263, 1269-70 (10th Cir. 1982). In deciding such preliminary questions, the other rules of evidence, except those with respect to privileges, do not bind the Court. See Fed. R. Evid. 104(a). Thus, the Court may consider hearsay in ruling on a motion to suppress. See United States v. Merritt, 695 F.2d at 1269 ("The purpose of the suppression hearing was, of course, to determine preliminarily the admissibility of certain evidence allegedly obtained in violation of defendant's rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. In this type of hearing the judge had latitude to receive it, notwithstanding the hearsay rule."); United States v. Garcia, 324 F. App'x 705, 708 (10th Cir. 2009) (unpublished)("We need not resolve whether Crawford [v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004) ]'s^{[2 ]} protection of an accused's Sixth Amendment confrontation right applies to suppression hearings, because even if we were to assume this protection does apply, we would conclude that the district court's error cannot be adjudged ‘plain.’ ")³ ; United States v. Ramirez, 388 F. App'x 807, 810 (10th Cir. 2010) (unpublished)("It is beyond reasonable debate that Ramirez's counsel were not ineffective in failing to make a Confrontation Clause challenge to the use of the confidential informant. The Supreme Court has not yet indicated whether the Confrontation Clause applies to hearsay statements made in suppression hearings."). Cf. United States v. Hernandez, 778 F.Supp.2d 1211, 1226 (D.N.M. 2011) (Browning, J.)(concluding "that Crawford v. Washington does not apply to detention hearings").⁴

1. The West Mesa is a desolate area west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. See Transcript of Motion to Suppress Proceedings at 3:2-3 (held June 26, 2018), filed August 10, 2018 (Doc. 59)("Tr."); Motion at 2 (asserting this fact). See also"West Mesa," Wikipedia, available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Mesa ("The West Mesa is an elevated landmass lying west of the Rio Grande stretching from south of Albuquerque northward to Bernalillo").

2. The West Mesa is in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. See Bernalillo County Water Conservation Development Standards and Guidelines at 4, available at https://www.bernco.gov/uploads/FileLinks/0259d13039274e6fbd3c12361ca869d6/Intro.pdf ("The West Mesa Bioregion reaches from the western edge of Bernalillo County to the western edge of the Rio Grande Valley.").

3. Much of the West Mesa is not in the City of Albuquerque's limits. See Albuquerque Metropolitan Area map, available at http://documents.cabq.gov/planning/agis/largeformatmaps/CABQ_MetroArea_E.pdf.

4. To local law enforcement, the West Mesa is known for its use as a place to abandon stolen vehicles, see Tr. at 21:13-16 (Harvey)(asserting that he has "personally recovered hundreds" of stolen vehicles from the West Mesa), shoot firearms, see Tr. at 20:13-17 (Harvey), and distribute drugs, see Tr. at 15:3-4 (Harvey).

5. Albuquerque police officers are commonly cross-commissioned to operate outside of Albuquerque within the County of Bernalillo. See Tr. at 19-6-15 (Harvey).

6. In 2016, Jason Harvey was an officer with the Albuquerque Police Open Space Division. See Tr. at 17:18-22 (Spiers, Harvey).

7. Harvey has patrolled the West Mesa since 2002. See Tr. at 19:20 (Harvey).

8. Harvey has an identification card from the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department that states that Manuel Gonzales, the Bernalillo County Sheriff, "hereby commission[s] and appoint[s]" Harvey to be "a special deputy sheriff in and for Bernalillo County ... to do and perform all acts pertaining to this duty." Special Deputy Commission Card at 2 (Government Hearing Exhibit 3).

9. The Special Deputy Commission Card's expiration date is December 31, 2018. See Special Deputy Commission Card at 1.

10. The Special Deputy Commission Card does not indicate when the card became active. See generally Special Deputy Commission Card at 1-2.

11. Every time a new Bernalillo County Sheriff takes office, Albuquerque Police Officers must secure new Special Deputy Commission Cards. See Tr. at 24:4-12 (Spiers, Harvey).

12. Harvey was issued the Special Deputy Commission Card shortly after Manuel Gonzales III became Bernalillo County Sheriff. See Tr. at 24:18-21 (Spiers, Harvey).

13. Gonzales was elected Bernalillo County Sheriff on November 4, 2014. See Official Results General November 4, 2014, New Mexico Secretary of State, available at http://electionresults.sos.state.nm.us/resultsCTY.aspx?eid=2& type=CTY& rid=2035& osn=510& map=CTY (showing Gonzales defeating his opponent with 52% of the vote); Fed. R. Evid. 201(b) ("stating that a court may take judicial notice" of "a fact that is not subject to reasonable dispute" because it "can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned").

14. In 2009, law enforcement found the bodies of eleven women and one fetus buried in an area on the West Mesa. See Tr. at 22:6-12 (Spiers, Harvey); West Mesa Homicide Investigation, City of Albuquerque, https://www.cabq.gov/police/contact-the-police/west-mesa-homicide-investigation (last visited August 28, 2018); West Mesa Murders, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Mesa_murders (last visited August 28, 2018).

15. The victims were between 15 and 32 years old, and had gone missing between 2001 and 2005. See Who is the West Mesa Bone Collector?, Vice, https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/yvqxn5/who-is-the-west-mesa-bone-collector-0000439-v21n9 (last visited August 28, 2018).

16. The murders remain unsolved, and APD suspects that a serial killer is responsible. See West Mesa Homicide Investigation, City of Albuquerque, https://www.cabq.gov/police/contact-the-police/west-mesa-homicide-investigation (last visited August 28, 2018)("West Mesa Serial Killer -- $100,000 Reward").

17. Harvey was the "primary officer" on the West Mesa Murders. Tr. at 22:6-7 (Harvey)

18. Harvey has "personally recovered hundreds" of stolen vehicles from the West Mesa. Tr. at 21:13-16 (Harvey).

19. When Harvey looks for stolen vehicles on the West Mesa, he looks for vehicles that have its doors open, its hood up, its wheels removed, is burnt, or people are standing nearby it. See Tr. at 26:13-19 (Harvey).

20. On November 13, 2016, Harvey drove out to the West Mesa to check for stolen cars or other crime. See Tr. at 26:13-19 (Harvey).

21. Harvey stopped on a high vantage point on the West Mesa within a half mile of the West Mesa Murders burial site. See Tr. at 25:13-26:2 (Harvey); id. at 22:4-16 (Spiers, Harvey).

22. The temperature high that day was sixty-six degrees. See Motion at 2 n.2 (asserting this fact)(citing Albuquerque, USA History November 13, 2016, available at...