US v. Nurse
| Decision Date | 10 July 1989 |
| Docket Number | Crim. No. 89-0150. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America v. Robin NURSE. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Eva Polin, Asst. U.S. Atty., Washington, D.C., for U.S.
Kenneth Mundy and Robert Mance, Washington, D.C., for defendant.
The defendant Robin Nurse moved to suppress the more than four kilograms of cocaine and "crack" found in her possession on April 14, 1989, which lead to her indictment on charges of possession of narcotics with intent to distribute. She also sought to suppress inculpatory post-arrest statements she made in the presence of, or in response to questions by, the police. The motion was denied orally from the bench following hearing on July 5, 1989, and defendant has since entered a conditional plea of guilty pursuant to Fed.R. Crim.P. 11(a)(2). This Memorandum is filed in aid of appellate review.1
Robin Nurse, a 27-year old New York resident, arrived by train from New York City at Union Station, in Washington, D.C., at approximately 12:15 a.m., April 14, 1989, carrying a "tote bag" and a pocketbook. Various of her mannerisms attracted the attention of Sgt. John Brennan, an 18-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department and the officer-in-charge of the Department's Narcotics Interdiction Unit at Union Station. Sgt. Brennan followed Nurse's passage through the station to the taxicab stand outside and overheard her tell the dispatcher she wanted a cab to "First Street, N.W." He approached Ms. Nurse, employing the Unit's now-familiar technique,2 introduced himself and had her confirm that she had arrived from New York. He asked her for identification, in response to which she produced a commercially available "identification card" representing her to be a 19-year-old named "Shawna Green." (Sgt. Brennan did not then, of course, know that that information was false.) She had come to Washington, Nurse said, to visit a friend named "Sheree." She could not say how long she had known "Sheree." Told by Sgt. Brennan that he suspected her of transporting drugs, she denied it.
Ms. Nurse appeared to Sgt. Brennan to be extraordinarily nervous, shifting her weight from foot to foot, and looking about her without meeting his gaze. He asked her for permission to look in her tote bag. She responded, "My bag?" He said yes. She refused. He then asked if she were willing to let a narcotics-detecting canine sniff the bag. That, too, she declined, saying that if she were not under arrest she wanted to go. Sgt. Brennan announced that she was free to leave, but he intended to detain the bag for a canine sniff, and he gave her his name and a telephone number at which she could reach him to arrange to retrieve her bag if it passed the sniff test.
Still holding the bag, however, Ms. Nurse started to enter a taxicab, and, in Sgt. Brennan's hearing, told the driver she would give him a destination once she was inside the cab. Sgt. Brennan then instructed her to get out of the cab; she and her bag were both being detained. Other members of the Unit had in the meantime arrived, and the officers escorted Ms. Nurse a short distance back into the station concourse. The bag was placed on the floor, and the officers called over a canine team. The first dog summoned "showed interest" in the bag, but the handler remarked that the dog was not "working properly,"3 and a second canine team was sent for, arriving in a "couple of minutes." The second dog clearly "alerted" on the bag, and Ms. Nurse was placed under arrest. The entire encounter took place over a 20-30 minute period.
After her arrest Ms. Nurse was taken to the Amtrak Police Office in the station and advised orally of her rights by Det. Edward Curley. She was also told that the police now believed they had probable cause to search her bag. Given the late hour, it would likely be several more hours before a search warrant could be procured, but one would be applied for if she continued to refuse consent to search her bag. If, on the other hand, she were to consent to a search, Det. Curley said, and no drugs were found, she could leave with her bag. If drugs were found, her case could then be "processed immediately." Ms. Nurse relented and agreed to the search, which revealed four kilo-sized bricks of cocaine, to each of which was attached a bag of crack. When asked if there was marijuana in the bag, Ms....
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