US v. Wright

• Decision Date: 10 February 1989
• Docket Number: Cr. No. 4-87-195-E.
• Citation: 706 F. Supp. 1268
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Doreen Angela WRIGHT.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Texas

706 F. Supp. 1268

UNITED STATES of America v. Doreen Angela WRIGHT.

Cr. No. 4-87-195-E.

United States District Court, N.D. Texas, Fort Worth Division.

February 10, 1989.

Fred Schattman, Fort Worth, Tex., for U.S.

Brantley Pringle, Noah Lipman, Fort Worth, Tex., for Wright.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MAHON, District Judge.

This is another drug courier case. Defendant Doreen Wright was arrested during an airport stop. She seeks to suppress cocaine discovered by a law enforcement officer while searching her suitcase.

A suppression hearing was held on March 25, 1988, and the usual panoply of issues arose—whether Wright was seized within the context of the Fourth Amendment, whether the seizure, if any, was supported by reasonable suspicion, whether Wright's subsequent consent to the search of her suitcase was voluntary. These standard questions must once again be addressed.

In this case, however, haphazard police work has created a few additional and, of course, novel issues. Namely, whether the warrantless seizure of Wright's suitcase from a locked storage facility by a law enforcement officer, who professed to be conducting, at least in part, a routine inventory of Wright's property in connection with her arrest, was an infraction which (1) invokes Fourth Amendment analysis, (2) taints Wright's subsequent consent, if any, to the search of her luggage, and (3) requires the application of the exclusionary rule to suppress narcotics discovered in her suitcase.

After a recitation of the Court's fact findings, the pertinent issues will be discussed in turn.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Officer Randall Johnson, an Irving, Texas, Police Officer, is assigned to the Drug Enforcement Agency ("DEA") Task Force at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport ("DFW"). On December 7, 1987, Officer Johnson met American Airlines Flight 295 arriving at DFW from New York City. He was accompanied by Special Agents Richard Jones and J.W. Hewitt, also members of the DEA Task Force. Agents Jones and Hewitt are employed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("Immigration Services"). These officers routinely meet Flight 295. It arrives from a known "target" city for cocaine.¹

On December 7, 1987, at approximately 10:10 a.m., the Officers once again met Flight 295. They observed the passengers disembarking the aircraft. Although the Officers had received no prior information regarding Defendant Wright, their attention became focused upon her as she exited the plane. Wright appeared nervous and watchful. Officer Johnson testified that Wright walked slower than the normal passenger and continuously looked over her shoulder. She bypassed the first exit to the luggage area and proceeded down the concourse to the second exit. Their suspicions aroused, the Officers followed.

Wright left the concourse area and took the second exit into the baggage claim area. She waited there a few minutes, in fact, she even approached Agent Jones, asking him if the area in which they stood was the place where the luggage from Flight 295 would be returned. He stated that it was. Jones noticed that Wright spoke with a West Indian accent, and a short time later, he advised Officer Johnson of Wright's accent. Wright moved about 15 feet away from Jones and continued to wait for the luggage from Flight 295 to be returned.

Wright went to a pay phone and made a local call. She spoke on the phone briefly. She returned to the baggage carousel where she and other passengers waited for the return of their luggage. She continued to wait until all the baggage on the carousel except one suitcase—a large, grey, softsided suitcase—had been retrieved. Wright stood there, alone, watching the suitcase circle on the rotating carousel. She made no attempt to claim it.

At this point, two black male suspects entered the baggage claim area, and according to Officer Johnson, "made eye contact" with Wright. The suspects and Wright did not speak with one another. The suspects sat down and waited about the baggage claim area.

A skycap approached Wright and asked her if she was waiting for luggage. They spoke briefly, and Wright was directed to an American Airlines employee in charge of unclaimed luggage who was standing nearby. The American Airlines employee and Wright moved a few feet away to a stand-up desk where Wright completed a baggage claim form. The grey, soft-sided suitcase which had remained unclaimed on the baggage carousel was removed by airline personnel and placed in a locked storage area.

One of the two black male suspects left the baggage claim area and stood outside the terminal. Agent Hewitt followed him. The other suspect remained in the baggage claim area, but moved to a seat closer to where the porter and Wright were standing. He remained there, briefly, and then again moved to another seat closer to Wright and the porter. He sat down on the baggage carousel near the area where they were standing. As Wright moved away from the stand-up desk, she walked past the suspect. He stood up and walked with her out of the baggage claim area toward the terminal exit.

Officer Johnson approached Wright and the black male suspect. Johnson identified himself as a police officer, displayed his credentials, and asked to speak with them. Wright agreed, but the suspect disclaimed knowing Wright and asked why Johnson wanted to speak with him. Johnson stated that he simply desired to speak with the couple a few minutes, but the male suspect refused, walked away, and exited the airport terminal. Wright did not leave with the suspect. She remained in the area and continued to speak with Johnson.

Officer Johnson asked to see Wright's airline ticket. She handed it to him along with her ticket folder and baggage claim stub. Johnson reviewed the ticket, noting that it was a one-way cash ticket, purchased on the day it was issued, December 7, and that it bore the name "D. Harriot." Officer Johnson returned the ticket, the folder, and the baggage claim stub to Wright. He asked her if she could produce some form of personal identification. Wright complied with Johnson's request. She displayed a picture identification card bearing the name "Doreen Harriot" and handed it to Johnson. Johnson looked at the identification card and returned it to Wright.

Johnson, like Agent Jones, also took note of a distinct accent in Wright's speech, and he asked her where she was born. Wright stated "Jamaica." Johnson asked Wright if she would be in the Dallas area long, a question to which Wright replied "yes." Since Wright carried no luggage, Johnson's suspicions were heightened by this answer. Johnson asked Wright if she had any luggage. Wright said her luggage had not been transported on Flight 295, that is, the Flight on which she arrived. She stated that her luggage would be arriving on the next American Airlines' Flight from New York City.

At this point, Agent Jones, who had been standing nearby, approached Johnson and Wright. Agent Jones is a United States Immigration Officer and has been employed by the Immigration Service for 20 years. Jones has been assigned to the DEA Task Force at DFW for approximately one year. Jones identified himself to Wright as an Immigration Officer, displayed his credentials, and asked her which country she was a citizen of. Wright replied "Jamaica." Wright claimed to be a legal permanent resident of the United States. Jones asked Wright for proof of her alien registration. Wright could not produce the necessary documents. She explained that the documents had been lost. Jones asked her if she had filed a claim with Immigration Services to replace the documents. Wright stated that she had not. Jones placed her under arrest and explained if his subsequent investigation verified her resident alien status that she would be released. Jones' administrative detention of Wright was based solely upon her failure to carry a Resident Alien card.

Wright was transported to the airline terminal where Immigration Services has its office.² Officer Johnson assisted Jones in processing the arrest of Wright for an alleged violation of the United States immigration laws. Jones then proceeded to obtain basic biographical information from her. Jones read the Miranda warnings to Wright. She indicated to Jones that she understood them.

At this time, the next incoming American Airlines Flight from New York City was not scheduled to arrive for at least another hour, or approximately, at 12:00 noon. Agent Jones asked Johnson if he would meet the Flight to locate and retrieve Wright's suitcase. Johnson agreed. As the Flight was not due to arrive for almost an hour, Johnson decided to wait in the Task Force Office.

Jones testified that it was the policy of Immigration Services to maintain control and custody of the property of an arrestee in his or her possession at the time of the arrest.³ While Johnson ostensibly shared this concern for the safekeeping of Wright's property, he testified that he believed that the suitcase might also contain narcotics.

Agent Jones removed Wright's baggage claim stub from her ticket folder and gave it to Officer Johnson. Johnson took the stub with him to meet the incoming American Airlines Flight. He observed the luggage from the arriving Flight as it was dispensed onto the baggage carousel. All of the Flight's baggage was claimed by its passengers.

Johnson reasoned that Wright's luggage either arrived on the earlier Flight—Flight 295 and was unclaimed—or was still lost and would possibly be transported on the next arriving New York Flight. Johnson suspected that the grey, soft-sided suitcase, which he had noticed earlier among the baggage arriving on Flight 295 and which had remained unclaimed on the baggage carousel, belonged to Wright. Now, more than two hours after Flight 295 had arrived, Johnson went to the storage area for unclaimed baggage to verify his suspicions.

The storage area was completely enclosed by a wire-mesh screen. Johnson looked...