2009 Decisions

Opinions of the United

States Court of Appeals

for the Third Circuit

3-3-2009

USA v. Price

Precedential or Non-Precedential: Precedential

Docket No. 06-4503

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 PRECEDENTIAL

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

_____________

No. 06-4503

_____________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

 v.

 JOHN JOSEPH PRICE, JR.,

 

Appellant.

 

On Appeal from the United Stated District Court 

for the Western District of Pennsylvania

(D.C. Crim. No. 04-cv-0050E)

District Judge: Hon. Sean J. McLaughlin

 

Argued January 31, 2008

Before: RENDELL and CHAGARES, Circuit Judges, and

POLLAK, District Judge.*

Filed: March 3, 2009

 

_____________________________

* The Honorable Louis H. Pollak, Senior Judge of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of

Pennsylvania, sitting by designation. 
2

Candace Cain (Argued)

Lisa B. Freeland

1450 Liberty Center

1001 Liberty Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Counsel for Appellant

Rebecca R. Haywood (Argued)

Mary Beth Buchanan

United States Attorney’s Office for the 

Western District of Pennsylvania

700 Grant Street, Suite 4000

Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Counsel for Appellee

_____________

OPINION OF THE COURT

_____________

CHAGARES, Circuit Judge.

John Joseph Price, Jr. entered a conditional plea of guilty to

methamphetamine manufacturing and possession and now appeals

two aspects of his proceedings. First, he argues that the District

Court erred in refusing to suppress evidence because the

Government violated his Fourth Amendment rights. In particular,

Price contends that a consent to search his house was not voluntary

and that evidence seized from his basement pursuant to a laterobtained warrant should be suppressed. Second, Price argues that

notwithstanding his waiver of appeal, the Government abused its

discretion by refusing to request an additional offense level

reduction of one point for acceptance of responsibility under §

3E1.1(b) of the Sentencing Guidelines. Because we agree with the

District Court’s decisions regarding the motion to suppress and its

sentence, we will affirm. 

I.
3

A.

On April 5, 2002, Price sold approximately 1/4 gram of

methamphetamine to Randall Schirra, an undercover agent with the

Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office. As a result of this sale,

the Commonwealth issued a warrant for Price’s arrest, but he

eluded capture for more than two years. On October 5, 2004,

Price’s luck ran out, for on that date, law enforcement officers from

both the Attorney General’s office and the Pennsylvania State

Police went to Price’s place of work – a garage off of Route 97 in

Erie, PA. Schirra had source information that Price would be there.

The agents found Price in a small office near the back of the

garage. They handcuffed him and removed him from the building.

A search of Price conducted incident to the arrest revealed “items

indicative of methamphetamine trafficking, including plastic

baggies with methamphetamine residue and pH papers used to

gauge the acidity of the methamphetamine production process.”

Appendix (App.) 61. 

B.

Outside the garage, Price told Schirra that he was supposed

to pick up his kids, and since his wife was working, the children

would be home alone. Price lived with his common-law wife,

Debbie Fischer, and two children (a girl, age 14, the daughter of

Price, and a boy, age 9, the son of Price and Fischer) at 8350 Page

Road in Wattsburg, Pennsylvania. Schirra testified at the

suppression hearing that he told Price that officers would “check on

the childrens[’] safety [and] contact his wife.” App. 132. Schirra

also testified, however, that he wanted to get consent to search the

Page Road residence to see if Price operated a methamphetamine

lab there. The officers had “quite a bit of information gleaned from

sources, unidentified informants and concerned citizens about Mr.

Price’s involvement in methamphetamine” at the Page Road

residence. App. 152.

Leaving Price in the custody of a state trooper, Schirra and

two other state officers, Trooper Ron Wilson and Agent Tim

Albeck, drove to Price’s Page Road residence. The two children

answered Schirra’s knock on the door and confirmed that no adult

was home. They gave the officers Fischer’s number at work.
 Schirra did not have a consent form with him because he 1

works undercover – as does Agent Wilson – and so it is critical not

to have any police-related paperwork in their respective cars.

4

Wilson called Fischer, and she drove home from work to the house.

On her way home, Fischer ran out of gas, so Albeck picked her up

and brought her to the house. 

C.

More officers arrived on the scene, but Schirra and Wilson

had those officers stay down the road, away from the Page Road

residence, so that only three or four officers were present when

Schirra, Wilson, and Fischer first conversed in the driveway/front

yard area of the home. Wilson testified that they minimize the

number of officers on the scene “so that . . . the people are not

overwhelmed with law enforcement’s presence whenever they give

or do not give consent. So it’s not – so that they’re more relaxed

and they don’t feel coerced at all.” App. 174. 

Schirra and Wilson explained to Fischer that Price had been

arrested, and that the authorities “had prior information that Mr.

Price was involved in manufacturing methamphetamine at the

residence. And that we would like to have consent to search to

make sure it was a safe environment for her and her children.”

App. 113. Wilson also mentioned that the agents had information

that there was a stolen All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) on the premises.

These were the only reasons the officers gave Fischer for

why they wanted to search the house and property – to protect the

safety of her and her children from any methamphetamine

production, and to look for the ATV. The officers did not tell

Fischer that she had the right to not consent, did not tell her that

anything found could incriminate her or Price, and did not present

her with a written consent form (which included all of that

information). Schirra did not present Fischer with a written

consent form because, in his words, “I didn’t have one on me.”1

App. 122. 

Without hesitation, Fischer verbally consented to having the

agents look around the house and the property. Fischer did not

appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, seemed to

understand what the officers were telling her, and did not appear
 Sodium hypophosphite is a salt of hypophosphorous acid. 2

Its legitimate uses include electroless nickel plating, fire

retardation, and the catalysis of polymers. But many

methamphetamine producers also use phosphorus chemicals – most

commonly red phosphorous, but also white phosphorous or

hypophosphorous acids like sodium hypophosphite – as catalysts

in the conversion of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine to

methamphetamine precursor, which is one step in the process of

methamphetamine production. As compared to red phosphorous,

“white phosphorus and hypophosphorous acid methods of illicit

methamphetamine production are significantly more hazardous . .

. . The hypophosphorous acid method is . . . extremely hazardous

since it produces phosphine gas. If not confined within the reaction

vessel, ingestion of this poisonous gas can result in death.” Control

of Red Phosphorus, White Phosphorus and Hypophosphorous Acid

(and Its Salts) as List I Chemicals, 65 Fed. Reg. 57577, 57578

(proposed Sept. 25, 2000) (to be codified at 21 C.F.R. pt. 1310).

5

especially agitated or afraid. Schirra observed that “she was a little

nervous,” but “relatively normal.” App. 161.

Schirra followed Fischer into the house. Wilson remained

outside, and began walking around the curtilage, looking for the

ATV. He eventually found the stolen four-wheeled vehicle under

a pile of car seats and covers near an outbuilding. 

D. 

Just off of the living room, as one entered the house, was a

room with a padlock on the door. Fischer explained that she and

Price slept in this room. Schirra asked Fischer if she had a key.

She answered affirmatively, produced a key, and unlocked the

door. As she did so, Fischer told Schirra that she and Price used

methamphetamine (but did not manufacture it), and that there

“might be some pipes” in the bedroom. App. 115. Schirra

searched the room and found two glass pipes and a baggie

containing sodium hypophosphite in the drawers of a nightstand

near the bed. “At that point,” Schirra testified, “she asked me to 2

stop searching the house part. Because we found that stuff and she
 Fischer’s exact words at this point are the subject of some 3

dispute. Although Schirra twice said that she asked him to stop

searching “the house part,” he amended that later, saying that

Fischer asked him to stop searching only the drawers of the

nightstand. App. 141-42. 

6

thought she was going to get in trouble.” App. 117. 

3

Schirra obliged, and left the house. His “prior information

about Mr. Price’s manufacturing methamphetamine,” however,

“always said [Price] was cooking in the garage, in the basement

area of the home.” App. 124. Therefore, as he was leaving the

house, he asked Fischer how one could get to the basement.

Fischer replied that there was no access to the basement from

within the house and then “asked [Schirra] to follow her outside.”

App. 126. As the two walked around the side of the house, they

reconnected with Wilson.

E.

Schirra asked if Fischer would give the agents consent to

search the basement. Without responding verbally, Fischer

“directed [the officers] down to the side of the house where you get

into the basement . . . and she said that she didn’t have the key for

it, that only Mr. Price had the key for it.” App. 117-18. Schirra

again asked if the agents “could [] have permission to search the

basement. She said if you could get in, you could search it, but she

had no key to get in.” App. 126. Fischer added that she did not

want them to “do any damage to the doors.” App. 118. Wilson

testified that Fischer did not hesitate to offer consent for him to

pick the lock because “I wouldn’t have gone in if she had”

hesitated. App. 161.

Although she did not have a key, Fischer indicated to the

agents that she used the basement to do laundry, and that the family

stored various items, such as Christmas decorations, in the

basement. App. 146. Schirra did not ask Fischer how she accessed

the basement if she did not own a key. He was not sure if she ever

possessed a key and just did not have it that day, or if she never had

a key. 

Wilson then picked the lock of the basement door with a
7

pocketknife, entered the basement briefly, and came out. Wilson

only went “a half dozen steps in . . . [j]ust to make sure that it was

secure, that it was safe. So that somebody wasn’t hiding in there

with a gun.” App. 172. Schirra entered the basement after Wilson

exited. Immediately inside, on the right, lay an open bag

containing numerous Sudafed blister packets, as well as “some

other chemicals and items that were used in the manufacture of

methamphetamine.” App. 119. Schirra exited the basement, and

told Fischer that she and the children had to leave the house

“because it was a [] potential hazard for the kids because there was

[sic] chemicals in there.” App. 120. He also recommended that

Fischer and the children seek medical treatment. 

Schirra then asked Fischer to sign a written consent form.

She refused. Schirra stated that he asked Fischer to sign a form

after going into the basement “[b]ecause other officers had arrived

[who] had written consents on their person.” App. 122. Moreover,

the signed form would have “save[d] me time . . . . It’s faster for

me to react to a hazardous area with a consent search than applying

[for] and obtaining a search warrant.” App. 149. If Fischer had

signed the consent form, Schirra would have “felt comfortable

securing the residence and treating the hazardous environment

immediately, rather than having to wait such a long time to obtain

a search warrant.” App. 122. Because Fischer did not consent,

however, Schirra posted officers outside the house and left to apply

for a search warrant. 

F.

A Magistrate Judge issued a warrant at 2:10 a.m. on October

6, 2004 after reviewing Schirra’s Application and Affidavit for

Search Warrant (warrant application). The warrant applied to “a

one story single family ranch style residence with a basement and

garage accessible from the outside” at “8350 Page Road,

Wattsburg.” App. 53. It permitted a search for

“[m]ethamphetamine and any other illegal controlled substance,

any and all devices used to store, manufacture, and/or ingest

methamphetamine or any controlled substance”; “[c]hemicals,

laboratory equipment and other apparatus used in the production,

storage or transportation of methamphetamine, listed chemicals and

other controlled substances”; any documents relating to controlled

substance transactions; and any type of firearms. App. 56. 
The District Court suppressed a bag of sodium 4

hypophosphite found in Price’s jacket immediately following his

arrest because there was “no evidence that at the time of Mr.

Price’s arrest, he was in immediate proximity [of] the jacket.”

App. 19. This aspect of the District Court’s ruling on the motion

to suppress is not contested in this appeal. Furthermore, the

suppressed evidence was not referenced in the warrant application.

 

8

G.

The police returned to the Page Road residence later the

same day and seized numerous chemicals related to

methamphetamine manufacture from the basement, including 671

grams of sodium hypophosphite. On November 9, 2004, a grand

jury indicted Price on seven counts relating to the manufacture and

possession of methamphetamine. On May 4, 2006, after a hearing

on Price’s motion to suppress the fruits of the search, the District

Court granted the motion in part and denied it in part. On June 16, 4

2006, Price entered a conditional plea of guilty to Count One of the

indictment, reserving the right to appeal the denied portion of his

suppression motion to this Court.

The Presentence Report calculated Price’s Base Offense

Level at 28. After a two-level downward adjustment for

acceptance of responsibility, Price’s Total Offense Level was 26.

This offense level, combined with a criminal history category of V,

produced a Guidelines range of 110-137 months. On October 10,

2006, the District Court sentenced Price to 115 months of

imprisonment. This appeal followed.

II.

The District Court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §

3231. Because Price is appealing from a final judgment of

conviction and from the District Court’s suppression decision, on

which there is nothing further to be done, we have jurisdiction

pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. See Flanagan v. United States, 465

U.S. 259, 263 (1984); Catlin v. United States, 324 U.S. 229, 233

(1945). 
The “initial” consent for purposes of our discussion refers 5

to Fischer’s consent to search the living area of the Page Road

residence – including the bedroom – as opposed to the basement.

9

Price preserved his suppression argument, and so we review

the District Court’s factual determinations for clear error and

exercise plenary review over the application of the law to those

facts. See United States v. Williams, 417 F.3d 373, 376 (3d Cir.

2005). “A finding is clearly erroneous when although there is

evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence

is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been

committed.” United States v. Pelullo, 173 F.3d 131, 135 (3d Cir.

1999) (quoting United States v. United States Gypsum Co., 333

U.S. 364, 395 (1948)). Accordingly, “[i]f the district court’s

account of the evidence is plausible in light of the record viewed in

its entirety,” we will not reverse it even if, as the trier of fact, we

would have weighed the evidence differently. Anderson v. City of

Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 573-74 (1985).

We review de novo the legal question of whether Price

waived his right to appeal the calculation of his Guidelines range.

See United States v. Khattak, 273 F.3d 557, 560 (3d Cir. 2001).

III.

Price argues that the Government’s actions in obtaining

evidence at his Page Road residence violated his Fourth

Amendment rights and that the District Court should have granted

his motion to suppress that evidence. First, Price contends that the

initial consent to search his house was not voluntary and, 5

therefore, the evidence discovered in his bedroom (two glass pipes

with suspected methamphetamine residue and a baggie containing

sodium hypophosphite) should have been suppressed. Second,

Price contends that evidence seized from the basement of his house

pursuant to the warrant should be suppressed because the warrant

application did not establish probable cause when the allegedly

tainted evidence from his bedroom and the prior warrantless search

of the basement is excised from the warrant application.

A. 

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution provides: “The
 Fourth Amendment tests nearly always involve 6

examination of the totality of the circumstances, because the

Amendment “recognizes that no single set of legal rules can

capture the ever changing complexity of human life.” Georgia v.

Randolph, 547 U.S. 103, 125 (2006) (Breyer, J., concurring).

10

right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and

effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be

violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause . .

. .” “The touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness.”

Florida v. Jimeno, 500 U.S. 248, 250 (1991). Therefore, the Fourth

Amendment does not prohibit all searches – only those that are

unreasonable. See Illinois v. Rodriguez, 497 U.S. 177, 183 (1990).

The general rule is that the warrantless entry into a person’s house

is unreasonable per se. See Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573,

586 (1980). This rule, however, is subject to several “jealously and

carefully drawn” exceptions. Jones v. United States, 357 U.S. 493,

499 (1958). 

“It is . . . well settled that one of the specifically established

exceptions to the requirements of both a warrant and probable

cause is a search that is conducted pursuant to consent.”

Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 219 (1973). The

Supreme Court has “long approved consensual searches because it

is no doubt reasonable for the police to conduct a search once they

have been permitted to do so.” Jimeno, 500 U.S. at 250-51. To

justify a search based on consent, the Government “has the burden

of proving that the consent was, in fact, freely and voluntarily

given.” Bumper v. North Carolina, 391 U.S. 543, 548 (1968). This

burden “is not satisfied by showing a mere submission to a claim

of lawful authority.” Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 497 (1983).

There is “no talismanic definition of ‘voluntariness,’

mechanically applicable to the host of situations where the question

has arisen.” Schneckloth, 412 U.S. at 224. Instead, we determine

the voluntariness of a consent by examining the totality of the

circumstances. See id. at 227. Both “the characteristics of the

accused and the details of the interrogation” are useful to determine

whether, under all the circumstances, a consent to search was

voluntary, and no case should “turn[] on the presence or absence of

a single controlling criterion.” Id. at 226. 

6
 The District Court’s determination of voluntariness is a 7

finding of fact. See Schneckloth, 412 U.S. at 227. As such, we

review for clear error.

 Price does not argue that Fischer was without authority to 8

give the initial consent. 

11

Factors to consider include: the age, education, and

intelligence of the subject; whether the subject was advised of his

or her constitutional rights; the length of the encounter; the

repetition or duration of the questioning; and the use of physical

punishment. See id.; see also United States v. Kim, 27 F.3d 947,

955 (3d Cir. 1994). We have further identified as relevant “the

setting in which the consent was obtained [and] the parties’ verbal

and non-verbal actions.” United States v. Givan, 320 F.3d 452,

459 (3d Cir. 2003). 

The District Court found Fischer’s initial consent

voluntary. The Court noted that Fischer was an adult, apparently 7

of average intelligence, who had previous experience with the

criminal justice system. Moreover, “the atmosphere surrounding

the encounter was not hostile,” since the officers drove her to the

Page Road residence after her car ran out of gas, the officers did

not have their guns drawn when they asked for Fischer’s consent,

Fischer was not verbally or physically threatened, and only two

officers, Schirra and Wilson, discussed Fischer’s initial consent

with her in the driveway.

Price attacks the validity of the initial consent on two

grounds. First, he alleges that because Fischer was not informed 8

of her right to refuse consent, her consent was involuntary.

Specifically, he argues that if the officers had shown Fischer a

consent form and asked her to sign it, “she would have been

advised of her rights concerning consent and would likely not have

signed prior to the search, just as she had refused to sign the form

when it was presented to her after the search was over.” Price

Reply Br. at 1. Second, Price contends that the officers lied to

Fischer when they told her that they wanted to search to protect her

safety and that of her children; rather, the officers’ true intention

was to look for evidence of a methamphetamine lab. This alleged

deception, according to Price, supports a finding of
 Price also notes that after he was arrested, the Government 9

did not ask him for consent to search his home. Instead of

obtaining a search warrant for the Page Road residence, the officers

went to the house, and when Fischer eventually arrived, they told

her that Price had been arrested and that they wanted her consent

to search only to make sure that the house was safe for her and her

children. But, critically, this is irrelevant to the voluntariness of

Fischer’s consent, and so will not be considered. 

12

involuntariness. 

9

We hold that the District Court’s determination of

voluntariness was not clearly erroneous in light of the totality of

the circumstances. First, Schneckloth contradicts Price’s

contention that the lack of a consent form, without more, means

that Fischer consented involuntarily. The Schneckloth Court held

that “[w]hile knowledge of the right to refuse consent is one factor

to be taken into account, the [G]overnment need not establish such

knowledge as the sine qua non of an effective consent.”

Schneckloth, 412 U.S. at 227. The Court explicitly considered –

and rejected – the possibility of mandating Miranda-like warnings

for all consensual searches. See id. at 231 (concluding that it

would “be thoroughly impractical to impose on the normal consent

search the detailed requirements of an effective warning”). 

Our leading case on the voluntariness of consent supports

this conclusion and provides an instructive comparison for our

case. In Kim, 27 F.3d 947, a 39-year-old male was traveling from

Los Angeles to Chicago on an Amtrak train. Two DEA agents

knocked on Kim’s sleeper car, looked at Kim’s ticket, and then

stated that they were with the DEA and that the DEA had problems

with people smuggling drugs on similar trains. Without telling him

that he could refuse, one agent asked if Kim would consent to have

his luggage searched, to which Kim “readily replied ‘Sure’.” Id. at

950. The agents arrested Kim after they found drugs in his

luggage. 

We held that the consent was voluntary, observing that

Schneckloth held clearly that the Government is not “required to

advise the defendant of his right to refuse consent before eliciting

his consent.” Id. at 955. We found it important that Kim replied

to the agents’ request “readily” and that Kim was cooperative
As the District Court observed, however, “[a]lthough 10

[Fischer] was not advised of her right to refuse consent . . . her

subsequent revocation of consent indicates her awareness of that

right.” App. 5. 

13

during the entire interaction: “Kim’s demeanor was no doubt a

strong indication of voluntariness. . . . Moreover, the whole

encounter was short, lasting only several minutes,” and only one

officer was visible to Kim. Id. “There was no repeated and

prolonged questioning. Nor did [the agent] ask Kim direct, probing,

or incriminating questions.” Id. We concluded that “particularly

in the face of strong evidence of voluntariness,” it was not

significant that the agents did not advise Kim of his right to refuse

consent. Id. 

The instant case is analogous to Kim. Even more than in

Kim, the circumstances of the encounter were low-key. Fischer

was asked for consent as she stood on her own property. Most

officers on the scene were deliberately kept away so as not to

overwhelm her. The officers who were there did not have their

guns drawn. No one threatened, coerced, or promised anything to

Fischer. At no point was she arrested, handcuffed, or even

touched. Schirra and Wilson both testified that Fischer granted the

initial consent to search the house without any reluctance or

hesitation whatsoever. There was no prolonged questioning, and

the officers did not ask any incriminating questions before seeking

consent to search. Moreover, as the District Court set forth,

Fischer’s age, intelligence, and education were at least average, and

she had previous experience with the criminal justice system. In

sum, every factor, save one (that she was not advised of her right

to refuse consent), favors a finding of voluntary consent. Under 10

these circumstances, Fischer’s consent was voluntary, and this is

true notwithstanding that Fischer was not advised of her right to

refuse consent.

Next, as the District Court found, Price’s suggestion that the

officers’ only concern was to uncover a methamphetamine lab at

the Page Road residence is belied by the record. No doubt, the

police certainly were looking for a methamphetamine lab. But the

agents – indisputably – also wanted to make sure that Fischer and

the two children were not placed in danger by the chemicals

associated with any such operation. Even after the agents had
14

completed their work at the house, and even after Fischer had

refused to sign the consent form, Schirra “advised her that she had

to get her kids out, she would have to leave because it was a very

potential hazard [sic] for the kids because there was [sic] chemicals

in there. They posed an explosive hazard, plus the chemicals

smell.” App. 120. Schirra also advised Fischer to seek a medical

examination for her and for her children. We agree with the

District Court that the agents had two motives for seeking consent

– to find the methamphetamine lab they thought might be there,

and also to safeguard the well-being of Fischer and her children.

The officers’ statement of reasons for desiring the search does not

alter our conclusion that Fischer’s consent was voluntary under the

totality of the circumstances.

Accordingly, the District Court did not err in refusing to

suppress the evidence -- two glass pipes with suspected

methamphetamine residue and a baggie containing sodium

hypophosphite -- obtained in Price’s bedroom following the initial

consent.

B.

Price also argues that the evidence obtained pursuant to the

search warrant should have been suppressed. He claims that if the

warrant application is stripped of evidence obtained in: (1) his

bedroom pursuant to the initial consent (we considered and rejected

this challenge supra, section III(A)), and (2) the basement pursuant

to the warrantless search, then “what remains does not amount to

probable cause to support a search.” Price Br. at 29. 

The parties dispute vigorously three issues related to the

warrantless search of the basement: First, did Fischer withdraw the

initial consent to search that she had provided to Schirra and

Wilson in the driveway, and if so, what was the extent of the

revocation? Second, even if Fischer revoked her consent to search

the house, and even if that revocation applied to the basement as

well, did Fischer later consent voluntarily to a search of the

basement? Third, even if Fischer voluntarily consented to the

basement search, did she have the authority to consent to such a

search? 
15

These are all difficult issues, but we need not resolve any of

them. Rather, we hold that the search warrant application

contained probable cause from independent sources even after

excising all the evidence found in the basement. Thus, even

assuming Fischer did not consent to the basement search, or did not

have authority to consent, the “independent source” rule applies

here and vitiates any taint from the initial, assumed illegal, entry.

The independent source doctrine serves as an exception to

the exclusionary rule and permits the introduction of “evidence

initially discovered during, or as a consequence of, an unlawful

search, but later obtained independently from activities untainted

by the initial illegality.” Murray v. United States, 487 U.S. 533,

537 (1988); see United States v. Perez, 280 F.3d 318, 336 (3d Cir.

2002); United States v. Herrold, 962 F.2d 1131, 1140 (3d Cir.

1992). 

In Murray, law enforcement agents improperly forced entry

into a warehouse and observed burlap-wrapped bales, later found

to contain marijuana, in plain view. The agents left the warehouse

without disturbing the bales, and did not reenter until they had

obtained a search warrant for the warehouse. In applying for the

warrant, the agents did not mention the prior entry and did not rely

on any observations made during that entry. A magistrate issued

a warrant and the agents then conducted a second search of the

warehouse and seized the burlap bales containing the marijuana. 

The Court observed that the proper remedy for police error

or misconduct relating to evidence is to “put[] the police in the

same, not a worse, position that they would have been in if no

police error or misconduct had occurred.” 487 U.S. at 537

(emphasis in original) (quotation marks omitted). Accordingly,

“[w]hen the challenged evidence has an independent source,

exclusion of such evidence would put the police in a worse position

than they would have been in absent any error or violation.” Id.

(quotation marks omitted). 

The doctrine has both “general” and “specific” aspects. The

former “identifies all evidence acquired in a fashion untainted by

the illegal evidence-gathering activity. Thus, where an unlawful

entry has given investigators knowledge of facts x and y, but fact

z has been learned by other means, fact z can be said to be
16

admissible because derived from an ‘independent source.’” Id. at

537-38. In other words, “the evidence found for the first time

during the execution of the valid and untainted search warrant was

admissible because it was discovered pursuant to an ‘independent

source.’” Id. at 538. By contrast, in the specific sense, if “officers

[] unlawfully enter an area protected by the Fourth Amendment and

learn of facts x and y but then later learn of facts x and y

independently and lawfully, [they] can have admitted into evidence

their knowledge concerning facts x and y.” Herrold, 962 F.2d at

1140. 

In Herrold, a confidential informant met with the defendant

to arrange a cocaine purchase. The informant completed the

transaction, and then told the police officers who had been

surveying the deal that Herrold was planning to go out to a bar

later, that he had been smoking crack and acting “squirrely,” and

that Herrold had a gun. 962 F.2d at 1134. The officers also knew

that Herrold was likely to take more cocaine to the bar and sell it

there. Therefore, they decided to arrest Herrold in his trailer

without a warrant. While arresting Herrold, they saw a loaded

weapon and drug paraphernalia and cocaine in plain view. After

securing Herrold, the officers left to get a warrant. 

We began our analysis of the applicability of the

independent source doctrine in Herrold by recognizing that “we

must determine if, without regard to information obtained during

the original entry, the police would have applied for the search

warrant and we must also determine if there was probable cause for

the warrant to be issued.” Id. Considering the first question, we

reversed the District Court’s holding that it was merely

“speculative” whether the police would have sought a warrant to

search the trailer absent the original entry. Id. at 1141. We held

that it was “inconceivable that the police would have left the

premises without searching the trailer and without arresting

Herrold,” based upon all that the officers knew even without the

initial entry. Id. at 1140. Considering the second question, we held

that “it is obvious that the affidavit for the warrant contains

sufficient probable cause apart from information the officers

learned via the original entry.” Id. at 1141. 

Price contends that if, indeed, the police would have applied

for a warrant even without the allegedly tainted material, they
17

should have applied for a warrant before conducting their search.

But the question is not what the police should have done. Instead,

the issue is whether the police would have applied for a warrant

without the material tainted by a warrantless search. 

The answer is yes. Indeed, the facts of this case closely

track the facts in Herrold. As in Herrold, it seems impossible that

the police would not have applied for a warrant to search the

basement of the house, knowing that: 1) confidential informants

told the police that Price was operating a methamphetamine

laboratory in the basement of the Page Road residence; 2) Price had

sold Schirra methamphetamine in the past; 3) when arrested, Price

had pH papers and baggies containing methamphetamine residue;

and 4) Price’s bedroom contained glass pipes with

methamphetamine residue and a baggie of sodium hypophosphite.

The second question is whether the warrant application

contained probable cause without the information gleaned from the

basement. The District Court determined that even “assuming that

the contraband found in the basement area should not have been

included in the affidavit in support of the search warrant, . . . the

warrant was independently supportable by other information

contained therein.” App. 17. “Thus, even if all references to the

contraband found in the basement area were excised from the

affidavit,” the District Court held that “the affidavit would still

support a broad search of the premises for the evidence outlined in

the warrant.” App. 18. We agree with the holding of the District

Court.

Probable cause exists if, under “the totality-of-thecircumstances . . . the issuing magistrate [makes the] practical,

common-sense decision [that], given all the circumstances set forth

in the affidavit before him . . . there is a fair probability that

contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular

place.” Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238 (1983). Direct

evidence of a crime is not necessary in all cases: “While ideally

every affidavit would contain direct evidence linking the place to

be searched to the crime, it is well established that direct evidence

is not required for the issuance of a search warrant.” United States

v. Jones, 994 F.2d 1051, 1056 (3d Cir. 1993). Rather, “probable

cause can be, and often is, inferred by considering the type of

crime, the nature of the items sought, the suspect’s opportunity for
The warrant application did not mention the baggie of 11

sodium hypophosphite obtained in Price’s bedroom. 

18

concealment and normal inferences about where a criminal might

hide stolen property.” Id. (quotation marks omitted).

Without any reference to the evidence obtained pursuant to

the warrantless basement search, the warrant application would still

include at least three key pieces of information about Price’s

activities: 1) that Price sold Schirra 1/4 gram of methamphetamine

on April 5, 2002; 2) that Schirra arrested Price on October 5, 2004,

and that when searched, Price possessed “items indicative of

methamphetamine trafficking, including plastic baggies with

methamphetamine residue and pH papers used to gauge the acidity

of the methamphetamine production process”; and 3) that after

searching Price’s bedroom, Schirra found two glass pipes that were

consistent with the ingestion of methamphetamine. See generally

App. 217 (Government noting to the District Court the illegality of

possessing drug paraphernalia in Pennsylvania, and representing

that possession of glass pipes alone would support a search of

Price’s premises). The warrant application also explains that 11

people who are involved in methamphetamine distribution often

have, in their homes, drugs, large quantities of money, and

evidence of financial transactions, as well as documentation

concerning illegal narcotics, such as “recipes” for making

methamphetamine and other substances. 

Based on the evidence set forth above, as well as the warrant

application’s statements regarding the characteristics of those who

are involved in methamphetamine production, it is clear that there

was probable cause for the warrant to be issued without any

reference to the evidence found in the basement of the Page Road

residence during the warrantless search. Accordingly, we will

affirm the District Court’s refusal to suppress the evidence

discovered in the basement pursuant to the search warrant. 

IV.

Price’s second claim is that the Government abused its

discretion by refusing to request a third-point reduction of his base

offense level for acceptance of responsibility pursuant to U.S.S.G.
19

§ 3E1.1(b). We disagree because Price waived his right to appeal

this issue. Accordingly, we reject Price’s claim. 

Price signed a plea agreement on June 16, 2006 that set forth

the “full and complete agreement” between the parties. App. 262.

Price agreed to plead guilty to Count One of the indictment, and to

accept responsibility for Counts Two through Seven. In Paragraph

5, Price also agreed to a comprehensive waiver of appeal, subject

to only three exceptions. See App. 263. The three exceptions

were: 1) if the Government appealed; 2) if the sentence exceeded

the statutory limits or “unreasonably” exceeded the guideline

range; and 3) the conditional appeal dealt with in section III, supra,

that is “whether his motion to suppress the evidence seized from

his residence was properly denied.” Id. These were the only three

exceptions, and the agreement explicitly stated that “[t]he

foregoing reservations of the right to appeal on the basis of

specified issues do not include the right to raise issues other than

those specified.” App. 264 (emphasis added). 

The Government, in exchange for this guilty plea, agreed to

recommend that “the Court reduce the offense level by 2 levels for

acceptance of responsibility” pursuant to § 3E1.1. Id. Nowhere

was mentioned a third-point reduction pursuant to § 3E1.1(b).

Finally, the plea agreement reiterated that “[t]his letter sets forth

the full and complete terms and conditions of the agreement

between JOHN JOSEPH PRICE, JR. and the [Government], and

there are no other agreements, promises, terms or conditions,

express or implied.” App. 266. 

We have held that “[w]aivers of appeals, if entered into

knowingly and voluntarily, are valid, unless they work a

miscarriage of justice.” Khattak, 273 F.3d at 563. Here, the

written waiver is undoubtedly comprehensive as applied to a

challenge brought under § 3E1.1(b) of the Guidelines, because it

precludes any appeal from Price’s “conviction or sentence under 28

U.S.C. § 1291 or 18 U.S.C. § 3742.” App. 263. Indeed, the

language here tracks closely that of the waiver of appeal enforced

in United States v. Gwinnett, 483 F.3d 200, 204 (3d Cir. 2007)

(upholding written waiver in plea agreement as “comprehensive”

which stated that the Government and defendant “waive certain

rights to file an appeal, collateral attack, and writ or motion after
 We note that the procedure employed by the court in this 12

case is nearly identical to the procedure employed by the district

court in Gwinnett. See 483 F.3d at 204 (“[T]he District Court

asked Gwinnett whether she read the plea agreement, discussed it

with her attorney, asked her attorney questions about the

agreement, and came to understand the agreement before signing

it. Gwinnett answered in the affirmative to each question. . . . In

addition, the District Court confirmed that Gwinnett had signed the

plea agreement.”).

20

sentencing, including but not limited to an appeal under 18 U.S.C.

§ 3742”).

Therefore, “[w]e next look to the colloquy between the

sentencing judge and [Price] during the [sentencing] hearing,”

Gwinnett, 483 F.3d at 204, because to “determin[e] whether a

waiver of appeal is ‘knowing and voluntary,’ the role of the

sentencing judge is critical,” Khattak, 273 F.3d at 563. First, at the

sentencing hearing, the Government presented the terms of the plea

agreement in open court, noting that under the agreement Price

“also agrees to waive his right to file any appeals subject to the

limitations in the plea agreement,” and noting specifically that the

“one issue” Price was capable of appealing was the suppression

issue. App. 251-52. The Government also stated that “[i]n

exchange, . . . the [G]overnment agrees to recommend a two-point

reduction in [offense] level for his timely acceptance of

responsibility.” App. 252. Price’s attorney then noted that “the

appeal waiver also allows Mr. Price’s ability to appeal if the

Government appeals the sentence if the sentence is at maximum,

and also allows him to appeal unreasonable guidelines to be

determined by the Court.” Id. 

The District Court asked Price whether he had read and

reviewed the agreement and whether he agreed to its terms and

conditions. Price answered “yes” to each question. The Court then

had Price sign the agreement in open court, and Price certified that

he understood that by virtue of signing the agreement, he was

“attesting by [his] signature that [he] agreed with all the terms and

conditions.” App. 254.12

We hold that the appellate waiver in this case was entered

into knowingly and voluntarily and that enforcement of the waiver
21

will not result in a miscarriage of justice. Accordingly, we will

enforce the waiver of appeal, and Price cannot succeed on his §

3E1.1(b) claim.

V.

For the reasons set forth above, we will affirm the District

Court’s suppression decision and its sentencing calculation.