Case Name: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William David HESELIUS, Defendant-Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2016-12-08
Citations: 671 F. App'x 518
Docket Number: No. 15-30304
Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William David HESELIUS, Defendant-Appellant.
Judges: Before: McKEOWN, TALLMAN, and ■ CHRISTEN, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 671
Pages: 518–519

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William David HESELIUS, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 15-30304
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Submitted December 6, 2016 Seattle, Washington
Filed December 08, 2016
Leif Johnson, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Office of the US Attorney, Billings, MT, Paulette Lynn Stewart, Assistant U.S. Attorney, USHE—Office of the US Attorney, Helena, MT, for Plaintiff-Appellee
Craig Shannon, Attorney, Shannon Law Office, Missoula, MT, for Defendant-Appellant
Before: McKEOWN, TALLMAN, and ■ CHRISTEN, Circuit Judges.
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).

Opinion:
MEMORANDUM
William Heselius appeals his conviction following his conditional guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Prior to his plea, Heselius moved to suppress all evidence obtained in the March 25, 2014, search of his .residence pursuant to a search warrant. Heselius claimed that the warrant was invalid because it was dependent on information gathered during an unconstitutional traffic stop. The - district court referred the motion to a United States magistrate judge. The magistrate found the stop unconstitutional, but excised the tainted information from the stop and found the remaining affidavit sufficient to justify issuance of the warrant. The district court adopted the Findings and Recommendations of the United States Magistrate Judge in full and denied Hesel-ius's motion. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we vacate and remand.
As the government correctly concedes, a remand is necessary under Murray v. United States, 487 U.S. 533, 108 S.Ct. 2529, 101 L.Ed.2d 472 (1988). Murray requires the district court to determine whether Detective Finnicum's "decision to seek the warrant was prompted by what [Deputy Sheriff Pandis] had seen during the [traffic stop], or if information obtained during [the stop] was presented to the Magistrate and affected his decision to issue the warrant." 487 U.S. at 542, 108 S.Ct. 2529 (footnote omitted) (citation omitted). While Heselius does not challenge Murray's second prong here, the district court failed to make any factual findings with respect to whether the unconstitutional traffic stop prompted the decision to seek a warrant. And without such a finding, the district court could not determine whether the "warranted search was genuinely derived from a source independent of the unlawful [traffic stop]." United States v. Holzman, 871 F.2d 1496, 1513 (9th Cir. 1989), abrogated on other grounds by Horton v. California, 496 U.S. 128, 110 S.Ct. 2301, 110 L.Ed.2d 112 (1990).
VACATED AND REMANDED.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.