Opinion ID: 412072
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Delay before Arrests

Text: 9 The defendants contend that because the law enforcement agents first observed Nisbet at about noon on July 27, 1981, but waited until 5:30 p.m. to make the arrests in Nisbet's motel room, the sweep of that room was improper. They argue that the one hour or longer surveillance of Nisbet at poolside was time enough to establish Nisbet's identity and make an arrest. Further, they suggest that the four-hour delay after Nisbet had secluded himself in his motel room did not assist in identification and was merely a pretext to gain entrance to the room where the agents hoped to find incriminating evidence. Despite its crystal clarity, however, we decline to exercise hindsight to fault the investigators' decision to delay arresting Nisbet simply because the subsequent maneuvering did not significantly aid in identifying the suspect. 2 Only the first hour or so delay before Nisbet left the swimming pool area and went to his room is questionable. After that the defendants cannot complain, because they were in room 150 the entire ensuing four hours. 10 In United States v. James, 378 F.2d 88 (6th Cir.1967), heavily relied upon by the defendants, the Sixth Circuit reversed a conviction and remanded with instructions to suppress evidence obtained in an apartment search. There the issue of purposeful police delay arose because the agents had obtained an arrest warrant one or two days before the arrest, but had never secured a search warrant although they fully intended to search the apartment. During that search they found narcotics in a vacuum cleaner in a bedroom closet. That case differs substantially from our defendants' complaint that Agent McGivney should have completed a positive identification check on Nisbet and arrested him at poolside within the short time before he went to his room. The other cases cited by the defendants, Harris v. United States, 321 F.2d 739 (6th Cir.1963); United States v. Weaver, 384 F.2d 879 (4th Cir.1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 983, 88 S.Ct. 1106, 19 L.Ed.2d 1282 (1968); and Williams v. United States, 418 F.2d 159 (9th Cir.1969), aff'd, 401 U.S. 646, 91 S.Ct. 1148, 28 L.Ed.2d 388 (1971), among others, also do not persuade us that the delay here was wrongful. 3 11 A delay of sixty to ninety minutes to insure against falsely identifying a person, who was seen through a window twenty-five feet away and compared to a two-year-old photograph, cannot constitute the type of delay which violates constitutional rights. 4