Opinion ID: 419603
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Evidence Obtained after January 9, 1980

Text: 17 The district court also ordered suppression of all of the evidence obtained by government agents after the illegal search, consisting primarily of documents obtained during interviews with dealers. The government argues that these were obtained independently of the search and, even if not, could have been so acquired. The government further claims that even if the district court were correct in suppressing some of the evidence obtained after January 9, 1980, it erred in ordering a blanket suppression of all such evidence. We first consider the former contention and then discuss the sweep of the district court's order. 18 The question whether evidence obtained after an illegal search should be suppressed as the fruit of the poisonous tree depends upon  'whether, granting establishment of the primary illegality, the evidence to which ... objection is made has been come at by exploitation of that illegality or instead by means sufficiently distinguishable to be purged of the primary taint.'  Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 488, 83 S.Ct. 407, 417, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 quoting Maguire, Evidence of Guilt 221 (1959). Such an analysis depends primarily upon weighing the facts in the particular case, LaFave at Sec. 11.4, and is thus a matter especially suitable for resolution by the district court. 19 Here there was record support for a finding that the government impermissibly exploited the illegally seized material in gathering some of the additional evidence. Postal Inspector Kinney testified that he relied upon information obtained from the seized documents in guiding his investigation. He stated that he and Houle may have relied upon the seized documents in deciding whom to interview and what to ask, and that the documents were taken to the interviews. Both Houle and Kinney testified that the seized documents became comingled with the other evidence in the files and were not treated separately during the course of the later investigation. Moreover, Houle stated that it took him four months to review the materials taken from Rocca's house, suggesting that they provided a wealth of information to the government. Given this, there was sufficient basis for the district court to have concluded that some of the evidence acquired after January 9, 1980 was tainted fruit of the poisonous tree. 20 We do not agree with the government that United States v. Ceccolini, 435 U.S. 268, 98 S.Ct. 1054, 55 L.Ed.2d 268 (1978), precludes suppression of documentary evidence later acquired from the dealer interviews. Stressing our adversary system's preference for live testimony, the Court in Ceccolini declined to treat a witness's voluntary testimony as derivative of an illegal search or seizure. 435 U.S. at 277, 98 S.Ct. at 1060. But the question here is not rejection of live testimony but rather suppression of documents obtained from third parties. While the intervening role of third parties should be considered in determining whether documentary evidence was discovered independently of an illegal search or seizure, id. at 288, 98 S.Ct. at 1066, it is but one of the factors to be weighed. See United States v. Carsello, 578 F.2d 199, 203 n. 3 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 979, 99 S.Ct. 565, 58 L.Ed.2d 650 (1978). 21 Here the district court could have found that this factor was outweighed by other considerations. Absent the illegal search, the investigators might not have known the identity of all of the third parties nor what to ask them. Compare 435 U.S. at 279, 98 S.Ct. at 1061. There was some indication, moreover, that the government anticipated that the illegal search would help lead it to the other dealers and documents. Compare 435 U.S. at 280, 98 S.Ct. at 1062. Finally, there is no indication the third parties would have come forward on their own had the investigators not sought them out. 22 Nor can we say the district court erred in not giving effect to the inevitable discovery exception to the exclusionary rule. Prior to the search the government lacked sufficient knowledge about Auto Alley to obtain a valid search warrant. And although much of the information the government obtained after the search was theoretically available in the computers of state motor vehicle departments, Kinney testified that the very problem in the investigation was that many of the titles being searched were mysteriously absent from state data banks. Therefore, the district court could properly have distinguished this case from United States v. Bienvenue, 632 F.2d 910 (1st Cir.1980), where we found the government would inevitably have discovered the fact that the defendant had taken trips to Colombia even if there had been no illegal search. In Bienvenue the government knew prior to the search that the defendant had booked flights with a Manchester travel agent. It could easily have located the agent and uncovered the evidence. Here the government was looking for information on hundreds of cars, registered in numerous states, each of which passed through several hands. Given the enormous difficulty and expense of uncovering all of this information, plus Kinney's statement that some of the information was found to be missing from state computers, the district court could have found that discovery of some of the documents was far from inevitable. 23 We are troubled, however, by the broad sweep of the district court's order. The record contains uncontradicted testimony that many of the documents obtained after the improper search at Rocca's house were merely originals of documents in the government's possession prior to the search. These could not have been the product of the primary illegality. Wong Sun, 371 U.S. at 488, 83 S.Ct. at 417. And there may be other documents as to which the January 9, 1980 search and seizure could have played no part. The district court did not refer to this problem when ruling on the suppression motion. We recognize that it was the government's fault that the untainted documents were comingled with the tainted ones. The court may have seen no practical way to separate the two categories of material. Certainly it was the government's burden to show what particular documents obtained after January 9 were free from the general taint. See McCormick on Evidence Sec. 337 (1972). The defendant's initial burden of presenting specific evidence of taint, United States v. Alderman, 394 U.S. 165, 89 S.Ct. 961, 22 L.Ed.2d 176 (1969), did not require her to make refined distinctions as to every individual document in the group of records held by the government, nor was the court required to go to inordinate lengths to dig the government out of a hole of its own making. But see United States v. Choate, 576 F.2d 165 (9th Cir.) (Hufstedler, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 953, 99 S.Ct. 350, 58 L.Ed.2d 344 (1978). Defendant having presented evidence that a substantial portion of the records in a group of records were acquired unlawfully, 394 U.S. at 183, 89 S.Ct. at 972, the district court could insist that the government come forward with clear proof of any untainted records. 24 Arguably the government has failed to meet its burden, thus justifying a blanket suppression order. But there is no reference to this issue in the court's order, and it is not clear that its failure to separate the innocently obtained documents from others was due to the government's lack of specific guidance concerning which were which. As it seems clear some of the documents were innocently obtained, we remand with directions that the court reopen the suppression proceeding on this single issue, and allow the government to demonstrate, if it can, which documents are clearly separable from those affected by the general taint. If the government, now that its attention is properly focused, cannot clarify matters to the court's satisfaction, the court may reissue its blanket order as to all documents whose untainted character has not been demonstrated. We add that the reopened hearing is not to cover documents of the type we have already agreed may be suppressed, but should be limited simply to salvaging from the suppression order any documents which are clearly not attributable to the illegal search. 25