Opinion ID: 2996793
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Forcible Entry

Text: Gillaum first argues that the task force failed to wait a reasonable period of time after announcing its presence and forcibly entering his apartment. According to Gillaum, the sound of footsteps for a limited period of time (three to five seconds) was insufficient to justify a forcible entry. The district court, adopting the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, found that the sound of footsteps moving laterally obviated the need to wait a reasonable period of time after a knock and announce. We review the district court’s factual findings for clear error in deciding a motion to suppress. United States v. Jones, 208 F.3d 603, 606 (7th Cir. 2000). In doing so, “we must keep in mind that ‘our inquiry is factually based and requires that we give particular deference to the district court that had the opportunity to hear the testimony and observe the demeanor of the witness.’ ” Id. (quoting United States v. Williams, 945 F.2d 192, 195 (7th Cir. 1991)). This deference is equally applicable where credibility determinations have been made by a magistrate judge and the report and recommendation of the magistrate judge have been adopted by the district court. Legal determinations (including whether facts constitute exigent circumstances) of the district court justifying its decision to deny a motion to suppress are subject to de novo review. Id. (citing United State v. Adames, 56 F.3d 737, 747 (7th Cir. 1995)); United States v. Howard, 961 F.2d 1265, 1267 (7th Cir. 1992). No. 02-4015 9 “[T]he method of [a law enforcement] officer’s entry into a dwelling [is] among the factors to be considered in assessing the reasonableness of a search or seizure.” Wilson v. Arkansas, 514 U.S. 927, 934 (1995); United States v. Espinoza, 256 F.3d 718, 723 (7th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 534 U.S. 1105 (2002). Absent exigent circumstances, law enforcement officers must knock on the entry door of a dwelling and “announce their identity and intention before attempting forcible entry.” Id. (citing Wilson, 515 U.S. at 934). This court has recognized that “a necessary corollary of the knock and announce requirement is that officers must wait a reasonable amount of time after announcing their intention to serve a search warrant before attempting a forcible entry.” Id. (citing Jones, 208 F.3d at 609-10). In this case, however, the appropriate inquiry is not whether Anderson waited a reasonable time before ordering the forcible entry into the apartment. Rather, the question is whether the sound of footsteps moving laterally in relation to the entry door was sufficient to excuse the task force from 3 waiting a reasonable period of time. In other words, did exigent circumstances exist that justified disregarding the knock and announce requirement? This court has held that “[e]xigent circumstances exist . . . when a suspect’s awareness of the search would increase the danger to police officers or others, or when an officer must 3 This case is not, therefore, governed by the recent decision of the Supreme Court in United States v. Banks, 540 U.S. ___ (2003). In that case, the Supreme Court held that 15-20 seconds was a sufficient period of time for the police to wait when executing a knock-and-announce warrant without hearing any noise or movement before forcibly entering the apartment of a suspected drug dealer. In this case there was an intervening act—the sound of footsteps inside the apartment not moving towards the door. 10 No. 02-4015 act quickly to prevent the destruction of evidence.” Howard, 961 F.2d at 1267 (quoting United States v. Singer, 943 F.2d 758, 762 (7th Cir. 1991)). Whether such exigent circumstances exist “must be viewed ‘from the totality of circumstances known to the officers at the time [of the forcible entry].’ ” Id. (quoting United States v. Lindsey, 877 F.2d 777, 781 (9th Cir. 1989)). On the basis of the record before us, we cannot conclude that the factual findings of the district court were in error. The magistrate judge found Anderson to be a credible wit- ness and concluded that Anderson honestly believed that he was hearing lateral movement. Moreover, we conclude that exigent circumstances existed that justified Anderson’s order. Taking into consideration only those facts known to Anderson at the time he ordered the forcible entry, the sound of footsteps coming from inside the apartment and not moving closer to the entry door was sufficient for Anderson to order the forcible entry and disregard the knock and announce requirement. The search warrant was for drugs, specifically cocaine. Of course, drugs, particularly cocaine, are the quintessential form of evidence that may be easily destroyed. Anderson testified that he was familiar with the layout of the apartment and knew that the bathroom, the likely scene of any attempt at destroying evidence, was located to one side of the entry door. Given this, the movement in the apartment, from one side of the apartment to the other, could have indicated an attempt to destroy evidence. The fact that Anderson’s fears were not realized, that the footsteps were those of a 13-year-old girl, is immaterial. Anderson could not have known who was moving in the apartment. Given the layout of the apartment and the evidence that was the subject of the warrant, Anderson was justified in believing No. 02-4015 11 that someone might be attempting to destroy evidence. He was, therefore, justified in ordering the forcible entry into the apartment. Moreover, even if we determined that the forcible entry of the task force into Gillaum’s apartment violated Gillaum’s rights under the Fourth Amendment, he would not be entitled to suppression of the handgun. This court has held that suppression is not the proper remedy for a violation of the knock and announce rule. See United States v. Langford, 314 F.3d 892, 894 (7th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___ , 2003 WL 21696159 (2003).