Opinion ID: 407601
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Search of the Seadrift Residence.

Text: 5
6 Boese argues that the affidavit accompanying the application for the first warrant did not state sufficient facts to justify a search of the Seadrift premises. The affidavit was made by DEA Agent Michael J. Fiorentino. A summary of it follows: 7 On April 24, 1980, United States Customs Inspectors discovered that a shipment which had arrived at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport contained approximately twenty-eight pounds of cocaine. The cocaine was concealed inside of six scuba diving tanks which had false bottoms. Information available to U.S. Customs at the time showed that the shipment was sent from David Sterling, Lagos, Nigeria, to David Sterling, c/o U.S. Customs, Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, Texas. Preliminary investigations by U.S. Customs Inspector Larry Hoyle revealed that on April 23, 1980, a man identifying himself as David Sterling had retained customs brokers D. J. Sekin and Company, Inc., of Dallas, Texas, to clear the shipment through customs and send it by Emery Air Freight to Sterling at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. DEA Agents John Luger and Russell Pfeiffer discovered that a David Alan Sterling had checked into the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, Texas, on April 23, 1980, and checked out of the hotel on the same date. Luger and Pfeiffer replaced a small quantity of cocaine in the shipment and permitted it to be forwarded to San Francisco in an attempt to make a controlled delivery to Sterling. The shipment arrived at the San Francisco International Airport on April 28, 1980. 8 On April 30, 1980, a man identifying himself as David Sterling picked up the shipment at the Emery Air Freight Warehouse in South San Francisco. Sterling and an unidentified limousine driver placed the freight in a limousine which was followed by Sterling and an associate subsequently identified as defendant Gregory Freeman. The party then drove to the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. 9 At the Fairmont, Agent Fiorentino observed Sterling arrange for the baggage to be placed in a storage area of the hotel. Sterling left for the Mark Hopkins Hotel across the street. Shortly thereafter Sterling left the Mark Hopkins carrying a briefcase. He was not seen again. 10 From April 30, 1980, until May 2, 1980, DEA agents maintained a continuous surveillance of the Fairmont Hotel. On May 2, 1980, a representative of K & M Drayage picked up the freight consigned to Sterling and transported it to the K & M warehouse for storage. Fiorentino and another DEA Agent, Steven Wood, interviewed the owners of the warehouse, James and Dennis Eagan, and discovered that Sterling had retained the warehouse to store the freight until an undisclosed future date. Dennis Eagan also stated that Freeman was a former employee of the warehouse and a close personal friend of Eagan's deceased brother. The freight was subsequently transported to the Drug Enforcement Administration Office at the San Francisco International Airport for storage. 1 11 On May 12, 1980, Fiorentino learned from Edmund DeGange, a taxicab driver, that a man using the name Sterling hired him outside of the Chancellor Hotel, 433 Powell Street, San Francisco, to pick up some diving gear and a camera case that Sterling had stored in the K & M Warehouse. Mr. DeGange had gone to the warehouse and attempted to pick up the freight with a money order that Sterling gave him for storage fees. Attempts to locate Sterling at the Chancellor Hotel were unsuccessful. 12 The affidavit then describes several months of investigations by Fiorentino and others in an attempt to identify Sterling and discover his whereabouts. Fiorentino learned that Sterling might also have the alias of Dennis Phillip Stevens. Subpoenaed telephone toll records of calls made at Freeman's residence included a call to Stevens' telephone number. The address listed for that number was 256 Seadrift Road, Stinson Beach, California. The phone call was made at 2:24 a.m. on May 1, 1980, approximately one hour after Freeman was last seen at the Fairmont Hotel by DEA agents. Agents Fiorentino and Woods identified a picture of Stevens taken from his California driver's license as the subject using the name Sterling at the Fairmont. An employee of the D. J. Sekin customs brokerage firm in Dallas identified the picture of Stevens as that of the customer representing himself as Sterling on April 23, 1980. 13 Fiorentino learned that a 1977 report by Special Agent Dennis Petrotta from San Francisco had mentioned that Stevens was suspected of transporting cocaine from Peru to the United States using the commercial vessel the Santa Mariana. Chief Mate of the Santa Mariana was Mahlon Boese. According to the 1977 report, both Mahlon and David Lyle Boese listed an identical address in Larkspur, California, and David Lyle Boese was the owner of a 1954 Jaguar registered to Stevens. On June 17, 1980, Agent Wood determined that Mahlon W. Boese was the registered owner of a house at 256 Seadrift Road, Stinson Beach, California. 14 On July 8, 1980, Fiorentino read in the San Francisco Chronicle that David Sterling was injured when his motorboat exploded in San Francisco Bay. A nurse at the St. Francis hospital burn ward in San Francisco identified a photograph of Stevens as that of the injured Sterling. 15 Fiorentino next examined three passport applications made by Stevens in April of 1977, November of 1976, and October of 1974. The photographs attached to each application were those of Sterling. In September of 1980, handwriting analysis of samples by Sterling and Stevens was performed by a Document Examiner for the United States Postal Inspection Service Laboratory in San Bruno, California; the conclusion reached was that the samples were probably written by the same person. 16 On October 29, 1980, Fiorentino interviewed Mr. George Elwell, Manager for the Seadrift Co. Realtors in Stinson Beach, California. Mr. Elwell stated that David Boese lived at the 256 Seadrift Road residence, and gave a description of Boese which matched that of Sterling and Stevens. 17 On November 3, 1980, Jeff Bradley of the California Department of Motor Vehicles reported to Fiorentino that thumbprints from the license applications of Stevens and Boese matched. On November 13, Fiorentino compared Stevens' and Boese's passport applications and noted that the photographs of Boese were the same as those of Stevens. 2 18 On November 20, 1980, based upon the above information, United States Magistrate Owen E. Woodruff authorized a search of the premises located at 256 Seadrift Road. The warrant authorized a search for and seizure of passports, drivers licenses, receipts for airline tickets and hotel registrations, bills of lading, receipts for purchase of scuba diving and camera equipment, bank and safety deposit box records, correspondence and other business records relating to importation and distribution of cocaine and other controlled substances, cocaine itself or other controlled substances, and any dilutents, cutting agents, scales, packaging materials or other items used in the distribution of cocaine. 19
20 Boese argues that Fiorentino's affidavit did not state facts which gave probable cause to search the Seadrift premises, that the magistrate erred when he issued the warrant and the district court further erred when it refused to suppress evidence found in the resultant search. 21 When, as here, the district court's decision is a determination only of the narrow question whether the information contained in the affidavit satisfied the test of probable cause, the ruling is one of law based strictly on written evidence; our review is thus not limited to the clearly erroneous standard, and we instead may make an independent review of the sufficiency of the affidavit. United States v. Minis, 666 F.2d 134, 138 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 102 S.Ct. 2013, 72 L.Ed.2d 469 (1982); United States v. Pulvano, 629 F.2d 1151, 1156-57 & n.7 (5th Cir. 1980). 22 Although we construe the sufficiency of this first affidavit independent of the district court, 3 the magistrate's original decision that probable cause existed is due some deference. As we explained in Bastida v. Henderson, 487 F.2d 860, 863 (5th Cir. 1973): 23 In issuing a search warrant the magistrate must exercise his own judgment as to whether the facts alleged in the affidavit constitute probable cause for issuance of the warrant, he must act on the entire picture disclosed to him, he is entitled to use his common sense, and the courts have gone so far as to say that when this is done his determination is conclusive in the absence of arbitrariness. 24 (Emphasis added.) Accord, United States v. Allen, 588 F.2d 1100, 1105-06 (5th Cir. 1979), cert. denied sub nom., Perkins v. United States, 441 U.S. 965, 99 S.Ct. 2415, 60 L.Ed.2d 1071 (1979), and cases cited therein. The affidavit must be construed in a common sense and realistic manner, and the magistrate's finding of probable cause should be sustained in doubtful or marginal cases. United States v. Maestas, 546 F.2d 1177, 1180 (5th Cir. 1977) (citing United States v. Ventresca, 380 U.S. 102, 85 S.Ct. 741, 13 L.Ed.2d 684 (1965)). 25
26 Boese's first argument is that there was not probable cause to believe that the articles sought in Fiorentino's affidavit would be found at the Seadrift residence. Boese points out that the alleged drug smuggling operations took place in San Francisco and Dallas, and contends that nothing in the affidavit indicates the Stinson Beach residence as a likely spot for Boese to have kept the drugs, identification, and business records sought. 27 As a preliminary matter, we note that there was certainly probable cause to believe that Boese was using several identities and false identification documents, and that Boese, Stevens and Sterling were all one and the same person. Further, there was probable cause to believe that Sterling/Boese had engaged in the smuggling of cocaine. Finally there was probable cause to believe that the Seadrift house was in fact Boese's personal residence. However, the fact that there is probable cause to believe that a person has committed a crime does not automatically give the police probable cause to search his house for evidence of that crime. If that were so, there would be no reason to distinguish search warrants from arrest warrants, and cases like Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 89 S.Ct. 2034, 23 L.Ed.2d 685 (1969), would make little sense. United States v. Lucarz, 430 F.2d 1051, 1055 (9th Cir. 1970). See generally, 1 La Fave, Search and Seizure, § 3.7 at 706-708 (1978). We have consistently held that facts must exist in the affidavit which establish a nexus between the house to be searched and the evidence sought. E.g., United States v. Green, 634 F.2d 222 (5th Cir. 1981); United States v. Gramlich, 551 F.2d 1359 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 866, 98 S.Ct. 201, 54 L.Ed.2d 141 (1977); United States v. Maestas, 546 F.2d 1177 (5th Cir. 1977); United States v. Flanagan, 423 F.2d 745 (5th Cir. 1970). However, that nexus may be established either through direct observation or through normal inferences as to where the articles sought would be located. Minis, supra, at 139 and cases cited therein. In United States v. Maestas, supra, we explained: 28 The affidavit need not contain information providing certainty that the objects sought will be found as a result of the search. It is only necessary that the facts and circumstances described in the affidavit would warrant a man of reasonable caution to believe that the articles sought were located at the place where it was proposed to search. 29 546 F.2d at 1180 (quoting United States v. Rahn, 511 F.2d 290, 293 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 825, 96 S.Ct. 41, 46 L.Ed.2d 42 (1975)). For instance, evidence that a defendant has stolen material which one normally would expect him to hide at his residence will support a search of his residence. Maestas, supra, at 1180. 30 What the Government sought at the Seadrift residence were items of three basic types: (1) passports, personal identification papers, and bank and safety deposit box records; (2) receipts for airline tickets and hotel registrations, bills of lading, receipts for the purchase of camera and scuba diving equipment, correspondence and other business records relating to cocaine distribution; and (3) cocaine, scales, and packaging and other materials used in the distribution of cocaine. 31 As to the first group of items, we think that the magistrate could reasonably have concluded that probable cause existed to support a search for them. Passports, personal identification, and bank records are precisely the sorts of items which people tend to keep at home among their personal papers and effects. Boese was a person with many aliases, and we think the magistrate was justified in concluding that evidence of some of these aliases could be found at his home. A neutral and detached magistrate's determinations of probable cause should be given considerable deference in doubtful and marginal cases, and we are unwilling to say that his finding of probable cause as to these items was arbitrary or unreasonable. Minis, supra. 32 Groups (2) and (3) present a more difficult problem, however. That problem centers on the question what evidence in the affidavit would tend to connect items used in the smuggling of cocaine to Boese's home, or alternatively, give us reason to believe that the home was a base of operations for smuggling. It is true that a phone call was made to Freeman from that residence shortly after Freeman left the Fairmont on May 1. But this does not by itself give us reason to believe that receipts for the items used in the drug smuggling enterprise, business records, drugs and drug paraphernalia were located there. United States v. Gramlich, supra, is instructive on this point. There one of the co-defendants, Lerstang, had been caught red-handed smuggling marijuana some fifty miles from his house. No mention was made in the affidavit of any suspicious activity occurring at or near the residence. The warrant issued sought to search the house for marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and business records of the illegal smuggling operation. The court in Gramlich held that the warrant to search the house for these items was not supported by probable cause. Cf. United States v. Green, supra (magistrate could not reasonably conclude that probable cause existed to search at California residence for fruits or instrumentalities of crime committed in Florida); United States v. Flanagan, supra (affidavit did not state sufficient facts to support probable cause to search for proceeds of burglary committed in Houston at suspect's residence in Fort Worth). 33 The Government has attempted to distinguish Gramlich by arguing that personal identification papers are likely to be found at home. As pointed out above, this makes sense, but only with respect to those types of items. It may be argued that we can connect business records and cocaine to the Boese house because Boese was engaged in an ongoing drug smuggling operation and the most likely base of operations is his house. Support for this theory may be found in dicta in Green, supra at 226 (few places are more convenient for use in planning criminal activities and hiding fruits of a crime than suspect's home), and in our analysis in Maestas, supra. The latter case permitted a search of a defendant's house for mail connected with a counterfeiting scheme, based upon the notion that mail is something people normally keep at their houses; we relied heavily on the fact that the defendant's accomplices were sending material to her at her home as part of a continuing operation. Gramlich thus might be distinguished since it involved an arrest miles away from the defendant's home with no evidence that the defendant was involved in a continuing smuggling operation whose likely base was his home. However, in the present case we are equally unable to rely upon the existence of a continuing criminal activity because of the conclusory nature of the affidavit. The affidavit shows clearly that cocaine smuggling had occurred around April and May 1980, but the only allegations in the affidavit supporting the inference that Boese was engaged in a continuing smuggling business came from the reference to Agent Petrotta's 1977 report that Stevens (Boese) was a suspected cocaine smuggler. However, the affidavit does not state what facts underlay Petrotta's suspicion of Stevens. Thus even though there might be no problem with the credibility of the government agent making the report, United States v. Flynn, 664 F.2d 1296, 1303 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 102 S.Ct. 1979, 72 L.Ed.2d 446 (1982), the first prong of the reliability test of Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108, 84 S.Ct. 1509, 12 L.Ed.2d 723 (1964), is not satisfied. See 664 F.2d at 1302 ((W)e find Abram's (the government official's) statements fully complied with the first prong of Aguilar by setting forth in detail the facts that led him to suspect criminal activity.); Id. at 1299 n.5 (Unverified suspicions of Broward County Sheriff's Office and the DEA that owner of plane was involved in drug smuggling did not meet reliability standards of Aguilar.). 4 34 Finally, the argument might be made that the very fact that Boese had two aliases would raise suspicion of continuing illegal activities. On the other hand, it is unclear if this suspicion rises to the level of probable cause; moreover, the existence of aliases does not necessarily connect the house with the smuggling operations. The fact that Boese owned a home, that Sterling was smuggling cocaine around May 1, 1980, and that through later investigation the police established that Sterling was the same person as Boese does not necessarily establish the home as a location at which illegal operations could have taken place. Fortunately, whether sufficient nexus existed or whether Gramlich is controlling here is not necessary to the decision of this case, and we do not decide it. Instead, as we show in the course of the following analysis, even assuming that a magistrate could not reasonably have concluded that probable cause existed to search Boese's house for items in groups (2) and (3), the search was only partly invalid, all evidence illegally seized and introduced at trial was harmless error, and later searches were not tainted by the invalid portions of the search. 35
36 Boese also challenges the warrant on the grounds that the information contained in it was stale. Probable cause must be found to exist at the time the warrant issues. Minis, supra at 140 (quoting United States v. Hyde, 574 F.2d 856, 864 (5th Cir. 1978)). See Sgro v. United States, 287 U.S. 206, 53 S.Ct. 138, 77 L.Ed. 260 (1932). Although probable cause may exist at one point to believe that evidence will be found in a given place, the passage of time may (without additional newer facts confirming the location of the evidence sought) render the original information insufficient to establish probable cause at the later time. See generally 1 LaFave, supra, § 3.7(a) at 680 et seq. In the present case Boese argues that because the evidence of drug smuggling operations was gathered by the beginning of May, and the warrant was not applied for until November 20, the affidavit accompanying the warrant no longer established probable cause to believe that the items sought were still at the Seadrift residence, even if probable cause had existed in May. 37 Boese's argument is perhaps strongest with respect to the second and third groups of items-receipts, business correspondence and records, and cocaine and cocaine distributing paraphernalia. But we have already assumed for the purposes of argument that probable cause did not exist as to either the second or third groups of items sought by the warrant. Hence we need not concern ourselves with issues of staleness with respect to them. Instead we must focus on the first group. 38 Boese argues that delays in search warrant applications can only be justified by evidence establishing continuing criminal conduct, relying on our decision in United States v. Hyde, 574 F.2d 856 (5th Cir. 1978). This misunderstands Hyde, which merely stands for the proposition that the staleness issue must be examined more liberally when a continuing pattern of criminal activity is alleged. 574 F.2d at 865 (footnote omitted). What Hyde and Bastida v. Henderson, supra, make very clear is that the amount of delay which will make information stale depends upon the particular facts of each case, including the nature of the criminal activity and the type of evidence sought. Hyde, supra, at 865; Bastida, supra, at 864. Accord, Minis, supra, at 140. It is essential to remember that in problems of staleness a mechanical count of days is of little assistance in (the) determination. Hyde, supra, at 865. As in other issues regarding the existence or absence of probable cause, common sense and reasonableness must prevail, and a magistrate's judgment based upon the facts before him must be given considerable deference in the absence of arbitrariness. 39 We think the magistrate could reasonably have concluded, at least with respect to the first group of items sought, that these items would still be present at the Seadrift residence at the time the warrant was issued. The conclusion is reasonable because of the nature of the evidence sought. As stated above, these items (passports, identification papers and bank records) are the sort which would normally be kept at one's personal residence. They are also the sort which could be reasonably expected to be kept there for long periods of time. Again we reiterate that we deal here with a review of the conclusions of a detached and neutral magistrate who weighed all the facts before him and concluded that probable cause existed as of the end of November. His finding that the information presented was not stale was not arbitrary or unreasonable in the light of the special nature of the items sought and we therefore defer to it. 40
41 We are thus faced with a situation in which a search for the first group of items is supported by probable cause as gleaned from the affidavit, while, under the assumptions made earlier, a search for the last two groups would not be so supported. The next question is whether the whole warrant is bad, or if part of it may be salvaged. In United States v. Cook, 657 F.2d 730 (5th Cir. 1981), we considered a case in which part of the warrant described certain pirated videotapes and films with particularity but also authorized a general seizure of other illegally obtained films not limited to those particularly described. Relying on the leading case of Aday v. Superior Court, 55 Cal.2d 789, 13 Cal.Rptr. 415, 362 P.2d 47 (1961), we reasoned that 42 (i)tems that were not described with the requisite particularity in the warrant should be suppressed, but suppression of all of the fruits of the search is hardly consistent with the purposes underlying exclusion. Suppression of only the items improperly described prohibits the Government from profiting from its own wrong and removes the court from considering illegally obtained evidence. Moreover, suppression of only those items that were not particularly described serves as an effective deterrent to those in the Government who would be tempted to secure a warrant without the necessary description. As the leading commentator has observed, it would be harsh medicine indeed if a warrant which was issued on probable cause and which did particularly describe certain items were to be invalidated in toto merely because the affiant and the magistrate erred in seeking and permitting a search for other items as well. 2 W. LaFave, Search and Seizure: A Treatise on the Fourth Amendment § 4.6(f) (1978). 43 657 F.2d at 735 (footnote omitted). Cook involved a warrant defective because part of it offended the requirements of particularity, while the present case involves a warrant which is defective because probable cause did not exist to support the search for some of the items. 44 Nevertheless, we think the reasoning of Cook and Aday is applicable in this context as well and that the entire warrant need not be discarded. Accord, People v. Mangialino, 75 Misc.2d 698, 348 N.Y.S.2d 327 (1973) (collecting cases). If the police have probable cause to search for item A but not for item B, and a warrant is issued for both, it seems unfair to law enforcement officials not to allow A in if the search was otherwise properly conducted. See 1 LaFave, supra, § 3.7 at 714-715. 45 Of course, severability is not always possible, and should be granted only where the circumstances of the case reveal that legitimate fourth amendment interests will not be jeopardized. But this case does not present a situation where, for example, the warrant is generally invalid but as to some tangential item meets the requirements of probable cause, nor is there any claim made here that the valid parts of the warrant were included by the Government as a pretext to support an otherwise unlawful search and seizure. Cook, supra, 657 F.2d at 735 n.6. See also Aday, supra, 13 Cal.Rptr. at 420, 362 P.2d at 52. We agree with Aday that a use of severance to work an abuse of the warrant procedure, of course, could not be tolerated. Id. But the facts of the present case do not reveal any such problems. 46 The search of the house produced no items listed in the warrant for which probable cause existed (that is, personal identification papers and receipts). What the search did uncover were items listed in the warrant for which we have assumed probable cause did not exist, and several items not listed in the warrant but seized in plain view in the course of the search. In particular the search of the Seadrift house uncovered the following: a small quantity of cocaine, two small paper bindles with traces of cocaine, scuba diving literature, instructions and pamphlets, an instruction manual for a underwater Nikonos camera of the same type found in the Nigerian shipment, a scuba tank with a false bottom like that found in the shipment, a Rolodex card file with names and addresses of various businesses, a consent to operate form from a San Francisco hospital signed by David Sterling, several automobile work repair forms signed by David Spencer, sheets of paper listing various names and addresses, business cards from repairmen, a sheet of paper with various business logos drawn on it, a pay slip receipt, a canvas bag with an identification tag of D. Sterling, and some $27,000 in cash. 5 47 With respect to items which were not mentioned in the original warrant, we think that these were properly seized under the plain view doctrine of Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 465-73, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 2037-42, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971) (plurality opinion of Justice Stewart). See also United States v. Antill, 615 F.2d 648 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 866, 101 S.Ct. 200, 66 L.Ed.2d 85 (1980). However, we note that a careful inquiry into the scope and duration of the search is necessary in the case of a severed warrant. For if probable cause exists only to search for item A, then the proper scope of the search is only that which would be justified to search for A, and not that for another item B, listed on the warrant, but severed away because of lack of probable cause. 48 Since the permissible scope, duration, and intensity of the search turns upon the nature of the items listed in the warrant, a court which permits severance of a warrant must consider what search and seizure would have been permissible if the warrant had only named those items as to which probable cause was established. 1 LaFave, supra, § 3.7 at 715. 6 49 The record in the present case reveals that none of the items for which probable cause existed were found at the house. Thus had the agents been acting under a severed warrant, they would not have been required to stop at any point in the search. Moreover, the items properly sought by the warrant were by their nature small and easily concealable anywhere. For these reasons we do not think that the items seized at the house which were not mentioned in the warrant were seized in a search beyond the scope, duration, and intensity authorized by the valid parts of the warrant. 50 This leaves us only with the question of the items which were seized and were listed in what we have assumed are the invalid parts of the warrant. These include the business records and a small quantity of cocaine. Whether the plain view doctrine would apply to these items as well is a difficult question, but it is not necessary to our decision, for as we show, these items did not taint the later searches and their admission at Boese's trial was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. 7 51