Opinion ID: 441742
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: admissibility of shotgun

Text: 47 Appellant Satterfield contends that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress the shotgun seized from his residence at the time of his arrest. Deputy Sheriff John Moses testified that when he spoke with Callaway at 6:45 a.m., in the house next door to Satterfield's, she told him that she had witnessed a murder, that the killers had used a shotgun, that a man named Pig was next door with a woman, and that another man named Carlton, who had participated in the murder and kidnapping, was no longer there. After verifying the homicide with the sheriff's department, Moses called for assistance. Approximately thirty minutes later, he and two backup officers walked over to appellant's house, announced their presence and, receiving no response, entered the home using a flashlight for illumination. Moses testified that they had obtained neither an arrest warrant nor a search warrant because a warrant probably could not have been acquired for several hours, during which time the occupants might have escaped. The officers moved through the living room, found Satterfield in bed with his girlfriend, Patricia Holcomb, and immediately arrested him. 48 Once inside the bedroom, the officers seized Satterfield's trousers, shotgun shells in the pockets, a bloodstained pillow and a torn shirt. When a brief search failed to locate the shotgun in the bedroom, Satterfield and Holcomb were taken outside and placed in separate patrol cars. After the police had ascertained that there was no one else in the house, the search of Satterfield's residence continued, and approximately ten minutes later the shotgun was discovered underneath the cushions of a sofa in a room adjoining the bedroom.
49 Although a warrantless search and seizure in a home is presumed to be unreasonable, Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 586, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 1380, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980), courts will uphold searches of homes based on both probable cause and exigent circumstances. Vale v. Louisiana, 399 U.S. 30, 90 S.Ct. 1969, 26 L.Ed.2d 409 (1970); Warden v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 87 S.Ct. 1642, 18 L.Ed.2d 782 (1967). The existence of probable cause is not disputed. Callaway's statement that a shotgun was used in the murder, coupled with the discovery of bloodstained items in Satterfield's house, was sufficient for a reasonably cautious officer to believe that the shotgun was in the building. See United States v. Rojas, 671 F.2d 159, 165 (5th Cir. Unit B 1982). The presence of exigent circumstances, however, is not as obvious. The Government maintains that an immediate search for the shotgun was justified because the officers knew at least one other suspect was still at large and could return to Satterfield's home at any moment to retrieve the weapon, thus presenting a danger to their safety and the welfare of the community. Because only three policemen were present at the scene, two of whom were needed to transport appellant and Holcomb to the station, the Government asserts that it would have been difficult and dangerous for the remaining officer to secure the house against the other suspect for a period of several hours while a search warrant was being issued. 50 The exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement encompasses a variety of common situations, including hot pursuit of a suspect, United States v. Santana, 427 U.S. 38, 42-43, 96 S.Ct. 2406, 2409-2410, 49 L.Ed.2d 300 (1976); mobility of a vehicle, Chambers v. Maroney, 399 U.S. 42, 90 S.Ct. 1975, 26 L.Ed.2d 419 (1970); risk of removal or destruction of evidence, United States v. Rubin, 474 F.2d 262 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 833, 94 S.Ct. 173, 38 L.Ed.2d 68 (1973); and danger to arresting officers or the public, Warden v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294, 87 S.Ct. 1642, 18 L.Ed.2d 782 (1967). Invoking the Hayden exception, as construed in United States v. Burgos, 720 F.2d 1520 (11th Cir.1983), and United States v. Quigley, 631 F.2d 415 (5th Cir.1980), the Government contends that an immediate search of Satterfield's house was justified because the delay involved in obtaining a warrant would have endangered the police or the public. We disagree. 51 The exigent circumstances doctrine applies only when the inevitable delay incident to obtaining a warrant must give way to an urgent need for immediate action. Burgos, 720 F.2d at 1526. In Hayden, the seizures occurred as part of an effort to find a suspected felon believed to be armed within a house into which he had run only minutes before police arrived. The officers gained entry to the home by permission of the suspect's mother and began searching the various rooms for the suspect and any weapons that might pose a danger to them. Simultaneously with the time the suspect was discovered and apprehended in an upstairs room, officers in other rooms were uncovering and seizing evidence later used at trial. The Court held that the search of the entire house was reasonably necessary to prevent the dangers that the suspect at large ... may resist or escape. 387 U.S. at 299, 87 S.Ct. at 1646. Quigley presented a similar situation. Pursuing an escaped felon, the police discovered the suspect in a motel room with his girlfriend and immediately placed him in handcuffs. Within forty-five seconds after the arrest, one of the officers found a pistol beneath the bed sheets. The former Fifth Circuit held the search was justified as a cursory safety check because the suspect was reasonably believed to be armed when he entered the motel room, and the girl in the room with him, who was unrestrained at the time, was reasonably believed to be his accomplice and could have gained access to any concealed weapons. 631 F.2d at 419. 52 Hayden and Quigley are distinguishable on two significant points. In both cases the police made the searches and seizures simultaneously with, or within seconds after, the defendants' arrest, whereas Satterfield and his girlfriend were taken into custody approximately ten minutes before the shotgun was found. More important, at the time of the searches in Hayden and Quigley, the police had reason to believe that dangerous weapons were accessible to the suspect or an accomplice who was present, or may have been present, in the building. In the instant case, Satterfield and Holcomb were restrained in patrol cars while the house was being searched; neither could possibly have posed a threat to the arresting officers. Moreover, the officers had already determined that no one else was present in the building. Under these circumstances, the search for the shotgun was not justified by exigency. 53 Burgos is distinguishable on similar grounds. Government agents in that case observed a man purchase two crates of firearms from two gun shops and transfer them to the trunk of Burgos' automobile. Burgos drove to his residence with the surveillance team following him. Together with another man, he then took the crates, which contained 45 guns, out of his trunk and into his house. As Burgos was exiting his home, three or four agents stopped him on the front porch, entered the house and seized the firearms. In upholding the seizure as lawful, the court found two critical facts creating exigent circumstances: (1) the agents were faced with a house laden with arms and an unknown number of people inside, thus presenting an immediate threat to the security of the entire neighborhood, and (2) they had reason to believe the house contained dangerous third persons who might pose a threat to their safety. 720 F.2d at 1526. Neither of these circumstances is present here. The police had no reason to believe that Satterfield's residence contained more than one firearm, and they knew that the only occupants of the house were already in police custody outside. 54 An arrest within a home does not provide a license for the police to search the entire residence for evidence. See Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 89 S.Ct. 2034, 23 L.Ed.2d 685 (1969); United States v. Cueto, 611 F.2d 1056, 1062 (5th Cir.1980). The test is whether the officers reasonably could have perceived that delay would endanger their lives or the lives of others. Hayden, 387 U.S. at 298-99, 87 S.Ct. at 1645-46. Under the facts presented here, it is clear that no immediate threat existed. The only potential danger emanated from Satterfield's unknown accomplices, who might have returned to the house to claim the shotgun without the knowledge of the police. Protection against this remote eventuality is not the type of circumstance that creates an urgent need for immediate action. If three officers were inadequate to transport the suspects to the station and also stand guard at Satterfield's house until a warrant was obtained, the police could have summoned additional support. See Segura v. United States, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 3380, 3391, 82 L.Ed.2d 599 (1984) (police may conduct perimeter stakeout of home to prevent persons from obtaining evidence while search warrant is being issued). An immediate search of the house after all of the occupants had been taken into custody and removed from the building was not reasonably necessary to ensure the safety of the police officers or the area residents. We therefore hold that the search for the shotgun was not justified under the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement.
55 Under the exclusionary rule, the illegally seized shotgun would not have been admissible in evidence against Satterfield unless an exception to the rule applied. Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963). The Government asserts that the weapon was properly admitted under the inevitable discovery exception, recognized by this circuit in United States v. Roper, 681 F.2d 1354 (11th Cir.1982), and recently adopted by the Supreme Court in Nix v. Williams, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 2501, 81 L.Ed.2d 377 (1984). The Government maintains that the shotgun would have been found in any event because the police obtained a valid warrant for the search of Satterfield's residence several hours after the illegal search was made. The warrant issued for the search of bloodstained sheets and clothing and asserted probable cause based upon information supplied by Callaway that she saw the bloodstained items in the home on the previous night. Because the police might reasonably have expected that bloodstained clothing could be hidden under the sofa cushions where the gun was found, the Government asserts that the police undoubtedly would have uncovered the weapon during their search with the warrant. 56 The Supreme Court briefly explained the inevitable discovery doctrine in Nix: 57 If the prosecution can establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the information ultimately or inevitably would have been discovered by lawful means ... then the deterrence rationale has so little basis that the evidence should be received. 58 Id. at ----, 104 S.Ct. at 2509. In Nix, the suspect was subjected to an illegal interrogation during which he directed the police to the location of the murder victim. At the time the confession was being elicited, a wide-spread search party had closed to within two and one-half miles of the site on which the body was found. Applying a preponderance of the evidence standard, the Court held that the uncovered remains were properly admitted into evidence because the record indicated that the search party was methodically progressing to the location of the body and inevitably would have found the evidence within three or four hours. The Court stated without much elaboration that if the information ultimately or inevitably would have been discovered by lawful means the exclusionary rule should not be applied. Id. 59 Except for the application of its rule to the specific facts before the Court and its holding that the Government must establish the inevitability of discovery by a preponderance of the evidence, the Supreme Court was silent as to what constitutes an inevitable discovery under the doctrine. Because the Nix decision is consistent with the previous case law of this circuit, we look to our earlier decisions for guidance in determining whether the facts of this case come within the exception. 60 The elements of the inevitable discovery rule in this circuit were set forth in a former Fifth Circuit case, United States v. Brookins, 614 F.2d 1037 (5th Cir.1980). To qualify for admissibility, there must be a reasonable probability that the evidence in question would have been discovered by lawful means, and the prosecution must demonstrate that the lawful means which made discovery inevitable were possessed by the police and were being actively pursued prior to the occurrence of the illegal conduct. Id. at 1042 n. 2, 1048. See also Roper, 681 F.2d at 1358. Because the second element is not satisfied here, we hold that the shotgun was not admissible under the inevitable discovery exception. 61 In Brookins, the police obtained the identity of a key prosecution witness through the illegal interrogation of the defendant. The court held the witness' testimony admissible because lawful police inquiries that were already set in motion probably would have disclosed the witness' identity. 614 F.2d at 1048. In Roper, police arrested the defendant in the hall outside his motel room and, seconds later, seized a gun from a briefcase on the dresser inside the room after learning its location from a brief interrogation in violation of his Miranda rights. The court held that the gun was admissible because the police had the right to search the room immediately 16 and were about to perform that lawful search when the illegal inquiry revealed the location of the gun. 681 F.2d at 1358. 62 Operation of the exclusionary rule when the police probably would have discovered the evidence through pursuit of a legal right they already possessed and were actively pursuing would place the Government in a worse position than before the illegal conduct occurred. The Supreme Court condemned this result as contrary to the public interest. See Nix, 104 S.Ct. at 2509. Here the Government had not yet initiated the lawful means that would have led to the discovery of the evidence. Unlike both Brookins and Roper, at the time the Government violated Satterfield's fourth amendment right, it did not possess the legal means that would have led to the discovery of the shotgun. That means did not exist until several hours later when the warrant was obtained. 63 Under Brookins and Roper, if evidence is obtained by illegal conduct, the illegality can be cured only if the police possessed and were pursuing a lawful means of discovery at the time the illegality occurred. See also United States v. Parker, 722 F.2d 179, 185 n. 4 (5th Cir.1983); United States v. Shaw, 701 F.2d 367, 379 n. 6 (5th Cir.1983), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 1419, 79 L.Ed.2d 744 (1984). The Government cannot later initiate a lawful avenue of obtaining the evidence and then claim that it should be admitted because its discovery was inevitable. This is a sound rule, especially when applied to a case in which a search warrant was constitutionally required. Because a valid search warrant nearly always can be obtained after the search has occurred, a contrary holding would practically destroy the requirement that a warrant for the search of a home be obtained before the search takes place. Our constitutionally-mandated preference for substituting the judgment of a detached and neutral magistrate for that of a searching officer, United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 568, 96 S.Ct. 3074, 3087, 49 L.Ed.2d 1116 (1976), would be greatly undermined. 64 The Supreme Court's recent pronouncement in Nix does not affect this result. In adopting its general statement of the inevitable discovery rule, the Court was not presented with a situation in which the lawful means leading to an inevitable discovery had not yet been acquired by the police at the time the illegal evidence was seized. The search party there was well on its way to uncovering the body when the suspect revealed its precise location. Thus Nix is not inconsistent with the rule in this circuit that the police must possess and be actively pursuing the lawful avenue of discovery when the illegality occurred.
65 Having concluded that the shotgun was seized in violation of Satterfield's fourth amendment rights and should have been excluded from the evidence presented at his trial, we must determine whether this error warrants reversal of his conviction of kidnapping under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1201(a)(1). The Supreme Court in Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967), held that a conviction need not be reversed if the constitutional error was harmless. The purpose of the harmless error rule is to avoid setting aside convictions for small errors or defects that have little, if any, likelihood of having changed the result. Id. at 22, 87 S.Ct. at 827. This is precisely such a case. 66 The evidence supporting Satterfield's conviction was overwhelming. The victim positively identified him as the man who forced her out of the bedroom of her trailer, as one of two men who killed her boyfriend immediately prior to the abduction, as the man who hit her over the head, as one of the men who held her at gunpoint during the ride to his residence, as the man who forced her to perform oral sex, and as the man who pushed her onto his bed. Satterfield's girlfriend, Patricia Holcomb, verified that Callaway was present in Satterfield's house just prior to the time Callaway called the police from the neighboring residence. In addition, while Callaway was being kept in Satterfield's house, Callaway heard Holcomb refer to him by his nickname Pig. Substantial physical evidence, including items of clothing and a pillow from his bed, all stained with blood matching the victim's, was found in his shack within minutes after the victim's escape; and shotgun shells matching the type found in his trousers pockets were discovered at the trailer where Callaway's boyfriend was murdered. Compared to all of the other evidence against Satterfield, the shotgun, although further evidence of his complicity in the crime, was not an important item of proof in the Government's case. From our review of the record, we are convinced that the evidence against Satterfield was so extensive that the erroneous admission of the shotgun was harmless beyond reasonable doubt.