Opinion ID: 562305
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Evidence Found In the Search of Lai's House

Text: 34 Lai challenges the admission of evidence found in the search of his house pursuant to a search warrant on the ground that the search warrant was issued on the basis of information obtained during the alleged illegal entry into Lai's home. Because we find that the police officers had probable cause to enter Lai's residence and that entry without a warrant was justified by exigent circumstances, this claim fails. The warrantless entry was not illegal. 35 We review de novo a district court's determination of the validity of a warrantless entry into a residence. United States v. Lindsey, 877 F.2d 777, 780 (9th Cir.1989). The district court's determination of underlying facts controls unless clearly erroneous. Id. 36 The securing of Lai's residence by the police was a seizure that implicated his fourth amendment rights. See Id. The Government therefore has a twofold duty. First, the Government must prove that the officers had probable cause to enter and secure the residence. Id. Second, the Government must show that exigent circumstances justified the warrantless entry. Id.
37 We hold that under the totality of circumstances known to the officers at the time they entered Lai's residence, there was a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime would be found inside. See Id., citing Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 2332, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). 38 The police received reliable information, in the form of an anonymous phone call, that Lai and others were selling drugs out of Lai's house. Their tipster's information was corroborated by predicted events coming to pass. The informant described how an Asian male named Fook would take a cab to a location near the Lai residence and have the cab wait for him while he picked up drugs. The informant said that Fook picked the drugs up at Lai's and that the house was somewhere near 19th Avenue and Balboa Street. 39 The police started surveillance in front of Lai's residence. The informant's description of a lieutenant in Lai's organization matched the appearance of a man the police saw at Lai's house. Their informant called them twice over a short period saying Fook was going to make a run. They did not see anything the first time, but the second time they saw exactly what the informant predicted. This might have been enough to create probable cause. However, the officers obtained more evidence. 40 Three officers followed Fook's cab and stopped it after a few blocks. As he stepped out, the police discovered cocaine which Fook admittedly obtained from Lai's moments earlier. The police knew at least one person was still in the house. At this point they clearly had a sufficient basis for believing that a search of Lai's home would uncover evidence of wrongdoing. See Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. at 236, 103 S.Ct. at 2331.
41 Exigent circumstances are characterized as: 42 those circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to believe that entry ... was necessary to prevent physical harm to the officers or other persons, the destruction of relevant evidence, the escape of the suspect, or some other consequence improperly frustrating legitimate law enforcement efforts. 43 United States v. Lindsey, 877 F.2d at 780-81, quoting United States v. McConney, 728 F.2d 1195, 1199 (9th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 824, 105 S.Ct. 101, 83 L.Ed.2d 46 (1984). Exigency necessarily implies insufficient time to obtain a warrant; therefore the Government must show that a warrant could not have been obtained in time. We evaluate the reasonableness of the warrantless entry in view of the totality of the circumstances seen from the perspective of the police officers at the time of the entry. Id. at 781. 44 The district court did not determine whether exigent circumstances justified the warrantless entry and search because it was certain that the disputed evidence would come in under the independent source doctrine. However, the factual record in this case clearly shows that sufficient exigency existed to justify the actions taken by the police. See United States v. Licata, 761 F.2d 537, 543 (9th Cir.1985) (finding exigent circumstances for first time on appeal). Because we determine that the warrantless entry was justified, we need not consider whether the contested evidence would be admissible under the independent source doctrine. 45 This court has previously recognized a correlation between the degree of exigency and the scope of permissible police action. After knocking and announcing their identity and purpose, specific inferences of exigency are necessary to justify a warrantless entry by the police which involves physical destruction of property. Only mild exigency need be shown where entry can be accomplished without physical destruction of property. United States v. McConney, 728 F.2d 1195, 1206 (9th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 824, 105 S.Ct. 101, 83 L.Ed.2d 46 (1984). In United States v. Hicks, 752 F.2d 379 (9th Cir.1985), this court required only a showing of mild exigency to justify a warrantless entry (involving no physical destruction of property) and cursory search of a house prior to a full search conducted pursuant to a warrant. We do not find it necessary to determine exactly where on the continuum from mild to severe exigency the case at bar lies. However, we are persuaded that at each step of the way sufficient exigency existed to justify the actions of the police. 2 46 The police had been told by an informant whose information had proved reliable that Fook made numerous drug runs in a day and that Lai possessed weapons. The Chinese Gang Task Force also had information in its files that indicated Lai was armed. Fook's failure to return on drug runs due to his arrest created the possibility that the individuals in Lai's house would suspect police action and destroy evidence or prepare to defend the residence creating a danger of physical harm to police officers. This court has repeatedly recognized that the apprehension of a drug courier can itself create an exigency if the drug supplier is likely to become suspicious when the courier fails to return. Lindsey, 877 F.2d at 781 (arrest of courier and reasonable belief that source would suspect police involvement triggering armed resistance to arrest creates exigency); United States v. Perdomo, 800 F.2d 916 (9th Cir.1986) (arrest of courier creates exigency, cocaine easily destroyed). The cases cited above deal with situations where the courier was expected to return with the proceeds of a drug transaction. While the Government has not shown that this was the arrangement between Lai and Fook, similar concerns about discovery of police action are evident here because of Fook's multiple drug runs on a daily basis. 47 In addition, Fook was arrested in public a few blocks from Lai's house and onlookers might have reported the arrest to Lai. United States v. Wulferdinger, 782 F.2d 1473, 1476 (9th Cir.1986) (public arrest of courier creates possibility that onlooker will inform source and supports finding of exigency). 48 Finally, both the informant and the Chinese Gang Task Force thought that Lai might have a police scanner. This possibility created another avenue through which Lai might have been apprised of police action. 3 On these facts we find that sufficient exigency existed to justify the officers' warrantless entry of Lai's home, which was accomplished without physical destruction of property, and their initial cursory search of the premises. 4 In their initial cursory search, the officers saw numerous weapons lying in plain view. Thus it was perfectly reasonable for them to hold the residents of the house in the living room pending arrival of the search warrant.