Opinion ID: 2812750
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Heading: Searches of Defendants’ Apartment

Text: When a search warrant affidavit is based, at least in part, on information acquired illegally, we look to whether other information contained in the affidavit supports sufficiently a probable cause finding. United States v. Chaves, 169 F.3d 687, 692 (11th Cir. 1999). If it does, suppression of evidence is not required because the exclusionary rule does not apply “where the government learned of the evidence from an independent source.” Id. at 692-93. When we redact the information obtained during the improper “protective sweep” of Defendants’ apartment, the search warrant affidavit still contained sufficient information -- including evidence obtained during the search of the UPS packages and the officers’ initial encounter with Bernal -- to support a probable cause finding. And nothing evidences that the officers were prompted to seek a warrant only after conducting the protective sweep. Because probable cause existed to support the issuance of a search warrant for Defendants’ apartment, the 9 Case: 14-14332 Date Filed: 06/29/2015 Page: 10 of 10 evidence obtained during the illegal protective sweep was admissible under the independent source doctrine. See id. Given the record and the district court’s determinations, we reject Defendants’ contention that officers conducted an illegal search when they and Defendants moved inside Defendants’ apartment to avoid local news media. Although Defendants contend they agreed to enter the apartment only “at the suggestion of law enforcement,” we accept that their consent was voluntary. Moreover, we accept that no officers engaged in a physical search of the apartment before the search warrant arrived. AFFIRMED. 10