Opinion ID: 65023
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Hammond's arrest

Text: As mentioned, prior to Collins's arrest, Hammond met with the females in room 940 for approximately ten minutes. After Hammond left the room, the officers overheard the females in the room counting money and making comments to the effect that someone was a real drug dealer and like the ice cream man. Following Collins's arrest, the officers returned to room 941 and resumed their surveillance of room 940. The officers heard two unidentified female voices. The females were utilizing the walkie talkie feature on a Nextel telephone to communicate with a male who was traveling to the hotel from Texas. The officers also periodically heard the sound of a butane lighter, an item often used by individuals smoking methamphetamine. At approximately 11:13 pm, the officers observed two females, later identified as Lora Tomlinson and Selena Nichols, leave room 940. Tomlinson went into the casino; Nichols went into the lobby, sat, and appeared to be text messaging over her cell phone. A short time later, Hammond met Nichols in the lobby. Nichols and Hammond then went into the elevator followed by a number of undercover officers. When the elevator stopped on the ninth floor, the officers expected the suspects to proceed to room 940. Instead, the suspects went to room 923, a room that the officers did not have under surveillance and knew nothing about. As Hammond was retrieving his card key and attempting to gain entry into room 923, the officers arrested him, as well as Nichols. The district court found that an individual from inside room 923, later identified as Hammond's wife, then opened the room's door to investigate the commotion in the hall. An officer asked Mrs. Hammond for permission to enter the room. There is a conflict of testimony concerning what happened next. One officer testified that Mrs. Hammond attempted to close the door in response to the officer's request, but the officers pushed the door open and walked in. Another officer testified that Mrs. Hammond responded to the officer's request by saying that she needed to put some clothes on. While the door was still open, the officers walked into the room. In any event, after the officers entered room 923, Mrs. Hammond consented to a search of the room. The officers found a small amount of marijuana and a methamphetamine pipe. Hammond, after being advised of his Miranda rights, told the officers that he had two syringes in his sock, one loaded with methamphetamine.