Opinion ID: 6497989
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The January 29, 2017 Operation

Text: On January 29, 2017, officers from the Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD) deployed to a known drug point on Melilla Street in Loíza, Puerto Rico. The operational plan was to conduct surveillance and to act if the officers observed criminal activity. Melilla Street is a residential street, with houses on both sides. The drug point targeted by the PRPD operational plan was in a wooded area of Melilla Street, near a vacant lot. At about 8:50 a.m., PRPD officers arrived at the drug point in six or seven vehicles. Two vehicles were marked with the PRPD emblem and the rest were unmarked. Sergeant Jesús LópezMaysonet was dressed in plainclothes and traveled with two fellow officers, Hector Garcia Nieves and Daniel López Garcia, in an unmarked car. As he arrived at the drug point, the sergeant observed seven or eight individuals with messenger-style bags. He testified that, based on his training and experience, this type of bag is frequently used to carry drugs and weapons. Sergeant LópezMaysonet parked the car he was driving in a yard next to a house. The three officers then exited the vehicle and identified themselves as police officers by shouting police. All but one of the individuals fled into the adjacent wooded area. As Officers - 3 - Garcia Nieves and López Garcia chased the fleeing individuals, other officers were arriving at the site. Sierra-Ayala was the man who did not flee; he remained sitting in a plastic chair as Sergeant López-Maysonet approached. The sergeant testified that Sierra-Ayala was wearing a black messenger-style bag across his chest. At the initial suppression hearing before the magistrate judge, López-Maysonet testified that after he identified himself to Sierra-Ayala as a police officer, Sierra-Ayala stood up, turned to the right, and showed him the contents of the bag. Sierra-Ayala testified differently. He claimed that he was concerned for his safety when Sergeant LópezMaysonet approached him, and that the sergeant directed him to turn over the bag, which he had been holding in his hands. SierraAyala testified that he complied with Sergeant López-Maysonet's request because he did not feel free to disobey the officer's direction. Ultimately, the magistrate judge credited Sergeant López-Maysonet's version of the interaction. When the sergeant looked inside the bag, he saw a transparent plastic bag containing purple packages that are used to pack heroin. Upon seeing the packaging, he informed SierraAyala that he was under arrest, directed him to stand up, and read him his Miranda rights. Because Sergeant López-Maysonet did not have handcuffs on his person, he radioed for backup. After SierraAyala was handcuffed, he patted him down and identified a gun in - 4 - a holster on the left side of Sierra-Ayala's belt. López-Maysonet also testified that he retrieved $94 in cash from Sierra-Ayala's pockets. Sierra-Ayala testified that only $10 belonged to him and that the remainder of the cash was recovered from the bag belonging to his cousin.