Opinion ID: 672080
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Reginald Johnson

Text: 73 Reginald contends that a warrant authorizing a search of his apartment did not describe the place to be searched with sufficient particularity, and that the evidence seized as a result of the search should have been suppressed at trial. The facts relevant to this issue follow.
74 As the investigation drew to a close in the summer of 1991, Detective Gorecki, the lead investigator, had amassed a great deal of incriminating information concerning the conspiracy. Kenneth Cross was the leader of a family-centered cocaine distribution network (including Reginald Johnson) distributing multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine on a weekly basis. The conspiracy was handling tens of thousands--and at times hundreds of thousands--of dollars of cash and cocaine. Ken was living life in the fast lane; he was making fast cash, driving fast luxury cars, and cavorting with a number of women. He purchased and controlled a small empire of Milwaukee real properties including a residence at 2958 N. 23rd St. 75 To acquire further evidence against the conspiracy, Gorecki enlisted the help of a female informant, Sabrina Owens, to assist and participate in a series of twelve controlled buys. Before each of the controlled buys Owens was searched for money and cocaine, fitted with a transmitter or tape recorder, and furnished with currency whose serial numbers were recorded. The cocaine for three of these buys was obtained from the house at 2958 N. 23rd St. in Milwaukee. 76 On September 4, 1991, Detective Gorecki dropped Owens off near one of Cross's grocery stores. Owens entered the store, met Ken, exited the store with him and drove to the house located at 2958 N. 23rd St. Upon arrival, Ken went into the house, retrieved two ounces of cocaine, returned to the car, and sold the coke to Owens for $2,200. On that occasion Owens reported to Detective Gorecki that she thought that Ken had entered the house through a side door and gone upstairs. She also mentioned to Gorecki that Kenneth stated the entire upstairs smelled like cocaine. Additionally, she informed Gorecki that she thought that Dwight's girlfriend, whose name she did not know, lived in the house. 77 Armed with this and other information he had gathered suggestive of probable cause, Gorecki ran his first utilities check on the 2958 N. 23rd St. address. An electric company representative informed him that there were separate electric bills for the upper and lower floors and that Kenneth Cross was listed as the subscriber for both. According to the representative, Kenneth had paid the bills for approximately one year, until August 15, 1991, when the utilities were disconnected. The representative also advised Detective Gorecki that shortly after August 15, 1991, one Betsy Terry had inquired why the electricity had been turned off and had stated that the landlord, Kenneth Cross, was supposed to have paid the bill. Gorecki presumed this Betsy Terry was Dwight's girlfriend whom Owens thought might be living there. Finally, the representative informed Gorecki that Cross had given just one phone number for the 2958 N. 23rd St. address added to Gorecki's suspicion that Kenneth was in complete control of the house. 78 To build his case against Cross and the other conspirators, Detective Gorecki met with Owens for a second controlled buy on September 10, 1991. After Gorecki dropped Owens off near one of Ken's houses, Ken and Owens got in one of his cars and again drove to 2958 N. 23rd St. This time, Owens accompanied Kenneth upstairs where Cross retrieved two ounces of cocaine and sold them to her for $2200. Owens reported to Gorecki that Kenneth used a key to gain entry into the house. 12 79 It was becoming apparent to Detective Gorecki that Kenneth was using the house to process, store and distribute coke. To further his case against Cross, Gorecki arranged for another controlled buy to ascertain whether Ken would once again return to the house to secure the drug. The third buy occurred one week later, on September 17, 1991. On this occasion Owens was accompanied by an undercover female agent, Officer Lambert, posing as Owens's girlfriend. The pair drove to a neighborhood store owned by Gary Petty (who, as referred to earlier, was a member of the conspiracy), where they met either Cleotha or Dwight, who in turn directed them to 2958 N. 23rd St. to obtain cocaine. Owens and Officer Lambert proceeded to the 23rd St. address and upon their arrival, Owens went upstairs where she met Ken and while there observed a kilogram of cocaine. She ordered six ounces of cocaine and returned to the car to get the money from Officer Lambert. After the officer gave Owens the cash, and while Owens was in the house, Lambert paced up and down the sidewalk in front of the house, attracting Ken's attention and prompting him to complain to Owens, why is she in a hurry. Makes everybody think she's the police. Owens completed the purchase of the cocaine from Cross and departed with Lambert. 80 Following these three controlled buys, Detective Gorecki conducted surveillance on the N. 23rd Street house in the early daylight hours two to three times a week for several weeks to see what else he could learn about this house (one of Ken's many drug distribution houses). Gorecki observed that the number 2958 appeared next to the door on the front porch but Gorecki never observed anyone entering or leaving the front or side doors. He also noticed that a red convertible Mustang was usually parked out front, and learned from checking the license plates that the car was registered in Reginald Johnson's name. Because the car was usually there early in the morning, Gorecki surmised that Reginald was sleeping there at night. Based on all this information, Gorecki reasonably came to believe that the girlfriend Owens had said she thought lived in the house might be Reginald's, not Dwight's. But he could not be sure of this; after all, the house was Kenneth's, and Kenneth had a number of women in his life whom he used to conceal his assets. Based on all the information gathered, it appeared to Detective Gorecki that Kenneth allowed Reginald and his girlfriend, Betsy Terry, 13 to stay in the lower flat, while he used the upstairs portion of the house as a cocaine distribution and storage center. Since his informants always connected the cocaine with the upstairs area of the house, Gorecki assumed that Reginald and his girlfriend (Betsy Terry) might well have lived in the downstairs portion. As Gorecki later swore in an affidavit, 81 Based on all the information available to me, I believed that the main targets [i.e., Kenneth Cross, Reginald Johnson et al.] of what was then a two-year investigation, had access to the entire premises, and utilized at least the upper portion of the building to store cocaine. I further believed from information from [Owens] that the upper unit was not used as a living quarters, and that those in the lower unit had access to the entire building.... That prior to executing the warrant, I concluded that the girlfriend [mentioned by Owens] living in the residence was the girlfriend of Reginald Johnson[.] 14 82 The three controlled buys were but one segment of a large-scale cocaine ring investigation and the 23rd Street house was just one of several houses involved in Kenneth's illegal activities. Based in part on the three controlled buys and on the evidence gathered through the use of other informants, on October 28, 1991, an Assistant U.S. Attorney drafted the following affidavit (based on Detective Gorecki's case notes) which was submitted in support of the application for warrants to search five of Kenneth's houses, including the house on N. 23rd Street: AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF SEARCH WARRANT 83 I, THOMAS GORECKI, being first duly sworn on oath, do depose and say, 84 1. That I am a detective with the City of Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) and have been so employed for the past fifteen (15) years. I have been assigned to the MPD Narcotics Division for five (5) years. For the past eight (8) months, I have been assigned to the Narcotics Section of the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Through my training and experience, I am familiar with the ways and means of cocaine trafficking in the Milwaukee Metropolitan area. 85 2. That for well over the past year, the DEA has been investigating a multi-kilogram cocaine dealer operating on the North side of Milwaukee, named KENNETH CROSS, DOB November 8, 1960. Interviews with confidential informants, and potential witnesses, examinations of financial records, police surveillance, and a series of controlled purchases of cocaine has [sic] disclosed that KENNETH CROSS is the leader of a family-centered, cocaine distribution network which distributes multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine in Milwaukee on a weekly basis. The CROSS distribution network includes CROSS family members, S.T. CROSS, JR. (brother), WILLIAM CROSS (brother), HELEN CROSS (mother), JOHN GRIFFIN (cousin), REGINALD JOHNSON, a/k/a FATS (cousin), along with DWIGHT JOHNSON a/k/a BOOKWORM, REGINA RAMSEY, CLEOTHA JOHNSON, a/k/a BIRDIE, and LINDA WESTMORELAND (girlfriend). 86      . That a review of the tax records for the years 1988 and 1990 shows that KENNETH CROSS failed to file any income tax returns in these years. In 1989, KENNETH CROSS declared rental income of $4,838.00. During the same periods, HELEN CROSS (mother), declared a gross income of $13,766.00 in 1988, and $13,649.00 in 1989. During those same years, KENNETH CROSS purchased at least seventeen (17) rental properties and along with HELEN CROSS, two (2) grocery stores, which were primarily financed with loans secured by other properties previously purchased with drug money. Additionally, on December 5, 1989, KENNETH CROSS paid $13,500.00 in cash to Kathleen Bennett, of Milwaukee, for a 1986 Corvette automobile. In the same year, KENNETH CROSS paid $18,000.00 in cash for the residence at 3079 North 25th Street in Milwaukee. On May 19, 1990, KENNETH CROSS paid $3,500.00 in cash for a Ford F-150 4X4 pickup truck. During 1987, HELEN CROSS made payments on a 1983 Porsche totalling more than $13,000.00. In 1988, HELEN CROSS paid $15,000.00, in cash, down on a 1986 Mercedes from Concours Motors, and $5,149.00 on a building loan from First Interstate. (The sales agreement for the Mercedes reflects that the document was originally signed by KENNETH CROSS and then changed to reflect HELEN CROSS.) During 1989, HELEN CROSS paid over $12,000.00 to First Interstate on secured indebtedness. These payments exceed by far the reported income for KENNETH CROSS and HELEN CROSS and indicate a pattern of concealing assets and laundering money derived from illegal activity. 87 5. A review of title reports and bank records reveals that within the past three (3) years, KENNETH CROSS, along with S.T. CROSS, JR., and HELEN CROSS has [sic] purchased the following Milwaukee real properties: 3704 West 4th Street 3023 North 22nd Street 3418 West Hadley Street 3007 North 20th Street 3007 North 24th Street 2147/2149 North 36th Street 3607 North 13th Street 3442 North 12th Street 3077/3079 North 25th Street 88 (Griffin Grocery Store) 3630 North 4th Street 89 6. That confidential informant (CI) # 1 is a former close associate of KENNETH CROSS and has received information regarding CROSS's cocaine distribution network directly from KENNETH CROSS and through personal observations. CI # 1 has been proven reliable through extensive debriefings with DEA agents in which CI # 1 has provided detailed information regarding numerous cocaine traffickers in the City of Milwaukee which has been repeatedly corroborated by DEA agents and by information available from other reliable confidential informants. CI # 1 has advised that Kenneth Cross has been distributing cocaine in Milwaukee for the past six (6) years utilizing family and close friends to distribute cocaine and conceal assets. CI # 1 has personally observed CROSS in control of at least six (6) kilograms of cocaine.... CI # 1 is further aware that the group distributes two (2) to three (3) kilograms of cocaine in Milwaukee per week and has purchased two (2) grocery stores, two (2) car washes, a fleet of luxury automobiles, and as many as seventeen (17) inner-city residences to generate rental income and for use as dope houses. 90 7. That CI # 2 has also provided detailed information regarding drug trafficking to your affiant, which has been independently corroborated by law enforcement officers. CI # 2 states that he has personally observed, within the past year, six (6) kilograms of cocaine at GRIFFIN'S GROCERY STORE, 3079 North 25th Street, as KENNETH CROSS, DWIGHT JOHNSON, REGINALD JOHNSON and others processed the cocaine for distribution. CI # 2 is also aware that CROSS conceals his drug-derived assets by placing the assets in other people's names. 91 8. That CI # 3 has been an MPD informant for several years and has provided information which has led to over twenty (20) search warrants and numerous arrests. CI # 3 has advised that CLEOTHA JOHNSON distributes cocaine from KENNETH CROSS through inner-city drug houses. CI # 3 is aware of this information for making purchases of cocaine from CLEOTHA JOHNSON. 92 9. That CI # 4 is a close associate of KENNETH CROSS, who has purchased cocaine from KENNETH CROSS or his subordinates numerous times over the past three (3) years. CI # 4 was trusted by KENNETH CROSS and other family members and was kept advised of the inner workings of the enterprise ... CI # 4 advises that KENNETH CROSS utilizes numerous girlfriends to conceal his assets and stores luxury vehicles in the garage of LINDA WESTMORELAND at 3745 North 53rd Street in Milwaukee.... 93 10. That CI # 5 has purchased cocaine directly from KENNETH CROSS on several occasions over the past six (6) months and has been present when KENNETH CROSS has spoken with CLEOTHA JOHNSON regarding their cocaine business. CI # 5 has also heard CROSS discussing the cocaine business with REGINALD JOHNSON and DWIGHT JOHNSON. 94 11. That utilizing the information gathered from the above-referenced and confidential informants, your affiant has arranged a series of controlled purchases of cocaine from KENNETH CROSS, GRIFFIN's GROCERY STORE, and residences owned by CROSS. The specifics of those controlled buys are as follows. 95 12. That at my direction, a cooperating individual has purchased cocaine under the following circumstances: 96