Opinion ID: 2960160
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Search of Valentine’s Apartment

Text: Special Agent Yoos, parked up the street a few blocks, arrived at 377 Vernon shortly after Valentine’s arrest. Special Agent Yoos then called for Sergeant Hoehl and Det. Crockett to accompany him to Valentine’s apartment. When they knocked on the door, Valentine’s wife, Annette Pena Morales, answered. She appeared as though she had just awakened and looked nervous, concerned, but also calm. Special Agent Yoos told Morales that he and the other officers were working on a narcotics case and that they had just arrested Valentine. Morales told the officers that she lived there with Valentine and their two children. She stated that she had been looking out the window and had witnessed Valentine’s arrest. Special Agent Yoos then asked Morales if they could come inside to discuss the matter further. Morales allowed the officers to enter the apartment. Special Agent Yoos informed her that her husband had just been arrested for a very serious narcotics offense. He then asked Morales if other people had been in the apartment earlier that day, and Morales said that her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend had visited. Special Agent Yoos asked if other people were currently in the apartment, and Morales said no. 5 As to what next transpired, Morales’s testimony varies significantly from that of the officers.7 According to the officers, Special Agent Yoos asked Morales if any guns or drugs were in her apartment and she denied that such items were present. She said that she had been asleep until a few moments before Valentine was arrested. Special Agent Yoos then asked her if they could search the apartment. Morales agreed, and Special Agent Yoos gave Morales a consent to search form. He read the form to Morales and told her that it allowed the officers to search her apartment. The consent form provides: 1. I have been asked to permit special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration to search 377 Vernon Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment 2. 2. I have not been threatened or forced in any way. 3. I freely consent to the search. Morales signed the form. Morales initially denied that there was any contraband in the apartment as the officers began to search.8 Special Agent Yoos warned her that if they found a gun that she had not told them about, she would be in trouble. Eventually, she told the officers that there was a gun in a 7 According to Morales, she gave consent for the officers to search the home, but only to look for people, not contraband. She stated that the officers had asked if they could take a look inside her apartment because they had seen two men come out of the apartment earlier in the day. She gave the officers permission to look around for the two men they mentioned, but she denies that she gave them permission to search for anything else. In addition, Morales stated that the officers did not present the consent to search form to her until after they had discovered the guns in the bedroom. She said that the officers told her that if she did not sign it, everything they found would be attributable to her, and if she was charged with anything, she would probably lose her children. She stated that she signed the form because they had already searched the apartment and she did not think she was able to make them leave. After searching her apartment for approximately six hours, the officers instructed her to get dressed and then they arrested her. The district court did not credit Morales's testimony to the extent it conflicted with the testimony of the officers. See infra p. 9. 8 After the officers’ initial entry, two additional officers came to the apartment to assist in the search. 6 corner closet and two guns in a locked box. Det. Crockett discovered a shotgun inside a drawstring bag hanging on a door in the bedroom. In the upper corner of the bedroom closet, Det. Crockett found a locked fireproof box. After he found the key and unlocked it, he discovered two pistols inside the box. Morales told the officers that the guns belonged to Valentine. Det. Crockett also found a few glassine bags of heroin in a bedside table drawer. The officers then arrested Morales. When the officers later questioned Valentine at their office, he told them that Morales was not involved and that he took responsibility for the evidence seized in the apartment.