Opinion ID: 461076
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Reliance on Information Supplied by Caruso

Text: 12 Merriweather argues that the warrant to search room 65 was invalid because it was based on information illegally obtained from Caruso. Specifically, Merriweather argues that there was no probable cause to arrest Caruso, and that the police questioned Caruso after arresting him without reading his rights. These contentions are meritless. The district court found the following facts, which Merriweather does not dispute: 13 At the time agents confronted Caruso, they knew that he was an associate of Merriweather's; that he was currently on parole for bank robbery; that he had recently been seen taking items from a car parked outside the motel room and that the same car was used as a getaway car in the July 19th robbery in which Merriweather was a prime suspect; and that two men answering Caruso's and Merriweather's general descriptions had just robbed a nearby bank. 14 These are sufficient facts for a prudent man to believe that Caruso had just committed a bank robbery, and therefore there was probable cause for Caruso's arrest. See Beck v. Ohio, 379 U.S. 89, 91, 85 S.Ct. 223, 225, 13 L.Ed.2d 142 (1964). As for the allegation that the post-arrest questioning was illegal, the district court found as a fact that Caruso was advised of and waived his rights, and Merriweather has shown no evidence at all, beyond the bare allegation in his brief, that that finding was erroneous. We therefore hold that there was no impropriety in the arrest or questioning of Caruso. Thus we need not consider whether Merriweather has standing to assert a violation of Caruso's rights that led to the search of Merriweather's room. 15