Opinion ID: 886772
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: issues

Text: ¶13. Was Bateman's arrest based on a reasonable mistake? ¶14. Bateman argues that his arrest was illegal as he was not actually the Thomas Bateman specified in the arrest warrant. Therefore, he continues, the evidence obtained in the subsequent search cannot be proffered against him, and the charges against him must be dismissed. When arresting a person in his own home, the government is required to obtain a warrant specific to that person. U.S. Const. amend. IV ([N]o warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. ) (emphasis added); Payton v. New York (1980), 445 U.S. 573, 586, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 1380, 63 L.Ed.2d 639, 651 (It is a `basic principle of Fourth Amendment law' that searches and seizures inside a home without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable.). In this case, because the authorities had not issued a warrant for the Thomas Bateman whom they arrested, they arrested him without a valid warrant. However, because there are exceptions to the warrant requirement, this does not necessarily mean that Bateman's arrest was illegal. ¶15. A very similar issue arose in Hill v. California (1971), 401 U.S. 797, 91 S.Ct. 1106, 28 L.Ed.2d 484. In Hill the police had probable cause to arrest the defendant, and therefore lawfully entered his residence hoping to make the arrest. Hill, 401 U.S. at 802-03, 91 S.Ct. at 1110, 28 L.Ed.2d at 489. There they found a man, Miller, who matched Hill's physical description, and therefore arrested him. Hill, 401 U.S. at 803-04, 91 S.Ct. at 1110, 28 L.Ed.2d at 489. In arresting him they found evidence in plain view incriminating Hill. Hill, 401 U.S. at 803, 91 S.Ct. at 1110, 28 L.Ed.2d at 489. The Court stated that because the police reasonably believed that Miller was Hill, their arrest was reasonable and so was the accompanying search. Hill, 401 U.S. at 804, 91 S.Ct. at 1111, 28 L.Ed.2d at 490 ([S]ufficient probability, not certainty, is the touchstone of reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment and on the record before us the officers' mistake was understandable and the arrest a reasonable response to the situation facing them at the time.). ¶16. Hill did not involve a warrant. However, the case did involve an arrest based on a reasonable mistake of identity that led to an otherwise unquestionably legal acquisition of evidence. This Court has not examined a Hill question before, but several other courts have found Hill applicable when the police mistakenly arrest a person because his name and other characteristics are the same as those on the arrest warrant. Hill v. Scott (8th Cir. 2003), 349 F.3d 1068, 1073-74; Rodriguez v. Farrell (11th Cir. 2002), 280 F.3d 1341,1347-48 (stating that similarities in name and physical description were close enough to make for a reasonable mistake); Blackwell v. Barton (5th Cir. 1994), 34 F.3d 298, 304 (The person he arrested was of the same height and weight, sex, race, age, nickname, and at the location where [the officer] expected to find the person in the warrant); Patton v. Przybylski (7th Cir. 1987), 822 F.2d 697, 698-700 (holding as reasonable the arrest of a person with the same name, race, and age as that on an outstanding arrest warrant). Courts have ruled against the authorities in mistaken identity cases where there has been deliberate warrant tampering or where there was no correlation other than the persons' names. Brown v. Byer (5th Cir. 1989), 870 F.2d 975, 978-79 (sustaining a jury finding that an officer altered identifying information on the warrant); Simons v. Marin County (N.D. Cal. 1987), 682 F.Supp. 1463. In Simons, the authorities had evidence that the arrestee and the person on the warrant had different middle names, different ages, and residences in different areas of California. Simons, 682 F.Supp. at 1466-67. Because the authorities went ahead with the arrest even in the face of this evidence, the court ruled that the arrest was not based on a reasonable mistake. ¶17. In this case, however, the officers had evidence that Bateman and the Bateman on the outstanding warrant had similar ages, lived in the same area, and had similar physical characteristics. Unlike in Simons, the officers quickly sought to verify whether Bateman's protests regarding mistaken identity were true. It appears that the two Batemans had different middle names, but the officers were not aware of that fact ahead of time. In such circumstances, where all other indications point toward a congruence of the arrestee and the person described in the warrant, we cannot expect police officers to verify every detail that might reveal mistaken identity prior to confronting the suspect. The Eighth Circuit recently reached the same conclusion in Hill v. Scott, 349 F.3d 1068. In that case, an officer radioed a dispatcher and asked if there were any warrants for a Brian Hill. Hill v. Scott, 349 F.3d at 1070. The dispatcher said there was one for a Brian Walter Hill and the physical description and age of the Brian Walter Hill matched that of the Brian Hill the officer was investigating. The officer did not know the middle name of the Brian Hill whom he wanted to arrest, but the court ruled that investigation of such a level of detail was not constitutionally necessary before the arrest. Hill v. Scott, 349 F.3d at 1074 (The question is, how much investigation does the Constitution require? In light of all the circumstances, we hold [the officer] had sufficient consistent identifying information to reasonably conclude the warrant was for appellant Hill . . . .). ¶18. Therefore, in light of Hill v. California (1971), 401 U.S. 797, 91 S.Ct. 1106, 28 L.Ed.2d 484, and its progeny, we hold that the officers in the instant case acted reasonably, albeit mistakenly, in arresting Bateman. Because the arrest was reasonable, the subsequent discovery of incriminating evidence was legal and the evidence is thus admissible.