Opinion ID: 63259
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Arrest of Zavala and Pompa

Text: On July 16, 2004, Moreman followed Rivera as he left his Miramar Shores residence. When he stopped at a red light, Moreman dialed the phone number for Gorro and observed that Rivera answered his cell phone. [2] The agents followed Rivera to his other residence on Tall Timbers. Rivera drove a Ford pickup and parked in the driveway. Moreman had no information  from a confidential source or otherwise  that there was going to be a drug transaction at the Tall Timbers residence on that date. After Rivera drove the pickup into the driveway, Moreman initiated fluid surveillance of the location. [3] The agents' observations were being broadcast over police radio. Because Moreman's knowledge of the events occurring at the Tall Timbers residence was based on fluid surveillance, he was unable to recount every detail of the interaction among Rivera, Pompa, and Zavala. Shortly after Rivera parked in the driveway of the Tall Timbers residence, Zavala and Pompa arrived in a Ford Taurus. At that time, the DEA agents did not recognize Pompa or Zavala from any previous investigation. The Taurus and the pickup parked next to each other and faced the same direction. Zavala was driving the Taurus, and Pompa was sitting in the passenger seat. The agents observed Pompa remove some unidentified items from the Taurus, place them into a cardboard box, and put the box into Rivera's pickup. The DEA agents did not see Zavala load or move the cardboard box; he was merely standing outside the Taurus. Agent Richard Hicks testified that he could not observe the shape or the identity of the items that Pompa placed into the cardboard box. However, the DEA agents suspected that they were witnessing a drug transaction between Rivera, Pompa, and Zavala. Shortly thereafter, the agents observed Rivera leave the Tall Timbers residence, enter a mechanic's shop down the street, and exit carrying a large pair of pliers. Rivera drove back to the Tall Timbers residence and again parked next to the Taurus. The agents suspected that Rivera retrieved the pliers in order to open a secret compartment in the Taurus containing contraband; however, the agents did not actually see what Rivera did with the pliers. Two surveillance teams followed the pickup and the Taurus as they left the Tall Timbers residence. At that time, the agents did not know the location of the cardboard box or its contents. Because the agents suspected that they had just witnessed a drug deal, Moreman instructed a uniformed officer to stop the Taurus on Beltway 8 in Houston. Zavala did not commit a traffic violation before being pulled over. Zavala and Pompa were removed from the Taurus and immediately separated. Their wallets and cell phones were removed from their persons and placed on the roof of the Taurus. Moreman arrived on the scene shortly after the stop. Hicks and Moreman initially interviewed Pompa. A few minutes later, Hicks left Pompa and began to interview Zavala. At some later point, Moreman also interviewed Zavala. At trial, Moreman testified that he interviewed Zavala for twenty minutes and searched his cell phone. He testified that Zavala's subscriber number was the 6323 number. He also identified the subpoenaed phone records for the 6323 number. Moreman agreed that he had to open[ ] up the phone to see what the number was. According to Hicks, Zavala gave oral consent to search the vehicle after the initial stop, but the agents did not uncover any drugs during this first vehicle search. It is unclear whether the search of Zavala's cell phone occurred before or after Zavala first gave his oral consent to search the Taurus. Instead of claiming that the search of the cell phone was consensual, Moreman testified that the search was incident to arrest. Zavala and Pompa gave conflicting stories about the owner of the Taurus and the purpose of their trip. Both men denied the existence of any cardboard box. During the interview, Moreman realized that he recognized Pompa from an earlier undercover drug operation, which had not resulted in a drug seizure or Pompa's arrest. After the initial stop of the Taurus, the agents approached Rivera in the front yard of his Miramar Shores residence, where they questioned him about his activity at the Tall Timbers residence. After the first vehicle search of the Taurus was unsuccessful, the agents handcuffed Zavala, put him into the back of a police car, and transported him to the Miramar Shores address where Rivera was being interviewed. Another agent drove the Taurus to the Miramar Shores address. Rivera consented to follow the officers to his Tall Timbers residence and to a search of his detached garage and shed. Zavala remained in the police car at Miramar Shores while the police searched at Tall Timbers; he was probably handcuffed and definitely not free to leave. After a narcotics detection canine alerted to a red suitcase at Tall Timbers, Rivera confessed to the agents that Zavala and Pompa had just delivered twenty-four kilograms of cocaine to him at the Tall Timbers address earlier that day. Rivera had assisted the two men in retrieving the cocaine from the Taurus, and then he transported it back to his Miramar Shores residence. Rivera directed the agents to the twenty-four kilograms of cocaine in the attic of his Miramar Shores residence, and then told the agents that there was an extra kilogram of cocaine stuck inside the Taurus because he was not able to remove it with the pliers. According to Rivera, Zavala initially contacted him about the cocaine transaction. Moreman testified that the canine alerted to the suitcase at the Tall Timbers residence about one hour after the initial stop of the Taurus. After Rivera confessed, the agents asked Zavala for oral consent to search the Taurus a second time, which was given. According to Moreman, Zavala gave his second consent to search about one hour and fifteen minutes after the initial stop of the Taurus. Hicks testified that it could have been more than one hour and thirty minutes. Other testimony indicated that it could have been even longer. The second search was more thorough than the first. During this second search of the Taurus at Miramar Shores, the agents located one kilogram of cocaine in a secret compartment. Zavala also signed a consent form that allowed agents to conduct a warrantless search of his Ann Louise residence, which uncovered $27,000 in cash. Hicks testified that the search of Zavala's residence occurred about four hours after the initial stop of the Taurus. Pompa testified that he rode with Zavala in the Taurus to deliver cocaine to the Tall Timbers residence. He also identified Zavala as Nejo. According to Pompa, he called Zavala on his cellular phone on July 15 and 16, 2004. Pompa identified Zavala's cell phone number as the 6323 number and stated that the calls he made to Zavala related to the drug transaction. He stated that he did not call Zavala on any cell phone number other than the one he identified. Pompa also testified that his cell phone was immediately confiscated by Moreman when he was stopped in the Taurus. On cross examination, Zavala questioned Pompa's credibility and motive for testifying against him.