Opinion ID: 795725
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Suppression Under the Fourth Amendment

Text: 29 Having determined that the district court erred when it applied an exclusionary remedy for the Government's violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1357(a)(2), we must also consider whether Abdi's warrantless arrest was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. We begin our Fourth Amendment analysis with the Government's argument that we should reverse the district court's suppression of Abdi's statements and the derivative evidence, regardless of whether the arrest violated 8 U.S.C. § 1357(a)(2), because the arrest was conducted in a public place and supported by probable cause, and therefore the Government was not required to obtain a warrant to comply with the Fourth Amendment. 14 30 The Fourth Amendment protects [t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures .... U.S. Const. amend. IV. It is a well-settled principle of constitutional jurisprudence that an arrest without probable cause constitutes an unreasonable seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Ingram v. City of Columbus, 185 F.3d 579, 592-93 (6th Cir.1999) (internal citation omitted). However, a warrantless arrest by a law officer is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment where the arrest is in public and there is probable cause to believe that a criminal offense has been or is being committed. United States v. Watson, 423 U.S. 411, 417-24, 96 S.Ct. 820, 46 L.Ed.2d 598 (1976). To determine whether an officer had probable cause to arrest an individual, we examine the events leading up to the arrest, and then decide `whether these historical facts, viewed from the standpoint of an objectively reasonable... officer, amount to' probable cause. Maryland v. Pringle, 540 U.S. 366, 371, 124 S.Ct. 795, 157 L.Ed.2d 769 (2003) ( quoting Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 696, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996)), quoted in United States v. Romero, 452 F.3d 610, 615-16 (6th Cir.2006). The issue in this case is whether, based on the information known at the time of the arrest, a reasonable JTTF agent could conclude that there was probable cause to believe that Abdi committed the crime of providing material support or resources to designated foreign terrorist organizations, a felony under 18 U.S.C. § 2339B. 31 The district court found that the Government had probable cause to execute an administrative arrest based on the information provided by the FBI and set forth in the Turgal Declaration. Specifically, the district court found the facts establishing probable cause included: (1) the statement by Faris, a self-confessed Al Qaeda operative, that Abdi told him he intended to shoot up a mall with an automatic weapon; (2) ascertainment of information from Faris' computer indicating Abdi had sent him e-mails in 2001 about surveillance equipment that could be purchased; (3) independent corroboration that Abdi had relationships with known terrorists; and (4) telephone activity from Abdi's phone number to approximately forty other numbers connected to FBI terrorism cases. (JA 101-02.) The briefs do not challenge the district court's finding that, by the time Abdi was arrested, the Government had probable cause to believe he was a national security risk as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1182. (JA 28, 74, 101-02, 171, 216, 480, 487.) Rather, Abdi contends that the Government did not have probable cause to believe he was a felon and that the arrest therefore violated his rights under the Fourth Amendment. 15 Abdi's argument misconstrues the law. 32 An arresting officer's state of mind, except for the facts that he knows, is irrelevant to the existence of probable cause. Devenpeck v. Alford, 543 U.S. 146, 153, 125 S.Ct. 588, 160 L.Ed.2d 537 (2004), citing Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 812-13, 116 S.Ct. 1769, 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996). Thus, despite Abdi's argument to the contrary, it is constitutionally irrelevant that the ICE officers' reason for arresting him was their belief that he was in violation of immigration laws, and not that he was a felon. There is no question that, at the time of Abdi's arrest, the arresting officers possessed all of the information contained in the Turgal Declaration, and that the information was sufficient to establish probable cause to believe that Abdi was a national security risk. Specifically, the Government alleges that at the time of his arrest Abdi was barred from admission to the United States on three grounds: 33
34 (2) engaging in terrorist activity by threatening the use of a firearm in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)(i)(I) and 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)(iii)(V) and (VI); and 35 (3) planning, inciting and soliciting terrorist activity with intent to cause death or serious bodily harm in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)(iv)(I)-(III) and (V). 36 As the Government points out, virtually the same conduct is embraced by 18 U.S.C. § 2339B, one of the criminal statutes under which Abdi was subsequently indicted. Specifically, 18 U.S.C. § 2339B makes it a crime to provide material support or resources to designated terrorist organizations and provides in pertinent part: 37 Whoever knowingly provides material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both, and, if the death of any person results, shall be imprisoned for any terms of years or for life. To violate this paragraph, a person must have knowledge that the organization is a designated terrorist organization (as defined in subsection (g)(6)), that the organization has engaged or engages in terrorist activity (as defined in section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act), or that the organization has engaged or engages in terrorism.... 38 18 U.S.C. § 2339B(a)(1). Based on a review of the immigration statute, which constituted the predicate for Abdi's arrest, and 18 U.S.C. § 2339B, under which Abdi was charged, we believe that there is substantial identity between the two statutes and agree with the district court that the Turgal Declaration, setting out the Government's case, reeks of probable cause. 16 (JA 487.) 39 As the Supreme Court has repeatedly explained, the [s]ubjective intent of the arresting officer, however it is determined..., is simply no basis for invalidating an arrest. Those are lawfully arrested whom the facts known to the arresting officers give probable cause to arrest. Devenpeck, 543 U.S. at 154-55, 125 S.Ct. 588; see Whren, 517 U.S. at 813, 116 S.Ct. 1769 (constitutional reasonableness of traffic stop does not depend on actual motivations of the individual officers involved). Therefore, all that matters is whether the arresting officers possessed knowledge of evidence sufficient to establish probable cause that Abdi was engaged in the commission of a felony at the time of his public warrantless arrest. Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 598, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980) (distinguishing between warrantless arrests in homes and in public); Watson, 423 U.S. at 423-24, 96 S.Ct. 820 (declining to transform this judicial preference [for a warrant] into a constitutional rule when the judgment of the Nation and Congress has for so long been to authorize warrantless public arrests on probable cause ....). 40 The Supreme Court has made it clear that there is no requirement that the offense establishing probable cause must be `closely related' to, and based on the same conduct as, the offense identified by the arresting officer at the time of arrest.... Devenpeck, 543 U.S. at 153, 125 S.Ct. 588. Yet, the substantial identity between the immigration statute and criminal statute in this case further supports our holding that the district court considered the facts before it and found, albeit not expressly in its opinion, that the Government had probable cause to believe that Abdi was a member of a terrorist organization, had made a threat to engage in an act against the United States, and had solicited others to engage in that act. (JA 95-102.) Because we find that the district court properly concluded that Abdi's arrest was based on probable cause that he was in violation of immigration laws set forth in 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)(iv), which also constitute felony offenses under 18 U.S.C. § 2339B, 17 and the arrest was made in public, 18 we conclude that no violation of the Fourth Amendment resulted from the warrantless arrest. Payton, 445 U.S. 590-92, 100 S.Ct. 1371; Watson, 432 U.S. at 423, 97 S.Ct. 2399. Therefore, we hold that Abdi's constitutional rights were not implicated by his warrantless arrest and application of the exclusionary rule is inappropriate. Accordingly, the district court erred in granting Abdi's motion to suppress based on the Fourth Amendment. 19