Opinion ID: 567926
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mata's Challenge To The District Court's Suppression Ruling.

Text: 28 At the suppression hearing held in the instant case, DEA Special Agent Jonathan Wilson testified that after the agents arrested Mata and Marmolejo, Perez told him that the [buy] money was in apartment 39 and that there were other people in the apartment who expected Perez, Mata, and Marmolejo to return soon. Because a prolonged absence of the trio from the apartment could have made the occupants of the apartment suspicious, Wilson testified that unless the agents acted quickly, he was afraid that the buy money would be destroyed or moved. Wilson further testified that because he could not see the entrance to apartment 39 or whether the building had any rear exits or escapes, he feared that the other defendants in the apartment might flee. Accordingly, although he did not have a search warrant, Wilson decided to go directly to apartment 39. Upon reaching the apartment, Wilson testified that the agents knocked on the door and announced police in both Spanish and English. Although no one answered the door, the agents heard scuffling sounds and people speaking in Spanish. At that point, the agents forced open the door. 29 Upon entering the apartment, the agents saw and arrested defendants Medina and Polanco. Agent Wilson testified that near the entrance to the apartment, he saw a large sum of money in bundles strewn about a table. The agents seized the cash. Agent Wilson and the other agents then conducted a protective sweep of the premises. Wilson testified that upon entering Mata's bedroom, he saw a partially opened plastic gun case on a table next to the bed. Inside the case, which was similar to his own, he observed the butt of a gun and two magazines. One of the magazines was loaded into the gun. Agent Wilson seized the gun case and its contents, which were later determined to be a loaded .9 millimeter pistol and a spare loaded magazine. Mata's common law wife, Rosanna Monzon, was the only witness who testified on behalf of Mata at the hearing. She testified, among other things, that she was present in the kitchen when the DEA agents arrived and that she saw no money on the dining room table when the agents entered the apartment. She further testified that she had not previously seen a gun anywhere in the apartment. 30 The district court found that exigent circumstances justified the warrantless entry. The court determined that the agents had probable cause to believe that a crime had been committed and that two of the defendants were still present in the apartment. The court then found that under the circumstances, the agents had to act quickly and enter the apartment to prevent the destruction or moving of evidence or the escape of the remaining defendants. See United States v. Miles, 889 F.2d 382, 383 (2d Cir.1989) (per curiam). In addition, the court credited the testimony of Agent Wilson and found that the physical evidence was in plain view and properly seized. On appeal, Mata argues that the district court erred in finding that exigent circumstances existed. Mata also challenges the seizure of the weapon found in his apartment. We find Mata's arguments unpersuasive. 31 Warrantless searches and seizures of an individual's home by law enforcement officers are presumptively unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment, unless exigent circumstances exist requiring entry before the officers could obtain a warrant. See Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 585-86, 589-90, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 1379-80, 1381-82, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980); United States v. MacDonald, 916 F.2d 766, 769 (2d Cir.1990) (en banc), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1071, 112 L.Ed.2d 1177 (1991); Zabare, 871 F.2d at 289; United States v. Cattouse, 846 F.2d 144, 146 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 929, 109 S.Ct. 316, 102 L.Ed.2d 335 (1988). A district court's finding that exigent circumstances existed justifying such a warrantless entry will not be overturned unless it is clearly erroneous. MacDonald, 916 F.2d at 769; Cattouse, 846 F.2d at 146. 32 [T]he test for determining whether a warrantless entry is justified by exigent circumstances is an objective one.... MacDonald, 916 F.2d at 769; Zabare, 871 F.2d at 291. The district court must determine, considering the totality of the circumstances of the particular case, whether law enforcement agents were confronted by an 'urgent need' to render aid or take action. MacDonald, 916 F.2d at 769 (quoting Dorman v. United States, 435 F.2d 385, 391 (D.C.Cir.1970) (en banc)); see also Miles, 889 F.2d at 383. To guide the district court's inquiry into whether exigent circumstances exist, we have adopted the factors set forth in Dorman, 435 F.2d at 392-93. See, e.g., MacDonald, 916 F.2d at 769; United States v. Crespo, 834 F.2d 267, 270 (2d Cir.1987), cert. denied, 485 U.S. 1007, 108 S.Ct. 1471, 99 L.Ed.2d 700 (1988). As summarized in MacDonald, a district court should consider: 33 (1) the gravity or violent nature of the offense with which the suspect is to be charged; (2) whether the suspect is reasonably believed to be armed; (3) a clear showing of probable cause ... to believe that the suspect committed the crime; (4) strong reason to believe that the suspect is in the premises being entered; (5) a likelihood that the suspect will escape if not swiftly apprehended; and (6) the peaceful circumstances of the entry. 34 916 F.2d at 769-70 (citations omitted). These factors are merely illustrative, not exhaustive, and the presence or absence of any one factor is not conclusive. Id. at 770; Cattouse, 846 F.2d at 147 (citation omitted). 35 Applying these standards to the instant case, Judge Keenan's finding that there were exigent circumstances justifying the warrantless entry was not clearly erroneous. The suspects were in the midst of a large scale narcotics transaction. Moreover, as the district court found, based on their own observations and on the report of the DEA informant Perez, the DEA agents clearly had probable cause to believe that Medina and Polanco participated in the conspiracy and were inside Mata's apartment with the buy money. Most importantly, because the defendants remaining in the apartment expected Perez, Mata, and Marmolejo to return shortly, any prolonged delay in their return while the agents obtained a warrant would create a substantial risk that they would discover that the plan had gone awry. The agents did not know whether there were any rear exits or escapes from the building. Under these circumstances, it was objectively reasonable to conclude that immediate entry was necessary to prevent the destruction or hiding of the buy money, see Miles, 889 F.2d at 383; United States v. Gallo-Roman, 816 F.2d 76, 79 (2d Cir.1987), or the escape of suspects. 36 We note further that by knocking and announcing that they were law enforcement officers, the agents acted according to the law and attempted a  'peaceful entry.'  MacDonald, 916 F.2d at 771 (citation omitted). Although Mata contends that the agents created the exigency by knocking on the apartment door, it is plain from the foregoing that the exigent circumstances existed prior to the knocking. Moreover, even assuming that there were no exigent circumstances prior to the knock, the agents did not wrongfully create such circumstances by knocking and announcing their presence. Simply because a suspect reacts to the knock and announcement by attempting to escape, destroy evidence, or engage in any other unlawful activity, does not prevent law enforcement agents from lawfully interdicting such activity. MacDonald, 916 F.2d at 771. As we held in MacDonald, when law enforcement officers act in an entirely lawful manner, they do not impermissibly create exigent circumstances. Id. at 772. Accordingly, we hold that the district court correctly found that exigent circumstances existed justifying the warrantless entry into Mata's apartment. 37 Once lawfully inside the apartment, and following the arrests of Medina and Polanco, the agents properly conducted a protective sweep of the premises to determine if other people were there who might threaten their safety. See Maryland v. Buie, 494 U.S. 325, 110 S.Ct. 1093, 1099-1100, 108 L.Ed.2d 276 (1990); United States v. Mickens, 926 F.2d 1323, 1328 (2d Cir.1991); United States v. Oguns, 921 F.2d 442, 446-47 (2d Cir.1990); United States v. Jackson, 778 F.2d 933, 937 (2d Cir.1985), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 910, 107 S.Ct. 308, 93 L.Ed.2d 282 (1986). During this protective sweep, Agent Wilson saw the .9 millimeter pistol lying in the partially opened gun case in Mata's bedroom. Although Mata contends that the weapon was not in plain view because the case was not sufficiently ajar, the district court credited Wilson's testimony to the contrary, and there is no indication in the record that the district court's finding was clearly erroneous. Because the gun was in plain view, and Agent Wilson had probable cause to believe that the weapon was evidence of a crime, its seizure during the protective sweep was not improper. Buie, 110 S.Ct. at 1096; Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321, 326, 107 S.Ct. 1149, 1153, 94 L.Ed.2d 347 (1987); Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 465, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 2037, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971) (plurality opinion).