Opinion ID: 164462
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Initial Entry into the Apartment

Text: 18 The Fourth Amendment generally prohibits the warrantless entry of a person's home, whether to make an arrest or to search for specific objects. The prohibition does not apply, however, to situations in which voluntary consent has been obtained, either from the individual whose property is searched, or from a third party who possesses common authority over the premises. Illinois v. Rodriguez, 497 U.S. 177, 181, 110 S.Ct. 2793, 111 L.Ed.2d 148 (1990) (citations omitted). Abdenbi does not dispute that Bejaoui had authority to consent to the search of the apartment, but instead argues that Bejaoui's consent was not given voluntarily. 19 After examining the evidence presented at the hearing on the motion to suppress, the district court concluded that there was no evidence of force, threat or coercion of any kind. On appeal, Abdenbi relies on empirical data set forth in several law review articles and an unpublished Ph.D. dissertation to support the broad proposition that almost all encounters with law enforcement officers carry an air of menace and implicit coercion. From this he argues that Bejaoui's consent was involuntary because no reasonable person ever feels free to decline an officer's request for permission to enter or search. 20 We cannot accept Abdenbi's broad proposition because it would have the practical effect of preventing all district courts in this circuit from ever finding that an individual's cooperation with law enforcement officials was voluntary. The correct approach remains that articulated by the Supreme Court in Schneckloth: [T]he question whether a consent to a search was in fact `voluntary' or was the product of duress or coercion, express or implied, is a question of fact to be determined from the totality of all the circumstances. 412 U.S. at 227, 93 S.Ct. 2041. 21 Our review of the record convinces us the district court's finding that Bejaoui voluntarily consented to the search of the apartment is not clearly erroneous. Abdenbi lists the following factors as support for his assertion that Bejaoui's consent was not given voluntarily: (1) the request was made by three armed officers; (2) the encounter occurred in the early morning hours in a nonpublic place; and (3) the officers used aggressive language or tone of voice. We first note that there is absolutely no record support for Abdenbi's assertion that the agents used threatening language or that Mr. Bejaoui knew they were armed. Further, it is axiomatic that all requests to search a home or apartment are made in nonpublic places. 22 The district court's ruling was based on a consideration of the totality of the circumstances. Those circumstances indicate that Mr. Bejaoui was contacted at his home, early in the morning, by three federal agents dressed in civilian clothes. The record clearly indicates there were no threats made by any of the officers and no display of weapons or force. The agents testified that they arrived early in the morning because they hoped to speak to Jlassi before he left for work. The presence of three officers is neither inherently coercive nor dispositive to the district court's inquiry. The record is void of any indication that Bejaoui was threatened or coerced in any way. Accordingly, we conclude that the district court did not clearly err in finding that Bejaoui voluntarily consented to the search of the apartment. 23 Although the dissent analyzes whether Bejaoui's consent was broad enough to permit the agents to search the entire apartment and whether Bejaoui had authority to permit the agents to search Abdenbi's bedroom, that analysis is misplaced because those theories have never been argued in this case. There is no indication in the record that Abdenbi raised either argument in his suppression motion. The statements of Abdenbi's counsel cited by the dissent are insufficient to preserve the issues and are anything but a plain argument that the search exceeded the scope of Mr. Bejaoui's consent. Dissent at 1297-98. Counsel, instead, was responding to a protective sweep argument made by the government. He then returned to his main point: that a reasonable person in Abdenbi's position would not have felt free to terminate the encounter. Counsel's illusory scope argument was obviously not plain to the district court either, since the court responded to counsel's statements as follows: 24 Well, let me ask you this, because the ability to terminate an encounter is also integral to any of these decisions. So what does the Supreme Court ruling mean here? 25 The dissent does not indicate where in the record the authority issue was raised. The district court's order, therefore, predictably contains no discussion of either the scope or the authority issue. The dissent concedes as much when it acknowledges that, [t]he district court, however, expressly concluded only that Mr. Bejaoui consented `to the agents' entrance.' Dissent at 1296. The well-settled law of this circuit is that issues not raised in district court may not be raised for the first time on appeal. O'Connor v. City & County of Denver, 894 F.2d 1210, 1214 (10th Cir.1990). 26 Further, the issues were not raised in Abdenbi's opening brief. Instead, his argument focused solely on whether Bejaoui's consent was given freely and voluntarily. The failure to raise an issue in an opening brief waives that issue. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Mhoon, 31 F.3d 979, 984 n. 7 (10th Cir.1994). Abdenbi does allude to the scope issue in his reply brief when he responds to an issue raised by the government in its brief. Abdenbi's argument is cursory, as evidenced by his citation to a single, marginally relevant case. Dubbs v. Head Start, Inc., 336 F.3d 1194, 1202 n. 4 (10th Cir.2003) (concluding that even an issue raised before the district court is waived if it is not adequately developed on appeal). His reply brief contains absolutely no discussion of the dissent's main point: that Bejaoui lacked authority to consent to a search of the entire apartment. Even assuming, as the dissent believes, that the scope issue was given significant attention at oral argument, our precedent holds that issues may not be raised for the first time at oral argument. Durham v. Xerox Corp., 18 F.3d 836, 841 n. 4 (10th Cir.1994). 27 The dissent thus advocates reversal in this case based on two theories not properly raised or briefed by Abdenbi and relies on Singleton v. Wulff, 428 U.S. 106, 121, 96 S.Ct. 2868, 49 L.Ed.2d 826 (1976) and Sussman v. Patterson, 108 F.3d 1206, 1210 (10th Cir.1997) for the sweeping proposition that this court should exercise its discretion to reverse on the basis of issues not raised below when a case presents important constitutional issues. Dissent at 1298. Neither Singleton nor Sussman, however, provides any support for the dissent's approach. In Singleton, the Court reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeals, concluding that the appellate court's resolution of an issue not addressed by one of the parties because it had no opportunity to do so, was an unacceptable exercise of its appellate jurisdiction. 428 U.S. at 119-21, 96 S.Ct. 2868 ([I]njustice was more likely to be caused than avoided by deciding the issue without petitioner's having had an opportunity to be heard.). In Sussman, the issue addressed by this court had been briefed fully by the parties and involve[d] a pure legal issue. 108 F.3d at 1210. In the case at bar, the issue has not been fully briefed by the parties and its resolution involves questions of fact, not purely legal questions. United States v. Pena, 920 F.2d 1509, 1514 (10th Cir.1990) (Whether a search remains within the boundaries of the consent is a question of fact to be determined from the totality of the circumstances, and a trial court's findings will be upheld unless they are clearly erroneous). This court should neither raise sua sponte an argument not advanced by a party either before the district court or on appeal, nor then advocate a particular position and resolve the appeal based on that advocacy. Given Abdenbi's failure to properly raise, brief, and argue the scope and authority issues, the dissent's discussion and resolution of those issues is contrary to established precedent. Walker v. Mather (In re Walker), 959 F.2d 894, 896 (10th Cir.1992) ([A] federal appellate court does not consider an issue not passed upon below. (quotation omitted)); Perry v. Woodward, 199 F.3d 1126, 1141 n. 13 (10th Cir.1999) (This court ... will not craft a party's arguments for him.). 28 This case illustrates perfectly the soundness of that precedent. Because the scope and authority issues were not presented to the district court, that court made no factual findings necessary to resolve the issues raised sua sponte in the dissent. Notwithstanding the dissent's recognition that the scope of consent is a question of fact, it nevertheless reaches its conclusion by substituting for the trial court as a factfinder and assuming the facts in Abdenbi's favor. Dissent at 1296 (citing Pena, 920 F.2d at 1514, for the proposition that the scope of consent involves questions of fact). Thereafter, the dissent consistently treats Abdenbi as a co-tenant and relies on cases dependant on co-tenancy status to resolve the authority issue. The record, however, never establishes Abdenbi's status in the apartment or addresses whether Bejaoui and Abdenbi had mutual use of the entire apartment. United States v. Rith, 164 F.3d 1323, 1329-30 (10th Cir.1999) (Mutual use of property by virtue of joint access is a fact-intensive inquiry which requires findings by a court that the third party entered the premises or room at will, without the consent of the subject of the search. (emphasis added)). Contrary to the dissent's interpretation of Rith, the case does not stand for the proposition that a co-tenant relationship creates a rebuttable presumption that neither co-tenant has control over the property of the other. Dissent at 1297 n.2. Rith held only that a co-tenant relationship does not create a presumption of control. Abdenbi's failure to raise the authority issue in the district court undercuts any criticism of the government's failure to introduce evidence of mutual use. 29 The record does suggest that Abdenbi was not a permanent co-tenant. Agent Grubb testified that Abdenbi indicated he was staying there for a short period with Mr. Jlassi. Thus, a factual assumption that Abdenbi was a mere short-term guest is far more justified than the factual assumption made by the dissent. Any assumption, however, is inappropriate in a case like this where the parties developed the record only on the issues they raised. As a consequence, we do not make any such factual assumptions on the issues raised only by the dissent or speculate on whether the agents' actions exceeded the scope or authority of Bejaoui's consent. Instead, we adhere to our precedent and do not further address the sua sponte issues in the dissent.