Opinion ID: 78335
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Probable Cause for Parker's Arrest

Text: Parker argues that there were no circumstances related to his detention on 31 March 1988 which justified his arrest without a warrant. He maintains that the actions and activities of the law enforcement officers at his residence and at the Sheriff's Office indicate that he was not free to leave and was under the custody and control of the Sheriff's Department. Alabama responds that, because the state court's decision regarding the use of Parker's statement was based on its application of New York v. Harris, 495 U.S. 14, 110 S.Ct. 1640, 109 L.Ed.2d 13 (1990), we need only address whether the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals unreasonably applied Harris in finding that Parker's statements were admissible.
Parker maintains that his attorneys should have established that much of the information provided by the female confidential informant was available to anyone acquainted with him. He claims that his attorneys should have addressed the inconsistencies between May's affidavit and his testimony regarding the basis for the informant's information. In March 1988, May executed an affidavit in support of a warrant to search a residence where he believed he would to find the VCR stolen from the Sennetts' residence. In the affidavit, May related that an unidentified person (the Source) provided information that was not publicly available regarding Dorlene's murder, named the persons involved, and described a VCR stolen from the Sennetts' residence. May said that the Source claimed that `the preacher' had paid Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000) to have his wife killed. Exh. Vol. 13 at 2423. May explained that some of the information was corroborated by another unidentified person and by investigators who confirmed the location and description of the identified residences of the named individuals. May recounted that the Source said that the provided information was based on personal observation and overhear[d] conversations involving one or more of the individuals named. Id. at 2428. Parker's attorney moved to suppress Parker's statement, and argued that the police lacked probable cause for the arrest. At the suppression hearing, May testified that he obtained information regarding the crime from an anonymous informant on 28 March 1988. The informant provided: (1) the names of three individuals; (2) their roles in the murder; (3) their addresses and descriptions of their residences; (4) a description of their vehicles; and (5) the location as of 18 or 19 March 1988, and identifying information regarding the VCR stolen from the Sennett home. May testified that the informant had advised that she had personally seen the VCR at Smith's residence. May explained that the information was verified by other investigators who confirmed the locations and descriptions of the named individuals' residences, the connection between the three named individuals, and the information regarding their vehicles. The investigators verified that John Forrest Parker existed, that he had a criminal record, and that he lived at 2613 Huntsville Road, Apartment B, Florence, Alabama. They also verified the information regarding his car, his physical description, his girlfriend, and his relationship with the other named individuals. Although a search warrant was issued regarding the VCR, no arrest warrants were to be issued until it was executed. Law enforcement teams were dispatched to each suspect's residence and instructed to do nothing else until further notice. The information regarding the VCR was then verified. During the post-conviction hearing, May explained the inconsistencies in his affidavit and testimony. May explained that the informant obtained her information by being a friend of [Smith's] family and confirmed that, in the search warrant affidavit, he had indicated that her information was based on her personal observations or the conversations involving the named individuals that she had overheard. Exh. PC Vol. 15 at 1031-34. Although he agreed that reliability is ... important, when asked why the basis of the informant's information was not shown anywhere in his notes, May responded that, [a]t that ... time[,] what she was telling me about who was involved in the murder was more important to me than how she was getting the information. Id. at 1033-35. May was questioned as to whether his affidavit was correct as to the amount of money paid for the murder, and responded that the information regarding the $15,000 was never corroborated or revealed by the investigation. May was also asked about his contact with a second anonymous informant. The second informant identified himself as calling for a girl who knew all this but did not want to get involved and corroborated some of the information provided by the Source. Id. at 1038. The second informant also identified Smith as a black male and said that he knew that the note found in Charles Sennett's pocket after his death read I didn't kill my wife. I hired someone to. Id. at 1038-39. May responded that the Smith involved in the case was white and that Sennett's note did not say that he had not killed his wife or hired someone else to kill her. The information provided by the informant established her basis of knowledge, reliability, and veracity. She provided numerous details about the crime, the defendants' actions after the crime, and the property taken during the crime. Her information was corroborated by independent law enforcement investigations and her basis of knowledge was enhanced when the VCR was located where she indicated. Even though some of the information was publicly available, the informant's disclosure of it and law enforcement's confirmation of it supported the informant's credibility. Her credibility, however, was firmly established by her knowledge of the stolen VCR and the non-publicly disclosed details that connect Parker and his co-defendants to the crime. See Parker I, 587 So.2d at 1088; Williams v. State, 565 So.2d 1233, 1234-36 (Ala.Crim.App.1990). Under a totality of the circumstances review, the informant was a credible source for information regarding the crime and provided the police with information that Parker was involved in the murder-for-hire scheme that led to Dorlene's death. They knew that the VCR stolen from the Sennetts' home was located in one of the named suspects' homes. Thus, they had sufficient probable cause to believe that one of the named suspects had committed the murder. In Williams, the court found that the details of the informant's tip as corroborated [were] sufficient both in number and specificity to establish [her] credibility. 565 So.2d at 1236. It also found that the details indicating that she had either personally observed the facts or learned them from a crime participant supported an inference that she had an adequate basis of knowledge. Id. It noted that, although the publicly-available information was entitled to little weight, the VCR information was significant and the cumulative effect of all information gathered met the standard of probable cause. Id. (quotation marks and citation omitted). On the issue of ineffective assistance, the state appellate court held that in light of the fact that the informant described in ... detail the VCR stolen during the murder and accurately stated where it could be found, the additional information [that Parker argued his attorneys should have introduced] was not likely to affect the trial court's finding and that, therefore, Parker failed to demonstrate prejudice. Exh. Vol. Tab 61 at 2. Parker's arguments fail. The accuracy as to the amount of money paid for the murder did not enter into the probable cause determination which was based on the totality of the confidential informant's verified information. The fact of her personal observation of the information was proven when the VCR was found where the informant said that she had seen it. The district court correctly found that the state court's determination was a reasonable application of Strickland.
Parker maintains that his attorneys failed to: (1) question the prosecution's witnesses concerning the inaccuracies in the informant's statements or the affidavit executed in support of the search warrant; (2) provide for an adequate foundation for suppression of Parker's statement, and (3) adequately demonstrate that the law enforcement officers lacked probable cause for his arrest. He argues that evidence that the police approached his residence with their guns drawn and patted him down inside his home indicates that he was arrested inside his home. He contends that no intervening circumstances extinguished the taint of his illegal arrest and thus made his statement inadmissible. He asserts that his attorneys should have called Colbert County Sheriff's Office Investigator Doug Hargett who conceded that probable cause did not exist when Parker was taken into custody. At the suppression hearing, Hargett testified that he and three other officers arrived at Parker's residence on 31 March 1988, observed the residence for 30 to 45 minutes, and were advised by May to move in after the VCR information was verified. Exh. Vol. 1 at 199-200; Exh. Vol. 2 at 214; Exh. PC Vol. 15 at 1059. They then knocked on the door and asked Parker to come out. As the officers approached the residence, they observed Parker looking out of a window and heard what sounded [like] someone ... running through the apartment. Exh. Vol. 2 at 213-14. Angela Fountain, who was in the residence, began screaming, and she and Tony Lakey were ordered out of the apartment. The police again ordered Parker out of the apartment and, after he stepped out, the officers patted him down and advised him of his rights. Fountain and Lakey both remembered seeing the officers' guns drawn as they approached. The officers then asked Parker and Fountain to go downtown to be questioned. Parker and Fountain, accompanied by an officer, drove to the Colbert County Sheriff's Department. [30] At the Sheriff's Office, Parker was given Miranda [31] warnings by Hargett and May before he made any statements. The warrant for Parker's arrest was issued the next day, 1 April 1988. During the post-conviction hearing, Hargett admitted that the officers had their guns drawn when they approached Parker's residence at 2613 Huntsville Road in Florence, Alabama to follow up on information that they had received from a confidential informant but stated that they did not plan to arrest Parker. [32] Exh. PC Vol. 15 at 978-79, 983-84, 986, 992, 1007, 1059. As they approached the residence, Hargett said that they heard screams and saw Fountain in the doorway. Hargett explained that they then ordered Fountain and Lakey out of the residence. Hargett said that, once Parker appeared in the foyer, the officers asked him if they could speak with him and put away their weapons. Parker was patted down for weapons inside his living room and then ordered out of the residence. At the officers' request, Parker and Fountain agreed to accompany the officers to the Colbert County Sheriff's Office and to allow Lauderdale County Sheriff's Investigator Charles Perkins to ride with them. Hargett explained that Perkins rode with Parker and Fountain to prevent them from discussing the murder. Although Parker was not arrested until after he was interviewed at the Colbert County Sheriff's Office, Hargett opined that Parker was subjected to a warrantless arrest at his residence. May stated that he was told by the district attorney that Parker had been subjected to a warrantless arrest at his residence, and said that the arrest report also showed that Parker was arrested at his residence. Hargett was asked whether, after receiving confirmation from the other investigators about their search for the VCR, he had probable cause to arrest Parker. He responded that such information would have given us more probable cause but said he did not make a decision as to whether they would have had probable cause to arrest Parker at that time. Id. at 985. Because of concerns for public safety and the expeditious apprehension of criminals charged with heinous crimes, law enforcement officers with reasonable cause to believe that an individual has engaged in a felony may arrest without a warrant. Carroll v. United States, 267 U.S. 132, 156-57, 45 S.Ct. 280, 286, 69 L.Ed.2d 543 (1925). Probable cause exists where the facts and totality of the circumstances, as collectively known to the law enforcement officers and based on reasonably trustworthy information, are sufficient to cause a person of reasonably caution to believe an offense has been or is being committed. United States v. Jimenez, 780 F.2d 975, 978 (11th Cir.1986) (per curiam) (quotation marks and citation omitted); see United States v. Roy, 869 F.2d 1427, 1433 (11th Cir.1989). In determining probable cause based in part on confidential informant information, a court should consider not only the totality of the circumstances but also the closely intertwined issues of the informant's basis for knowledge, reliability, and veracity. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 230, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 2328, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). Under the Fourth Amendment, police are prohibited from making a warrantless arrest and nonconsensual entry into a suspect's home to make a routine felony arrest. See Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573, 588-90, 100 S.Ct. 1371, 1381, 63 L.Ed.2d 639 (1980). Such an arrest may be made, however, if the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed an offense and where exigent circumstances exist which make obtaining a warrant imprudent, see Payton, 445 U.S. at 589, 100 S.Ct. at 1381. Such exigent circumstances may include (1) the violent nature of the offense with which the suspect is to be charged; (2) a reasonable belief that the suspect is armed; (3) probable cause to believe that suspect committed the crime; (4) firm reasons to believe that the suspect is in the home; (5) a reasonable belief the delay could allow for the destruction of essential evidence; (6) a reasonable belief that delay could jeopardize the safety of the law enforcement officers or the public; and (7) a peaceful state of the entry. Bush v. State, 523 So.2d 538, 546 (Ala.Crim.App.1988). Evidence, including verbal statements, obtained as a result of an unlawful search are subject to exclusion. See Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 485, 83 S.Ct. 407, 416, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963). Although its purpose is to prevent lawless conduct by law enforcement officials, the exclusionary rule is not to be interpreted to proscribe the use of illegally seized evidence in all proceedings or against all persons. Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590, 600, 95 S.Ct. 2254, 2260, 45 L.Ed.2d 416 (1975) (quotation marks and citation omitted). An inquiry as to the applicability of the exclusionary rule must address whether the evidence or fruit of the poisonous tree was obtained by the exploitation of that illegality or instead by means sufficiently distinguishable [from the illegal action] as to be purged of the primary taint. Wong Sun, 371 U.S. at 488, 83 S.Ct. at 417 (internal quotations and citation omitted). Where, however, the police have probable cause to arrest a suspect, the exclusionary rule does not bar the prosecution's use of the defendant's statement made outside of his home, even if the statement was taken after an illegal arrest made in the home. Harris, 495 U.S. at 21, 110 S.Ct. at 1644-45. In this case, the question is whether the information known to the law enforcement officers at the moment of Parker's courthouse confession was sufficient to establish probable cause for his arrest. Probable cause was based on corroborated information from a female confidential informant and not from verifiable false information from a male informant. Probable cause was based on both the detailed public information provided by the informant and the specific information regarding the VCR. Parker is unable to show prejudice or unreasonable performance by his counsel because the evidence of the male informant had no bearing on the court's admissibility of his statement. Parker is also unable to show prejudice or deficient performance as a result of Hargett's statement during the post-conviction hearing that Parker was subjected to a warrantless arrest at his residence. Hargett did not possess all of the information regarding probable cause, did not make the decision about probable cause, and did not ultimately make a determination about the admissibility of Parker's statement. On direct appeal, the state appellate court noted that the facts supplying probable cause for Parker's arrest were virtually identical to those identified in Williams, 565 So.2d at 1236. Parker I, 587 So.2d at 1088. In addressing ineffective assistance of counsel, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals held that Parker had failed to demonstrate prejudice because his claims concerning arrest at home and intervening events are irrelevant because the trial court found that the tip of an anonymous informant was sufficiently corroborated to supply probable cause for [Parker's] arrest. Exh. PC Vol. 16, Tab 61 at 2. Further, at the time of Parker's statement, he was outside of his home and the police had probable cause for his arrest. His statement was, therefore, admissible. See Harris, 495 U.S. at 21, 110 S.Ct. at 1644-45. The district court correctly held that the state court reasonably applied Strickland 's prejudice element because further evidence of an in-home arrest would not have affected the admissibility of Parker's statement. Parker is also unable to prove deficient performance because this evidence was cumulative. The trial court heard Fountain and Lakey's testimony that Parker did not go out of his house when called by the officers and that the officers went into the house looking for him with their guns drawn and still admitted his statement. Because the police had probable cause to arrest Parker when he made his statement, his statement was admissible regardless of whether or not he was arrested in his home. The district court correctly held that the state court's decision was neither contrary to nor involved an unreasonable application of law.
Parker maintains that his attorneys failed to address either the temporal proximity between his first contact with the officers and his statement, or the effect of his intervening meeting with Fountain, who was very upset at that time. He also contends that his attorneys failed to address his impairment at the time of his statement. Parker arrived at the Sheriff's Department at 3:35 P.M. [A] few minutes after his arrival, he was interviewed by Hargett and began making a statement at 4:38 P.M. Exh. Vol. 2 at 203, 205. The interview stopped at 5:30 P.M. and Hargett left the room. Parker was then permitted to visit with Fountain for about three minutes. She had been interviewed by law enforcement officers and advised that she needed to cooperate if she wanted to see her baby again. During her visit with Parker, she had the baby with her and told Parker that the officers had advised her to tell him that they believed that she and Parker were involved in a murder, and that Smith and Williams were blaming everything on [Parker]. Id. at 236-37, 242-43. At 5:45 P.M., Parker was interviewed by May and, shortly thereafter, he made his second and inculpatory statement. During the suppression hearing, the prosecutor referenced Fountain's meeting with Parker in his summation and Parker's attorney responded by citing Taylor v. Alabama, 457 U.S. 687, 691-92, 102 S.Ct. 2664, 2667-68, 73 L.Ed.2d 314 (1982). Although this issue was not specifically addressed on direct appeal, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals did state that it had reviewed the testimony from the suppression hearing and found no error in the trial judge's admission of his statement. Parker I, 587 So.2d at 1088. The question of whether a defendant's statement, given after an illegal arrest and Miranda warnings, is the product of a free will ... must be answered on the facts of each case. No single fact is dispositive. Brown, 422 U.S. at 603, 95 S.Ct. at 2261. The relevant factors in making the threshold determination of voluntariness include the Miranda warnings, [t]he temporal proximity of the arrest and the confession, the presence of intervening circumstances, and, particularly, the purpose and flagrancy of the official misconduct. Id. at 603-04, 95 S.Ct. at 2261-62 (internal citation and footnote omitted). The prosecution bears the burden of showing admissibility. Id. at 604, 95 S.Ct. at 2262. The temporal proximity factor is evaluated based on, inter alia, the length of time between the arrest and the confession and any intervening significant events. A statement made several days after an illegal arrest is too temporally distant to warrant admission. Id. at 605 n. 11, 95 S.Ct. at 2262 n. 11. Intervening significant events may include a lawful arraignment and the release from custody. See id. The admission of Miranda warnings alone; a short five to ten minute visitation with friends, one of whom was emotionally upset; or the issuance of an arrest warrant are not, individually or collectively, considered significant intervening events. See id. at 602, 95 S.Ct. at 2261 ( Miranda warnings alone); Taylor v. Alabama, 457 U.S. 687, 691-92, 102 S.Ct. 2664, 2667-68, 73 L.Ed.2d 314 (1982) ( Miranda warnings, short visitation, arrest warrant). [33] Absent intervening significant events, statements given within two hours to six hours of an arrest have been suppressed. See Brown, 422 U.S. at 604-05, 95 S.Ct. at 2262 (two hours with no intervening significant events); Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200, 203 n. 2, 218-19, 99 S.Ct. 2248, 2252 n. 2, 2260, 60 L.Ed.2d 824 (1979) (less than an hour and no intervening significant events); Taylor, 457 U.S. at 691, 102 S.Ct. at 2667 (six hours and defendant was in police custody, unrepresented by counsel,... questioned on several occasions, fingerprinted, and subjected to a lineup). Exclusionary purpose and misconduct is demonstrated when the arrest was for investigatory reasons and was effected to cause surprise, fright, and confusion. Brown, 422 U.S. at 605, 95 S.Ct. at 2262 (investigatory arrest); Dunaway, 442 U.S. at 218-19, 99 S.Ct. at 2260 (investigatory arrest not cured by police's lack of threats, and abuse, or protecti[on] of defendant's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights); Taylor 457 U.S. at 693, 102 S.Ct. at 2668-69 (investigatory arrest not cured by police's lack of physical abuse or defendant's voluntary confession). The state appellate court found that Parker's claims regarding his arrest at home and the intervening events between his arrest and his statement were irrelevant because probable cause was established by corroboration of the confidential informant's information. Exh. PC Vol. 16, Tab 61 at 2. It concluded that he failed to show prejudice arising out of his counsel's failure to challenge the temporal proximity or the impact of his meeting with Fountain and did not show that his attorney was ineffective. Id. The district court did not err in finding that state courts reasonably applied the law and that its determinations were not based on an unreasonable interpretation of the facts.