Opinion ID: 153666
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Refusal to Suppress Evidence in Mr. Veatch's Trial

Text: 114 Defendant Veatch claims the court erred in failing to suppress evidence found when he was arrested. In reviewing a ruling on a motion to suppress evidence, we examine factual findings for clear error and conclusions of law for reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Little, 18 F.3d 1499, 1503 (10th Cir.1994) (en banc). 115 Federal agents went to Mr. Veatch's residence to execute arrest warrants for Messrs. Veatch and Sealander. When Mr. Veatch was arrested, he was observed through a window in a locked room. As agents attempted to break down the door, Mr. Veatch fled out a backdoor where he was apprehended by another agent. As Mr. Veatch exited the backdoor, the agents entered through the front door. The agents testified that they observed in plain view a credit card holder containing numerous credit cards as they moved through the room in pursuit of Mr. Veatch. Objects in plain view can be seized if the agents seizing the evidence had a right to be in the place where they observed the objects and the objects have an incriminating character that is immediately apparent. Horton v. California, 496 U.S. 128, 134-36 (1990). The agents in this case had a right to be in Mr. Veatch's room pursuant to his arrest warrant, and the credit cards were of an immediately apparent incriminating nature given the credit card/bank fraud charges on which Mr. Veatch was arrested. Thus, we agree with the district court's ruling that the government agents found the credit cards in plain view during the lawful execution of an arrest warrant. 116