Court Opinion

ID: 9458196
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 20:45:02.670315+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:35:40.060346
License: Public Domain

MANSFIELD, Circuit Judge
(dissenting) :
I dissent for the reason that in my view the majority substitutes its findings of fact for those of the district court, even though the latter are supported by substantial evidence, are not clearly erroneous, and are based upon the trial judge’s personal observation of the witnesses and his appraisal of their credibility. Even if, on the cold transcript of 1,809 pages, we might have found differently, I believe that we are precluded from doing so by Rule 52(a), F.R.Civ.P.
All parties agree that the validity of the warrantless search and seizure of drugs and papers in the basement of Rothberg’s home depends on whether the Joint Task Force officers were properly in that portion of the premises when they saw those items. Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971). It is equally clear that they had no power lawfully to enter the basement except at the request, or with the consent, of Rothberg *226or Wilson.1 When the Government seeks, as it did here, to justify a warrantless search on the basis of the defendant’s consent, it must bear the burden of proving a consent “freely and voluntarily given.” Bumper v. North Carolina, 391 U.S. 543, 548, 88 S.Ct. 1788, 20 L.Ed.2d 797 (1968); United States v. Fernandez, 456 F.2d 638, 640 (2d Cir. Feb. 24, 1972). Such consent, as we have often noted, should not be lightly inferred. See United States v. Du-Shane, 435 F.2d 187, 192 (2d Cir. 1970); United States ex rel. Lundergan v. McMann, 417 F.2d 519, 521 (2d Cir. 1969). Moreover, and most importantly for our purposes, “whether or not such consent has been given is primarily a question of fact, better left to the trial judge, who must pass upon the credibility of the witnesses.” United States v. Callahan, 439 F.2d 852, 861 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 826, 92 S.Ct. 56, 30 L.Ed.2d 54 (1971). See also United States v. Gaines, 441 F.2d 1122, 1123 (2d Cir.), vacated and remanded on other grounds, 404 U.S. 878, 92 S.Ct. 223, 30 L.Ed.2d 159 (1971); United States v. Jordan, 399 F.2d 610, 614-615 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1005, 89 S.Ct. 496, 21 L.Ed.2d 469 (1968); United States v. Bracer, 342 F.2d 522, 524 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 954, 86 S.Ct. 427, 15 L.Ed.2d 359 (1965).
The district court’s decision was based upon findings made by an experienced trial judge after a protracted hearing (two weeks, 15 witnesses, and over 1,800 pages of testimony), during which he observed and appraised the credibility of the witnesses, who gave conflicting testimony with respect to the crucial issue of consent. Having observed the witnesses, including the defendants Roth-berg and Wilson, and noted the conflict in their testimony, Judge Bartels unequivocally found:
“It was not at the request of either Wilson or Rothberg that the officers proceeded to the lower level. They therefore had no consent or legal basis to do so.”
The record reveals that this finding was made after resolving a conflict in the testimony as to whether the defendants consented to the officers’ descent to the basement. In the first place the testimony of four of the detectives who were present in the house at the time when the basement was visited (Holden, Byrne, Ryan and Canavan) was internally contradictory. Holden and Ryan testified that their trip to the basement in the presence of both defendants was occasioned by the request of Rothberg and Wilson, who asked for their jackets because of the cold weather as the officers and their prisoners were about to leave the house. Furthermore, according to this version there was no request for the jackets in order to obtain car keys or identification. Canavan and Byrne, on the other hand, testified that when they earlier asked Wilson for his Ford automobile keys and identification, he first attempted to keep them away from the basement by stating that his jacket was in the master bedroom. When this proved to be untrue, he directed them to his jacket in the basement, which they visited with him, but not with Rothberg.
If the foregoing inconsistent testimony of the policemen stood alone, one might conclude that despite the conflict all police had agreed that the trip to the basement was made only with the consent of Wilson, Rothberg, or both of them. Rothberg and Wilson, however, took the stand and testified in extensive detail, describing their version of the events immediately following the agents’ *227foreeable entry into the house. They denied telling the police that their jackets were in the basement, that they requested the jackets, or that they otherwise consented to the policemen’s trip to the cellar. Rothberg testified that he first saw his jacket when the police brought it up from the basement; Wilson testified that since he knew the drugs were in the basement he claimed that another jacket in the upstairs bedroom was his but was then confronted with his wallet which the police had already taken from his jacket in the basement. In addition, the testimony of Rothberg and Wilson that the police systematically ransacked the house was corroborated by that of Rothberg’s father, who testified that when he returned home from a vacation a few days after this incident, he noted that the residence had been thoroughly searched, with radiator covers removed, dresser drawers opened, contents removed, furniture broken, and a chest lying open on the floor.
As I read Judge Bartels’ thorough opinion, his reference to the “conflicting police testimony” did not, as the majority opinion suggests, represent a rejection of the defendants’ testimony. On the contrary he apparently decided, in view of the conflicting police testimony, which shed considerable doubt upon the credibility of the detectives, to credit that of the defendants, concluding that the Government had failed to sustain its burden of proof. If the trial judge had rejected the defendants’ testimony on the issue of consent, I believe he would have said so, as he did, for example, on the issue of whether the defendants had received Miranda warnings.2
In view of the clear findings of the trial judge, I do not think that we should usurp his role by substituting our findings for his, which reflect his estimation of the witnesses’ credibility, see Walling v. General Industries Co., 330 U.S. 545, 550, 67 S.Ct. 883, 91 L.Ed. 1088 (1947). His unequivocal conclusion that the officers’ visit to the basement “was not at the request of Wilson or Rothberg” and that the officers had “no consent” were not clearly erroneous and should therefore stand. Rule 52(a), F.R.Civ.P. Furthermore, they are supported by the application of common sense. It is unrealistic to assume that Rothberg and Wilson, knowing that narcotics were in plain view in the basement, would direct the police to such highly incriminating evidence. Compare United States v. Titus, 445 F.2d 577 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 957, 92 S.Ct. 323, 30 L.Ed.2d 274 (1971).
Nor can I agree with the majority’s gratuitous comment that “[t]here is no evidence here of coercion or other circumstances that would render the consent invalid.” It is undisputed that at least five of the police broke into the premises and placed Rothberg and Wilson under arrest. In addition, there was testimony from Detective Canavan that at the time of his arrest, Wilson was “petrified,” and that before he “consented” to the officers’ going downstairs he told them, “I am very nervous. Nothing like this has ever happened to me.” Other factors — such as the presence of several police officers with guns drawn, one sticking his gun in Wilson’s face from time to time — similarly raise a doubt as to whether the consent which the majority finds here was unequivocal, free, and intelligent. Since Judge Bartels concluded that the defendants had not consented to a search of the basement, he had no occasion to pass upon whether any consent was voluntary, and *228the issue was neither briefed nor argued by the parties.3
Accepting the trial court’s finding that the police had no permission or request to go to the basement, their visit to that portion of the residence violated the mandate of Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 89 S.Ct. 2034, 23 L.Ed.2d 685 (1969). The “plain view” doctrine of Coolidge v. New Hampshire, supra, is therefore inapplicable, since it is predicated upon the assumption that the police are lawfully in the area where the contraband was seen, which was not the case here. In view of the large number of police participating in this sizeable operation of the New York Joint Task Force — 11 officers in all — and the further fact that the premises had been under surveillance for more than eight hours before the forceable entry, I am confident that it was feasible for the police to have obtained a warrant, either before or after the entry, which would have entitled them to search the entire premises, rather than to have engaged in conduct prohibited by the Fourth Amendment.

. Judge Mulligan is of the view that if the defendants had revealed that the keys to the Ford Transit wore in the basement, the officers, in the absence of consent, could properly have gone there to seize them. There was no such finding by the trial Court. Furthermore, even if there were, I think that under the circumstances of this case there was no excuse for the officers’ failure to secure a search warrant.

. “Both Brittman and Wilson contend that their confessions must be suppressed because they were never informed of their Miranda rights and because they were threatened with cruel and unusual punishment if they refused to cooperate with the police, including unfortunate eonsequences for their respective wives. The court has listened carefully to the stories of both Brittman and Wilson. They were horror stories which seven police officers categorically denied and which the court does not believe.”

. The Government in this appeal attempted to justify the warrantless search of the Rothberg basement on the sole grounds that it was incident to a lawful arrest and that it was warranted by “exigent circumstances,” i. e., the nighttime setting and the nature of the crime (narcotics) .