UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA :
:
v. : Criminal No. 97-496(JGP)
:
xxxxxxxxxxxxx, :
:
Defendant. :
:
MOTION TO SUPPRESS TANGIBLE EVIDENCE
AND INCORPORATED MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES
AND REQUEST FOR EVIDENTIARY HEARING
xxxxxxxx, through undersigned counsel, respectfully moves this Honorable Court, pursuant to the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, to suppress as evidence against him at trial tangible evidence. An evidentiary hearing on this motion is respectfully requested.
As grounds for this Motion, Mr. xxxxxx, through counsel, states:
1. Michael xxxxxx is charged by indictment with possession of a weapon and ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g).
2. Police officers assigned to the public housing division, allege that an individual they believed to be Mr. xxxxxx, fled from police officers as they pursued him on the evening of October 29, 1997. They believed this person was wanted on a Superior Court arrest warrant.
3. The police officers allege that the individual ran into a building and up the stairs. They further allege that he tripped on the stairs and dropped a Browning Arms .380 caliber pistol. The individual continued running and the police officers were unable to locate him again.
4. An arrest warrant was obtained on October 31, 1997, and executed on November 29, 1997. The police officers arrested Mr. xxxxxx approximately four weeks later as he stood in front of 1014 144th St. S.E., Washington, D.C.
5. The government bears the burden of proving that Mr. xxxxxx' arrest was justified by probable cause. Hayes v. Florida, 470 U.S. 811 (1985); Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 500 (1983). See also Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967); Henry v. United States, 361 U.S. 98 (1958); United States v. Allen, 629 F.2d 51, 55 (D.C. Cir. 1980); Rouse v. United States, 359 F.2d 1014, 1016 (D.C. Cir. 1966).
6. Further, probable cause requirements before a warrant for either arrest or search can issue, require that the judicial offer issuing such a warrant be supplied with sufficient information to support an independent judgment that probable cause exists for the warrant. Whitely v. Warden, Wyoming State Penitentiary, 401 U.S. 560 (1971).
7. In the instant case, the arrest warrant was obtained based principally upon the
allegation that police officers chased someone they believed to be Mr. xxxxxx into a
building and up the stairs. They further allege that this individual possessed a gun and
dropped it while he was running.
8. A hearing on this matter may adduce sworn testimony that the officers could not have observed the fleeing individual sufficient to identify him as Michael xxxxxx.
WHEREFORE, for all the foregoing reasons, and any others which may appear to this Court, xxxxxx, through undersigned counsel, respectfully requests that this motion be granted and that all fruits of this illegal arrest be suppressed.
Respectfully submitted,
A.J. KRAMER
FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER
Valencia Rainey
Assistant Federal Public Defenders
625 Indiana Ave., N.W., Suite 550
Washington, D.C. 20004
(202) 208-7500
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
This is to certify that, on this 9th day of February 1998, a copy of the foregoing Motion to Suppress Tangible Evidence and Incorporate Memorandum of Points and Authorities and Request for Evidentiary Hearing has been served upon Leutrell, M.C. Osborne II, Assistant United States Attorney, the Office of the United States Attorney, 555 Fourth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001, by leaving a copy at the United States District Courthouse drop box for the Office of the United States Attorney.
Valencia R. Rainey
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA :
:
v. :
: Criminal No. 97-496(JGP)
xxxxx xxxxxx, :
:
Defendant. :
:
ORDER
Upon consideration of defendant's Motion to Suppress Tangible Evidence and Incorporated Memorandum of Points and Authorities, and Request for Evidentiary hearing, it is this
__________day of __________, 1998, hereby
ORDERED that defendant xxxxx xxxxxx' Motion is granted; and it is further
ORDERED that the evidence seized as the result of the unlawful arrest and any fruit thereof be suppressed.
JOHN GARRETT PENN
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Copies to:
Valencia Rainey, Esq.
Assistant Federal Public Defenders
625 Indiana Ave., N.W., Suite 550
Washington, D.C. 20004
(202) 208-7500
Leutrell Osborne, II, Esq.
Assistant United States Attorney
555 Fourth St., N.W., Room 5211
Washington, D.C. 20001
(202) 514-7736