United States v. Figueroa
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
Defendant-appellant Luis Figueroa appeals from a judgment of conviction entered on July 17, 2015, following a four-week jury trial in which Figueroa was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(b)(1)(A); unlawful possession of a firearm following a felony conviction, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g); and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the facts and record of the prior proceedings, to which we refer only as necessary to explain our decision to affirm.
1. Suppression Motions
Figueroa challenges several of the District Court’s rulings denying his suppression motions related to seized evidence and various pre- and post-arrest statements.
First, Figueroa argues that evidence seized from his residence should be suppressed because the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) “engaged in improper pre-authorization data collection” when his cellphone provider disclosed the location of his cellphone to a DEA agent. Even assuming without deciding that the DEA engaged in an unreasonable search of Figueroa’s cellphone location information, we see no reason to disturb the District Court’s conclusion that “excising the entirety of’ the paragraph containing the location information from the affidavit, “the remaining averments provide more than adequate support for a probable cause determination.” See United States v. Martin, 426 F.3d 68, 73-74 (2d Cir. 2005).
Second, Figueroa also claims that the affidavit in support of the Government’s November 15, 2011 warrant application contained material omissions designed to “avoid alerting the issuing court [to the fact] that a far more intrusive search” had
Third, Figueroa contends that a second warrant for cell-cite- location data related to the cellphone of Keisa Hernandez, his co-habitant, was improper because it relied on information obtained pursuant to the November 15 warrant and because “there was insufficient evidence that ... Hernandez was involved in drug dealing” or that the apartment where Hernandez and Figueroa resided was the site of a multi kilogram delivery of cocaine.
Figueroa argues that evidence obtained pursuant to the two residential warrants should be suppressed because the warrant applications relied on statements obtained in violation of Figueroa’s Miranda rights. He first claims that the statement in which he denied living at the McLean or Rochambeau apartments was made during a traffic stop prior to receiving Miranda warnings. But the record supports the District Court’s finding that Figueroa was not in custody when he made that statement, and we therefore disagree that it was obtained in violation of Miranda. See United States v. Newton, 369 F.3d 659, 669 (2d Cir. 2004); United States v. Wong Ching Hing, 867 F.2d 754, 756 (2d Cir. 1989).
Figueroa next focuses on a post-arrest statement, made before he was advised of his Miranda rights, in which he denied residing at the McLean apartment. In particular, Figueroa argues that the DEA’s discussion after his arrest was likely to elicit from him an incriminating response related to where he lived, in violation of Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 64 L.Ed.2d 297 (1980). But we have no basis for disagreeing with the District Court that Figueroa’s post-arrest denials were not material to the probable cause determination for issuing the warrant and that the remaining factual allegations in the affidavit established probable cause,
Figueroa’s last challenge related to his post-arrest statement made during a standard “booking” process is also unavailing because it was in response to “the sort of questions normally attendant to arrest and custody.” United States v. Gotchis, 803 F.2d 74, 79 (2d Cir. 1986) (quotation marks omitted).
For these reasons, we affirm the District Court’s denial of Figueroa’s various suppression motions.
2. Evidentiary Rulings
In challenging the District Court’s various evidentiary rulings made at trial, Fi
We have considered all of Figueroa’s remaining arguments and conclude that they are without merit. For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the District Court is AFFIRMED.
. Because we affirm the District Court’s determination that the November 15 warrant was not defective, we need not address Figueroa’s argument that the warrant for Hernandez's cellphone improperly relied on information obtained pursuant to the November 15 warrant.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Luis FIGUEROA
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published