United States v. $2,599.00 in U.S. Currency

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff,

v.$2,599.00 IN U.S. CURRENCY, $8,000.00 IN U.S. CURRENCY, $691,814.00 IN U.S. CURRENCY, Defendants.

No. 7:11-CV-192-BR

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA SOUTHERN DIVISION

Dated: April 25, 2013

ORDER

This matter is before the court on the 7 November 2012 motion for summary judgment filed by plaintiff United States of America ("the government"). (DE # 28.) The motion has been fully briefed and is ripe for disposition.

I. BACKGROUND

This is a civil action in rem in which the government seeks the forfeiture of three separate but related seizures of United States currency totaling $702,413.00. The government contends that the defendant currency¹ is the proceeds of illegal drug transactions. See 21 U.S.C. § 881(a)(6).

The undisputed facts in this case are as follows: On 15 March 2011, at approximately 1:10 a.m., patrol officers with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office ("NHCSO") went to 4504 Tesla Park Drive, Apartment 206, in Wilmington, North Carolina ("the apartment") inresponse to a call regarding a sudden death. (J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶ 4; W. Baxley Decl., DE # 29-4, ¶ 4.) When the officers arrived on the scene, Leah Jakeway ("Jakeway") led them to the body of her boyfriend, Jonathan Ryan MacDonald ("MacDonald"). (J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶ 8; W. Baxley Decl., DE # 29-4, ¶ 5.) MacDonald was found lying on his back on the bedroom floor, with blood coming out of his nose and white residue around his lips. (J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶ 7; W. Baxley Decl., DE # 29-4, ¶ 6.) Jakeway informed the officers that she and MacDonald used cocaine two or three times a day and that they had snorted some cocaine at approximately 8:00 a.m. the previous morning. (J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶ 9.) Jakeway stated that she took a shower afterward and when she finished, MacDonald was asleep in bed. (E. Savitts Decl., DE # 29-2, at 4.) It was over sixteen hours later that she found MacDonald to be unresponsive. (Id.) Officers on the scene determined that MacDonald was deceased.² (Id.)

During the initial investigation, Jakeway told officers that MacDonald carried a couple thousand dollars in his wallet and that she was concerned that they may have been robbed as they slept. (E. Savitts Decl., DE # 29-2, at 4-5; J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶¶ 10, 14; S.W. Holbrook Decl., DE # 29-6, ¶ 13.) The officers were also unable to locate photo identification for MacDonald in the residence. (E. Savitts Decl., DE # 29-2, at 4; J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶ 14; S.W. Holbrook Decl., DE # 29-6, ¶ 13.) Based on the absence of photo identification for MacDonald and on the possible theft of money, officers requested consent to search the apartment, which Jakeway provided. (E. Savitts Decl., DE # 29-2, at 5; J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶¶ 11, 14; S.W. Holbrook Decl, DE # 29-6, ¶ 12.) The search revealed five cellularphones in the kitchen; a rolled up $5 bill containing white powder residue; a straw and flyer in the kitchen containing white powder residue; suspicious white powder on a cutting board in the kitchen; two glass smoking pipes; and confirmed cocaine residue on the master bathroom counter top. (J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶ 12; W. Baxley Decl., DE # 29-4, ¶ 7.)

Jakeway further informed the officers that there was a safe in the apartment and that MacDonald's wallet might be in it, but she did not know where the safe was located. (J.D. Williams Dep., DE # 29-5, at 72:19-73:2; 75:21-76:4.) The locked safe was eventually found in the bedroom closet. (J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶ 14.) Jakeway gave the officers permission to open the safe in order to search for MacDonald's photo identification. (Id.) Because Jakeway did not know where the key was, the officers pried the safe open. (Id.; J.D. Williams Dep., DE # 29-5, at 74:9-12; 76:18-21; S.W. Holbrook Decl., DE # 29-6, ¶ 14.) Inside the safe, officers found a clear plastic bag containing twenty-five grams of cocaine, eight dosage units of Oxycodone, a cell phone, MacDonald's wallet, and keys to an Audi automobile, which Jakeway told them was the car that MacDonald drove and that it was parked nearby. (E. Savitts Decl., DE # 29-2, at 5; J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶¶ 15, 17; S.W. Holbrook Decl., DE # 29-6, ¶¶ 14-15.) The wallet contained $2,599.00 but did not contain any photo identification. (J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶ 16; S.W. Holbrook Decl., DE # 29-6, ¶ 14.)

Officers proceeded to search the Audi in a continued effort to locate MacDonald's photo identification. (J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶ 17; J.D. Williams Dep., DE # 29-5, at 92:4-15.) Although no identification was found, officers did discover a suitcase in the trunk, which they proceeded to open. (J.D. Williams Decl., DE # 29-3, ¶ 18.) In the suitcase, the officers found what they thought was a large amount of currency. (Id.) They arranged for acanine sniff of the Audi, and then they sought and obtained a search warrant for the vehicle. (Id. ¶ 19; E. Savitts Decl., DE # 29-2, at 6; W. Baxley Decl., DE # 29-4, ¶¶ 11-14; A. Morrissette Decl., DE # 29-7, ¶¶ 6-9, 17.) A second canine sniff of the Audi was conducted after the car was towed to the NHCSO's secure garage. (E. Savitts Decl., DE # 29-2, at 6; C.H. Carey Decl., DE # 29-8, ¶¶ 3-14.) The suitcase contained thirteen bundles of vacuum-sealed currency totaling $691,814.00.³ (E. Savitts Decl., DE # 29-2, at 6-7; A. Morrissette Decl., DE # 29-7, ¶¶ 32, 34; C.H. Carey Decl., DE # 29-8, ¶ 15.)

Meanwhile, it had been determined that the Audi was registered to Rebecca Lalone ("Lalone") who lived in Wilmington, North Carolina. (A. Morrissette Decl., DE # 29-7, ¶ 10.) Officers contacted Lalone, and she identified herself as MacDonald's stepmother. (Id. ¶¶ 11-12.) Lalone stated that although she had registered the vehicle in her name, MacDonald had paid for the Audi in cash just a few weeks earlier. (Id. ¶ 13.) Lalone claimed that she had never driven the vehicle and that only MacDonald drove it. (Id. ¶ 14.) Lalone declared that she had no property inside the vehicle. (Id. ¶ 15.) Lalone also stated that MacDonald had been residing at her house in Wilmington, North Carolina, for the prior six to seven weeks.⁴ (Id. ¶ 16.)

Officers later met Lalone at her home. (Id. ¶ 19.) They searched her residence on the authority of a search warrant that was issued based on information developed from the investigation at the apartment and the search of the Audi. (Id. ¶¶ 17-19.) The search of thehome uncovered $8,000.00 inside Lalone's bedroom closet. (Id. ¶ 21; J. Hart Decl., DE # 31-9, ¶¶ 10-15.) Lalone stated that she did not know anything about the money. (J. Hart Decl., DE # 31-9, ¶ 12.) In the bedroom formerly occupied by MacDonald, officers also located approximately seven grams of powder cocaine, a digital scale, fifty-four dosage units of Valium, a bank card, and a ledger documenting large currency amounts. (E. Savitts Decl., DE # 29-2, at 8-9; A. Morrissette Decl., DE # 29-7, ¶¶ 20, 24.)

A search of Lalone's garage produced a fire safe containing a plastic bag with cocaine residue as well as packaging material and a box containing unused vacuum sealer bags. (Id. ¶¶ 23, 25; E. Savitts Decl., DE # 29-2, at 8-9; J. Hart Decl., DE # 31-9, ¶ 16.) The vacuum sealer bags were consistent with those seized from the Audi. (E. Savitts Decl., DE # 29-2, at 9.) Officers also searched a garbage container in the driveway of the residence, from which they collected used vacuum sealer bags and an empty pill bottle. (Id.; A. Morrissette Decl., DE # 29-7, ¶ 26.) Some of the vacuum sealer bags had large denomination markings (e.g., "12K," indicating $12,000) and contained fabric softener sheets. (E. Savitts Decl., DE # 29-2, at 9; A. Morrissette Decl., DE # 29-7, ¶ 26.)

The government filed this forfeiture action on 14 September 2011. (DE # 1.) On 3 October 2011, claims were filed by three claimants: Karen Pedersen-MacDonald ("Pedersen-MacDonald"), Lis Johansen ("Johansen") and Lalone (collectively "claimants"). (DE ## 6-8.) Claimants filed a joint answer to the complaint on 20 October 2011. (DE # 10.) Both Pedersen-MacDonald and Johansen claim all of the defendant currency (DE ## 6, 8), while Lalone claims only the $8,000.00 seized from her home (DE # 7). In their claims, Pedersen-MacDonald and Johansen assert that they are heirs of MacDonald, the former as hisspouse and the latter as guardian for his minor child. (DE ## 6, 8.) Lalone maintains that the $8,000.00 seized from her home was a gift to her from her stepson MacDonald. (R. Lalone Dep., DE # 30-1, at 37:6-38:22; 46:6-13.)

On 7 November 2012, the government filed a motion for summary judgment. (DE # 28.) Claimants filed a joint response to the motion on 14 December 2012 (DE # 36), and the government filed a reply on 14 January 2013 (DE # 38).

II. DISCUSSION

A. Fourth Amendment Challenge

Claimants contend that the search of the safe found at the apartment was "an unconstitutional violation of the Fourth Amendment" because Jakeway "did not have authority to consent to the breaking open of the locked safe, to which she did not have a key." (Claimants' Mem. Opp'n Mot. Summ. J., DE # 36, at 5.) As a result, claimants argue that the evidence found in the safe must be suppressed. They further argue that the evidence obtained from the search of the Audi and the search of Lalone's residence must also be suppressed as the fruit of the allegedly illegal search of the safe. Claimants maintain that the government cannot meet its burden on summary judgment without the evidence derived from these searches.

In response, the government argues that none of the claimants have "standing"⁵ to contest the search of the safe. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects citizensagainst unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const. amend. IV. Evidence seized during an unreasonable search may be suppressed under the exclusionary rule.⁶ Se...