United States v. Muldrow

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. MAURICE MULDROW

CRIMINAL ACTION NO. 20-14

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

November 3, 2020

MEMORANDUM WITH FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

KEARNEY, J.

Police officers promptly respond to a 911 call regarding a Black man with a gun at an apartment building in a high crime area. An arriving officer observes a Black man along the side of the identified apartment building in his hoodie sweatshirt which visibly shows an L-shaped bulge in his front hoodie pocket an experienced officer believes represents a gun. The officer watches the same man walk off the sidewalk and place an object at the base of a bush next to the apartment building. When the officer stops him moments later and directs him to leave his hands on the hood of a truck, the man drops his left hand from the truck hood to his waist and the officer responds by brandishing his firearm and ordering the man to stay still with his hands on the truck hood. Along with backup officers, and while handcuffing the man to ensure officers's safety given a 911 call regarding a gun and the officer's belief he saw a gun moments earlier, the officer sees a clear plastic baggie in the man's open hoodie front pocket which he recognizes as containing a crack cocaine "cookie." The officer searches the man's open hoodie front pocket and finds crack cocaine and packaging materials. The officer then promptly finds a gun in the bush where he saw the man walk just seconds earlier. He places the man in the back of his patrol car at which time they have a series of short conversations, some of which involve custodial interrogation without Miranda warnings. The police charge the man with possession of cocaine and the gun. The man now moves to suppress the seizure of the drugs and statements made without Miranda warnings.

As the arrested man's counsel argues, there may be much to be concerned about in the officer's rendition of finding the drugs in his front hoodie pocket but for the compelling evidence presented by the officer's body camera and our evaluation of the experienced officer's credible testimony. We are reminded today of the value in recording police conduct including through a body camera for the protection of officers.¹ Having carefully evaluated the credibility of the testifying officers and scrutinized the footage from the officers' body cameras, we deny Defendant's Motion to suppress the narcotics found in his open hoodie pocket and statements volunteered by him absent interrogation. We grant Defendant's Motion to suppress statements responding to custodial interrogation.

I. Findings of Fact

1. At around 6:00 p.m. on October 29, 2019, a 911 Philadelphia Police dispatcher issued a call for police service. The dispatcher informed the officers there had been a report of Black man with a gun at Apartment 43 in an apartment building at 1422 North 10^th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

2. 1422 North 10^th Street is one of several low-rise apartment buildings on a block in North Philadelphia. Facing the apartment building from 10^th Street, a grassy area and a pedestrian path are situated on the right-hand side. On the left-hand side, Master Street runs perpendicular to 10^th Street. Master Street connects to a short, no-outlet road called Warnock Street which runs immediately behind the apartment buildings until a dead end.

3. The officers credibly testified this area in North Philadelphia has a high incidence of violent and gun-related crimes based on their experience.

4. Multiple officers responded to the dispatch call. Philadelphia police officers Dyrda and Kelly arrived first. As they approached the apartment building, they saw Maurice Muldrow standing in front of the apartment building exiting a Nissan SUV. Mr. Muldrow, a large man standing more than 6 feet tall and weighing around 275 pounds, wore a red, form-fitting hooded sweatshirt which had a large front pocket commonly referred as to a "hoodie."

5. Officer Kelly's body camera depicts Mr. Muldrow closing his car door and walking to the side of the building across the grass to the pedestrian path to the right of the building.

6. Officers Dyrda and Kelly walked past Mr. Muldrow without stopping or speaking to him, and they proceeded to the apartment identified in the 911 call.

7. They found the apartment door wide open, with no one home.²

8. Sergeant Stephan also responded to the 911 call. Sergeant Stephan served as a Philadelphia police officer for more than thirteen years. During his time as an officer, he served for one year as a routine patrol officer, nine years as a tactical patrol officer, and three years as a highway patrol officer. He recently received a promotion to Sergeant in the 16^th District. He has arrested more than 250 individuals for firearms violations throughout his career. He made several firearm arrests within a five-block radius of the location of the stop and responded to 911 calls for shootings and homicides in the same geographic area. Sergeant Stephan is about 5'9" and weighs around 165 pounds.

9. Sergeant Stephan and Officer Kelly wore body cameras recording their movements and most of the audio surrounding their interactions, which we studied before and after our evidentiary hearing.³ The officers showed us the exact placement of the body camera on the right side of their mid-chests.

10. Responding to the dispatcher call, Sergeant Stephan drove down Master Street alone in full uniform in his marked patrol car when he observed a police car parked outside the apartment building on 10^th Street. Seeing Officers Kelly and Dyrda at the front of the apartment building, he continued past 10^th Street to circle around to the back of the apartment complex. He continued down Master Street and turned right onto Warnock Street.

11. Sergeant Stephan drove northbound up Warnock Street behind the apartment buildings when he saw Mr. Muldrow briskly walking toward him, heading eastbound toward Warnock Street on the pedestrian path bordering the apartment building.⁴

12. Sergeant Stephan saw Mr. Muldrow's right hand pressed tightly against his front hoodie pocket.⁵ At one point, Mr. Muldrow removed his hand revealing an L-shaped bulge in his front hoodie pocket.⁶

13. Sergeant Stephan credibly testified he believed the bulge to be a gun based on his thirteen years of experience as a police officer and 250 firearm-related arrests.

14. When Mr. Muldrow saw Sergeant Stephan's patrol car, Mr. Muldrow slowed his pace and starting walking on the path.⁷

15. When Mr. Muldrow reached the end of the pedestrian path just beyond the apartment building, he turned left down Warnock Street and proceeded toward Master Street and away from Sergeant Stephan's patrol car passing him on Warnock Street.

16. Sergeant Stephan credibly testified Mr. Muldrow then looked over his shoulder at Sergeant Stephan's passing patrol car.

17. Sergeant Stephan made a three-point turn at the end of Warnock Street approximately forty feet beyond the apartment building. As he slowly made the three-point turn,Sergeant Stephan kept an eye on Mr. Muldrow in his red hoodie then about fifty to seventy-five feet behind his patrol car.⁸

18. Sergeant Stephan credibly swore, consistent with his contemporaneous statements to his fellow officers recorded on his body cam, he saw Mr. Muldrow veer from the Warnock Street sidewalk, pick up his pace, and abruptly angle toward a large bush about five feet off the sidewalk directly in front of the apartment building. Sergeant Stephan described Mr. Muldrow's demeanor as "frantic."⁹

19. Sergeant Stephan saw Mr. Muldrow make a shoving motion at the bush, which Sergeant Stephan perceived as Mr. Muldrow attempting to hide something in the bush.¹⁰

20. After shoving something into the bush, Mr. Muldrow attempted to spin off the larger bush—while looking back in the direction of Sergeant Stephan's patrol car—but tripped on a smaller bush as he angled back toward the sidewalk.¹¹

21. Sergeant Stephan saw Mr. Muldrow stagger back toward the Warnock Street sidewalk.¹²

22. Sergeant Stephan then turned on his overhead lights and pulled up beside Mr. Muldrow as he walked down Warnock Street and asked if Mr. Muldrow would speak with him.

23. Sergeant Stephan then activated his body camera and stepped out of the patrol car.¹³ The body camera confirms dusk but we can readily see the events.

24. Immediately upon opening his patrol car door and stepping onto Warnock Street, Sergeant Stephan instructed Mr. Muldrow to put his hands on the hood of a red truck parked on Warnock Street. Mr. Muldrow complied and placed his hands on the hood of the red truck while Sergeant Stephan got out of the car.

25. Sergeant Stephan, at this point alone without backup officers who remained around the front of (or inside) the apartment building, told Mr. Muldrow not to move.

26. The body camera footage confirms Sergeant Stephan attempted to use his radio, and as he did, Mr. Muldrow quickly took his left hand (the side further away from Sergeant Stephan) off the hood of the red truck and reached towards his hoodie pocket in the waist area.

27. Seeing Mr. Muldrow drop his left hand below the hood of the red truck, Sergeant Stephan brandished his firearm and yelled, "don't reach for nothing, don't you f*ucking reach for nothing, you understand me? Don't you f*cking reach again."

28. Mr. Muldrow put his hands in the air and then back onto the red truck's hood.

29. Sergeant Stephan called for backup. He told Mr. Muldrow again not to reach for anything and Mr. Muldrow responded, "I didn't do nothing." Sergeant Stephan told the officers responding to his call for backup to "step it up," and he stood at a distance from Mr. Muldrow with his gun pointed at Mr. Muldrow.

30. Sergeant Stephan credibly swore he thought Mr. Muldrow might have a gun, based on the gesture toward his waist, and he did not want to approach Mr. Muldrow given the considerable size discrepancy between them.¹⁴

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