United States v. Wrensford

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and PEOPLE OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS v. ELVIN WRENSFORD, et al., Defendants.

Criminal Action No. 2013-0003

DISTRICT COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS DIVISION OF ST. CROIX

August 15, 2019

Attorneys:

Alphonso G. Andrews, Jr., Esq.,

Rhonda Williams-Henry, Esq.,

St. Croix, U.S.V.I.

For the Government

Gabriel J. Villegas, Esq.,

St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.

For Defendant Elvin Wrensford

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Lewis, Chief Judge

THIS MATTER comes before the Court following the Third Circuit's vacatur and remand of Defendant Elvin Wrensford's ("Wrensford") conviction on federal and territorial charges arising from a fatal shooting on St. Croix on May 10, 2012. United States v. Wrensford, 866 F.3d 76 (3d Cir. 2017), cert. denied sub nom. Muller v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 1566 (2018).¹ For the reasons that follow, the Court concludes that Wrensford is entitled to a retrial on the charges of first-degree murder (Count 4), using a firearm during a violent crime (Count 2), unauthorized possession of a firearm during thecommission of a crime of violence (Count 5), and possession of a firearm in a school zone (Count 1). The Court further concludes that the suppression hearing in this case should be reopened to receive evidence on the issue of whether the inevitable discovery doctrine applies to the DNA sample collected from Wrensford following his de facto arrest. The Court defers its ruling regarding Wrensford's entitlement to a retrial on the charge of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number (Count 3) pending the outcome of the reopened suppression hearing.

I. BACKGROUND

The Third Circuit provided a detailed summary of the underlying facts in this case, which the Court adopts here:

Wrensford and [codefendant Craig] Muller were involved in an altercation with a man at Ben's Car Wash on the afternoon of May 10, 2012. A few hours later, the man returned to the car wash with Gilbert Hendricks, apparently looking for someone. Hendricks and the man left, but Hendricks returned to the car wash at around 8:00 p.m. Shortly after he arrived, a red truck passed in front of the car wash and, moments later, the truck turned around and chased Hendricks down the road toward Food Town, a local supermarket. The passenger, who was later identified as Wrensford, fired several shots at Hendricks. Hendricks died two days later from gunshot wounds to his head.

* * * * *

Several officers responded to the scene at around 8:06 p.m. Witnesses told Officer Julio Mendez that a red truck left the area at a high speed. Mendez drove in the direction the truck was observed going, and 45 minutes later, he encountered two men walking on the road. Mendez stopped in front of them and noticed that both were sweating profusely; one said they were coming from a basketball court in the area. Mendez called for backup, and before he could approach them, both men ran. One ran into the bushes and the other ran toward a gas station. Mendez radioed a general description of the men to other officers.

Officer Leon Cruz was patrolling after the shooting when, at 8:46 p.m., he heard the transmission from Mendez stating that two "black, rasta males" were on the run. App. 358-59. (Cruz testified that "rasta" means a person who has dreadlocks. App. 428-29.) Cruz thereafter observed a man wearing a white shirt running across the street toward a ballpark. Cruz turned toward the ballpark and saw a "rasta guy" standing near the bush area. App. 362-63. He also saw a white shirt hanging in the bushes. At approximately 8:58 p.m., Cruz drew his gun, ordered the individual—Wrensford—to show his hands and get on the ground, and once another officer arrived, Cruzplaced Wrensford in handcuffs. Cruz patted Wrensford down and removed a knife, keys to a GMC truck, a wallet, and an insurance card from Wrensford's pockets. Wrensford was then transported to the "C Command" police station in a police vehicle at around 9:06 p.m. and placed in a cell. Officers later returned to the area where Wrensford was stopped and recovered a Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol close to where he had been standing. Shortly after Wrensford was detained, Mendez notified the other officers that a red GMC truck had been found, partially hidden in bushes, next to an abandoned building.

At the scene of the shooting, Detective Kirk Fieulleteau spoke to two witnesses: Tynicia Teague and her father, Trevor Teague, who were in the Food Town parking lot during the shooting and said they were able to identify the shooter. Fieulleteau decided to speak with the witnesses at C Command, so he asked a fellow officer, Lydia Figueroa, to take Wrensford from C Command to the Rainbow Building police station in Frederiksted. Fieulleteau went to the station and found Wrensford in a cell. Fieulleteau took Wrensford's driver's license and then he, Figueroa, and another officer escorted Wrensford outside while handcuffed and placed him in a police car in front of the station. Fieulleteau testified that he did not want the witnesses "to have any sort of inadvertent interaction with him." App. 659.

Tynicia and Trevor Teague arrived at C Command at around 9:55 p.m. As Wrensford was being taken out of the station and into the car, which was a few steps from the station's front door, Tynicia Teague was waiting at a traffic light outside the station. She looked toward C Command and observed Wrensford being put into the police car. The Teagues thereafter entered the police station and met with the police. Before Fieulleteau had formally commenced the interview with Tynicia Teague, she "blurted out" that she saw the shooter, referring to Wrensford, being taken out of the station. App. 600. Trevor Teague told Officer Richard Matthews "the same thing." App. 661. Tynicia Teague then provided a statement concerning the shooting, and when shown Wrensford's driver's license, she confirmed that he was the shooter and the person she saw outside the station.

Matthews met with Wrensford later that night at Rainbow Building. At 12:23 a.m., Matthews read Wrensford his Miranda rights, and Wrensford acknowledged his rights but did not sign the Miranda waiver form. Wrensford told Matthews that he was playing basketball that evening in the Princess area with "a partner of his," but he declined to give his partner's name. App. 509. While being booked at approximately 1:30 a.m. on May 11, Wrensford agreed to provide a DNA sample.

Tynicia Teague also said she saw the truck's driver. Three days after the shooting, she was shown a photo array that included Muller's photo and she identified him as the driver. She said that prior to the shooting, she had seen Muller with Wrensford.

Wrensford, 866 F.3d at 80-82.

The Government filed an indictment against Wrensford and Muller on January 29, 2013. (Dkt. No. 1). Wrensford moved to suppress the evidence seized from his person (i.e., the knife, keys, wallet,and insurance card); a statement he made to law enforcement; and the DNA sample taken at the time of his booking. (Dkt. No. 53). The Government opposed the motion. Following suppression hearings held on January 17, 2014 and June 26, 2014, the Court granted Wrensford's motion in part and denied it in part.² Specifically, the Court granted Wrensford's request for the suppression of the keys, wallet, and insurance card discovered on his person, and denied his request for the suppression of the knife, the DNA sample, the witness identifications, and the statement Wrensford made to law enforcement. (Dkt. No. 138 at 1-2).

In ruling on Wrensford's Motion to Suppress, the Court found that, at the time he encountered Wrensford, Officer Cruz had a reasonable suspicion that Wrensford was involved in criminal activity and a reasonable belief that Wrensford might be armed and dangerous, thereby justifying his decision to stop Wrensford and conduct a "reasonable search for weapons." Id. at 19 (quoting Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 27 (1968)). Accordingly, the Court denied Wrensford's request for the suppression of the knife recovered by Officer Cruz during his protective search of Wrensford for weapons. Id.

The Court also found that Officer Cruz's seizure of the keys, wallet, and insurance card from Wrensford's person "went beyond the parameters of a protective search for weapons allowed in a Terry stop." Id. at 20. The Court further concluded that the Government had not established that the keys, wallet, and insurance card would inevitably have been discovered as part of a search incident to Wrensford's arrest because it had failed to put forward evidence during the suppression hearings that the Virgin Islands Police Department ("VIPD") has "an established procedure in place where, upon arrest of a suspect, an officer will routinely conduct a search of the person incident to thatarrest[.]" Id. at 22. As such, the Court granted Wrensford's request for the suppression of the keys, wallet, and insurance card.

The Court also determined that Wrensford was not subject to a de facto arrest when he was transported from the location where he was encountered by Officer Cruz to the C Command police station. Id. at 30. It therefore did not consider whether the identifications of Wrensford by Tynicia and Trevor Teague at the police station (hereinafter, the "Teague identifications"), the statement Wrensford made to VIPD officers, and the DNA sample taken from Wrensford were the fruits of an illegal arrest. The Court did consider other challenges advanced by Wrensford to the admission of this evidence, ultimately rejecting each of them. Id. at 30-45.

A jury trial commenced on March 9, 2015. Evidence introduced by the Government at trial included: that the Teagues had identified Wrensford at the police station; that Wrensford's DNA profile matched a DNA sample obtained from the firearm discovered close to where Wrensford was encountered by Officer Cruz; and that Wrensford had made a statement to the police indicating that he had been playing basketball in the Princesse area with a partner prior...