Confessions after Illegal Search Should be Suppressed if Influenced by Underlying Illegality, Violation of Forth Amendment
By: Houston Criminal Lawyer John Floyd and Paralegal Billy Sinclair
There are primarily two types of unlawful confessions: custodial confessions obtained in violation of the Fifth Amendment and confessions obtained as products of an illegal search in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had a recent opportunity in United States v. Shetler to address the latter.
Scott Raymond Shetler was a meth addict/dealer in Pomona, California in September 2009. His drug activities became so obvious that his daughter Jamie anonymously tipped off the Pomona Police Department that her father was using and manufacturing methamphetamine in his residence. Acting on this tip, three police officers arrived at the Shetler residence at 8:00 p.m. on September 22. They noticed a garage door was wide open and one officer detected a “chemical odor” coming from the garage. Standing outside, the three officers saw numerous boxes, motorcycle parts and other equipment in the garage. A partition wall concealed the back portion of the garage from frontal view. The Ninth Circuit explained what happened next:
“The officers entered the garage and conducted visual sweep to determine if there was an in-operation methamphetamine lab or a person behind the partition wall. They did not find anyone inside the garage or any evidence that methamphetamine was being cooked. The officers did, however, observe the following items in plain view behind the partition wall: a can of acetone, a duffel bag containing several plastic and glass beakers, and a jug that appeared to contain red phosphorus, a chemical that the officers knew to be related to the production of methamphetamine.
“At approximately 8:15 p.m., the officers left the garage and knocked on the front door of the house. Shetler exited the house from a side door and approached the officers, who handcuffed and detained him. By this point, several additional police officers had arrived. The police then called into the house to Shetler’s girlfriend, Cynthia Marohn, and her daughter, both of whom lived with Shetler. Marohn and her daughter stepped outside, and several officers immediately entered the residence and conducted a sweep. After completing this search of the house, several officers stayed inside the house, near the front door and in view of Marohn, who remained outside. At 8:5 p.m., while officers were still inside the residence, Marohn signed a consent form that authorized the police to enter the premises and search for ‘methamphetamine, methamphetamine cooking and packaging material, [and] weapons.’”


