During the evening hours of January 5, 2019, officers were dispatched to Dane Arredondo's ("Dane") house on a neighbor's report of a woman screaming and crying inside the residence. When the officers arrived, they entered the home without consent to check on the woman. They found her downstairs, extremely intoxicated but apparently unharmed. While inside the house questioning Dane's brother, David Arredondo ("David"), about the disturbance, the officers discovered small glass medicine vials. Dane was charged with (1) health care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1347 ; (2) acquiring controlled substances by fraud, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(a)(3) ; and (3) possession of controlled substances, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 844. The government appeals the district court's order granting Dane's motion to suppress the vials.

The Fourth Amendment protects the right of persons to be free from unreasonable seizures of their papers and effects. U.S. Const. Amend. IV. A warrantless seizure of property is per se unreasonable unless it falls within a welldefined exception to the warrant requirement. Robbins v. City of Des Moines, 984 F.3d 673, 680 (8th Cir. 2021). The government contends exigent circumstances and the community caretaker function justified the officers’ presence upstairs and a warrantless seizure of the vials was permissible under the plain view exception.

While we have reservations about the government's claim that the officers were lawfully present upstairs, the exigent circumstances and community caretaker function having dissipated and the issue of consent being questionable, it is unnecessary to resolve this issue because the plain view exception does not apply. The plain view exception authorizes an officer to seize an object without a warrant if (1) the officer lawfully arrived at the location from which he or she views the object, (2) the object's "incriminating character" is "immediately apparent," and (3) "the officer has a lawful right of access to the object itself." United States v. Lewis, 864 F.3d 937, 943 (8th Cir. 2017) (citation omitted). Here, even assuming the first and third prongs are satisfied, the second prong is not because the record does not establish the "incriminating character" of the vials was "immediately apparent."

For an item's "incriminating character" to be "immediately apparent," the officer must have probable cause to associate it with criminal activity. Id. at 944. Deputy Fenton possessed no such probable cause. When he came upon small glass containers that looked similar to containers that hold common household items, such as contact lenses, essential oils, or medications for insulin or fertility, there was no basis to immediately suspect contraband.

Read full case here: United States v. Arredondo, 996 F.3d 903 (8th Cir. 2021), https://casetext.com/case/unitedstat...


Anton Vialtsin, Esq.
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