United States v. Wayne Allard

In United States v. Allard, 600 F.2d 1301 (9th Cir. 1979) (“Allard I”), this Court held that a warrantless entry into defendant’s hotel room violated the Fourth Amendment. The Court remanded the case to the district court to determine “whether the evidence the government seeks to admit was in fact tainted by the illegal entry,” Id. at 1302 , in light of the fact that the government subsequently obtained a search warrant that was not on its face based upon any information discovered pursuant to the illegal entry. On remand, the district court found that the government’s decision to seek a search warrant was not tainted by any information discovered during the illegal entry and denied appellant’s motion to suppress evidence found in the search. This appeal followed.

As we explain, although the district court’s finding is not clearly erroneous, we nonetheless reverse for reasons not reached in Allard I. We hold that suppression is required because the ongoing illegal seizure of the contents of the hotel room could not, under these facts, be cured by procuring a search warrant even though that warrant was not based upon facts discovered as a result of the illegal seizure.

I

ALLARD…