United States v. Gilbert Moreno

Gilbert Moreno appeals his convictions for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and conspiracy, 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1) and 846. Moreno was arrested when officers executing a search warrant at his home discovered cocaine and drug paraphernalia. He sought suppression of the seized materials, contending that the officers who executed the warrant had violated the “knock and notice” requirement of 18 U.S.C. § 3109 . We conclude that the district court erred in denying the suppression motion and that Moreno’s conviction must therefore be reversed.

I

Moreno lived in a 76-unit apartment building in San Diego. Each apartment opened onto a common hallway. A wooden door that gave access to the interior of Moreno’s apartment was recessed approximately six feet from the common hallway. The recessed area, an alcove of approximately 36 square feet, was for the exclusive use of the occupants of Moreno’s apartment. Windows of the apartment’s bedrooms opened into the alcove. At the point where the alcove abutted the common hallway, and contiguous to the apartment’s exterior walls, was an ornamental iron gate. The gate was kept locked, and only the apartment’s residents could open it.…