United States v. Raymond M. Freitas, Walter Freitas, and Jonny E. McClellan Defendants

Raymond Freitas was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture and to distribute and with conspiracy to manufacture in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1) and 846. The government appeals from the district court’s order suppressing evidence of drug-related activity, 610 F.Supp. 1560 . We reverse the district court and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

On July 27, 1984, an anonymous informant telephoned the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and indicated that Raymond Freitas was running a methamphetamine laboratory at his home in Clearlake, California. Sometime in mid-August, the same informant told the DEA that Freitas also had a home in Oakland and that he used a GMC Blazer truck to transport chemicals and glassware to the laboratory. Given Freitas’ background — his May 1980 arrest for importing seven pounds of cocaine and his January 1982 arrest for attempting to involve his brother-in-law in a methamphetamine-making scheme — the informant’s tips added to the picture of Freitas as someone who was not unfamiliar with drugs. In October 1984, sheriffs around Clearlake notified the DEA that…

dissenting:

I respectfully dissent.

Although my colleagues of the majority are not known as the likely authors of a decision which distorts history, confounds precedent, and shuns the clear intent of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, this, despite my respect for them, is how I must term the defective product which they have imposed upon us. The majority has now put this court on record as approving a practice which is dangerous and offensive, violates the letter and spirit of the Constitution, and ignores the literal requirements of applicable provisions of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

The majority opinion upholds the issuance by a magistrate and the execution by law enforcement officers of a search warrant purporting to grant carte blanche authority to law enforcement officers to make stealthy entry at night into the private residence of a citizen (suspected of being about to manufacture a controlled substance), there to “look around” through the premises for indicia of crime from which to determine the most propitious time to return and “bust” the homeowner, and then to depart leaving no trace of their visit. They hoped further to…

800 F.2d 1451 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Raymond M. FREITAS, Walter Freitas, and Jonny E. McClellan, Defendants- Appellees. No. 85-1279. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted April 15, 1986. Decided Sept. 26, 1986. Sanford Svetcov, Asst. U.S. Atty., Chief, Appellate Section, San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiff-appellant. Penelope Cooper, Berkeley, Cal., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Before SNEED, ANDERSON, and POOLE, Circuit Judges. SNEED, Circuit Judge: 1 Raymond Freitas was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture and to distribute and with conspiracy to manufacture in violation of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 841 (a)(1) and 846. The government appeals from the district court's order suppressing evidence of drug-related activity, 610 F.Supp. 1560 . We reverse the district court and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW 2 On July 27, 1984, an anonymous informant telephoned the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and indicated that Raymond Freitas was running a methamphetamine…