United States v. Shafii Shaibu

The defendant appeals from the District Court’s denial of his Motion to Suppress Evidence. California police officers searched his apartment after entering without a warrant. The police obtained evidence and statements from him which were used to support charges of bank fraud. Shafii Shaibu asserts all evidence and statements obtained during the search should be suppressed on two grounds: (1) the war-rantless entry into his apartment and ensuing search violated the Fourth Amendment; and (2) the police conducted a custodial interrogation without the warnings required under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 , 86 S.Ct. 1602 , 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). We agree that the warrantless entry into Shaibu’s apartment violated the Fourth Amendment, and do not reach the issue of custodial interrogation.

I.

On December 11, 1987, four California police officers went to the apartment complex where Shaibu lived. They had neither a search warrant nor an arrest warrant. The officers were looking for another man, Idahosa Bazuaye, who was a suspect in an ongoing scheme of fraudulent withdrawals from Security Pacific National Bank’s Automatic Teller Machines. The officers believed that Bazuaye lived in…