United States v. David Ugarte Otero, Jr.

983 F.2d 1079 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. David Ugarte OTERO, Jr., Defendant-Appellee. No. 91-10475. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Oct. 8, 1992. Decided Jan. 14, 1993. Before POOLE, FERNANDEZ and T.G. NELSON, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM * 2 The government appeals the district court's order suppressing evidence of a shotgun which federal officers, acting pursuant to a search warrant, seized from appellee David Ugarte Otero's home. The district court granted Otero's motion to suppress the evidence on grounds the officers who executed the warrant violated 18 U.S.C. § 3109 when they failed to knock and announce at an outer, locked screen door. As the taint of the opening of the outer, locked screen door would be purged if the opening of the inner, locked wooden door was proper, we reverse and remand the case for a determination of whether the knock and announce at…