United States v. Raphyal Crawford

Pursuant to a mandatory condition of Raphyal Crawford’s parole, FBI agents entered Crawford’s home to conduct a “parole search” on July 27, 2000. The agents conducted the search despite the fact that they expected to find absolutely no evidence of a crime on the premises, because they thought it would help pressure Crawford into talking about his role in an unsolved robbery committed two years before. Less than two hours later, Crawford confessed to participating in the robbery.

We hold that the search of Crawford’s home without any reasonable suspicion, although pursuant to a parole condition authorizing such searches, violated the Fourth Amendment. Because Crawford’s confession resulted from the suspicionless search of his residence, we reverse the district court’s decision denying his motion to suppress and remand to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea. FED. R. CRIM. P. 11(a)(2).

I. BACKGROUND

Sometime in 1998, FBI Special Agent David Bowdich was assigned to investigate a series of bank robberies that occurred in San Diego in 1997 and 1998, including the February 10, 1998, robbery of a Bank of America on Ulrich Street. Approximately two years later, Bowdich received…

Dissenting:

During the summer of 1993, Richard Allen Davis, a violent career criminal serving a sixteen-year sentence for kidnaping, was paroled from California State Prison. Three months later, he abducted from her bedroom, sexually assaulted, and eventually strangled to death twelve-year-old Polly Klaas. Richard Allen Davis’s vicious murder of Polly Klaas became the catalyst for Proposition 184, the “fastest qualifying initiative in California history.” Ewing v. California, 538 U.S. -, 123 S.Ct. 1179 , 155 L.Ed.2d 108 (2003). Hand in hand with Assembly Bill 971, Proposition 184 established a life sentence for specified felons in California who accumulate over time three felonies of a certain kind. The purpose of the law is “to protect the public safety by providing lengthy prison terms for habitual felons.” Id. at-, 123 S.Ct. 1179 . The fact that these “three strikes” criminals are eligible for parole, id., makes Proposition 184 relevant to our understanding of Crawford’s constitutional argument.

The question in this case is whether it is “unreasonable” in constitutional terms for *724 California to subject convicted criminals like Richard Allen Davis while on parole to…

323 F.3d 700 UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Raphyal CRAWFORD, Defendant-Appellant. No. 01-50633. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted August 6, 2002. Filed March 5, 2003. Amended March 21, 2003. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Michael J. McCabe, San Diego, CA, for the defendant-appellant. Patrick K. O'Toole, United States Attorney (when brief was filed), Carol C. Lam, United States Attorney (when opinion was filed), David P. Curnow, Assistant United States Attorney, United States Attorney's Office, San Diego, CA, for the plaintiffs-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California; Irma E. Gonzalez, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CR-01-00141-IEG. Before: REINHARDT, TROTT, and TASHIMA, Circuit Judges. REINHARDT, Circuit Judge: 1 Pursuant to a mandatory condition of Raphyal Crawford's parole, FBI agents entered Crawford's home to conduct a "parole search" on July 27, 2000. The agents conducted the search despite the fact that they expected to find absolutely no evidence of a crime on the premises, because they thought it would help pressure Crawford into talking about his role in an…