United States v. Leonard Lawson

MEMORANDUM

Defendant-Appellant Leonard Lawson appeals his conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He argues that the firearm was discovered in the course of an unlawful search and should have been suppressed.

Seizure of evidence in a home is improper under the Fourth Amendment “unless the initial entry is lawful, either pursuant to a valid warrant or under one of the recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement.” United States v. Hotal, 143 F.3d 1223, 1228 (9th Cir.1998). Here, the police did not comply with the conditions of the warrant. The warrant allowed entry into a dwelling to retrieve a controlled package containing mostly sham narcotics under three circumstances: (1) if the electronic transmitter emitted a continuous tone indicating the box had been opened; (2) if the electronic transmitter failed to transmit; or (3) if two hours had elapsed after delivery with no change in the transmitter. It is undisputed that circumstances (1) and (3) did not exist. The only circumstance at issue is (2). The electronic transmitter never failed to transmit. Instead, it prematurely emitted the continuous tone indicating the box had been opened, beginning before the…