UNITED STATES of America v. Nicholas STANISHIA, Appellant
No. 16-1239
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.
Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) November 1, 2016 (Opinion Filed: April 25, 2017)
689 F. App‘x 183
We share the trial court’s concerns about the unduly prejudicial nature of the questioning, which the government at trial admitted failed to establish that Ms. Guilford was intimidated by Ragan or his relatives. But after sidebar, the government did not mention Ragan’s relatives again.8 And the court instructed the jury to disregard the questioning altogether, an instruction which we presume the jury followed, Commonwealth v. Baker, 531 Pa. 541, 614 A.2d 663, 672 (1992). Given these instructions, and considering the significant evidence supporting Ragan’s conviction, we must defer to the state court’s finding that the prosecutor’s conduct did not warrant a new trial. Cf., e.g., Morena, 547 F.3d at 197 (holding that а jury instruction was inadequate to cure misconduct where the court merely reminded the jury about evidence’s irrelevance instead of instructing the jury to disregard it).
III.
For the foregoing reasоns, we will affirm the District Court’s denial of Moore’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
Thomas A. Thornton, Esq., Frederick W. Ulrich, Esq., Office of Federal Public Defender, Harrisburg, PA, for Defendant-Appellant
Before: HARDIMAN, SCIRICA, Circuit Judges and ROSENTHAL *, District Judge
OPINION **
SCIRICA, Circuit Judge
Nicholas Stanishia appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidenсe obtained during a search of his prison cell and subsequent conviction for conspiracy to threaten a witness from a prior state criminal case. We will affirm.1
I.
This case arisеs from events while Stanishia was serving a life sentence for murder at the Southeastern Correctional Institution in Ohio. In May 1997, Stanishia lured his ex-girlfriend, Leslie White, and her boyfriend, Christopher Bertz, to a bar and then followed them back to Bertz’s apartment in Columbus, Ohio. Stanishia broke down the apartment door and shot Bertz and White, who died from her injuries. Bertz survived and called police, who were unable to apprehend Stanishia. In February 2000, while a fugitive in Wichita, Kansas, Stanishia broke into the home of a woman and raped her. Stanishia was apprehended soon thereаfter.
In September 2001, an Ohio jury found Stanishia guilty of aggravated murder, attempted murder, and burglary based on the events of May 1997. Bertz was a key witness in the murder trial and identified Stanishia as White’s killer. Stanishia wаs sentenced to life imprisonment plus ten years. In 2004, following Stanishia’s identification through DNA evidence, a Kansas jury found him guilty of burglary, rape, and kidnapping for the events of February 2000, and he was sеntenced to an additional 714 months imprisonment.
While incarcerated in Ohio, Stanishia located Bertz, with the aid of other inmates and his former prison psychologist, with whom he had an illicit relationship. On August 1, 2014, a confederate of Stanishia’s, Martin Jay Wilson, placed a gas can filled with water on Bertz’s back porch. Several days later, on August 4, Stanishia called Bertz, and demandеd Bertz sign an affidavit recanting his trial testimony and promise not to testify in Stanishia’s then-pending state appeal. Stanishia asked if Bertz had seen the gas can at his home, and when Bertz confirmеd he had, Stanishia told him the next time the gas can would not be filled with water.
Bertz contacted the local police, who requested assistance from the Federal Bu
On August 12, Bertz received the affidavit in the mail at his office. Stаnishia called Bertz again on August 21, 2014, and demanded he sign the affidavit. Stanishia claimed to be a member of the Aryan Brotherhood and threatened to kill Bertz and his family if Bertz did not comply.
Following thе second call, Rardain contacted Cordial again. Cordial reviewed closed circuit television tapes at Southeastern Correctional Institution and, based on the time аnd length of the telephone conversation with Bertz, determined Stanishia was inside a cleaning supply closet at the time of the phone call. Another inmate, Jody Six, stood watch outside of the closet.
On August 24, 2014, prison officials searched the closet and Stanishia’s bunk, but were unable to locate the cell phone. During a search of Six’s living area, prison officiаls recovered a laundry bag that contained personal papers belonging to Stanishia. Cordial seized the papers as contraband, based on institution rules which forbade an inmate from holding property for another. The papers contained letters and e-mails from Stanishia’s confederates regarding Bertz, as well as a draft copy of the affidаvit. On October 9, 2014, after obtaining a warrant, FBI agents searched the entire dorm and recovered two cell phones and additional evidence.
On October 15, 2014, a federal grand jury indicted Stanishia and four codefendants for conspiracy to commit interstate transmission of an extortionate threat and a threat to injure (
II.
We review the denial of a motion to suppress for clear error as to the underlying facts, but exercise plenary review as to its legality in light of the properly found facts. United States v. Lafferty, 503 F.3d 293, 298 (3d Cir. 2007). A сonvicted prisoner does not have a legitimate expectation of privacy in his cell and accordingly “the Fourth Amendment proscription against unreasonable searches does not apply within the confines of the prison cell.” Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U.S. 517, 526 (1984). “The recognition of privacy rights for prisoners in their individual cells simply cannot be reconciled with the concept of incarceration and the needs and objectives of penal institutions.” Id.
Stanishia relies on United States v. Cohen, in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recognized a limited Fourth Amendment right for a pretrial detainee whose prison cell was searched at the request of law enforcement. 796 F.2d 20, 23-24 (2d Cir. 1986). We need not decide today whether to consider the Cohen exception for pretrial detainees, because it is inappоsite to this case. The Second Circuit has declined to
Stanishia argues the reasoning of Cohen should nonetheless apply to his case because the search of his cell was based on a tip from law enforcement and was not motivated by prison safety concеrns. This argument fails for two reasons. First, the Fourth Amendment right of privacy does not extend to searches of prison cells of convicted prisoners, regardless of the reason for the sеarch, because proper administration requires prison staff have unfettered access to prison facilities. Hudson, 468 U.S. at 527 (“[A]dministration of a prison ... would be literally impossible ... if inmates retаined a right of privacy in their cells.”); see Willis, 301 F.3d at 69 (“[A] convicted prisoner’s loss of privacy rights can be justified on grounds other than institutional security.”). Thus, the reason for the search is irrelevant to the analysis in this case. Second, the trial judge correctly concluded prison officials would have searched the area—regardless of an FBI request to investigate a possiblе crime—upon learning about a possible contraband cell phone because a cell phone in a prison poses serious institutional security risks. Accordingly, the District Court correctly held that the August 24, 2014, search did not violate the Fourth Amendment.
III.
For the foregoing reasons and those provided in the District Court’s opinion, we will affirm the denial of Stanishia’s motion to suppress, and affirm the judgment of conviction and sentence.