UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Theodore ROBINSON, Sr., Defendant-Appellant.
Nos. 92-6951, 92-6991.
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.
Aug. 31, 1995.
62 F.3d 1325
It would be fundamentally unfair to force Balfour Beatty to spend time and money preparing the same discovery simply because Bush has determined that he now wishes to defend the allegations of fraud and avoid his judgment debt in bankruptcy court.
We find Daily persuasive. Where a party has substantially participated in an action in which he had a full and fair opportunity to defend on the merits, but subsequently chooses not to do so, and even attempts to frustrate the effort to bring the action to judgment, it is not an abuse of discretion8 for a district court to apply the doctrine of collateral estoppel to prevent further litigation of the issues resolved by the default judgment in the prior action. Bush had ample warning from the prior court and could reasonably have foreseen the conclusive effect of his actions. In such a case, collateral estoppel may apply to bar relitigation of the issues resolved by the default judgment. See Klingman v. Levinson, 831 F.2d 1292, 1296 (7th Cir.1987) (quoting 1B. J. Moore, J. Lucas & T. Currier, Moore‘s Federal Practice ¶0.444[1], at 794 (2d ed. 1984)) (“Justice, then, is probably better served if collateral estoppel does not apply to ... default judgments ... unless it can be said that the parties could reasonably have foreseen the conclusive effect of their actions.“) (emphasis added). As the Ninth Circuit observed in Daily:
Without denying Daily his day in court, application of the doctrine served its central purposes of “protect[ing] [the prevailing party] from the expense and vexation attending multiple lawsuits, conserv[ing] judicial resources, and foster[ing] reliance on judicial action by minimizing the possibility of inconsistent decisions.” By contrast, denying preclusive effect to the [prior] judgment on the ground that the issues relevant to discharge were not fully tried in that proceeding would permit Daily to delay substantially and perhaps ultimately avoid payment of the debt by deliberate abuse of the judicial process.
Id. at 368 (alteration in original) (citation omitted). Just as due process is not offended by the entry of a default judgment against a party for failure to cooperate with discovery, Societe Internationale Pour Participations Industrielles et Commerciales, S.A. v. Rogers, 357 U.S. 197, 209-10, 78 S.Ct. 1087, 1094, 2 L.Ed.2d 1255 (1958), neither is due process offended if a debtor is held to the consequences of that judgment in a subsequent bankruptcy discharge proceeding. See Blonder-Tongue Lab. Inc. v. University of Illinois Found., 402 U.S. 313, 328-29, 91 S.Ct. 1434, 1442-43, 2 L.Ed.2d 788 (1971). The order of the district court affirming the judgment of the bankruptcy court is AFFIRMED.
Redding Pitt, U.S. Atty., Terry F. Moorer, Asst. U.S. Atty., Montgomery, AL, for appellee in No. 92-6951.
James E. Wilson, U.S. Atty., Terry F. Moorer, Asst. U.S. Atty., Montgomery, AL, for appellee in No. 92-6991.
Before EDMONDSON and BIRCH, Circuit Judges, and HILL, Senior Circuit Judge.
BIRCH, Circuit Judge:
In this appeal, we decide whether aerial surveillance of an occupied, private residence with infrared thermal detection as an indication that marijuana is being cultivated inside is an unconstitutional search. The district court denied defendant‘s suppression motion. We AFFIRM.
I. BACKGROUND
In December, 1991, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent informed Agent Charles West of the Narcotics Division of the Alabama Department of Public Safety that thirty high-pressure, sodium lights had been shipped from California to defendant-appellant Theodore Robinson, Sr.‘s address in Tuskegee, Alabama. Agent West knew that such lights commonly are used by private individuals for growing marijuana indoors.1 His investigation revealed that Robinson had ordered similar lights and hydroponic equipment in 1989 and 1990.
Additionally, subpoenaed utility records showed that Robinson‘s average kilowatt consumption of 5,570 hours and average utility statement of $410.89 for the months of June, July and August, 1991, had increased to nearly 10,000 kilowatt hours for December, 1991, and a utility statement of $562.00. Houses approximately the size of Robinson‘s generated monthly power statements between $130.00 and $150.00. Agent West‘s investigation of Robinson‘s financial status showed that Robinson owned an attractive house of approximately 2,800 square feet with a swimming pool and a nearby lot containing a new, prefabricated metal building. Although Robinson paid for the high-pressure, sodium lights with a cashier‘s check in excess of $7,000.00, Agent West found that the Alabama Department of Revenue had no record of Robinson‘s having filed income tax returns.
After collecting this information, Agent West directed a helicopter crew to conduct a Forward Looking Infrared Receiver (“FLIR“), thermal imaging examination2 to compare the heat emanating from Robinson‘s house with the intensity of the heat from surrounding objects. Robinson‘s home was considerably warmer than surrounding houses. Listing his investigatory findings, Agent West applied for a search warrant of Robinson‘s home. On January 31, 1992, Agent West and others executed the search warrant and found a major, indoor marijuana growing operation.3 Two revolvers, a shotgun, and a
A two-count indictment in the Middle District of Alabama charged Robinson with the manufacture and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and with possession of firearms in connection with a drug trafficking crime. Robinson moved to suppress the marijuana seized from his home pursuant to the search warrant. Following a suppression hearing, the district court denied his motion. Robinson then pled guilty and was sentenced to serve 130 months of imprisonment followed by seven years of supervised release. On appeal, he contends that the FLIR search of his house constituted an illegal search under the
II. DISCUSSION
Decisions on motions to suppress involve mixed questions of fact and law; “we review the district court‘s factual findings for clear error, and its application of the law to the facts de novo.” United States v. Hromada, 49 F.3d 685, 688 (11th Cir.1995). Additionally, we construe all facts in favor of the prevailing party. Id. Robinson first argues that the warrantless FLIR surveillance of his occupied home violated his
The
In Ford, we recognized that a party alleging an unconstitutional search under the
Our conclusion in Ford that the defendant-appellant held no subjective expectation of privacy turned on his purposefully venting the heat from his marijuana cultivation inside the mobile home with an electric blower through holes drilled in the floor. Id. In contrast to Ford, Robinson did not vent the heat from his marijuana growing operation or deliberately assist the emission of heat in any way. Consequently, we must decide in this case whether inaction can be as revealing regarding the subjective expectation of privacy as action.
The focal issue is whether Robinson had a subjective expectation of privacy in the heat generated by his indoor marijuana cultivation.4 We find none. While Robinson at-
Even if Robinson had demonstrated a subjective expectation of privacy in the heat emitted from his home, he also would have to establish the objective component of the Katz two-part test. Under the objective prong, the proper inquiry is whether the “‘government‘s intrusion infringes upon the personal and societal values protected by the
In validating the visual inspection of a greenhouse where marijuana was being cultivated within the curtilage of a house, the Supreme Court found that “no intimate details connected with the use of the home or curtilage were observed” during the aerial viewing. Florida v. Riley, 488 U.S. 445, 452, 109 S.Ct. 693, 697, 102 L.Ed.2d 835 (1989) (emphasis added). FLIR surveillance cannot measure temperature; it “merely compare[s] the amount of heat radiated from various objects.” Pinson, 24 F.3d at 1057. “[T]he mere fact that the police have employed relatively sophisticated forms of technological surveillance does not render the surveillance unconstitutional.... The crucial inquiry, as in any search and seizure analysis, is whether the technology reveals ‘intimate details.‘”5 Ishmael, 48 F.3d at 855-56 (footnote omitted) (citation omitted) (quoting Dow Chemical Co. v. United States, 476 U.S. 227, 238, 106 S.Ct. 1819, 1827, 90 L.Ed.2d 226 (1986)); accord Ford, 34 F.3d at 996; Pinson, 24 F.3d at 1059.
In this case, the FLIR surveillance revealed only that Robinson‘s house emitted
Moreover, there was no intrusion whatsoever into Robinson‘s home because the emitted heat rose from his house and then was measured by the FLIR surveillance.7 See id. (holding that the “manner” of detecting heat is “significant in assessing the reasonableness of the intrusion“). Using infrared surveillance to ascertain heat intensity is analogous to the warrantless use of drug-detecting dogs to locate contraband. See United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696, 707, 103 S.Ct. 2637, 2644-45, 77 L.Ed.2d 110 (1983) (holding that using police-trained dogs to detect drugs in luggage does not violate the
Thus, we conclude that “[n]one of the interests which form the basis for the need for protection of a residence, namely the intimacy, personal autonomy and privacy associated with a home, are threatened by [FLIR] thermal imagery.” Ishmael, 48 F.3d at 1059; see Myers, 46 F.3d at 670 (determining that the thermal surveillance of a home was constitutional, the Seventh Circuit concluded that “[a] thermal imaging scan does not intrude in any way into the privacy and sanctity of a home“). Robinson has failed to establish an objective or reasonable expectation of privacy in the heat emitted from his house resulting from the unlawful marijuana cultivation inside, even if he had met the subjective component of the Katz test. Significantly, we are unconvinced that society ever would accept use of the
Robinson‘s second issue on appeal is his contention that there was insufficient evidence to constitute probable cause for issuing a search warrant. Accordingly, he argues that execution of the allegedly invalid search warrant violated his
In this case, Agent West of the Narcotics Division of the Alabama Department of Public Safety, who had investigated narcotics offenses for twenty-two years and who specifically had been involved with search warrants concerning indoor marijuana cultivation, presented an affidavit containing the following facts supporting probable cause for a search warrant for Robinson‘s home: (1) Robinson ordered thirty high-pressure sodium lights from a California company specializing in indoor growing equipment and paid for them with a cashier‘s check in excess of $7,000.00, (2) Robinson had purchased growing equipment from this company in the past, (3) based on his experience and training,9 Agent West knew that high-pressure sodium lights are used for indoor marijuana cultivation and that they consume a large amount of electricity and radiate much heat, (4) subpoenaed electric records for Robinson‘s residence showed higher electrical consumption10 than for houses of comparable size,11 (5) aerial surveillance with FLIR equipment revealed considerably more heat emanating from Robinson‘s home than from neighborhood houses of comparable size, and (6) visual inspection of the property revealed an attractive house with a swimming pool in an affluent neighborhood, yet no record of Robinson‘s having paid state income taxes could be located. To the extent that Robinson claims that the FLIR aerial surveillance constituted an unlawful, warrantless search unavailable to support probable cause for issuance of the search warrant, we have negated that argument in our foregoing analysis.
Notwithstanding the additional evidence obtained from the aerial FLIR surveillance, we note that the weight of the other evidence would have provided sufficient probable cause for issuance of the search warrant in question. Cf. United States v. Olson, 21 F.3d 847, 849 (8th Cir.) (“We find that there was sufficient evidence, independent of the information obtained through the use of the FLIR device, to support a finding of probable cause.“), cert. denied, --- U.S. ---, 115 S.Ct. 230, 130 L.Ed.2d 155 (1994); United States v. Deaner, 1 F.3d 192, 197 (3d Cir. 1993) (holding that, even without the FLIR surveillance evidence, the rest of the factual information in the affidavit would have supported probable cause for issuance of the search warrant to determine if marijuana was being cultivated in a private residence); United States v. Kerr, 876 F.2d 1440, 1443 (9th Cir.1989) (holding that, even eliminating the infrared inspection, the other factual evidence supported probable cause to issue the search warrant for a shed on residential property to determine if marijuana was being
III. CONCLUSION
Robinson challenges the FLIR surveillance used to detect heat emitted from his house and also the sufficiency of the evidence to support probable cause for issuance of the search warrant that culminated in seizing marijuana that he was cultivating inside his home. As we explained herein, the aerial FLIR surveillance did not violate the
EDMONDSON, Circuit Judge, concurring:
I concur in the result and in the opinion, except for the discussion (at 3314-3315) of whether Robinson had a subjective expectation of privacy in the heat generated by his indoor marijuana cultivation. On that question, I admit to considerable doubt.
I do not say that today‘s court is wrong in its conclusion on the point. But, I do say that the answer is less than clear to me, considering especially that the court stresses the inaction of a homeowner as the decisive element. Because I believe the subjective intent issue could be decided either way without affecting the outcome of this case, I decline to decide the unnecessary and, for me, delicate question of subjective intent.
