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Pest-control workers looking for bedbugs find guns instead
By adamg on Sat, 04/06/2013 - 6:21pm
Two workers who lifted a mattress in the Cathedral BHA project in the South End to look for bedbug evidence this morning instead found two guns. Police, of course, were summoned, and detectives, after getting a search warrant, found a safe under the bed with three more guns.
Police say the workers initially found only a young child in the apartment at 14 E. Brookline St. when they entered shortly after 11 a.m. Police found the child's parents asleep on another bed in the apartment:
Officers brought the suspects out of the bedroom and confirmed there were two firearms underneath the mattress. Both suspects were placed in handcuffs for their safety and officer’s safety. The child was transported to his grandmothers at the request of his mother. The suspects stated they believed the firearms belonged to their cousin visiting from Florida but could not provide any other information regarding such person.
Police say that, in addition to three guns, the safe also contained 300 rounds of ammunition. They add that a note from the BHA alerting the residents to the bedbug inspection was attached to the bedroom mirro.
Sayira Cooper, 24, of the South End, and Dannie E. Levy, 29, of Mattapan, were both charged with unlawful possession of firearms, unlawful possession of firearms with altered serial numbers, improper storage of firearms and unlawful possession of ammunition.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
Sentence them to hard labor...
You know 40 hrs a week!
Can't sentence them to work 40 hours a week
At my job, unfortunately.
It would be considered cruel and unusual punishment.
But I like where you were going with that.
Best neighborhood in America!
Way to go, neighbors.
PS. Google Maps isn't very accurate on this one. It's off by several blocks in 2 directions.
Map fixed
I think.
Simple Explanation
They were shooting at the bedbugs.
So they knew people were coming
And they still end up forfeiting their guns. Stupidity really is the best deterrent sometimes.
Sure to be challenged
It will be interesting to see how the suppression hearing turns out.
Perhaps they intended to refuse entry to the inspectors, and merely overslept. Did the inspectors let themselves in? Was the door open? Ajar? Locked? What does the lease say about the entry?
The search may have been permissible under the Fourth Amendment, but it may not. I don't think it's cut-and-dried. It's been a long time since I looked at administrative searches, and I have no idea what the SJC may have said about them, but this search strikes me as potentially problematic.
Inevitable discovery
A scheduled inspection by agents of the owner finds possible criminal activity; agents call police, who properly obtain a warrant and discover that and corroborating evidence while searching under the authority of said warrant.
It would be no different if one of my old landlords saw guns when they used to come in to check the radiators (again, with prior notice).
Maybe
Well, it could come out that way, yes, although that's not inevitable discovery.
But if they refused the inspection, or the inspectors went beyond what such an inspection would normally involve, the evidence obtained a result could be subject to suppression. It's definitely a fact-specific inquiry.
It is different from your landlord's doing the same thing. I believe this happened in public housing. If so, the inspectors were likely state actors, making the Fourth Amendment applicable. Again, very fact specific, which is why I think the suppression decision will be interesting.
Pest Management
Pest Management Companies are not state actors or whatever that might entail. The pest management contractors are private companies under contract. The tenants get 48 hours notice for all inspections, must follow a preparedness checklist and may not refuse entry. Sometimes tenants tell exterminators to go away, but those tenants can be cited and ultimately evicted or the housing authority can file a TRO to get access.
It'll be a hard sell to say there was something improper about the inspection itself, since lifting the mattress is EXACTLY what the exterminator should be doing in a bed bug inspection.
good info
Anon,
Thanks for the info. I think it'll be interesting to see what happens.
Maybe it's just as clear as your comment indicates. Yes, lifting a mattress could be an expected part of a bedbug inspection, but maybe they usually just black light the top of the mattress. I don't have any information.
As for state action, I don't think it's entirely clear that private contractors hired by state officials are not considered state actors for Fourth Amendment purposes. Of course, under the Jones and Bailey conception of what makes a violation, I'm not sure whether the trespass and bedbug investigation would pass or fail. Again, all I said was I find the issue interesting.
One thing is clear: the inspectors needed permission, express or implied, to enter.
In the end, it's entirely possible these people just fell asleep, the inspectors reasonably thought they had permission to enter, conducted a reasonable bedbug inspection, found guns, and called the cops. If that's really exactly what happened, then nothing should be suppressed. In my experience, things usually aren't that clear.
But did they have bedbugs?
But did they have bedbugs?
People
like this should be banned from subsidized housing. They take advantage of a system that can only monitor taxable income. Last time i checked criminals don't file with the IRS.
Also the people who actually rely on government assistance are forced to live with scum who game the system.
Interesting truism
1) you are a criminal
2) you know a lot of criminals
3) we are expected to assume that people who don't file are criminals (even though those whose sole support is, say, Social Security aren't required to)
or 4) you are full of shit.