U.S. v. Carter

Full title: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. GERREN JOHN DAVID CARTER

Court: United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Fort Myers Division

Date published: Feb 7, 2011

Case No.: 2:10-cr-95-FtM-36 SPC (M.D. Fla. Feb. 7, 2011)

Opinion

Case No.: 2:10-cr-95-FtM-36 SPC.

February 7, 2011

ORDER

SHERI CHAPPELL, Magistrate Judge

This matter comes before the Court on the United States of America's Response to the Defendant's Motion to Suppress (Doc. #24) filed on February 1, 2011. The United States moves the Court to cancel the hearing or to direct the Defendant to supplement his Motion in regards to his allegations that his statements were not voluntarily made. In its Response (Doc. # 24), the Government argues the Defendant Carter has failed to make a proper pretrial request for suppression because he merely alleges that his statement to the police was involuntary. Indeed, no facts or law are presented in the Defendant's Motion to Suppress relating to the voluntariness of the Defendant's statements. The Defendant merely states in his wherefore clause to the Motion that "Mr. Carter respectfully requests a Pretrial Evidentiary Hearing to determine whether the May 10, 2010, traffic stop was illegal, whether his statement was voluntary; and for an Order suppressing statements and physical evidence derived therefrom." (Doc. # 22, p. 7).

A court need not act upon general or conclusory allegations founded on mere suspicion or conjecture, and the Court has the discretion in determining the need for a hearing. U.S. v. Richardson, 764 F. 2d 1514, 1527 (11th Cir. 1985). Thus, the Defendant shall supplement his Motion to Suppress with facts and law related to whether or not his statements were voluntarily made. In the alternative, the Defendant shall inform the Court in writing that the Motion merely seeks to suppress the statements as the fruit of the poisonous tree.

Accordingly, it is now

ORDERED:

The Defendant shall supplement his Motion to Suppress his statements with facts and law related to the voluntariness of said statements or otherwise inform the Court that the Motion is merely seeking to suppress the statements as the fruit of the poisonous tree. The Defendant shall file his supplement on or before Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 4:00pm. DONE AND ORDERED at Fort Myers, Florida, this 7th day of February, 2011.