Editor’s Note: Law Week Colorado edits court opinion summaries for style and, when necessary, length.
According to the opinion, the Denver Police Department received information from a confidential informant an individual was selling methamphetamine at 836 North Linley Court. While conducting surveillance, the DPD observed various people enter the residence, stay for around five to ten minutes, and then leave. The DPD used its confidential informant to conduct two separate controlled buys. Both times the confidential informant entered the residence and bought methamphetamine.
Based on this information, the DPD obtained a search warrant for the place described as “836 North Linley Court, a single family structure with green siding and trim on the east side of North Linley Court with a black metal security door with the numbers ‘836’ to the right of the door in black.”
The property contained two structures: the main residence and a detached garage. A brick and wrought iron fence lined the property’s front perimeter and a chain link fence extended from the sides of the detached garage and lined the property’s back perimeter. The detached garage stood about 25 feet away from the residence with a walkway connecting the two structures. The detached garage had two boarded-up windows and a door facing the backyard and the residence. A sealed and inoperable garage door faced the alley.
On Oct. 24, 2018, the DPD Special Weapons and Tactics team executed the warrant, securing the residence, the occupants and the backyard, the opinion noted. At the time of the raid, the SWAT team had no visibility into the detached garage because of the boarded-up windows. The SWAT team breached the detached garage to secure the interior.
The SWAT team found Richard Ronquillo sleeping on a bed and ordered him to exit. Ronquillo arose from the bed, shoved a plastic bag into his rear pocket, and exited the detached garage, where the SWAT team detained him. Officers performed two pat downs on Ronquillo and found cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin.
Ronquillo moved to suppress the evidence found on his person. The district court denied the motion and a jury convicted Ronquillo of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. The district court sentenced Ronquillo to 210 months’ imprisonment. Ronquillo appealed the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded the search warrant authorized the search of the detached garage and the immediate vicinity included the detached garage and anyone inside it, such as Ronquillo. It affirmed Ronquillo’s detention was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.