United States of America v. Bruce Silva

New York City, New York criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with felony possession of a firearm.



The government filed a sealed criminal complaint in October 2021 charging Silva with possession of ammunition following a felony conviction for violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), in connection with an alleged shooting in August 2019. See Indictment, ECF No. 10, United States v. Silva, No. 22-CR-347 (S.D.N.Y. June 21, 2022) (the "2022 Indictment”) (subsequent federal grand-jury indictment on the same charge). In December 2021, Silva purportedly failed to appear for a case- status conference in a state-court proceeding for the commission of that same shooting, at which time the government intended to arrest him for the federal charge. Approximately four months later, members of the U.S. Marshals Service successfully apprehended him, at which point the government seized from his5 person a cell phone, along with a forged driver's license and a debit card, both in the name of "Carlos Silva.”



The Fourth Amendment provides that "no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” U.S. Const. amend.

IV. In accordance with this constitutional right, "[c]ourts have . . . developed the 'exclusionary rule'—which requires trial courts to exclude unlawfully seized evidence from criminal trials—as the 'principal judicial remedy to deter Fourth

Amendment violations.'” United States v. McKenzie, 13 F.4th 223, 231 n.5 (2d Cir. 2021) (quoting Utah v. Strieff, 579 U.S. 232, 237 (2016)).



However, "[a] determination that the warrant at issue was not supported by probable cause to search . . . does not automatically dictate the suppression of all physical evidence seized or statements derived therefrom,” because "suppression is 'our last resort, not our first impulse.'” United States v. Clark, 638 F.3d 89, 99 (2d

Vacated and remanded