The attorney for a retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent charged with weapons crimes and domestic violence is claiming Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies conducted an illegal search of his home and is seeking to have the case dismissed, according to a recently filed court motion.
SCV Sheriff’s Station deputies reported that they responded to a 911 call of shots fired and found “red flags” at Young’s residence, according to an Oct. 9 hearing in which the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office moved to have Young held without bail.
Deputies responded to his home Sept. 30 following a series of concerning reports about Young’s behavior. After finding what they deemed as “exigent circumstances,” a situation that required their immediate response, they searched the home.
Young, who had recently been relieved of duty over a bizarre incident with a former fellow agent, was found to be in possession of 15 firearms, including a sawed-off shotgun, three illegal assault weapons, more than 30,000 rounds and modified DEA credentials that had been modified to appear active.
Young ultimately pleaded not guilty, was granted bail, and is now slated for a preliminary hearing in April. That’s when a judge will hear the prosecution’s evidence and decide whether there’s enough for trial.
However, first the court will hear arguments over Young’s claims that deputies gathered their evidence after a series of illegal searches.
Sheriff’s investigators claimed they were following up reports of increasingly troubling behavior by Young prior to their seizure of a cache of weapons at his home on Monte Vista Circle in Valencia.
Search warrant affidavit
Young’s attorney claimed there were several falsehoods in their application for a search warrant to investigate Young’s property.
Sheriff’s deputies say they had several conversations with people concerned about activity at Young’s house prior to the search, according to an eight-page sworn statement supporting their search.
Prosecutors claimed Young had become increasingly erratic, and expressed concern over previous violent reactions to situations, according to a request to the DA’s office to hold the former federal officer without bail.
California Highway Patrol officers began investigating Young after he was accused of being in a hit-and-run collision on Sept. 12. CHP officers said Young’s car was photographed by the victim after he twice rammed a vehicle for driving too slowly in the carpool lane and then brandished a firearm before driving away, according to the DA’s Oct. 9 filing.
That day he also was accused of being involved in a domestic violence incident that led to a restraining order that local deputies served after Young’s arrest.
Deputies arrived at Young’s home in response to a 911 call of shots fired, a report from a neighbor heard a “loud bang,” and reports from Young’s brother-in-law of suicidal ideations from Young.
“Additional units and myself knocked on the front door of the residence multiple times and rang the doorbell, but there was no answer,” according to the report from the investigator who responded. “Based on the call received, coupled with information given by the neighbor I spoke with, I determined there was a reasonable possibility the occupants of the residence were in need of assistance.”
The deputies then proceeded to the rear of the house, where, “As the curtain was opened, I observed (in plain view) what l identified as a tactical duty belt affixed to a pair of pants on the floor in front of a mattress laid out near the living room couch,” the officer stated. Upon hearing no response, the deputies continued with their search.
Search warrant
However, Young’s defense is claiming deputies conducted a series of illegal searches in order to create the false pretense needed for the search of Young’s home.
“Based on a 21-hour old tip from defendant James Young’s estranged wife’s brother that defendant’s neighbor’s heard a ‘loud bang’ at defendant’s residence, officers — lacking either a warrant or consent — entered defendant’s backyard when he failed to answer the front door, according to the motion from Young’s attorney, Alan Eisner, who described the action as the first of several illegal searches.
“They opened his backyard door, pushed aside the curtain and, after no one answered as they called out, entered the home and detained (Young). This was the second illegal search,” he argued.
“Once they removed him from the home, officers conducted two additional searches of the residence. Without a warrant, only then deciding to seek a search warrant application for what was by then their fifth search of defendant’s home,” the motion states. “The affidavit supporting that warrant, as well as relying on affirmative falsehoods, failed to inform the magistrate of the essential facts of the officers’ prior conduct which would have led the magistrate to deny the application.”
Eisner argued in his motion that SCV deputies’ actions violated the “very core” of Young’s Fourth Amendment rights “to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion.”
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials later confirmed that they served Young with the criminal protective order when he arrived at his home immediately after his Oct. 10 release from the station. The criminal protective order was related to a Sept. 12 domestic violence allegation against Young made by his wife.
The order states he must stay 100 feet from his home and prevent him from legally owning firearms.
