U.S. v. Mendez

• Decision Date: 08 July 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-1453,96-1453
• Citation: 118 F.3d 1426
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff--Appellee, v. Gustavo MENDEZ, Defendant--Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 1426

118 F.3d 1426

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff--Appellee, v. Gustavo MENDEZ, Defendant--Appellant.

No. 96-1453.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

July 8, 1997.

Michael G. Katz, Federal Public Defender, Warren R. Williamson, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Audrey Baker, Research & Writing Specialist, Denver, CO, for Defendant-Appellant.

Henry L. Solano, United States Attorney, John M. Hutchins, Assistant United States Attorney, Denver, CO, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Before ANDERSON, HENRY, and BRISCOE, Circuit Judges.

STEPHEN H. ANDERSON, Circuit Judge.

Defendant Gustavo Mendez, convicted and sentenced for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B), appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence. We affirm. ^*

I.

On February 17, 1996, Colorado State Patrol Trooper Thomas Iovinella was driving in a marked patrol car on Highway 160, west of Del Norte, Colorado. At 2:20 p.m., Iovinella stopped a Chevrolet Malibu, driven by Mendez, for speeding. As Iovinella approached the driver's side of the car, he noticed that a plastic "faceplate" on the dashboard appeared crooked and that the car's radio was "crooked and just kind of laying in [the console]." R. Vol. 4, at 10. Iovinella explained to Mendez the reason for the stop, and informed Mendez he would issue a warning for speeding. Iovinella requested Mendez's driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance. Mendez produced a California driver's license in his name, and an Arizona registration in another person's name. Iovinella inquired regarding ownership of the vehicle, and Mendez responded that the car belonged to his sister's husband.

Iovinella asked Mendez where he was headed, and Mendez replied that he was headed to Colorado Springs to visit his sister. Iovinella asked Mendez where his sister lived in Colorado Springs. Mendez said that he did not know the address, but knew how to get there. Iovinella then returned to his patrol car to conduct a computer check on Mendez's license and registration, as well as on the vehicle plates. All the checks came back clear, with "no wants or warrants." Id. at 11.

When Iovinella returned to Mendez's car, he again pressed Mendez regarding whether he knew the location of his sister's house. Iovinella also asked Mendez whether he was "carrying any drugs, large sums of money, weapons or explosives." Id. at 12-13. When Mendez denied carrying any contraband, Iovinella asked for, and obtained, Mendez's oral consent to search the car. Iovinella told Mendez that he appreciated his cooperation, and explained that he needed Mendez to sign a written consent form. Iovinella then returned to his patrol car, radioed for backup, and prepared the consent form.

Trooper Dingfelter, the backup, arrived eight to ten minutes later. Iovinella asked Mendez to step out of his car and stand by Dingfelter. Iovinella then showed Mendez the consent form, and asked him to read and sign it. Mendez signed the form.

When Iovinella entered Mendez's car to commence the search, he smelled marijuana. He found a jacket in the back seat and handed it to Dingfelter. While Iovinella continued searching the car, Dingfelter looked through the pockets of the jacket and discovered marijuana. Dingfelter arrested Mendez and placed him in the back of the patrol car. Dingfelter then assisted Iovinella in searching Mendez's car.

The officers noticed that some screws were missing from the car's dashboard. The officers removed a few more screws and pulled off the dashboard's faceplate. Dingfelter reached into the vehicle's air vent, and pulled out two balls wrapped in black duct tape. He cut one open and discovered a substance later confirmed to be methamphetamine.

Mendez was indicted on March 4, 1996, in the District of Colorado, on one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He filed a motion to suppress evidence and statements on April 15, 1996. The district court denied the motion on May 20, 1996, finding that Mendez's consent to search the vehicle was voluntary. Mendez entered a plea of guilty on July 5, 1996, conditioned on his right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress. Mendez was sentenced to forty-six months' imprisonment, four years' supervised release, and a $50 special assessment. Following sentencing, this appeal ensued.

II.

On appeal, Mendez argues that Iovinella's questioning regarding contraband and consent to search was "outside the scope of the original reason for the traffic stop, and was not based on a reasonable suspicion that appellant was involved in criminal activity." Appellant's Br. at 6. Mendez requests that we reverse the district court's denial of his motion to suppress, and remand the case in order for the district court to make more specific findings regarding whether Iovinella had returned Mendez's driver's license and registration prior to requesting consent to search the vehicle. Mendez argues that if Iovinella asked for consent to search before returning the documentation, then the consent was obtained as the result of an illegal detention.

"When reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress evidence, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the government and the district court's findings, and we review the district court's factual findings only for clear error." United States v. Anderson, 114 F.3d 1059, 1063 (10th Cir.1997). We review de novo the district court's ultimate determination of reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment. Id.

A routine traffic stop is a seizure under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Botero-Ospina, 71 F.3d 783, 786 (10th Cir.1995) (en banc), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 2529, 135 L.Ed.2d 1052 (1996). Governed by the principles of Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), a traffic stop "must be justified at its inception and the detention must be 'reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place.' " Anderson, 114 F.3d at 1063 (quoting Terry, 392 U.S. at 20, 88 S.Ct. at 1879). In this case, there is no dispute that Mendez's speeding justified the initial stop. Therefore, we turn to whether "the investigative detention exceeded permissible Fourth Amendment bounds." Id.

An officer conducting a routine traffic stop may run computer checks on the driver's license, the vehicle registration papers, and on whether the driver has any outstanding warrants or the vehicle has been reported stolen. Id.; United States v. Elliott, 107 F.3d 810, 813 (10th Cir.1997); United States v. McRae, 81 F.3d 1528, 1535 n. 6 (10th Cir.1996). However, once the computer checks confirm that the driver has produced a valid license and proof of entitlement to operate the car, the driver must be permitted to proceed on his way, without further delay by police for additional questioning. Anderson, 114 F.3d at 1063-64; Elliott, 107 F.3d at 813. Further questioning is permissible only if (1) "the encounter between the officer and the driver ceases to be a detention, but becomes consensual, and the driver voluntarily consents to additional questioning," Anderson, 114 F.3d at 1064, or (2) during the traffic stop the officer gains a reasonable and articulable suspicion that the driver is engaged in illegal activity. Id.; Elliott, 107 F.3d at 813.

A. Consensual Encounter

In this case, Iovinella checked--and cleared--Mendez's documentation, and issued Mendez a warning for speeding. Iovinella then proceeded to ask Mendez whether he was carrying contraband, and whether he would consent to a search of his vehicle. The district court found that these additional questions "would not be relevant to the reason for the stop." R. Vol. 4 at 86. The government does not dispute this finding, but argues that the additional questions were justified by the consensual nature of the prolonged encounter. Specifically, the government contends that once Iovinella returned Mendez's documentation and thanked him for his cooperation, "one would infer a closure to the detention." Appellee's Br. at 13.

While determining whether an officer and driver are engaged in a consensual encounter typically requires the court to focus on the totality of the circumstances in a particular case, this circuit has consistently applied at least one bright-line rule: an officer must return a driver's documentation before the detention can end. Anderson, 114 F.3d at 1064-65; Elliott, 107 F.3d at 814; McRae, 81 F.3d at 1534 n. 3; United States v. Gregory, 79 F.3d 973, 979 (10th Cir.1996); United States v. Sandoval, 29 F.3d 537, 540 (10th Cir.1994) ("no 'reasonable person' would feel free to leave without such documentation"); United States v. McKneely, 6 F.3d 1447, 1451 (10th Cir.1993) (noting "the clear line historically drawn between police-citizen encounters which occur before and after an officer returns a person's driver's license, car registration, or other documentation"). At the suppression hearing, Mendez raised the issue of whether Iovinella returned his driver's license and registration before or after asking questions unrelated to the stop. Iovinella testified that he returned the documentation immediately after the computer checks came back clear, and before any additional questioning. R. Vol. 4, at 12, 28, 39. Defense counsel noted, however, that the written consent form signed by Mendez included the vehicle identification number of Mendez's car. Counsel suggested during cross-examination that Iovinella must have still had the registration at the time he prepared the form. Iovinella admitted that he wrote the vehicle identification number on the form after asking Mendez for oral consent, but he claimed he obtained the number from the dispatcher, rather than from the vehicle registration. ¹ Id. at 37.

In its oral ruling denying Mendez's motion to suppress, the district court stated:

There has been this question raised as...