U.S. v. Brigham
| Decision Date | 18 August 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-40719.,02-40719. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Reginald BRIGHAM, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
John Malcolm Bales, Asst. U.S. Atty. (argued), Lufkin, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
John Wesley Tunnell (argued), Tunnell & Cox, Lufkin, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Before JONES, WIENER, and DeMOSS, Circuit Judges.
Defendant-appellant Reginald Brigham appeals the district court's denial of his motion to suppress codeine seized during a routine traffic stop from the rental car he was driving. He contends that the investigating officer subjected him to a prolonged detention in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights, which tainted the officer's subsequent consensual search. Because we agree that Brigham was unlawfully detained, we reverse the district court and remand for entry of judgment of acquittal.
Shortly after 4:00 P.M., on Sunday, May 14, 2000, while turning his patrol car around on an overpass, Trooper Shannon Conklin of the Texas Department of Public Safety saw Reginald Brigham driving over a rise in the highway in the outside lane following the vehicle in front of him too closely. Conklin decided to pull over the vehicle, a late model Buick sedan, which contained three young black males, and one young black female.
He approached the car at approximately 4:13 P.M. and asked Brigham to produce his driver's license and car registration and to step out of the car and move back behind the car to an area in front of the patrol vehicle. Brigham complied and gave Conklin his driver's license and a copy of the rental agreement for the car.
Conklin testified later that while reviewing the license and rental contract, he immediately noticed that a fifty year old woman had rented the car but was not present. Standing in the ditch in front of the patrol vehicle, Brigham asked what the problem was and Conklin explained that Brigham was following too closely and Conklin thought the passenger in the front seat may not have been wearing a seatbelt. Instead of promptly requesting a computer check on the driver's license or car's papers, Conklin began to question Brigham, asking him where he was coming from and the purpose of his travel. Brigham answered that he had been in Houston on pleasure and one of the passengers had visited family in Houston. Conklin continued, asking Brigham which part of Houston they had stayed in and where they had stayed. Brigham answered that he did not know which part of Houston they had stayed in and, after pausing for a moment, answered that they stayed at a La Quinta Inn. Conklin asked which part of Houston the La Quinta was located in, to which Brigham first replied that he was not sure and then said he thought it was the North Highway 59 area. Conklin then asked Brigham when he had arrived in Houston; Brigham said Friday. Conklin persisted, asking Brigham to specify what time on Friday he had arrived. Brigham responded that they had arrived Friday morning. After three to four minutes of this questioning, Conklin turned to the rental agreement and asked Brigham who had rented the car. Brigham responded that his mother, Dorothy Harris, had rented it. Conklin asked where she was; Brigham told him that she was in Arkansas.
Conklin later testified that he became suspicious because (1) the woman who rented the vehicle listed her age as 50 and thus could not have been in the car, and (2) Brigham did not share the same last name as the person who rented the car. Despite noticing the renter's age and last name, however, Conklin testified that he did not notice that (1) the address on Brigham's driver's license was the same as the address listed by Harris on the rental agreement, or (2) at 50, Harris was of an age that she could be Brigham's mother. Conklin also testified that Brigham seemed nervous, that his hands were shaking, and that he tended to answer a question with a question.1
Continuing, Conklin asked Brigham to point out the passenger who had family in Houston, and also asked if Brigham had any weapons. Brigham appeared to indicate it was Franklin who had family in Houston; Franklin was seated in the back seat. Brigham also responded that he had no weapons. This was just after 4:17 P.M. Conklin remarked at the time that he wanted to find out in which part of Houston the friend had family. Conklin approached the car, asked Brandon Franklin to step out of the vehicle and go in front of the car off the shoulder and into the grass, and requested Franklin's driver's license. The license, which turned out to be fictitious, identified Franklin as Siracrease Brooks. Conklin began to ask Franklin the same battery of questions that he had asked Brigham. Conklin first asked where they were coming from. Franklin responded that they had been in Houston and had gone to see an Isley Brothers concert. Conklin asked when they went to the concert; Franklin said Friday night. Conklin asked how long they had been in Houston, and Franklin said they had been there a couple of days. Conklin asked what day and time they had arrived. Franklin initially said Friday late afternoon or evening, but then stated that he was not exactly sure of their arrival time. Conklin continued by asking Franklin whether he stayed with friends or family. Franklin said they had stayed at a hotel. Conklin asked which hotel; Franklin said a La Quinta, as had Brigham. Conklin asked how often Franklin went to Houston and whether he knew anyone there. Franklin responded that he did not go there often and that he knew "a couple of girls" in Houston that he had met at a college function. Conklin never specifically questioned Franklin if he had family in Houston.
Between 4:19 and 4:20 P.M., Conklin next approached the vehicle and asked similar questions of the remaining two occupants, Quincy Perry and the young female who had no identification. Conklin asked where they were coming from, and whether the visit was for business or pleasure. Perry responded that they had been in Houston for pleasure. Conklin asked how long they had been there, and Perry said a couple of days. Conklin asked which day they had arrived, and Perry initially responded that they had arrived Friday morning, but the woman suggested that perhaps it was Saturday morning. Perry then stated that they had stayed one day and two nights. When Conklin indicated that they could not have arrived Saturday morning and stayed two nights, Perry seemed to indicate that they had left home Thursday night and arrived in Houston Friday morning.2
Finally, at 4:21 P.M., after almost eight minutes of questioning the driver and the three passengers about matters unrelated to the traffic stop or the rental car, Conklin returned to his patrol car to radio in the personal and rental car identification information. Almost immediately, the dispatcher reported that the rental car had not been reported stolen. Then for nearly five minutes there was silence and no activity during which Brigham stood in the ditch behind the rental car, Franklin waited in the ditch in front of the rental car, the other passengers remained in the rental car, and Conklin waited in his patrol vehicle to hear back from his radio contact on the driver's licenses. While waiting, Conklin recorded orally on the videotape a message to himself that (1) as to the rental agreement, the subjects were not 25 years old nor listed on the rental agreement (Harris had rented the car), (2) the subjects seemed nervous (hands were shaking) and neither Brigham nor Franklin had made eye contact with Conklin, (3) all four appeared to lack legal standing as to the vehicle because they were not listed as authorized drivers, and (4) they had conflicting stories about arrival time in Houston and who they had visited there.
At 4:29 P.M., eight minutes after receiving radio contact from Conklin, the dispatcher reported that (1) Perry and Brigham had some criminal activity in their backgrounds, but their licenses were clear and criminal details were unavailable, and (2) the license Franklin offered was likely fictitious.
Then Conklin emerged from his car, and aggressively asked Brigham what Franklin's name and age was. After initially not understanding Conklin's question, Brigham responded that his first name was Brandon, and thought his full name was Brandon Franklin. Conklin then confronted Franklin. Franklin initially tried to maintain the fake identity, but then admitted that his name was Brandon Franklin. Then Conklin asked for Franklin's wallet and searched it but found nothing. Thereafter, around 4:33 P.M., Conklin called in the new identification and waived over a local Nacogdoches police car for back-up. He briefed the local police officers on the situation, and remarked that he was going to try to get consent to search but would search the vehicle anyway because none of the four had standing to protest.
After speaking to the local police, Conklin issued Brigham a written warning for driving too close, which Brigham had to sign. This was at 4:34 P.M. It is unclear from the videotape whether Conklin returned Brigham's driver's license to him, but Conklin testified at the suppression hearing that he returned the license. The record is clear that Conklin launched into his consent to search request immediately after Brigham signed the warning citation. At about 4:35 P.M., twenty-one minutes after making initial contact with Brigham, Conklin informed Brigham that one of his jobs is to patrol for contraband. He asked for consent to search, which Brigham gave. Conklin proceeded to pat down all the car's passengers, told Brigham to relax and wait over in the grassy area of the ditch and told all the other passengers to step over to the grassy area and...
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