U.S. v. Boyce

• Decision Date: 28 November 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-15183.,02-15183.
• Citation: 351 F.3d 1102
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jody James BOYCE, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1102

351 F.3d 1102

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jody James BOYCE, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 02-15183.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

Filed November 28, 2003.

Joseph C. Kitchings, Richard D. Phillips, Ludowici, GA, for Defendant-Appellant.

Amy Lee Copeland, Robert M. Brennan, Savannah, GA, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.

Before ANDERSON and BIRCH, Circuit Judges, and PROPST^*, District Judge.

BIRCH, Circuit Judge:

Defendant-appellant, Jody James Boyce, pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) after the district court refused to suppress evidence obtained by police from a warrantless investigatory traffic stop and search of Boyce's vehicle. Boyce challenges his conviction by contending that the search of his vehicle violated the Fourth Amendment because the police detained him longer than necessary to process the original traffic violation without a reasonable, articulable suspicion to justify prolonging the detention. Boyce further argues that the detention and search are unconstitutional because "[t]he decision to detain the vehicle was based on Mr. Boyce's refusal to consent to a search of his car." Appellant's Br. at 12. We agree that no sufficient factual basis existed to justify the police in prolonging the detention beyond the time necessary to process the original traffic violation. Accordingly, we REVERSE the judgment of the District Court.

I. BACKGROUND

At 11:23 P.M. on 2 November 2001, Deputy David Edwards of the Sheriff's Department for Liberty County, Georgia was patrolling Interstate 95 when he observed a Dodge Malibu driving ten miles per hour under the speed limit and weaving on the highway. Thinking that the driver might be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Edwards stopped the vehicle and asked the driver, Jody James Boyce, to exit to the rear of the vehicle. Once Edwards had stopped Boyce's vehicle, a video camera in the patrol car began recording the remainder of the traffic stop.¹

Boyce exited the vehicle and gave Edwards his driver's license and rental car agreement. Boyce explained to Edwards that he had been pulled over a little while earlier for the same offense and that he was tired because he had been driving since 10:00 A.M. Admitting that he was too tired to drive, Boyce then said that he would look for a place to sleep for the night. At this point, Edwards asked Boyce about his travel plans. Boyce responded that he was traveling from New Jersey to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to see his "girlfriend/ex-girlfriend." Ex. 1 at 00:41:32-34. Edwards asked, "Which is it?" and Boyce indicated that he was not sure what the current status of the relationship was because "she moved to Florida." Id. Edwards asked about the length of Boyce's trip and Boyce said that he was planning to return the following Wednesday, two days after the rental agreement indicated the vehicle was to be returned.

Edwards later testified that this conversation made him suspicious that Boyce was being "deceitful." R2 at 19. Specifically, Edwards testified that he became suspicious because he felt it was unusual to drive such a long distance to see an ex-girlfriend. Id. at 13. Edwards was also suspicious because of the discrepancy between Boyce's travel plans and his rental agreement, and because Boyce seemed extremely nervous. Id. at 21. Edwards testified that Boyce seemed nervous because Edwards had "never seen anyone sweat as much as he was," Id. at 25, and because he was overly talkative. Id. at 16. It seemed unusual to Edwards that Boyce would be so forthcoming about where he had been and what he had been doing. Id. In addition, Edwards found it suspicious that Boyce told him a few times during their conversation that his license was good. Id. at 17. Edwards also testified, however, that Boyce's behavior was not unique and that he had pulled over other drivers who try to explain their actions. Id. at 42-43.

At the end of this conversation, Edwards told Boyce that he was not planning on giving him a ticket and told him to go back to his car while Edwards looked for his warning citation book. Id. at 14-15. Seven minutes later, Edwards exited his patrol car and asked Boyce to come around to the back of his vehicle again. Ex. 1 at 00:42:38-00:49:38. By this time, Edwards had received a clean license check on Boyce and had written a warning citation. R2 at 48. Edwards returned Boyce's driver's license and rental agreement but did not give him the citation. Id. at 49. Edward's then told Boyce that he was going to give him a "courtesy warning" and asked Boyce if there were any drugs or weapons in his car. Ex. 1 at 00:49:54-00:50:23. Boyce responded that there were none and Edwards asked Boyce if he could search the car. Id.; R2 at 17-18. Boyce refused to consent to the search and Edwards immediately returned to his vehicle and called for a drug dog unit. Ex. 1 at 00:50:23-29. Edwards then told Boyce that he had called a drug dog unit and asked Boyce to wait for the unit to arrive. Edwards waited behind his car where he was still visible to the video camera.

Edwards testified that, at this point, he was becoming more suspicious of Boyce because Boyce had continued to act nervously even after being told that he would not be receiving a traffic ticket. In addition, Edwards testified that Boyce was moving back and forth and looking around, as if to flee, while they were waiting for the drug dogs. R2 at 16.

Approximately six minutes after calling the drug dogs, Edwards radioed in a request for a criminal history of Boyce. Ex. 1 at 00:56:07 (Edwards asks for a "c.h."). This report had not come back six minutes later when the drug dogs arrived and alerted on Boyce's trunk. Once the dog alerted, the police searched Boyce's car and found two large containers of marijuana and a small box containing over 10,000 ecstasy pills.

Boyce moved to suppress evidence of the drugs obtained during the warrantless search of his vehicle arguing that his detention, beyond the point where Edwards had written the warning citation, violated the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The magistrate judge recommended denial of Boyce's motion. The district court adopted the magistrate judge's report and denied Boyce's motion to suppress. Boyce then pled guilty of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), reserving his right to appeal the district court's determination that his detention and search were lawful.

II. DISCUSSION

Boyce appeals the district court's decision to deny his motion to suppress the evidence discovered during the search of his car. "We review the district court's denial of a motion to suppress evidence as a mixed question of law and fact. `The district court's findings of fact are viewed under the clearly erroneous standard; its application of the law to those facts is subject to de novo review.'" United States v. Gordon, 231 F.3d 750, 753-54 (11th Cir.2000) (citation omitted). We also construe all facts in the light most favorable to the prevailing party in the district court-here, the government. United States v. Magluta, 44 F.3d 1530, 1536 (11th Cir.1995).

Boyce argues generally that Edwards exceeded both the duration and the scope of a constitutional traffic stop.² Under Terry v. Ohio, an officer's investigation of a traffic stop must be "reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place." 392 U.S. 1, 20, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1879, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). In addition, the traffic stop must be of a limited duration. The stop "may not last `any longer than necessary to process the traffic violation' unless there is articulable suspicion of other illegal activity." United States v. Purcell, 236 F.3d 1274, 1277 (11th Cir.2001) (citation omitted).

Primarily, Boyce argues that the basis for detaining him while waiting for a drug dog unit was his refusal to allow Edwards to search his car. If this is the case, any resulting search would be a violation of the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Williams, 271 F.3d 1262, 1271 (10th Cir. 2001); United States v. Wood, 106 F.3d 942, 946 (10th Cir.1997). Alternatively, Boyce contends that the initial traffic stop investigation ended once Edwards had completed the warning citation and returned Boyce's license and rental agreement. At that point, Boyce argues, he should have been free to leave and his continued detention to await a drug dog unit was unconstitutional, unless Edwards had a reasonable suspicion of criminal wrong-doing on Boyce's part. Boyce argues that Edwards did not have the necessary reasonable suspicion because the factors on which the district court relied to find reasonable suspicion were nothing but "inchoate suspicions and unparticularized hunches." Appellant's Br. at 11. Thus, Boyce argues, Edwards should not have been allowed to detain him and the search resulting from this detention violated the Fourth Amendment.

The government argues that Edwards did not take longer than necessary to process the traffic stop because Edwards had not yet received the results of the criminal history check he had requested. Such a check, in its view, is a continuation of the original traffic stop such that Edwards could detain Boyce while awaiting the results. Therefore, the government argues, Edwards was being lawfully detained when the drug dogs arrived and, once the dogs alerted on Boyce's trunk, the police had probable cause to conduct a search. In the alternative, the government argues that Edwards had a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity on Boyce's part such that it was constitutional to detain him until the drug dog unit arrived.

A. Duration of the Traffic Stop

An officer may only prolong a traffic stop in special circumstances. First, police officers...