U.S. v. Long
| Decision Date | 02 October 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-5692.,05-5692. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Richard Lee LONG, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
ARGUED: David W. Camp, Law Office of David Camp, Jackson, Tennessee, for Appellant. Steven H. Cook, Assistant United States Attorney, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: David W. Camp, Law Office Of David Camp, Jackson, Tennessee, for Appellant. Steven H. Cook, Assistant United States Attorney, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellee.
Before: MARTIN and GILMAN, Circuit Judges; SARGUS, District Judge.*
Richard Long appeals the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized after his vehicle was stopped, based on the police's belief that Long was involved in a reported burglary. For the following reasons, we affirm the district court's denial of the motion to suppress.
On November 20, 2000, shortly after 4:50 p.m., an unknown citizen called the Knoxville County 911 reporting a burglary occurring at a neighboring residence on Kenilworth Lane. The caller told the 911 operator that the
... lady of the house was addicted to drugs; that drug dealers had been removing items, including vehicles, in payment for a drug debt; and that the police had been to that house two or three times in the past week. The neighbor stated that he had just spoken with the husband who lives in the house and that the husband, who was in Tampa, asked him to call the police because the items were being taken against the woman's will.
The caller stated that two black males and one white male were removing pictures and other items from the house and placing them into two pickup trucks. The caller described the pickup trucks as a red S-10 and a black and gray Ford Ranger with an extended cab. The vehicles left the house and the caller suggested that they would be heading towards Cherry Street to get out of the neighborhood.
Officer Harry McGuffee responded to the dispatcher's burglary "in progress" radio broadcast and parked on Cherry Street near I-40 after that hearing the suspects were heading that way and anticipating that they would be accessing the interstate. McGuffee testified that he saw a black male driving a black Ford Ranger heading down Cherry Street with large pictures and mirrors in the bed of the truck. McGuffee asked the dispatcher for a confirmation on the description of the vehicles. He then reported to the dispatcher that a "black Ford Ranger with a bunch of stuff in the back just turned from North Hills south onto Cherry Street." The dispatcher told McGuffee to "go ahead and check that vehicle." McGuffee stopped the defendant, Richard Lee Long, on the entrance ramp to I-40. McGuffee approached the vehicle and asked Long if he was coming from an address on Kenilworth. After Long answered affirmatively, McGuffee removed Long from the vehicle and placed him in handcuffs. McGuffee conducted a pat down on Long and found a loaded pistol, which he removed from Long's person and unloaded. He then continued to search Long, subsequently discovering an aspirin bottle containing a bag of marijuana, a bag of cocaine and several prescription pills. The pills were later determined to be alprazolam, dihydrocodeinone, and diazepam.
In a six-count indictment, Long was charged with one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), four counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and one count of carrying a firearm in relation to drug trafficking crimes in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). Long was never charged with burglary because the alleged victim refused to assist in the prosecution. Acting pro se with stand-by counsel, Long filed an amended motion to suppress evidence, alleging that the firearm and drugs were seized in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. Specifically, Long alleged that McGuffee lacked probable cause to justify an investigatory stop and the subsequent arrest.
After an evidentiary hearing, Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton recommended the motion to suppress be denied. First, the magistrate found that it was reasonable for the police to rely on the 911 call because the caller was an "honest citizen" under Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). Next, while McGuffee may not have had probable cause to arrest Long when he pulled the vehicle over, the detainment was a lawful investigatory stop pursuant to Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968):
The Court finds that Officer McGuffee had a reasonable suspicion to stop the defendant based upon the information in the dispatch and his observations. McGuffee saw the defendant's four-wheel-drive pickup truck, which contained household items and substantially matched the description given in the dispatch. Although Long argued at the hearing that the video did not reveal any household items in the bed of his truck as he passed McGuffee's patrol car, the Court finds McGuffee's testimony that he could see into the bed of the truck from his vantage point to be credible. Additionally, the truck came from the direction reported in the dispatch, was headed in the predicted direction, and arrived at a time that was consistent with its travel from the scene of the burglary ... When McGuffee radioed to confirm the description of the vehicle, he learned an additional piece of information that the truck was a Ford, which matched the truck he was following. The Court finds that based upon his personal observations, which matched the information from the dispatcher, McGuffee had reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigatory stop of the defendant.
Finally, the magistrate judge found that McGuffee's removal and handcuffing of Long was legally permissible under two alternative theories. First, McGuffee had probable cause to arrest Long for the burglary after Long admitted that he was coming from Kenilworth. In the alternative, McGuffee reasonably believed that his safety was at risk when approaching Long's vehicle; therefore, handcuffing and frisking Long was a justified part of the Terry stop.
On April 9, 2004, the district court adopted the magistrate's report and recommendation and denied Long's motion to suppress. Long then pled guilty to counts one, three and six of the superseding indictment pursuant to a plea agreement he had entered with the government, while reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress to this Court. The guilty plea included the counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and carrying a firearm in relation to drug trafficking crimes in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). On April 14, 2005, the district court sentenced Long to 180 months in prison. He now appeals the district court's denial of his motion to suppress.
In reviewing a motion to suppress, we review the district court's factual findings for clear error and legal determinations de novo. United States v. Williams, 224 F.3d 530, 532 (6th Cir.2000). When a district court has denied a motion to suppress, we consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the government. United States v. Erwin, 155 F.3d 818, 822 (6th Cir.1998) (en banc). We will overturn the district court's factual findings only if we have the "definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed." United States v. Worley, 193 F.3d 380, 384 (6th Cir.1999).
The Fourth Amendment provides "[t]he right of the people to be secure ... against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause." U.S. CONST. AMEND. IV. While an arrest must be supported by probable cause, the police officers are also permitted to make a reasonable investigatory stop, even in the absence of probable cause, as set forth by the Supreme Court in Terry v. Ohio. 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). A police officer may conduct an investigatory search and seizure "so long as the officer is able to point to specific and articulable facts which give rise to a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity." United States v. Hardnett, 804 F.2d 353, 355-356 (6th Cir.1986) (quoting Terry, 392 U.S. at 21-22, 88 S.Ct. 1868).
There are two relevant seizures in this case (with an accompanying, related search) that are subject to Fourth Amendment review—first, where McGuffee stopped and detained Long's vehicle; and second, where McGuffee ordered Long from the vehicle, handcuffed him, and performed the pat-down search of Long in which he discovered Long's firearm.1 Long's subsequent "official" arrest and the additional search subsequent to discovery of the loaded firearm also constituted a seizure and a search, but after discovery of the gun there was probable cause to arrest Long for unlawful weapon possession under state law and to conduct the search incident to arrest, and Long does not challenge these actions.
The magistrate found that the police did not have probable cause of involvement in the burglary to stop and search Long's vehicle, because given the time of day and the number of vehicles on the roadways, the description of the truck was not sufficiently distinct. Further, despite McGuffee's testimony that Long committed a traffic violation before the stop, the magistrate rejected this as the reason the stop occurred. Rather, the magistrate found the car stop to be justified as a brief detention under Terry, based on the information in the dispatch call and McGuffee's observations. See United States v. Hurst, 228 F.3d 751, 757 (6th Cir.2000) (). Long...
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