64 F.3d 661 (4th Cir. 1995), 95-5021, U.S. v. Sales

• Citation: 64 F.3d 661
• Party Name: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William Deago SALES, Defendant-Appellant.
• Case Date: August 28, 1995
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals, United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)

Page 661

64 F.3d 661 (4th Cir. 1995)

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

William Deago SALES, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 95-5021.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit

August 28, 1995

Editorial Note:

This opinion appears in the Federal reporter in a table titled "Table of Decisions Without Reported Opinions". (See FI CTA4 Rule 36 regarding use of unpublished opinions)

Argued July 10, 1995.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Terrence W. Boyle, District Judge. (CR-94-37-BO)

E.D.N.C.

AFFIRMED.

ARGUED: Scott Fitzgerald Wyatt, CHESHIRE, PARKER & MANNING, Raleigh, NC, for Appellant. Scott L. Wilkinson, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Raleigh, NC, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Joseph B. Cheshire, V, CHESHIRE, PARKER & MANNING, Raleigh, NC, for Appellant. Janice McKenzie Cole, United States Attorney, William Arthur Webb, Assistant United States Attorney, Steven Geoffrey Keating, Third Year Law Intern, Campbell Law School, Raleigh, NC, for Appellee.

Before WILKINSON and LUTTIG, Circuit Judges, and SHEDD, United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, sitting by designation.

OPINION

PER CURIAM:

Appellant William Deago Sales challenges on three grounds the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained in connection with his arrest for possession with intent to distribute cocaine. First, he contends that he was seized without reasonable suspicion when police officers questioned him behind an airport ticket counter. Second, he argues that he was constructively arrested without probable cause when an officer reached into his pocket and removed $19,000 in cash that he was carrying. And third, he argues in the alternative that he was constructively arrested without probable cause when the officer took control of the cash and refused to return it until he could investigate further. We discern no error by the district court, and therefore affirm.

I.

On February 28, 1994, Sales purchased with cash a one-way first class ticket from New York to Greenville, South Carolina. New York is a known source city for illegal narcotics, and Greenville is a known destination city. Sales bought the ticket just minutes before the flight, checked one bag, and gave the ticket agent a disconnected return telephone number. When notified of this by a confidential informant, Special Agent William Weis of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and Detective Johnny Graves of the Wake County Sheriff's Department approached Sales as he disembarked the plane during a stopover at Raleigh Durham International Airport.

The officers displayed police identification and asked to speak to Sales behind a ticket counter. Sales agreed. The officers observed that Sales was visibly nervous and his hands were shaking. They asked to see his ticket, and Sales produced it. Affixed to the ticket envelope was a baggage claim ticket. Weis then asked Sales for some identification and, while Sales was retrieving his driver's license, Weis noticed in Sales' left coat pocket a fist-sized bulge which he seemed to be trying to hide. Weis asked what the bulge was, and Sales responded that it was money. When Weis asked to see the money, Sales began to reach into his pocket to get it, but Weis stopped him and retrieved it himself.

At that point, Sales became increasingly nervous, and his voice and hands started shaking and his chest quivering. He began to look about furtively as if he might flee. When Weis asked about the source of the money, Sales responded that it was from non-casino gambling winnings in New York.

Weis then asked Sales to accompany him to the satellite police department at the airport. Weis told Sales that he was not under arrest and that he was free to leave, but that he was going to keep Sales' money until he could investigate the matter further. He told Sales that he would try to finish his questions before Sales' connecting flight began boarding.

Sales agreed, and accompanied the officers to the station. On the way, Weis asked Sales if he had checked any bags, and Sales replied that he had not. Upon arriving at the station, Weis asked Sales how much money he had had in his coat pocket, and, after counting it, Sales answered that he had had $19,000. Upon checking with the DEA, Weis discovered that Sales was listed in NADDIS as a known drug trafficker and that he was very familiar to Greenville DEA agents as a "multi-kilo" dealer.

Weis again asked Sales if he had checked any bags and Sales again said no, but, upon being confronted with his claim check ticket, Sales finally admitted that he had checked one bag. Weis asked for permission...