U.S. v. Quinn

• Citation: 83 F.3d 917
• Decision Date: 15 May 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-3044,95-3044
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Willie E. QUINN, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

Page 917

83 F.3d 917

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Willie E. QUINN, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 95-3044.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued Feb. 16, 1996.

Decided May 15, 1996.

James M. Warden (argued), Office of U.S. Atty., Indianapolis, IN, for plaintiff-appellee.

Steven J. Riggs (argued), Indiana Federal Community Defenders, Inc., Indianapolis, IN, for defendant-appellant.

Before EASTERBROOK, RIPPLE and EVANS, Circuit Judges.

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge.

Willie Allen Quinn entered a conditional plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(e). Prior to entering the plea, however, Mr. Quinn filed a motion to suppress evidence obtained during an investigatory stop conducted by officers of the Indianapolis Police Department. The district court denied the motion and, having reserved the right to do so, Mr. Quinn appeals the court's ruling on the suppression issue. For the reasons set forth in the following opinion, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I BACKGROUND

During the morning hours of September 14, 1994, uniformed officers of the Indianapolis Police Department ("IPD") conducted a "street sweep" operation in the area of 16th and Bellefontaine Streets in Indianapolis. ¹ At approximately 9:30 a.m., a number of marked IPD vehicles approached the intersection of 16th and Bellefontaine Streets. Several individuals, including a group of three men, were standing on the corner. As the police neared the intersection, IPD Officer Steven King, who was driving one of the marked vehicles, observed a clear plastic baggie being tossed on the sidewalk. Officer King believed the baggie to contain crack cocaine. He could not determine, however, which of the three men had thrown the baggie onto the ground.

The three men split up and began to walk away from the scene. One of the individuals walked southbound from the intersection; the other two men headed in the opposite direction. Officer King exited his vehicle and ordered the southbound individual, later identified as Willie Quinn, to stop. When Mr. Quinn did not comply with his initial request, Officer King repeated the command two or three more times before Mr. Quinn finally halted. The officer observed that Mr. Quinn was carrying a folded brown leather jacket in his arms. According to Officer King, the jacket was "wadded up in [Mr. Quinn's] arms[,] and he carried it almost like a football, close to his body." R.29, Transcript of Suppression Hearing, at 57.

Officer King ordered Mr. Quinn to accompany him back to the police car and to place the leather jacket on the car. As Mr. Quinn complied with these directives and placed the leather jacket on the hood of the police car Officer King conducted a pat-down search to insure that Mr. Quinn was unarmed. No weapons or drugs were found on Mr. Quinn's person. The officer then patted the leather jacket and felt a hard object inside. According to Officer King, the object "certainly felt like a gun." R.29, Transcript of Suppression Hearing, at 57. Opening the jacket, he discovered a .22 caliber Remington rifle that had been sawed-off and modified into a handgun. Officer King placed Mr. Quinn under arrest and then returned to the corner to retrieve the baggie of suspected crack cocaine. Later that day, Officer King filed an incident report describing the circumstances of Mr. Quinn's arrest. Relying on this report, IPD Detective Arthur Scott executed an affidavit to justify Mr. Quinn's arrest. Neither document included a reference to the "throwdown" of the baggie.

                Officer King heard a "thud" sound.   According to Officer King, the "thud" sound caused him to suspect that a heavy object was concealed inside the jacket
                

Mr. Quinn was arraigned in the Superior Court of Marion County on state charges relating to his unlawful possession of the firearm. During the initial arraignment hearing, the state court judge examined the affidavit and concluded that the state lacked probable cause to hold Mr. Quinn. However, the court gave the deputy prosecutor "a seventy-two hour extension to further investigate the case and to determine whether or not there was probable cause." R.32, Defendant's Motion to Reconsider, Ex.A, at 2-3. When Mr. Quinn returned to court on September 20, 1994, the deputy prosecutor informed the court that her office had failed to prepare an amended affidavit. The court then dismissed the case for lack of probable cause.

Before Mr. Quinn was released from custody, however, the county prosecutor's office filed a supplemental affidavit from Officer King. The supplemental affidavit describes how Officer King had "observed a baggie of suspected crack cocaine being tossed on the sidewalk" prior to his encounter with Mr. Quinn. R.29, Transcript of Suppression Hearing, Def.Ex.2, at 1. Upon receiving this supplemental affidavit, the state court reinitiated proceedings against Mr. Quinn.

The state charges were dismissed when Mr. Quinn was indicted by a federal grand jury. Count I of the indictment charged Mr. Quinn with being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(e). Count II charged Mr. Quinn with possession of an unregistered firearm in violation of 26 U.S.C. §§ 5861(d) and 5871. Mr. Quinn filed a series of motions in the district court, including a motion to suppress the firearm that had formed the basis of the indictment.

Mr. Quinn called Officer King to testify at the suppression hearing. After hearing Officer King's testimony, the district court denied Mr. Quinn's motion to suppress the firearm. The court took the view that, under the circumstances, the officer's decision to stop and frisk Mr. Quinn was justified under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). The court also upheld Officer King's pat-down and search of the leather jacket. Following the court's decision, Mr. Quinn entered a conditional plea of guilty to Count I of the indictment and was sentenced to 188 months' imprisonment followed by five years of supervised release.

II DISCUSSION

Mr. Quinn submits that the district court erred in concluding that, at the time he was stopped by Officer King, the officers had an objectively reasonable, articulable suspicion that he had committed or was about to commit a crime.

A.

We review the denial of a motion to suppress for clear error. United States v. Butler, 71 F.3d 243, 248 (7th Cir.1995). Given the highly fact-specific nature of a motion to suppress evidence, we give particular deference to the district court that had the opportunity to observe witnesses and to hear testimony on the issue. United States v. Vega, 72 F.3d 507, 514 (7th Cir.1995); United States v. Saadeh, 61 F.3d 510, 516 (7th Cir.) cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 521, 133 L.Ed.2d 428 (1995). Reversal is appropriate only if the reviewing court is left with "the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made." Butler, 71 F.3d at 248; United States v. Tilmon, 19 F.3d 1221, 1223 (7th Cir.1994).

Our discussion begins with the well-established principles that govern police-citizen encounters under the Fourth Amendment. Mr. Quinn contends--and the United States does not dispute--that his compliance with Officer King's order to stop amounts to a "seizure" implicating the strictures of the Fourth Amendment. See California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621, 626-27, 111 S.Ct. 1547, 1550-51, 113 L.Ed.2d 690 (1991) (noting that submission to an officer's show of authority amounts to a "seizure"); Kernats v. O'Sullivan, 35 F.3d 1171, 1178 n. 4 (7th Cir.1994) (same). The parties appear to agree, moreover, that Officer King's initial apprehension and pat-down search of Mr. Quinn is properly characterized as an investigatory stop not rising to the level of an arrest. We agree with this characterization of the encounter. Accordingly, we evaluate Mr. Quinn's claim under the standards established for investigatory stops in Terry v. Ohio and its progeny.

In Terry, the Supreme Court held that a person may be stopped for brief questioning and a pat-down search if the police are able to point to "a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity." Terry, 392 U.S. at 21-22, 88 S.Ct. at 1879-81; United States v. Robinson, 30 F.3d 774, 782 (7th Cir.1994). Although it is "a quantum of proof less demanding than probable cause," Terry, 392 U.S. at 21-22, 88 S.Ct. at 1879-81, an "inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or 'hunch' " will not suffice. Id. at 27, 88 S.Ct. at 1883. Rather, reasonable suspicion requires "some minimal level of objective justification for making a stop." United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 7, 109 S.Ct. 1581, 1585, 104 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989) (quoting INS v. Delgado, 466 U.S. 210, 217, 104 S.Ct. 1758, 1763, 80 L.Ed.2d 247 (1984)). In determining whether a particular police-citizen encounter was supported by reasonable suspicion, courts must consider the totality of circumstances known to the officer at the time of the stop. United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 417-18, 101 S.Ct. 690, 694-95, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981). "Based upon that whole picture the detaining officers must have a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person stopped of criminal activity." Id.

Applying the standards outlined above, however, we agree with the district court that Officer King had objectively reasonable grounds to suspect Mr. Quinn of criminal activity. Officer King encountered Mr. Quinn in a high crime area known for drug trafficking. ² As the police approached a small group of men standing on the corner, Officer King observed one of their number drop a baggie that appeared to contain illegal narcotics. When the police drew nearer still, the members of that group continued to behave suspiciously by scattering and then attempting to head off in opposite directions. See Tom v. Voida, 963 F.2d 952, 957 (7th Cir.1992) (noting that flight is "certainly a relevant...