U.S. v. Brigham

• Decision Date: 19 August 2004
• Docket Number: No. 02-40719.,02-40719.
• Citation: 382 F.3d 500
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Reginald BRIGHAM, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

382 F.3d 500

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Reginald BRIGHAM, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 02-40719.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

August 19, 2004.

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John Malcolm Bales, Asst. U.S. Atty., Lufkin, TX, Traci Lynne Kenner, Asst. U.S. Atty. (argued), Tyler, 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 KING, Chief Judge, and JOLLY, HIGGINBOTHAM, DAVIS, JONES, SMITH, WIENER, BARKSDALE, EMILIO M. GARZA, DeMOSS, BENAVIDES, STEWART, DENNIS, CLEMENT, PRADO and PICKERING, Circuit Judges.

EDITH H. JONES, Circuit Judge:

During a traffic stop near Nacogdoches, Texas, routine questioning of the occupants and a consensual search uncovered over five kilograms of a controlled substance, liquid codeine syrup. The district court denied the appellant's motion to suppress. We granted en banc review of a divided panel decision that reversed the district court and held that the traffic stop was unconstitutionally extended and that the consensual search was improper. Clarifying prior precedents regarding the proper application of the Fourth Amendment in traffic stop cases, we hold that the state trooper's investigatory procedures in this case were eminently reasonable under the totality of the circumstances. The conviction is AFFIRMED.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Traffic Stop¹

On May 14, 2000, Reginald Brigham and three friends were driving on U.S. Highway 59 passing around Nacogdoches, Texas. At 4:13 p.m., State Trooper Shannon Conklin spotted their silver 2000 Buick sedan following too closely behind another vehicle in violation of Texas traffic laws. Conklin stopped the Buick; a videocamera and microphone mounted in the patrol car recorded the entire traffic stop.

Conklin first approached Brigham, the driver, and asked him to step out of the vehicle and provide his license and insurance papers. Brigham complied and produced an Arkansas driver's license and a rental agreement from an Avis branch in Memphis, Tennessee, listing Dorothy Harris, a 50-year-old female who lived in West Memphis, Arkansas, as the lessee. Since none of the occupants appeared to be a 50-year old female, and no additional drivers were authorized on the rental agreement, Conklin became suspicious.

At 4:15 p.m., two minutes into the stop, Conklin began asking Brigham a series of basic questions about the group's travel plans. Brigham replied that they were coming from Houston, Texas, that one of the passengers had been visiting family members, and that the rest of the group was on vacation. Conklin asked where the group had stayed and Brigham replied that they had stayed in a La Quinta Inn, but he had difficulty explaining where the motel was located. Brigham avoided making eye contact with Conklin, appeared to be extremely nervous, and was responding to Conklin's questions with questions of his own. Conklin's five and one-half years of experience with the Texas Department of Public Safety led him to believe that Brigham was fabricating answers to his questions. Brigham identified Dorothy Harris, the renter of the car, as his mother. Bothered by Brigham's demeanor and answers, Conklin decided to verify Brigham's story with the other occupants of the car.

At 4:17 p.m., Conklin asked the passenger who Brigham had indicated was visiting relatives in Houston to step out of the vehicle. The passenger produced what appeared to be a Tennessee I.D. card with the name "Sircrease D. Brooks." Conklin would soon discover that the I.D. was fictitious and that the passenger's name was actually Brandon Franklin. Conklin questioned Franklin about the group's travel plans. Franklin explained that the group was coming from Houston where they had attended an Isley Brothers concert on Friday night. Conklin then asked Franklin about the specifics of the trip, including what time the group had arrived in Houston, whom they had visited, and where they stayed. Franklin appeared somewhat confused about the exact time the group had arrived in Houston, first answering Friday evening but then saying he wasn't sure when they arrived. Franklin also mentioned a La Quinta Inn and added that he knew a "couple of girls" in Houston. Notably, Franklin did not state either that he had any relatives in the Houston area or that he was visiting his family. Like Brigham, Franklin avoided eye contact with Conklin and appeared extremely nervous.

At 4:20 p.m., Conklin asked the two remaining passengers for identification and attempted to determine which of the stories he had been told was accurate. The female, Keisha Coleman, indicated that she did not have any identification, and the other male produced an Arkansas card identifying him as Quincy Perry. Perry and Coleman appeared confused and were inconsistent concerning the group's travel plans, as Perry initially stated that they arrived in Houston on Friday morning, while Coleman suggested Saturday.

At 4:21 p.m., now eight minutes into the stop, Conklin returned to his car and initiated computer checks on the Buick and the three identification cards he had received. He noted for the videotape that all three males appeared "extremely nervous." Nevertheless, Conklin had informed Brigham that if his license was "clean," they would soon be on their way. At 4:23 p.m., the registration check on the Buick revealed that the plates matched the vehicle and there was no stolen vehicle report. At the suppression hearing, Conklin testified that he remained suspicious because in his experience, the fact that a car is not yet reported as stolen does not necessarily indicate that the car was not actually stolen. As he awaited the results of the I.D. checks, Conklin continued to make verbal notes about the Buick's occupants, stressing that Brigham and Franklin avoided eye contact with him, all three men appeared extremely nervous, their hands were shaking, and the occupants' stories about their arrival time in Houston and the purpose of their visit were in conflict. In addition, Conklin observed that none of the subjects was 25 years old, consequently, none of them appeared to have the authority legally to possess the rental car.

At 4:29 p.m., the results of the I.D. checks suggested that Franklin's I.D. was likely fictitious. After confirming the I.D. number that he had provided to the dispatcher, Conklin examined Franklin's I.D. more closely and concluded it was a forgery. At approximately 4:31 p.m., Conklin questioned Brigham and learned Franklin's true identity. Franklin, however, continued to insist to Conklin that he was "Sircrease Brooks," until Conklin confronted him about the false I.D. card. Conklin then returned to his patrol car to check Franklin's actual identity.

At approximately 4:34 p.m., while Franklin's I.D. check was still pending, Conklin waved over a Nacogdoches police unit to provide backup and briefed the officers on the situation and his intent to seek consent to search the vehicle. Conklin then provided Brigham with a written warning for following too closely and returned Brigham's driver's license, while explaining that one of his responsibilities as a state trooper was to intercept illegal contraband such as guns, stolen property, and narcotics. Brigham denied that any illegal items were in the car and acceded to Conklin's request for a search. Conklin first removed all of the passengers from the car and patted them down. While Conklin was searching the Buick, the dispatcher responded with additional information regarding Franklin's identity. At approximately 4:42 p.m., Conklin discovered in the trunk, inside a cooler, a Minute Maid juice container holding what appeared to be liquid codeine. Conklin then arrested all four occupants of the Buick. Lab tests later confirmed that the substance was liquid codeine syrup.

B. Court Proceedings

On January 11, 2001, Brigham, Franklin, and Perry were indicted by a federal grand jury for possessing more than four kilograms of codeine with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Brigham moved unsuccessfully to suppress the evidence discovered during Trooper Conklin's search on the grounds that the stop and search exceeded the bounds of the Fourth Amendment. Brigham then reached a plea agreement, subject to his right to appeal the denial of the motion to suppress.

On appeal, the panel majority held that Trooper Conklin unconstitutionally extended the traffic stop by questioning Brigham before he began a computer check on the I.D.'s and the rental car's registration. See United States v. Brigham, 343 F.3d 490, 497-505 (5th Cir.2003), vacated and reh'g en banc granted by, 350 F.3d 1297 (5th Cir.2003). The panel majority also held that Brigham's consent to search the vehicle was "involuntary" because it was tainted by the Fourth Amendment violation. Id. at 505-07. The conviction was reversed. On rehearing en banc, we find no Fourth Amendment violation and affirm the conviction.

II. DISCUSSION

Brigham does not here challenge the validity of the initial traffic stop for following too closely.² See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); see TEX. TRANS. CODE § 545.062(a) (Vernon 1999) ("An operator shall, if following another vehicle, maintain an assured clear distance between the two vehicles"). Rather, Brigham argues that Trooper Conklin exceeded the scope of the valid stop and prolonged the occupants' detention excessively and unconstitutionally when, after determining that neither Brigham nor the other occupants of the rental car were its authorized drivers, Conklin interrogated them about their travel plans and then instituted computerized vehicle and I.D. checks.³

The stopping of a vehicle and detention of its occupants constitutes a "seizure" under the Fourth Amendment. This court, following the Supreme...