U.S. v. Gonzalez, 02-30617.

• Decision Date: 16 April 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-30617.,02-30617.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Manuel Reyes GONZALEZ, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

328 F.3d 755

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Manuel Reyes GONZALEZ, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 02-30617.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

April 16, 2003.

Josette Louise Cassiere, Asst. U.S. Atty. (argued), Shreveport, LA, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Michael Allyn Stroud (argued), Wiener, Weiss & Madison, Shreveport, LA, for Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Before REAVLEY, JOLLY and JONES, Circuit Judges.

E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge:

Manuel Reyes Gonzalez ("Gonzalez") appeals his conviction on one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, arguing that the district court erred by (1) denying his motion to suppress evidence seized from his vehicle and (2) allowing the government to introduce evidence of his prior arrests and prior conviction for drug possession. For the reasons given below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

Background

At 6:30 a.m. on December 19, 2001, Louisiana State Trooper Scott Wright ("Officer Wright") observed a vehicle driven by Gonzalez riding the center line on I-20 eastbound in Bossier Parish. Officer Wright stopped the vehicle and asked Gonzalez for his driver's license and vehicle registration. Gonzalez produced a Texas photo I.D., explaining that he did not have his driver's license because he was getting it renewed. The valid vehicle registration had been issued six days earlier in the name of Blanca Gonzalez, whom Gonzalez identified as his wife.

As Officer Wright explained that he would issue a citation for improper lane use, he noted that Gonzalez appeared quite nervous. Specifically, Gonzalez avoided eye contact with Officer Wright, talked incessantly, and had shaking hands. Gonzalez stated that he was traveling from Weslaco, Texas. When asked where he was going, he hesitated and then said he was going to Pensacola, Florida to visit a sick relative. Officer Wright found this unusual because I-20 is several hundred miles away from the most direct route from Weslaco to Pensacola, which is I-10. When Officer Wright asked who the relative was, Gonzalez hesitated and then stated that it was his uncle. He hesitated again before giving his uncle's name. Gonzalez indicated that he planned to stay in Pensacola for about a week. Officer Wright found this unusual because it meant that Gonzalez would be away from his wife over the Christmas holiday.

Officer Wright returned to the patrol car. He checked Gonzalez's identity, driver's license status, and criminal history and began to prepare citations for improper lane usage and driving without a license. The check revealed that Gonzalez's driver's license was suspended and that Gonzalez previously had been arrested "two or three times" for transporting narcotics.

Officer Wright instructed Gonzalez to step out of the car. He returned Gonzalez's identification and vehicle registration and presented Gonzalez with the two citations. Wright then asked Gonzalez if he had ever been arrested before. Gonzalez hesitated before saying he had been arrested once five to seven years before on a possession charge, a statement that was inconsistent with the information revealed by the check. Officer Wright told Gonzalez that illegal drugs were often transported along I-20 and asked Gonzalez if he had any drugs in his vehicle. Gonzalez denied having any drugs in the vehicle, and told Officer Wright that he could look in the car.

Officer Wright asked if Gonzalez would consent to a search and presented Gonzalez with a standard consent form, which Gonzalez read and signed. Officer Wright searched the interior of the car, noting that Gonzalez had no clothing, toiletries, or other personal items in the car. Another state trooper arrived with a narcotics dog named Lika. Lika was led around the car several times. Lika alerted to the presence of drugs.

The troopers ordered Gonzalez to drive to Louisiana State Patrol headquarters. At headquarters, officers removed the interior quarter-panels located above the back seat and found powder cocaine. Gonzalez was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute.

Prior to trial, Gonzalez moved to suppress the drug evidence seized from his vehicle alleging that it was the result of an unconstitutional search. After a hearing, the magistrate judge recommended that the motion be denied. After reviewing the record and Gonzalez's written objections the district court judge denied the motion to suppress.

At trial, the government proposed to introduce into evidence testimony by Officer Wright regarding Gonzalez's prior arrests for drug offenses and other evidence of Gonzalez's 1988 conviction for possession of marijuana. The government argued that the testimony regarding Gonzalez's prior arrests was intrinsic to the charged offense because he had given evasive answers about his criminal history during the stop. The government further argued that the evidence of the past conviction was relevant to establishing Gonzalez's intent. Over objections, the district court admitted both the testimony of Officer Wright and the evidence of Gonzalez's prior conviction. Gonzalez was convicted by a jury on the single count of possession with intent to distribute and sentenced to 151 months in prison.

The Motion to Suppress

When reviewing a district court's grant or denial of a motion to suppress evidence as obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, we review a district court's factual determinations for clear error and its ultimate Fourth Amendment conclusions de novo. Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 699, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996); United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 275, 122 S.Ct. 744, 151 L.Ed.2d 740 (2002). We view the evidence introduced at a suppression hearing in the light most favorable to the prevailing party. United States v. Orozco, 191 F.3d 578, 581 (5th Cir.1999).

Gonzalez concedes that the initial stop was a valid traffic stop for improper lane use under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). However, he argues that Officer Wright exceeded the scope of the valid stop when he continued to question Gonzalez after he issued the citations. See United States v. Dortch, 199 F.3d 193, 198-99 (5th Cir.1999). He also argues that because the questioning exceeded the scope of the stop, his consent to search was not valid. He further argues that even if his consent to the search was valid, the movement of the car to police headquarters exceeded the scope of his consent.

Once the purpose of a valid traffic stop has been completed and an officer's initial suspicions have been verified or dispelled, the detention must end unless there is additional reasonable suspicion supported by articulable facts. United States v. Machuca-Barrera, 261 F.3d 425, 434 (5th Cir.2001); United States v. Shabazz, 993 F.2d 431, 436 (5th Cir.1993). We have recognized that mere "uneasy feelings" and inconsistent stories between a driver and a passenger do not constitute articulable facts that support a reasonable suspicion of drug trafficking. See United States v. Santiago, 310 F.3d 336, 338-39 (5th Cir.2002). Several articulable facts support reasonable suspicion of drug activity in this case. Officer Wright testified that Gonzalez appeared very nervous, was hesitant in answering the most basic questions about his travel plans, lied about why he didn't have a driver's license, was 500 miles away from the road leading to his claimed destination, was on a road associated with drug trafficking, and had been arrested for drug trafficking in the past. These facts together gave rise to a reasonable articulable suspicion that Gonzalez was involved in drug trafficking.¹ To the extent that Officer Wright's questions about the purpose and itinerary of Gonzalez's trip were posed during the legitimate traffic stop, they were permissible. See Shabazz, 993 F.2d at 436 ("[A] police officer's questioning, even on a subject unrelated to the purpose of the stop, is itself [not] a Fourth Amendment violation"); Machuca-Barrera, 261 F.3d at 432. Subsequently, because Officer Wright had formed a reasonable suspicion based on specific articulable facts, his continued detention of Gonzalez to ask questions regarding his criminal history and the possible presence of drugs in the vehicle did not violate the Fourth Amendment.

Because Officer Wright's questioning of Gonzalez did not violate the Fourth Amendment, that questioning cannot be said to have tainted his consent to search. There is nothing in the record to suggest any clear error in the district court's determination that Gonzalez's consent was voluntarily given as an independent act of free will. See United States v. Chavez-Villarreal, 3 F.3d 124, 127 (5th Cir.1993).

Finally, we need not reach...