U.S. v. Hall

• Decision Date: 18 August 1977
• Docket Number: No. 76-1621,76-1621
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jerome HALL, Hampton Arthur Porter, and Kevin Andrew Navarre, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 1114

557 F.2d 1114

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jerome HALL, Hampton Arthur Porter, and Kevin Andrew

Navarre, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 76-1621.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Aug. 18, 1977.

Bernard S. Dolbear (Court-appointed), New Orleans, La., for Hall.

Michael H. Ellis (Court-appointed), New Orleans, La., for Porter.

John Volz, Federal Public Defender, New Orleans, La. ( Court-appointed), Richard T. Simmons, Jr., Asst. Federal Public Defender, New Orleans, La., for Navarre.

Gerald J. Gallinghouse, U. S. Atty., Ernest C. Chen, Asst. U. S. Atty., New Orleans, La., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Before MORGAN and HILL, Circuit Judges, and NOEL, Senior District Judge. ^*

NOEL, Senior District Judge:

Defendants, Jerome Hall, Hampton Arthur Porter, and Kevin Andrew Navarre, after trial by jury, were convicted of the armed robbery of approximately $61,000.00 from the First Bank of Slidell, Louisiana, a bank then federally insured, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a), (d) and 18 U.S.C. § 2. In this appeal, defendants raise only one contention worthy of discussion; that is, whether the trial court erred in denying defendants' motion to suppress evidence seized in the warrantless search of their car. We affirm on the grounds that the police had probable cause to search.

At approximately 1:36 p. m. on December 1, 1975, the First Bank of Slidell was robbed by two armed men with a sawed-off shotgun and a chrome revolver. As the robbers left the bank, they entered a cab driven by a third man. Two of the robbers were black men and the third was described as either a black with a light complexion or a white man. These three men then drove to a residential area where they abandoned the cab and drove off in a red 1969 two-door Ford. The change in automobiles was broadcast over the Louisiana State Police radio at 1:49 p. m.

Lieutenant Wicker, of the state police, after hearing the initial broadcast headed towards Slidell to assist in the search for the three armed men. After hearing the broadcast of the change to the red Ford, he observed a red 1969 Ford containing a single occupant proceeding away from Slidell. This car was not violating any traffic laws. The driver of the red Ford was a lightly complexioned black man. Lt. Wicker turned around, followed the red Ford and signaled the driver to pull over. The driver identified himself as Kevin Navarre but did not have a driver's license. The car had California license plates and in answer to Lt. Wicker's inquiry, Navarre responded that the car belonged to a friend of his. When Navarre produced the registration, the owner's name did not correspond to the name Navarre had given.

At this point, Lt. Wicker made a check on the California license plates through the National Crime Information Center (N.C.I.C.) to see if the car was stolen. The state police radio log reflects that the N.C.I.C. inquiry was made at 2:05 p. m. ¹ When Lt. Wicker made the N.C.I.C. inquiry, he also asked for a complete physical description of the bank robbers. In response, he was told that one of the robbers wore a multi-colored shirt or jacket with blue pants. Lt. Wicker observed that Navarre was wearing a multi-colored jacket and blue pants.

Lt. Wicker, who had now been joined by Sgt. John Ramirez, asked Navarre if he minded if he looked in the trunk of the automobile. Navarre gave the keys to Wicker and stated that he did not know which one opened the trunk. ² He carefully began to open the trunk, and after opening it about eight inches, he observed a man's hand. Upon seeing the hand, Lt. Wicker slammed the trunk shut. Navarre was then handcuffed, both officers pulled out their guns, opened the trunk and directed the two men inside to get out slowly. Defendants Hall and Porter were in the trunk along with a sawed-off shotgun, a chrome revolver, and a pillowcase filled with approximately $61,000.00.

In determining the validity of the warrantless search, there are two points in time which must be examined: the initial stop of the vehicle, and the arrest of Navarre and the contemporaneous search of the trunk of the vehicle. If the initial stop was not justified, then the subsequent acts are illegal fruits of the poisonous tree. Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed. 441 (1963); United States v. McDaniel, 550 F.2d 214 (5th Cir. 1977); United States v. Robinson, 535 F.2d 881 (5th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 918, 97 S.Ct. 309, 50 L.Ed.2d 283.

This Court has consistently recognized the right of a police officer to make an investigative stop of an individual if he reasonably suspects that the individual is involved in criminal activity. United States v. McDaniel, supra; United States v. Worthington, 544 F.2d 1275 (5th Cir. 1977); United States v. Robinson, supra; United States v. Rias, 524 F.2d 118 (5th Cir. 1976); United States v. Rollerson, 491 F.2d 1209 (5th Cir. 1974); United States v. McCann, 465 F.2d 147 (5th Cir. 1972), cert. denied 412 U.S. 927, 93 S.Ct. 2747, 37 L.Ed.2d 154 (1973). Probable cause is not required to justify an investigative stop; reasonable suspicion is sufficient.

The Supreme Court in Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 92 S.Ct. 1921, 32 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972), held:

this Court (has) recognized that "a police officer may in appropriate circumstances and in an appropriate manner approach a person for purposes of investigating possibly criminal behavior even though there is no probable cause to make an arrest." The Fourth Amendment does not require a policeman who lacks the precise level of information necessary for probable cause to arrest to simply shrug his shoulders and allow a crime to occur or a criminal to escape. On the contrary . . . it may be the essence of good police work to adopt an intermediate response. A brief stop of a suspicious individual, in order to determine his identity or to maintain the status quo momentarily while obtaining more information, may be the most reasonable in light of the facts known to the officer at the time.

407 U.S. at 145-46, 92 S.Ct. at 1923 (citations omitted).

Adams v. Williams, supra, and its predecessor, Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), approved investigative stops of individuals based on reasonable suspicion. In United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873, 95 S.Ct. 2574, 45 L.Ed.2d 607 (1975), the Supreme Court extended Terry and Adams and approved the investigative stopping of automobiles based on reasonable suspicion.

The facts in this case support the initial stop of the vehicle. Lt....