U.S. v. Hill

• Decision Date: 23 December 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-3113,96-3113
• Citation: 327 U.S. App. D.C. 402,131 F.3d 1056
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. William D. HILL, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Page 1056

131 F.3d 1056

327 U.S.App.D.C. 402

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. William D. HILL, Appellant.

No. 96-3113.

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued Nov. 14, 1997.

Decided Dec. 23, 1997.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 95cr00312-01).

Evelina J. Norwinski, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Washington, DC, argued the cause for appellant, with whom A.J. Kramer, Federal Public Defender, was on the briefs. Lisa B. Wright, Assistant Federal Public Defender, entered an appearance.

Carolyn E. Becker, Assistant United States Attorney, Washington, DC, argued the cause for appellee, with whom Eric H. Holder, Jr., United States Attorney at the time the brief was filed, John R. Fisher Thomas C. Black, and Robert A. Spelke, Assistant United States Attorneys, were on the brief.

Before: EDWARDS, Chief Judge, WALD and RANDOLPH, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge WALD.

Concurring opinion filed by Circuit Judge RANDOLPH.

WALD, Circuit Judge:

Appellant William D. Hill was arrested by police after he fled from his car carrying a gun following a traffic stop for allegedly failing to display a Vehicle Identification Number ("VIN") on the temporary tags of his recently purchased car. In the district court, Hill filed a motion to suppress the handgun discovered by police in the yard where he threw it after fleeing the car, arguing that it was the fruit of an illegal search. The district court denied the motion, and Hill entered a conditional plea of guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)(1994). The district court imposed a sentence of 96 months in prison followed by a three-year term of supervised release. Hill now seeks review of the district court's denial of suppression of the handgun and challenges the sentence imposed by the court. We hold that the district court failed to apply the correct legal standard in determining that the traffic stop was legal and therefore denied Hill's motion to suppress on an improper ground. Additionally, we hold that the district court impermissibly relied solely on the indictment in concluding that Hill's prior conviction for attempted robbery constituted a "crime of violence" and thus improperly set Hill's base sentencing offense level at 24. Accordingly, we reverse the conviction and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

On the evening of November 7, 1995, Hill was traveling southbound on 11th Street near Irving Street in Northwest Washington, D.C. in a car that he had recently purchased. The car was driven by a friend of Hill's; Hill was in the front passenger seat and two additional passengers were in the back. At approximately 9:20 p.m., two officers in a patrolling police car observed the car, which one of the officers later testified did not have a VIN on its temporary D.C. tags. The police activated their emergency lights to stop the car, but the car continued for one and a half blocks before stopping.

At the suppression hearing, the arresting officer testified that after the car stopped, Hill jumped out of the passenger side of the car, took a few steps, and then slipped on the wet ground. The officer saw a silver handgun fall from Hill's waist area and land in front of him. According to the officer, Hill picked up the gun and ran down the street into an alley. After a brief chase during which the police observed Hill throw the gun over a high fence, the police seized Hill. They later found the gun in a yard near the alley in which they apprehended Hill. During the police officers' chase of Hill, the car drove off with the remaining passengers. As a result, the police did not have an opportunity to verify the temporary tag number or the absence of a VIN on the tags. See Transcript of Motions Hearing and Plea Agreement at 12-24, 31-32 (Mar. 25, 1996) ("Tr.").

Harry Proctor, a records historian for the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, testified at Hill's trial that Department records indicated that a set of temporary tags were issued to the auto dealer that sold the car to Hill, and then to Hill when he purchased the car. ¹ Tr. at 40-42. Hill testified that the temporary tags issued in his name contained a VIN when they were issued and that the VIN was on the tags on the night of the arrest. Tr. at 72, 82-83. The tags contained a VIN at the time they were entered into evidence by Hill's counsel. See Appendix for Appellant at 15-16 (Defendant's Exhibit 2) ("App.").

Hill filed a motion to suppress the handgun on the grounds that it was the fruit of an unlawful traffic stop. The district court denied the motion after a hearing. Hill then entered a conditional guilty plea to Count One of the grand jury's indictment--which charged Hill with possession of a firearm after having been convicted of a felony in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)--while reserving the right to appeal the court's adverse suppression ruling. The court thereafter ordered that a presentencing report be prepared.

The presentencing report recommended an offense level of 24 based on the fact that Hill had two prior felony convictions that qualified as a "crime of violence" under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1 (1997). At the sentencing hearing, defense counsel argued for an offense level of 20, noting that one of the convictions--for attempted robbery under D.C. law--should not count as a "crime of violence" because it was remote in time and did not have as an element the use of physical force. The court found that Hill's conviction for attempted robbery qualified as a "crime of violence" under U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1 and determined on that basis that Hill's offense level was 24. Accordingly, the court sentenced Hill to 96 months in prison, followed by a three-year term of supervised release.

II. ANALYSIS

A. The Motion to Suppress

Hill filed a motion to suppress the handgun discovered by police after the stop of Hill's car arguing that its seizure was the fruit of an unlawful stop. The district court denied the motion to suppress on the ground that the police officer that stopped Hill's car believed that he had violated the traffic laws. Hill challenges the district court's decision, claiming that the district court applied a subjective, rather than objective, reasonableness test to the actions of the officers in this case. We agree that the district court failed to make any findings regarding the objective reasonableness of the officer's decision to stop Hill's car, and we therefore reverse the district court's denial of the motion to suppress the handgun and remand for consideration of whether it was objectively reasonable for the officers that observed Hill's car to conclude that a traffic violation had occurred. ²

The Supreme Court has held that "[a]n automobile stop is ... subject to the constitutional imperative that it not be 'unreasonable' under the circumstances." Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, ----, 116 S.Ct. 1769, 1772, 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996). It is well-settled that in evaluating the reasonableness of a particular traffic stop, "it is imperative that the facts be judged against an objective standard: would the facts available to the officer at the moment of the seizure or the search 'warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief' that the action taken was appropriate?" Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 21-22, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1880, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). In other words, reasonable suspicion to stop and search a motorist depends on "the events which occurred leading up to the stop or search, and then the decision whether these historical facts, viewed from the standpoint of an objectively reasonable police officer, amount to reasonable suspicion." Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, ---- - ----, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 1661-62, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996). The constitutional reasonableness of a traffic stop therefore does not depend on the actual motivations of the individual officers involved. See Whren, 517 U.S. at ----, 116 S.Ct. at 1774. Instead, the relevant determination is whether the "circumstances, viewed objectively justify" the action taken. Scott v. United States, 436 U.S. 128, 138, 98 S.Ct. 1717, 1723, 56 L.Ed.2d 168 (1978); see Whren, 517 U.S. at ----, 116 S.Ct. at 1774.

Here, the district court denied Hill's motion to suppress the gun because it found that the police officer that stopped the car believed that the temporary tags on the car did not contain a VIN. At the district court hearing, Hill submitted the temporary tags and bill of sale for his car, both of which contained a VIN. In addition, Hill testified that he had seen the dealer write the VIN on the temporary tags, that he had seen the dealer put the tags on his car, that the tags had not been tampered with, and that the tags were on his car the night of the stop. See Tr. at 69, 72, 82-83, 86. There was, however, testimony by a police officer indicating that he thought that the tags might have been altered. See Tr. at 25. Faced with this conflicting evidence, the court concluded that it was impossible to determine whether Hill's temporary tags actually had a VIN on them at the time Hill's car was stopped. The court therefore decided to base its suppression decision on the testimony of the parties involved in the stop, choosing to credit the officer's testimony that "he believed that the car did not have a VIN number," see Tr. at 136, over the testimony of Hill. The court explained:

... The evidence that I have heard indicates that a police officer believed that a vehicle was using the streets of the District of Columbia and that vehicle had temporary tags on it and that the officer did not see a VIN number.

I can't say whether the tags had a VIN number on them or not. But I know I can accept as true the officer's testimony that he believed that the car did not have a VIN number.

Id.

We agree with Hill that the...