U.S. v. Navarrete

• Decision Date: 15 June 1999
• Docket Number: No. 99-1150,99-1150
• Citation: 192 F.3d 786
• Parties: (8th Cir. 1999) United States of America,Appellee, v. Luis Navarrete-Barron, a/k/aLuis Navarrete,Appellant. Submitted:
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 786

192 F.3d 786 (8th Cir. 1999)

United States of America,Appellee, v. Luis Navarrete-Barron, a/k/aLuis Navarrete,Appellant.

No. 99-1150

United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

Submitted: June 15, 1999

Filed: September 21, 1999

Rehearing Denied Nov. 5, 1999

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska. [Copyrighted Material Omitted] Before HANSEN and MAGILL, Circuit Judges, and JONES,¹ District Judge.

HANSEN, Circuit Judge.

After a bench trial, the district court ² found Luis Navarrete-Barron guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, cocaine base, and marijuana, and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base. The district court sentenced Navarrete-Barron to 151 months in prison. In this appeal, Navarrete-Barron challenges the denial of his pretrial motion to suppress evidence, his conviction for possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, and the district court's determination of his base offense level for sentencing purposes. Finding no error, we affirm.

I. Background

On the morning of June 11, 1994, police officers arrested Jaime Garcia for driving under the influence after stopping him for a traffic violation. After a failed attempt by Garcia to bribe the arresting officer with an offer of $10,000 in exchange for his release, the officer searched Garcia's car. The search produced the following items: 14 ounces of crack cocaine, $37,000 in cash, and ammunition for a 9 millimeter handgun. The officer did not discover a weapon. On Garcia's person, the officer found a key to room number 14 of a local motel. Garcia told the officers that he did not own the car. He claimed that his friend "Luis," with whom he was staying at the motel, recently purchased the vehicle. A police officer immediately began surveillance of room 14 and, shortly thereafter, spotted Navarrete-Barron through a window and an open doorway. Before police officers could obtain a search warrant, a pickup truck arrived. The driver of the truck entered the motel room for a short time and made a quick telephone call. Navarrete-Barron and the driver then exited the motel room with a duffel bag and drove away in the truck. Approximately one-half mile later, two police officers stopped the truck. The officers drew their guns and ordered the driver and the passenger (Navarrete-Barron) to exit the truck with their hands in the air. After the police officers finished handcuffing the two men and placing them in separate squad cars, the driver admitted through an interpreter that he was in the United States illegally. The officers performed a routine inventory search of the truck and found a beeper, cell phone, and recharger. In the duffel bag, the officers discovered the title to the car that Garcia was driving earlier that morning. The title indicated that the car had been transferred the previous day to Luis Jesus Navarrete-Barron (defendant). The police then arrested Navarrete-Barron.

Prior to the morning of June 11, 1994, Navarrete-Barron had participated in numerous drug transactions with several other persons. Navarrete-Barron's drug activity began in 1993. Luis Martinez testified about three instances where he saw his cousin, Navarrete-Barron, in Omaha, Nebraska with Jesus Martinez (Luis's father). On each of these occasions, Jesus delivered large quantities of either marijuana or cocaine (powder) to Luis Martinez. The evidence also shows that Jesus delivered portions of that same marijuana and cocaine to Navarrete-Barron. In addition, Dianne Cervantes testified about several trips she made delivering cannisters of money from Isauro Amaya in Omaha to Navarrete-Barron in Denver. Isauro Amaya, Fernando Ibarra (the driver of the pickup truck), Luis Martinez, and Navarette-Barron were all purchasing drugs from Mexico through Jesus Martinez.

Garcia testified that when the police arrested him, he was on his third trip to Omaha with the defendant. Navarrete-Barron arranged all three trips. Garcia rode to Omaha in Navarrete-Barron's car during the first trip, he traveled by plane during the second trip after Navarrete-Barron paid for Garcia's ticket, and on the third trip he rode with Navarrete-Barron and Ibarra in a truck owned by Amaya. During this third trip on June 10, 1994, Navarrete-Barron bought the car that Garcia was driving when Garcia was arrested. Later that day, Navarrete-Barron and Garcia met at Amaya's house. Ibarra was also at Amaya's house. While there, Garcia saw Navarrete-Barron and Amaya handling crack cocaine and putting it in smaller bags. He also saw them counting sums of money in excess of $20,000. Navarrete-Barron and Garcia left Amaya's house, spent some time drinking at a local bar, and then returned to the Sandman motel to a room rented for them by Amaya. Amaya had, in the meantime, dropped off their suitcases (containing the cocaine base and money) at the motel for them. Early the next morning, Garcia left in Navarrete-Barron's car and was later arrested. When Ibarra arrived at the motel to pick up Navarrete-Barron the next.4 morning, Ibarra made a call to Dianne Cervantes before they left. Ibarra told her that Garcia had taken some money and cocaine. Ibarra and Navarrete-Barron then left in Ibarra's truck and were arrested soon after.

II. Discussion

A. Denial of Motion to Suppress

Navarrete-Barron contends that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence obtained from the stop of the pickup truck in which he was a passenger. The district court found that the police officers made a valid investigatory stop of the truck based on reasonable suspicion that the occupants of the vehicle were engaged in criminal activity. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 25-31 (1968). Navarrete-Barron claims that the police officers who stopped the truck actually made an illegal arrest without probable cause, and thus his motion to suppress should have been granted. We review the district court's factual findings for clear error and its determinations of probable cause and reasonable suspicion de novo. See United States v. Beck, 140 F.3d 1129, 1133 (8th Cir. 1998).

An investigatory, or Terry, stop without a warrant is valid only if police officers have a reasonable and articulable suspicion that criminal activity may be afoot. See Terry, 392 U.S. at 25-31. When justifying a particular stop, police officers "must be able to point to specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant that intrusion." See id. at 21. A Terry stop may turn into an arrest if the stop lasts for an unreasonably long time or if officers use unreasonable force. See Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200, 212 (1979). During a Terry stop, officers can check for weapons and may take any additional steps that are "reasonably necessary to protect their personal safety and to maintain the status quo during the course of the stop." See United States v. Hensley, 469 U.S. 221, 235 (1985). Officers must, however, employ the least intrusive means of detention and investigation, in terms of scope and duration, that are reasonably necessary to achieve the purpose of the Terry stop. See Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 500 (1983). In deciding whether to conduct a Terry stop, an officer may rely on information provided by other officers as well as any information known to the team of officers conducting the investigation. See United States v. Robinson, 119 F.3d 663, 666-667 (8th Cir. 1997).

After reviewing the evidence, we find that the officers made a valid Terry stop of the truck and later had probable cause to arrest Navarrete-Barron. First, the initial stop was supported by a reasonable and articulable suspicion of criminal activity. Earlier that morning, officers had discovered a large amount of cocaine base along with $37,000 and firearm ammunition. This discovery provided direct and substantial evidence of Garcia's involvement in drug trafficking activity. Garcia's statements to the police about a "Luis" back at the motel who had recently purchased the vehicle coupled with a key to the motel room provided enough evidence to support an inference that others were engaged in drug trafficking. Police officers later corroborated Garcia's statements during their surveillance of the motel room. In sum, the officers had a reasonable and articulable suspicion sufficient to make a valid Terry stop of the truck in which Navarrete-Barron was a passenger.

In the circumstances of this case, we also find that the officers did not use unreasonable force when they approached the truck with their weapons drawn. At the time of the stop, the officers had a reasonable suspicion that the occupants of the truck had been or were engaged in drug trafficking, which very often is accompanied by dangerous weapons. In addition, the 9 millimeter ammunition from the earlier stop constituted a reasonable basis to believe that one of the truck occupants could be carrying the missing 9 millimeter weapon. Therefore, the officers were justified in approaching the truck with their weapons drawn because it was reasonably necessary for their protection.

The limits of a Terry stop were also not exceeded when the defendant was handcuffed and placed in a police car while the officers searched the truck. There were two suspects and only two officers at the scene at the time of the initial stop. In United States v. Miller, 974 F.2d 953, 957 (8th Cir. 1992), which involved three officers and six suspects in the area, we agreed that it was reasonable for officers to handcuff two of the suspects during a Terry stop for suspected drug activity. Several other circuits also have found that using handcuffs can be a reasonable precaution during a Terry stop. See, e.g., United States v. Laing, 889 F.2d 281, 285 (D.C. Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1008 (1990) and 494 U.S. 1069 (1990); United States v. Crittendon, 883 F.2d 326, 329 (4th...