U.S. v. Ramirez

• Decision Date: 01 February 2007
• Docket Number: No. 05-12765.,05-12765.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Omar RAMIREZ, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

476 F.3d 1231

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Omar RAMIREZ, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 05-12765.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

February 1, 2007.

Kristen Gartman Rogers, Carlos Alfredo Williams and Frederick W. Tiemann, Fed. Pub. Defenders, Mobile, AL, for Ramirez.

David Andrew Sigler, Gina S. Vann, Dept. of Justice/U.S. Atty., Mobile, AL, for U.S.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.

Before BIRCH and CARNES, Circuit Judges, and TRAGER,^* District Judge.

BIRCH, Circuit Judge:

Appellant Omar Ramirez challenges the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence in his case. On appeal, Ramirez argues that he was unlawfully detained by the police in violation of the Fourth Amendment, and that therefore the evidence discovered as a result of that detention should have been suppressed. Because we find that Ramirez's Terry¹ stop had become a consensual encounter at the time he agreed to a search of his vehicle, we conclude that suppression of the evidence was unwarranted. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the district court's denial of his motion.

I. BACKGROUND

On 11 September 2004, at approximately 9 p.m., Alabama State Trooper Corporal Charlton Martin was assisting a trooper in the arrest of two individuals on the eastbound side of Interstate 10. Corporal Martin's police vehicle was parked in the emergency lane on the side of the highway. At that time, Corporal Martin observed a blue Crown Victoria as it crossed the solid white line on the side of the highway and veered into the emergency lane, nearly hitting Corporal Martin's car. The car then returned to the highway, and continued traveling along Interstate 10. Corporal Martin asked Sergeant Kerry Mitchum of the Loxley, Alabama, Police Department, who was present with him, to pull over the Crown Victoria while Corporal Martin completed his arrest. Sergeant Mitchum proceeded to pull over the Crown Victoria, which was being driven by Ramirez. Approximately two minutes later,² Corporal Martin arrived at the location where Ramirez's car had been stopped alongside Interstate 10. At that time, Corporal Martin took over the stop from Sergeant Mitchum.

By the time Corporal Martin arrived at the scene, Ramirez had been asked by Sergeant Mitchum to step out of his vehicle, due to some confusion as to who was the owner of the car.³ When Corporal Martin approached Ramirez and Sergeant Mitchum, he was handed Ramirez's paperwork (including his driver's license and vehicle registration) and was informed by Sergeant Mitchum that there was "a problem with [Ramirez]'s paperwork." R2 at 8. When Corporal Martin asked Ramirez from whom he had purchased the vehicle, Ramirez appeared confused, and attempted to read the name off of the registration that Corporal Martin was holding in his hand. Ramirez was unable to tell Corporal Martin from whom he had purchased the car. At that time, Corporal Martin began to suspect that the vehicle might be stolen.

Corporal Martin later testified that Ramirez appeared nervous, even more so than the nervous behavior that Corporal Martin had typically observed during routine traffic stops. He testified that "[the] carotid artery in his neck was bulging" and that "[y]ou could see his heart pounding through his t-shirt." R2 at 9. The videotape of the stop reflects that, during the initial encounter with the police, Ramirez was fidgeting and pacing in front his vehicle; at one point he attempted to walk away and was instructed to remain close to the trunk of his car.

Corporal Martin asked Ramirez about his travel plans. Ramirez indicated that he was traveling from Brownsville, Texas, where he resided, to south Florida, near Miami, to pick up $1,500 in cash from a family member. When he was asked why his family hadn't simply wired the money to him — so as to avoid a drive from Texas to Florida — Ramirez appeared confused by the question. Corporal Martin and Sergeant Mitchum returned to their respective vehicles. Meanwhile, a third officer, Trooper Charles Anderson, arrived at the scene to assist with the stop. Throughout this time, Ramirez remained standing at the rear of his vehicle.

Sergeant Mitchum ran a check of Ramirez's driver's license, which was reported as being "status clear." See R, Exh. 1 at 21:13. Sergeant Mitchum was also informed that the vehicle was registered in the name of a Raul Perez, which was consistent with the answer Ramirez had given Sergeant Mitchum at the time of the initial stop. See id. at 21:09. In addition to the driver's license check, Sergeant Mitchum requested a background check on Ramirez from the Blue Light Operations Center ("BLOC"). Corporal Martin later testified that he had decided to run a BLOC check on Ramirez because he was from Brownsville, Texas, a border town that is a source of heavy narcotic activity, and he was traveling to south Florida, another source area for narcotic activity. While the officers were awaiting the results of the BLOC check, Corporal Martin began to prepare a warning citation for Ramirez for crossing over the line into the emergency lane on a highway.

As the traffic citation was being prepared, Sergeant Mitchum and Corporal Martin engaged in additional questioning of Ramirez. They asked Ramirez if he had stopped to eat during his travels, and where he had stopped. Ramirez was also asked by Corporal Martin why he had been weaving on the highway; he answered that he had been talking on his cell phone with his mother. Sergeant Mitchum interjected that Ramirez had told him earlier that he had been weaving because he was tired and had been driving all day. Although Ramirez was arguably inconsistent in explaining why he had been weaving, however, as Corporal Martin later confirmed, there was no evidence to suggest that Ramirez was under the influence of any drugs or alcohol. The officers also asked Ramirez at one point how much money he was carrying on him, and whether he was planning on using that cash for food and gas stops along the highway.

Corporal Martin then issued a warning citation to Ramirez for failing to remain in the lane on an interstate. Corporal Martin gave the citation to Ramirez for his signature, along with his driver's license and registration.⁴ Almost immediately after returning all of Ramirez's paperwork to him — and advising Ramirez that "the traffic stop [was] over," R2 at 16 — the officers received a call from BLOC, notifying them that Ramirez's criminal background was clean, other than a minor marijuana offense when Ramirez was a juvenile.⁵

At this time, Ramirez had apparently been given back his paperwork,⁶ and, according to Corporal Martin's testimony, the traffic stop had ended. Corporal Martin testified that, "after [he] issued the citation and gave him back all his personal belongings," he asked Ramirez "if he was carrying anything illegal in the car." R2 at 17. Ramirez responded by advising Corporal Martin that he could search the vehicle if he wanted to.⁷ After some additional discussion, a consent to search form was provided to Ramirez. Corporal Martin explained the substance of the form to him, Ramirez promptly signed it,⁸ and Corporal Martin began a search of Ramirez's vehicle. After searching the vehicle for approximately 20 minutes, Corporal Martin uncovered approximately seven kilograms of cocaine, which had been hidden inside of the dashboard of the vehicle.

After he was indicted, Ramirez filed a motion to suppress the evidence that had been discovered in connection with the search of his car. He argued that he was unlawfully detained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, in that his continued detention by the police was undertaken without any reasonable suspicion of any further criminal activity.⁹ Because his prolonged detention was unconstitutional, Ramirez argued that everything which followed from that alleged detention — the consent to search, the search of the vehicle, and all items seized from the vehicle — should have been excluded.

The district court conducted a hearing on Ramirez's motion, at which Corporal Martin testified. After reviewing Corporal Martin's testimony and the evidentiary record, the district court denied Ramirez's motion. The district court found that Corporal Martin's testimony was credible, and that it had not been rebutted by Ramirez. The court first found that the facts presented — the initial traffic violation, Ramirez's nervous behavior upon further questioning, and his suspicious answers concerning the ownership of the vehicle — were sufficient to create a reasonable suspicion so as to justify the initial detention of Ramirez and the license check. The court concluded that the officer's check of the driver's license, and the preparation of the traffic citation, were undertaken within a reasonable time and were entirely lawful. Turning to the question of whether the prolonging of the traffic stop — after Ramirez's license came back clear — was unlawful, the court found:

The driver's license registration was returned to Mr. Ramirez, and he was issued a warning ticket. And almost simultaneous with the issue of the warrant [sic.], or as it was being handed . . . he was asked if there was contraband in the car and gave initially verbal consent which almost immediately transitioned into the written consent.

R2 at 74-75. In light of these findings of fact, the court concluded that "there [was] no unlawful detention within the meaning of those terms and principles as governed by the law in this Circuit." Id. at 75. Because there was no unlawful detention at the moment when Ramirez consented to have his car searched — a consent which the court accepted as voluntary — the court concluded that Ramirez's Fourth Amendment rights were not violated, and, consequently, there was no basis to suppress the evidence that had been discovered by the police.

After his motion to suppress was denied, Ramirez pled guilty to one count of...