U.S.A v. Raney
| Decision Date | 09 February 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 10-20007,10-20007 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,Plaintiff - Appellee v. COREY A. RANEY,Defendant - Appellant |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas
Before DEMOSS, BENAVIDES, and ELROD, Circuit Judges.
Appellant Corey Raney was convicted by a jury for being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). He now appeals the district court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained subsequent to a traffic stop. He also asks this court to reverse his conviction on the basis of allegedly improper remarks made by the prosecution during closing argument. Because the government failed to establish an objective basis for the traffic stop, we vacate the denial of the motion to suppress and render judgment in favor of Raney. We also address the propriety of the prosecutor's remarks during closing argument.
On September 15, 2008, Raney was stopped by Houston Police Officer Rohan Walker for driving in the wrong lane of traffic. Following a search of his person, Raney was arrested and indicted in a single count indictment for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Before trial, Raney filed a motion to suppress challenging the legality of the traffic stop. To establish the constitutionality of the stop, the government offered the following evidence at the suppression hearing and at trial.
During the suppression hearing, Officer Walker testified that he and Houston Police Officer John Watson had been settling disturbances stemming from Hurricane Ike-related gasoline shortages at a gas station located at the intersection of Almeda-Genoa Road and Chiswick Road. Cars waiting to enter the gas station were backed up on the eastbound lane of Almeda-Genoa and the southbound lane of Chiswick. Because Chiswick was the only street providing access to a subdivision, cars attempting to exit the subdivision were also lined up in the southbound lane. The record does not reflect which cars were waiting to enter the gas station and which were waiting to exit the subdivision. Officers Walker and Watson testified that the southbound lane of traffic on Chiswick was blocked and thus access to and exit from the subdivision was limited to one lane. Officers Walker and Watson were stationed on Chiswick and controlling traffic by temporarily permitting vehicles not queuing for the gas station to travel in the northbound lane of Chiswick, drive around the stopped cars, and exit the subdivision. Officer Watson was stationed at the intersection and Officer Walker was stationed north of the intersection on Chiswick.
Raney's car was in the line of cars traveling southbound on Chiswick towards the intersection. Officer Walker testified that Raney pulled into thenorthbound lane of Chiswick without his direction and began driving southbound at approximately ten to fifteen miles per hour. Officer Walker signaled for Raney to turn onto a side street off of the northbound lane of Chiswick. Raney immediately complied with Officer Walker's direction. The officers' testimony did not establish the distance Raney had traveled between where his car was waiting in line and the side street where he pulled into.
Officer Walker testified that as he approached the stopped car, the car windows were lowered and he could smell "a strong odor of marijuana." Officer Walker directed Raney to step out of the car. As Raney did so, Officer Walker observed a brown object fall to the ground, which he believed to be a marijuana cigarette. Officer Walker then signaled to Officer Watson that his assistance was needed. Officer Walker detained Raney for the marijuana, placed Raney in handcuffs, and conducted a search of his person. During the pat-down, Officer Walker testified that he found a.45 caliber Sig Sauer firearm in the waistband of Raney's pants. A search of Raney's car revealed ammunition in the glove compartment. A criminal history check indicated that Raney had a prior felony conviction. Raney was subsequently arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Afer presenting its evidence at the suppression hearing, the government argued that it established that Raney committed three traffic violations: (1) driving in the wrong lane of traffic, (2) failing to obey a police officer's directions, and (3) reckless driving, and thus the officers had an objective basis justifying the traffic stop. Raney argued that because he did not actually commit a traffic violation, Officer Walker did not have probable cause to conduct the initial traffic stop and any evidence obtained from the subsequent search must be suppressed. The district court held that Raney committed a traffic violation per se when hedrove in the wrong lane of traffic, thus the officers had probable cause to conduct the traffic stop. The district court did not make any findings with respect to the government's arguments that Raney failed to obey the police officer's directions or was driving recklessly.
At trial, Raney's sole defense was that he was not in possession of a firearm at the time of his arrest. Officers Walker and Watson testified for the government. The officers' trial testimony was substantially similar to the testimony offered at the suppression hearing. Raney's wife Jasmine Raney testified for the defense. Jasmine testified that she had been in the car with Raney prior to the traffic stop, but left the car before Raney pulled out of line because of an altercation between the two. She testified that on the day in question, Raney was wearing a "muscle shirt" and gray cotton shorts with a missing drawstring. She stated that she did not think Raney could have concealed a gun in the shorts. She could not recall whether Raney had been wearing the gray shorts after his release from custody later that day. She further testified that she did not see a gun or ammunition before she left the car. Finally, she stated that she saw Raney had been stopped and arrested but did not approach or intervene.
The jury found Raney guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). He was sentenced to 108 months' imprisonment and a three year term of supervised release. On appeal, Raney challenges the denial of his motion to suppress. He also argues that the government committed reversible error by making improper remarks during closing arguments.
When reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress, we review a district court's factual findings for clear error and review de novo its legal conclusionsunder the Fourth Amendment. See United States v. Zavala, 541 F.3d 562, 573-74 (5th Cir. 2008). "A factual finding is not clearly erroneous as long as it is plausible in light of the record as a whole." United States v. Jacquinot, 258 F.3d 423, 427 (5th Cir. 2001). "[W]e may consider all of the evidence presented at trial, not just that presented before the ruling on the suppression motion, in the light most favorable to the prevailing party," which in this case is the government. United States v. Ibarra, 493 F.3d 526, 530 (5th Cir. 2007).
The stop of a vehicle and detention of its occupants constitutes a "seizure" under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Brigham, 382 F.3d 500, 506 (5th Cir. 2004) (en banc). However, "[a] police officer may stop a vehicle if he has probable cause to believe a traffic violation has occurred." United States v. Cole, 444 F.3d 688, 689 (5th Cir. 2006) (citing Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 810 (1996)). "The rule articulated by the Supreme Court in Whren provides law enforcement officers broad leeway to conduct searches and seizures regardless of whether their subjective intent corresponds to the legal justifications for their actions." United States v. Miller, 146 F.3d 274, 279 (5th Cir. 1998). "[T]he flip side of that leeway is that the legal justification must be objectively grounded." Id. (citing Whren, 517 U.S. at 812-14). If the alleged traffic violation forming the basis of the stop was not a violation of state law, there is no objective basis for justifying the stop. See id. (citing Goodwin v. Johnson, 132 F.3d 162, 173 (5th Cir. 1998)); Cole, 444 F.3d at 689; United States v. Lopez-Valdez, 178 F.3d 282, 288 (5th Cir. 1999). "[T]he constitutionality of the officer's stop of [a defendant's vehicle must stand or fall based on whether [the defendant] violated Texas law." Cole, 444 F.3d at 689. The government argues only that the stop was properbecause Raney committed one or more traffic violations. Thus, this appeal requires us to determine whether the stop was justified at its inception.
The district court found that driving in the wrong lane of traffic was a per se traffic violation justifying the stop. The Texas Transportation Code provides that a driver shall drive on the right half of the roadway unless "the operator is passing another vehicle;... an obstruction necessitates moving the vehicle left of the center of the roadway and the operator yields right-of-way to a vehicle;... or the operator is on a roadway restricted to one-way traffic." TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. § 545.051(a) (West 1999). Because the plain language of the Code provides limited exceptions to the general prohibition against driving in the oncoming lane of traffic, the district court erred in determining that Raney had committed a traffic violation per se. See Lopez-Valdez, 178 F.3d at 288 (); Miller, 146 F.3d at 278-79 ().
Raney arguably crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic to pass the line of cars waiting to enter the gas station, which, as recognized by the government, "entirely blocked" the road for cars attempting to exit the subdivision, circumstances that may constitute an obstruction or limit travel to...
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