U.S. v. Richardson

• Decision Date: 24 September 2004
• Docket Number: No. 02-6146.,02-6146.
• Citation: 385 F.3d 625
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William Edward RICHARDSON, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

385 F.3d 625

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William Edward RICHARDSON, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 02-6146.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: December 4, 2003.

Decided and Filed: September 24, 2004.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Thomas A. Higgins, J.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Debra Teufel Phillips, (briefed), Asst. U.S. Attorney, Nashville, TN, Steven L. Lane (argued and briefed), U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

C. Douglas Thoresen, (briefed), Asst. Federal Public Defender, Hugh M. Mundy (argued and briefed), Federal Public Defender's Office, Nashville, TN, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before: KENNEDY, MARTIN, and MOORE, Circuit Judges.

MARTIN, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which MOORE, J., joined. KENNEDY, J. (pp. 632-34), delivered a separate dissenting opinion.

OPINION

BOYCE F. MARTIN, JR., Circuit Judge.

The United States of America appeals the district court's grant of William Edward Richardson's motion to suppress evidence seized from a vehicle in which he was a passenger. In light of the specific facts of this case and for the reasons that follow, we AFFIRM.

I

On October 19, 2000, Officer Darryl Fisher noticed a vehicle recklessly swerving between two eighteen-wheel trucks on Interstate 65 in Tennessee. Officer Fisher pulled the vehicle over for following too closely in violation of section 55-8-124 of the Tennessee Code. The entire traffic stop was recorded by the video camera in Officer Fisher's police car.

The following people were traveling in the vehicle: the driver, Ricky Collier; the defendant, Richardson; Richardson's wife, Shirley Richardson; and their son, William Darnell Richardson, whom we refer to as Darnell. Officer Fisher requested to inspect Collier's license. At this point, Officer Fisher noticed that the occupants of the vehicle appeared nervous. In particular, he noticed that Collier's hand trembled as he presented his license and Darnell's lips quivered as he spoke. Upon learning that Shirley Richardson was the owner of the vehicle, Officer Fisher requested to inspect her driver's license and registration. As she searched for this information, Shirley spilled all of the contents of her purse onto the floorboard. Officer Fisher perceived this action as a sign of nervousness. He asked the vehicle's occupants about their travel plans, to which Darnell responded that they had been to Nashville to see his lawyer. The videotape's sound recording reveals that Darnell also muttered something about having a back problem.

Officer Fisher then asked Collier to step to the back of the car. There, Officer Fisher informed Collier that he was going to issue a warning citation for traveling too closely to the first truck. Collier remained behind the car while Officer Fisher returned to his police car, where he narrated his impressions of the incident into the video camera, specifically noting the nervous appearance of the vehicle's occupants.

When Officer Fisher returned, he asked Collier about his travel plans. Collier responded that they had gone to Nashville to see a doctor. Officer Fisher then gave the citation to Collier and shook his hand, and Collier turned around to return to his vehicle.

At that point, Officer Fisher asked Collier to answer a few more questions, and Collier agreed. Officer Fisher asked whether there were any drugs, money, or guns in the car, to which Collier responded in the negative. Then, instead of allowing Collier to return to the vehicle, Officer Fisher asked Collier to remain behind the car while he asked Shirley Richardson for permission to search the car.¹

While Officer Fisher and Collier were talking, Darnell moved to the driver's seat. Thus, when Officer Fisher returned to the driver's side of the car, he asked Darnell for his driver's license. Darnell complied and Officer Fisher was satisfied with his identification. Officer Fisher then asked Darnell whether there were any guns in the car. Darnell responded that he had a gun in the vehicle. Darnell explained that his employer, the Lawrence County Sheriff's Department, authorized him to carry the gun. Darnell gave permission to Officer Fisher to inspect the gun. Upon inspection, Officer Fisher discovered that the gun was loaded. He stated that he would have to inquire into Darnell's employment and permit to carry the gun. Before doing so, however, Officer Fisher asked for permission to search the vehicle. The parties dispute whether Shirley Richardson gave her consent at this time.

Officer Fisher then radioed for assistance and also contacted the Lawrence County Dispatch to inquire about Darnell's employment. The dispatcher erroneously informed him that Darnell was not employed there and had been arrested a few times for drug possession. At this point, Officer Tommy Goetz arrived on the scene to assist.

Officer Fisher asked the occupants to exit the vehicle and empty their pockets. Defendant Richardson stated that his pants were too tight to empty his pockets. Officer Fisher patted down Richardson and noticed that Richardson turned his body to the left. Officer Fisher felt something on Richardson's left side. He proceeded to ask Shirley Richardson again whether he could search the vehicle and she responded in the affirmative. After Officer Fisher told Officer Goetz that he had felt something on defendant Richardson's left side, Officer Goetz conducted a second pat-down and discovered a handgun in Richardson's pocket.

Richardson was placed under arrest and subsequently indicted for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation 18 U.S.C. § § 922(g)(1) and 924(a). He moved to suppress the handgun evidence as fruit of an unlawful seizure. The district court granted the motion to suppress, holding that Officer Fisher seized the vehicle and its occupants for no reasonable suspicion. The United States filed this timely appeal.

II

In reviewing the judgment, we are asked to decide two questions: 1) whether the vehicle and its occupants were unlawfully seized following the conclusion of the traffic stop, and 2) whether the handgun evidence found thereafter was fruit of the unlawful seizure. We review the district court's factual findings in a suppression hearing for clear error and the district court's conclusions of law de novo. United States v. Waldon, 206 F.3d 597, 602 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 881, 121 S.Ct. 193, 148 L.Ed.2d 134 (2000); United States v. Guimond, 116 F.3d 166, 169 (6th Cir.1997), cert. denied, 530 U.S. 1268, 120 S.Ct. 2733, 147 L.Ed.2d 995 (2000); United States v. Bradshaw, 102 F.3d 204, 209 (6th Cir.1996). Also, because we are reviewing the grant of a motion to suppress, we review the evidence "in the light most likely to support the district court's decision." Guimond, 116 F.3d at 169 (quoting United States v. Roark, 36 F.3d 14, 16 (6th Cir.1994)).

A. Seizure of the vehicle and its occupants

The primary interests that the Fourth Amendment protects include an interest in freedom of movement and insulation from the fear and anxiety produced by unlawful seizure. In the traffic stop scenario, these interests are personal to all occupants of the vehicle that is detained, United States v. Mesa, 62 F.3d 159 (6th Cir.1995), because the detention affects an occupant's interest in freedom from such seizures. See Michigan Dep't of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U.S. 444, 450, 110 S.Ct. 2481, 110 L.Ed.2d 412 (1990) (recognizing that a passenger may challenge his detention because all occupants of a stopped vehicle are subject to a Fourth Amendment seizure); see also Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 653, 99 S.Ct. 1391, 59 L.Ed.2d 660 (1979) (noting that each occupant has an interest in freedom from random, unauthorized, investigatory seizures); United States v. Kimball, 25 F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir.1994) ("interest in freedom of movement and the interest in being free from fear and surprise are personal to all occupants of a vehicle").

Unlawful seizure occurs when an officer, without reasonable suspicion, "by means of physical force or show of authority ... in some way restrain[s] the liberty of a citizen." Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19 n. 16, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). One's liberty is restrained when a reasonable person would not feel free to walk away and ignore the officer's requests. United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 554, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980). In United States v. Hill, 195 F.3d 258, 264 (6th Cir.1999), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1176, 120 S.Ct. 1207, 145 L.Ed.2d 1110 (2000), this Court determined that "[o]nce the purposes of the traffic stop [are] completed, a motorist cannot be further detained unless something that occurred during the stop caused the officer to have a reasonable, articulable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot." See also United States v. Mesa, 62 F.3d 159, 162 (6th Cir.1995) ("Once the purposes of the initial traffic stop were completed, there is no doubt that the officer could not further detain the vehicle or its occupants unless something that occurred during the traffic stop generated the necessary reasonable suspicion to justify a further detention."). Thus, in determining whether the Fourth Amendment forbids the action taken by Officer Fisher in this case, we must decide whether there was a seizure, and, if so, whether Officer Fisher had reasonable suspicion for effecting the seizure.

In determining whether a particular encounter between an officer and a citizen constitutes a seizure, we recognize that words alone may be enough to make a reasonable person feel that he would not be free to leave. See United States v Buchanon, 72 F.3d 1217, 1223 (6th Cir.1995) (quoting Mendenhall, 446 U.S. at 554, 100 S.Ct. 1870). In the instant case, the traffic stop concluded when Officer Fisher handed Collier the citation and shook his hand. Collier was then free to leave,...