U.S. v. Woolery, 80-2156

Decision Date15 March 1982
Docket NumberNo. 80-2156,80-2156
Citation670 F.2d 513
PartiesUNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. William Robert WOOLERY, Defendant-Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

James R. Gough, Asst. U. S. Atty., Houston, Tex., for plaintiff-appellant.

Dick DeGuerin, Mike DeGuerin, Houston, Tex., for defendant-appellee.

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

Before BROWN, GOLDBERG and GEE, Circuit Judges.

GEE, Circuit Judge:

The United States appeals from an order granting a pretrial motion to suppress evidence against defendant William Robert Woolery. The court determined that the officers had illegally arrested Woolery because they did not have the requisite probable cause to arrest.

On August 6, 1979, United States Customs inspectors discovered cocaine secreted in a shipment of saddles from Colombia. The packages were addressed to one Richard Freedman, and a telephone number was listed on the packages. A Braniff Air Line agent called the telephone number, which proved to be that of an answering service, and left a message for Richard Freedman that the shipment had arrived. On the morning of August 9, 1979, a man identifying himself as Richard Freedman called Braniff and informed them that the package would be picked up later that day. "Richard Freedman" also called W. R. Zanes Warehouse and requested that it pick up the saddles from the airline and place them in their storage facility until they could be picked up later that afternoon.

When the warehouse employee showed up at Braniff to pick up the saddles, he was met by agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"), who informed him that cocaine had been smuggled in the saddles. The warehouse employee agreed to help make a controlled delivery of the saddles from the warehouse. The warehouse was then put under surveillance by the DEA agents, Customs agents, and officers from the Houston Police Department. Meanwhile, "Richard Freedman" telephoned the Suburban Delivery Company to arrange for pick up and delivery of the saddles, requesting that a driver meet him in the parking lot of a Denny's Restaurant near the warehouse. At about 2:00 p. m., a man identifying himself as Richard Freedman approached the driver, Lawrence Lopez, and paid him $200 cash for the storage and delivery fees. He directed Lopez to deliver the saddles to a Houston address and to leave the package outside if no one was there. When Lopez arrived in front of the warehouse, the surveillance agents posted inside and outside the warehouse noted that the delivery truck was being followed by a dark Mercedes with two occupants. When Lopez parked the truck and entered the warehouse, the Mercedes stopped directly behind the delivery truck and both occupants turned to look at the truck. They held a brief conversation and then took a left turn into a parking lot directly adjacent to the warehouse, across the street from the truck. After they parked, the driver got out of the Mercedes and, constantly looking at the delivery truck, walked around the rear of the car and went to its front, opening the hood. The surveillance agents testified that during this period the driver never looked at the engine of his car but instead peered through the open hood at the truck.

A DEA agent next directed Lopez to drive his truck to the rear of the building, so he went back outside and started his truck. The driver of the Mercedes then shut the hood and hurriedly entered the car. The truck backed up, drove to the first intersection, turned left, and immediately turned left again into the Zane's Warehouse parking lot. When the Mercedes reached the first intersection, the car stopped, and the occupants looked in both directions as if looking for something. They pulled out into the intersection, stopped again, looked both ways, and held a brief conversation. The Mercedes then turned and pulled up parallel to Zane's Warehouse, where they momentarily stopped again. The Mercedes then drove around to a parking lot, parking where there was a view of the truck and the warehouse. The surveillance agents radioed this information to the officer in charge.

At the same time, Lopez had entered the warehouse and was interviewed by the DEA agents. Lopez described how "Richard Freedman" had directed him to pick up this package and deliver it to a Houston address. The agents knew that the address was that of the answering service building, because the telephone number of that answering service had been on the package of saddles and had been checked earlier by the agents. The officer in charge then directed the agents to approach the Mercedes and ascertain the identification of the occupants. The agents pulled up behind the Mercedes, blocking its exit. The driver of the Mercedes put his car in reverse and backed into the agents' car. After the impact, the officers closed in on the Mercedes, with guns drawn, and ordered the occupants to get out of the car. When the occupants did not respond, an officer opened the door on the driver's side and observed a pistol in a visible side compartment. The occupants of the Mercedes, one...

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18 cases
  • U.S. v. Espinoza-Seanez
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)
    • December 15, 1988
    ...has been or is being committed." United States v. Tarango-Hinojos, 791 F.2d 1174, 1176 (5th Cir.1986), citing United States v. Woolery, 670 F.2d 513, 515 (5th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 835, 103 S.Ct. 78, 74 L.Ed.2d 75 (1982). See also United States v. Maldonado, 735 F.2d 809, 815 (5......
  • U.S. v. Laws
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (District of Columbia)
    • December 9, 1986
    ...describing ongoing cooperation with the police as a contact or "agent" in the investigation at issue. See United States v. Woolery, 670 F.2d 513, 515-516 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 835, 103 S.Ct. 78, 74 L.Ed.2d 75 (1982). Perhaps more common is a recitation of the informant's "track......
  • US v. Turner
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Vermont
    • April 25, 1989
    ...(1983), a description of the informant's cooperation with the police as a contact or "agent" in the investigation, United States v. Woolery, 670 F.2d 513, 515-16 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 835, 103 S.Ct. 78, 74 L.Ed.2d 75 (1982), or an indication that the informant's statement impli......
  • Guzman v. State
    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Texas. Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas
    • September 24, 1997
    ...338 U.S. 160, 174-75, 69 S.Ct. 1302, 1310, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (1949) (probable cause is more than "bare suspicion"); United States v. Woolery, 670 F.2d 513, 515 (5th Cir.1982). The rule of probable cause seeks to accommodate the sometimes opposing interests of safeguarding citizens from rash and......
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