United States v. Stringer, 12–3397.
| Decision Date | 06 January 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 12–3397.,12–3397. |
| Citation | 739 F.3d 391 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Timothy C. STRINGER, Defendant–Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Ann M. Koszuth, Asst. Fed. Public Defender, Springfield, MO, argued (Raymond C. Conrad, Jr., Fed. Public Defender, Kansas City, MO, on the brief), for appellant.
Randall D. Eggert, Asst. U.S. Atty., Springfield, MO, argued (Tammy Dickinson, U.S. Atty., Kansas City, MO, on the brief), for appellee.
Before LOKEN, COLLOTON, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.
Timothy Stringer entered a conditional guilty plea to producing child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a). The district court sentenced Stringer to 360 months' imprisonment. Stringer appeals an order of the district court 1 denying his motion to suppress evidence. He also appeals a pretrial ruling of the district court 2 excluding evidence that one of the minors involved in Stringer's production of child pornography was emancipated at the time the photographs were taken. We affirm.
On June 14, 2010, Trooper T.W. Hilburn of the Missouri State Highway Patrol was on duty in Cassville, Missouri. Hilburn observed a car leaving a residence known for drug activity. Hilburn stopped the vehicle because it was missing license plates and did not have working taillights.
When Hilburn approached the car, he observed Stringer, then thirty-three years old, in the driver's seat. There were two young, female passengers: G.R., then fifteen, in the front seat and A.K., then seventeen, in the back. Stringer said he had just purchased the car but had not yet licensed it. Hilburn obtained paperwork from Stringer, returned to his patrol car to run a computer check, and walked back to Stringer's vehicle. At that point, he noticed “pretty quickly” that G.R.'s eyes were “very dilated.” Hilburn suspected that both female passengers were under the influence of illegal drugs, so he called the chief of police in Cassville and requested that she bring a drug dog to the scene.
Having verified that the vehicle had a valid Arkansas title, Hilburn returned Stringer's paperwork and told him that he was free to leave, but that he could not drive away the vehicle without license plates and functioning taillights. Hilburn requested permission to search Stringer's vehicle; Stringer refused. Stringer then inquired whether he could leave if he fixed the taillights. Hilburn replied that Stringer could attempt to fix the lights but that because the drug dog was en route, the vehicle could not leave.
When Stringer got out of the car, Hilburn observed a knife in Stringer's pocket and asked him to remove it for safety reasons. Stringer emptied his pockets, and one object then displayed was a case for contact lenses. Hilburn asked permission to examine the case, and Stringer consented. Upon opening the case, Hilburn noticed a white crystalline substance around the edges of the lid and saw a white “blob” in the center of each compartment. Hilburn suspected the substance was methamphetamine and asked the dispatcher to send an officer with a field test kit.
Ten minutes later, an officer arrived with a drug test kit. The contact lens case tested positive for methamphetamine. Hilburn then placed Stringer under arrest and placed him in his patrol car. The local police chief then arrived with a drug dog. The canine alerted to the driver's seat and the dash panel area.
Hilburn then searched Stringer's vehicle. In the car, Hilburn located an open purse that contained a forged Missouri driver's license in the name of G.R. and a glass pipe that Hilburn thought was consistent with drug use. He also found a Samsung phone inside the purse. Looking for drug information, he searched through the text messages and contacts list. During this review, Hilburn discovered photographs of a male and female engaged in sexual intercourse. G.R. confirmed that the male was Stringer and that she was the female. Hilburn returned to his patrol car and informed Stringer that he was now under arrest for statutory rape.
Hilburn continued the search of Stringer's vehicle. He found a digital camera and searched the images on the camera. Several images depicted G.R. and Stringer engaged in intercourse, and many more showed G.R. nude or in a state of undress. The camera also contained pictures of A.K. undressed and nude.
Hilburn also located a Motorola cell phone, which G.R. identified as Stringer's. Hilburn searched that phone and discovered images similar to those found on G.R.'s phone, including images of Stringer and G.R. engaged in sexual intercourse. During subsequent interviews, G.R. confirmed that she had engaged in sexual intercourse with Stringer, and that Stringer used a cell phone and camera to take photographs of her engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
A grand jury charged Stringer with committing five criminal offenses. Count One, to which Stringer eventually pleaded guilty, alleged production of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a). The charge alleged that he used a minor, G.R., to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct, using (1) a Samsung cell phone (G.R.'s phone), (2) a Motorola cell phone (Stringer's phone), and (3) an Olympus camera (the camera found in the car).
Stringer moved to suppress all of the evidence seized as a result of the traffic stop. After an evidentiary hearing, a magistrate judge recommended denial of the motion, and the district court adopted the recommendation. The court concluded that Hilburn did not unreasonably prolong the investigative stop, because Hilburn had reasonable suspicion to believe that Stringer was involved in illegal drug activity. The court further concluded that there was probable cause to justify the search of the vehicle, cell phones, and camera, and that a warrant was not required. Prior to trial, the district court also ruled that Stringer could not present evidence of G.R.'s previous marriage at age fourteen and her “emancipation,” because emancipation of the minor is not a legal defense to a charge of producing child pornography and the proffered evidence was likely to confuse the jury.
Stringer then entered a conditional guilty plea to production of child pornography as charged in Count One of the indictment, reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion to suppress and the district court's ruling excluding evidence of G.R.'s emancipation. The plea agreement provides that if Stringer “prevails on this appeal, and the evidence is suppressed, he will be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea.”
On the motion to suppress, Stringer concedes that the trooper had probable cause to stop his vehicle for traffic violations. Stringer argues, however, that Hilburn violated the Fourth Amendment's proscription against unreasonable searches and seizures by continuing to detain Stringer after Hilburn confirmed that Stringer had a valid driver's license and that the car was validly registered in Arkansas. A traffic stop can become unlawful “if it is prolonged beyond the time reasonably required” to complete the mission of the initial seizure. Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. 405, 407, 125 S.Ct. 834, 160 L.Ed.2d 842 (2005). Continued detention is constitutional, however, if an officer has reasonable suspicion that other criminal activity is afoot. United States v. Gallardo, 495 F.3d 982, 987 (8th Cir.2007). We consider the totality of the circumstances to determine, “based on commonsense judgments and inferences about human behavior,” Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119, 125, 120 S.Ct. 673, 145 L.Ed.2d 570 (2000), whether the trooper had “at least a minimal level of objective justification” for prolonging the seizure. Id. at 123–24, 120 S.Ct. 673.
The mission of the initial seizure was fulfilled when Hilburn returned to Stringer's car with Stringer's paperwork. Hilburn told Stringer that he personally was free to leave, but Stringer contends that the continued detention of his vehicle constituted a continued seizure of his person as well. Assuming for the sake of analysis that Stringer was seized after the completion of the routine traffic stop, we agree with the district...
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