United States v. Yang, No. CR01-3060-MWB (N.D. Iowa 6/19/2002)
| Decision Date | 19 June 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CR01-3060-MWB.,CR01-3060-MWB. |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. KOU YANG, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa |
This matter is before the court on the motion (Doc. No. 18) of the defendant Kou Yang to suppress evidence. Yang was indicted on October 23, 2001, on one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. (Doc. No. 1) Yang filed his motion and a supporting brief (Doc. No. 19) on May 14, 2002. The plaintiff (the "Government") filed a resistance and supporting brief (Doc. Nos. 21 & 22) on May 21, 2002. Pursuant to the trial scheduling order entered April 16, 2002 (Doc. No. 12), motions to suppress in this case were assigned to the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge for the filing of a report and recommended disposition in accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B). Accordingly, the court held a hearing on the motion on May 30, 2002, at which Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Fletcher appeared for the Government, and Yang appeared in person with his attorney, Assistant Federal Defender Priscilla Forsyth.
The Government offered the testimony of Iowa State Patrol Troopers Mark Anderson and David George Baker, and Iowa Falls Police Officer Wade Lee Harken. At the court's request, the parties prepared a stipulated transcript of a videotape of the traffic stop at issue in Yang's motion. (See Doc. No. 23) The videotape, an audiotape made from the videotape, and the stipulated transcript were admitted into evidence at the hearing as Government Exhibits 1A, 1B, and 1C, respectively. Also admitted into evidence were Government Exhibit 2, a single sheet containing copies of both a Consent to Search form, and a warning ticket issued to Yang for improper window tinting; Government Exhibit 3, a receipt issued to Yang from United Auto Glass in San Diego California, dated July 12, 2001; and Government Exhibit 4, a receipt issued to Yang from Firestone Tire & Service in El Paso, Texas, dated July 11, 2001. Yang submitted a supplemental brief on June 5, 2002 (Doc. No. 25).
The court has reviewed the parties' briefs and carefully considered the evidence, and now considers the motion ready for decision.
On July 17, 2001, at about 11:30 a.m., Trooper Mark Anderson was on stationary patrol at about the 157 mile marker on northbound I-35. Trooper Anderson was parked behind a bridge abutment using radar to check vehicles for speeding violations. He observed a two-door Honda Civic traveling northbound on I-35, going 58 miles per hour in a 65 mile per hour speed zone. As the vehicle passed him, Trooper Anderson noticed the driver's side window was totally dark; he could not even see a silhouette of the driver through the window, nor could he tell how many occupants were in the vehicle. The trooper pulled out, followed, and then stopped the vehicle, which he noted had Texas license plates. He approached the passenger-side front window, which the driver rolled down. The trooper then could tell there was one male occupant in the vehicle.
The driver produced a Minnesota driver's license showing his name as Kou Yang. While Yang was getting his driver's license out, Trooper Anderson noticed that in the front seat of the car were numerous food items (a partial loaf of bread, chips, lunch meat, grapes, orange juice containers), a cell phone, and an atlas. He saw a roll of toilet paper on the floor of the back seat. He also noticed there was only a single key on the key ring in the ignition.
After Yang produced his driver's license, Trooper Anderson asked for the vehicle registration and insurance verification. Yang volunteered that he had gone to Texas to purchase the vehicle, and he handed the trooper a certificate of title showing a 1994 Honda Civic registered to Thomas Ryan of Plano, Texas. The title had been signed over to Yang on the back, with a handwritten odometer reading of 187,000 miles. All the handwriting appeared to be the same except where Yang's name had been added to the title.
Trooper Anderson explained to Yang that he had been stopped because of the heavily tinted windows. He asked Yang to roll up the passenger's window a bit, and the trooper tested the level of window tint with a tint meter. He told Yang that in Iowa, a window must let in at least 70% of the light. The window on the Honda let in 8%.
Trooper Anderson asked Yang to come back and sit in the patrol car while the trooper completed his paperwork on the stop. While they were waiting for a check of Yang's driver's license and the trooper was writing up a warning ticket, the trooper and Yang engaged in conversation about where Yang had been and his purchase of the car. Yang volunteered that his wife had seen the car on the Internet. Trooper Anderson asked Yang some questions about how he bought the car over the Internet, how much he paid for it, and the like. Responding to the trooper's questions, Yang said he had flown to Texas from Minneapolis, Minnesota, on July 10th or 11th, but then he corrected himself and said he left Minneapolis on the 11th, and then left Dallas on the 12th.
Still responding to questions, Yang said he paid $5,000 for the car. Yang sent the car's owner a money order for half of the purchase price, and then he flew down and met the owner at the Dallas airport to complete the transaction and take possession of the car. When Trooper Anderson mentioned that five days seemed a very long time to drive from Dallas to Iowa, Yang said he would drive a couple hundred miles, and then stop to rest so he would not get in an accident. He said he had stayed at small motels along the way, and had slept in a rest area in Missouri on the morning of July 12th.
Yang told the trooper that he is co-partner in a temporary agency in Minnesota, and he helps find people jobs. He said he needed to get home, but explained he was taking his time "[be]cause I can't drive that fast." Yang said he lives on the north side of Minneapolis, and described the area as not particularly nice, stating, "[I]f I have money I wouldn't want to live there." Trooper Anderson asked if there was a lot of crime in the area, and Yang said no, but a lot of black people live there.1
At this point, the trooper issued a warning to Yang for the window tint. In the course of asking Yang to sign the warning, the trooper asked about the car's mileage. Yang said the car actually had more than 187,000 miles, but when he bid on the car over the Internet, it was advertised as having 180,000 miles. Yang then volunteered that he had made some repairs to the car after the purchase, including fixing a cracked windshield and repairing either a tire or a rim on the back wheel "somewhere in Texas."2 Trooper Anderson continued to ask follow-up questions about Yang's trip to Texas, asking which airline he had taken (Delta), and what kind of deal he had gotten on the airline ticket. (Yang replied the ticket cost "$198 or something").
Trooper Anderson handed Yang the warning ticket, and Yang started to leave the patrol car. Yang said, "Thank you." Trooper Anderson said, "You bet," and then asked Yang if there would be any reason why somebody would say Yang was "hauling narcotics today." Yang replied, "No reason at all," and added that he smokes cigarettes but does not use drugs. Trooper Anderson asked if Yang had any type of drugs in the car, specifically mentioning cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine. Yang said he had seen people use drugs before, but he had no drugs with him. At this point, Yang left the patrol car and walked toward his car. Trooper Anderson was still in the patrol car. The trooper testified that at this point in the traffic stop, he was suspicious of Yang for the following reasons:
1. He had never run into anyone before who had bought a car over the Internet and flown somewhere to pick it up. In his experience, people involved in criminal activity sometimes fly to other locations to pick up vehicles.
2. Yang was coming from Texas, which is a well-known source state for narcotics. People often pick up drugs in Texas and then transport them elsewhere.
3. Yang said he was in a hurry to get home, yet it had already taken him five days to drive less than 900 miles from Dallas to Iowa.
4. Yang had changed his story regarding his departure dates from Minneapolis and Dallas. It sounded like he was trying to change his time-line.
5. Yang had quite a bit of food and a roll of toilet paper in his car. The trooper explained that persons transporting narcotics frequently carry food and other items that will allow them to avoid stopping along the way. They do not like to stop in public places, and do not like to leave their vehicles unattended at any time, as would be required to go to an indoor restroom.
6. Yang had a cell phone and atlas in his front seat.
7. Yang had paid $2,500 up front as a down payment, without ever seeing the car, and to someone he did not know.
8. The car's license plates were not registered to Yang. People involved in criminal activity often use a "third party car" in an attempt to show they have no knowledge of what is in the vehicle.
9. Yang said he was in a hurry to get home, yet he was only driving 58 mph in a 65 mph zone.
10. The mileage written on the car's title was incorrect.
11. Yang had paid for repairs to the car right after buying it. People transporting narcotics do not want to get stopped because of minor problems with their vehicles.
12. Yang gave an uncommon answer when the trooper asked about crime in his neighborhood.3
13. Yang gave a very calm answer when the trooper asked if there was any reason someone would say Yang was hauling narcotics. The trooper said he usually gets a shocked response to that question from innocent people. He uses the question to see if he gets a suspicious answer.4
14. Yang gave a general ...
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