United States v. Jones
United States v. Jones
Opinion of the Court
This matter is before the Court on the Motion to Suppress
I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
The Defendant was indicted on October 29, 2015 for one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The Defendant has filed a m.otion to suppress all evidence resulting from his traffic stop and arrest on June 2, 2015. .
The Government claims that, on June 2, 2015, at around 11:30 pm, Officer Ronald Norman, who was on patrol with the Baton Rouge Police Department (“BRPD”), spotted the Defendant’s vehicle, a silver Nissan Altima, which had just passed him, allegedly without a visible permanent rear license plate or temporary registration tag. Although the initial police report prepared by Officer Norman stated that he could not see a visible license plate, Officer Norman testified at the hearing that he saw a piece of paper affixed to the left rear windshield and that he believed this paper to be a temporary license plate tag. However, because Officer Norman could not discern the. dates of issue and expiration on the temporary tag, he initiated a traffic stop.
Officer Norman radioed Sergeant Troy Lawrence and advised that he was going to stop Defendant’s vehicle. Officer Norman initiated the traffic stop, and Defendant pulled over. Officer Norman pulled directly behind the car, and Sgt. Lawrence parked behind Norman. The only passenger in the Defendant’s vehicle was his young daughter, who was in the back seat. Despite the presence of streetlights, the officers claim that it was very dark.
Once the officers exited their vehicles, Officer Norman advised Sgt. Lawrence why he initiated the stop. As the officers approached the vehicle, they observed a valid temporary tag in the left corner of the rear windshield. However, the officers did not believe it was appropriate to return to their cars without offering the Defendant an explanation for the stop. Thus, the Government contends Norman was going to advise the Defendant that he stopped him because the temporary tag was difficult to see.
Nevertheless, when Officer Norman approached the vehicle, he observed an open can of Four Loko malt liquor in the cup holder of the center console. After observing the open container of alcohol and concluding that the Defendant might have committed a crime, he asked the Defendant if he had any weapons in the car. Defendant responded in the negative. Officer Norman instructed the Defendant to exit the vehicle to speak to him outside of his daughter’s hearing. Defendant exited the car and walked with Officer Norman to
Meanwhile, Sgt. Lawrence walked around the vehicle and looked inside it with his flashlight. The Government maintains that, while never actually placing any portion of his body inside the vehicle, Sgt. Lawrence observed the black handle of a pistol or its extended magazine sticking out from underneath the driver’s seat. At this point, Sgt. Lawrence instructed Officer Norman to handcuff the Defendant. Officer Norman asked Defendant if he was a convicted felon, to which the Defendant responded affirmatively. Officer Norman ran Defendant’s criminal history and confirmed his‘status, then read the Defendant his Miranda rights. Officers seized the pistol, a'Glock model 22 Gen 4, .40 caliber semi-automatic, bearing serial number WDM062, along with its 30-round magazine loaded with 21 rounds of ammunition, and the Defendant was taken to jail.
The next morning, Defendant placed two calls from the jail’s central area. Defendant allegedly stated in the first call that he really “f— ed up this time” and got charged with illegally carrying another gun. In the second call, Defendant allegedly stated that he got caught with a gun and “couldn’t run” because he couldn’t leave his daughter.
On November 4, 2015, BRPD Officer Michael Blondeau, who had been assigned to investigate the theft of the stolen gun found, in Defendant’s car, interviewed the Defendant in EBR Parish prison. After he was given his Miranda rights, the Defendant allegedly admitted he bought the gun for $275 because, although he knew it was stolen, he liked the gun and considered it a “good deal.”
II. PARTIES’ ARGUMENTS
The Defendant moves to suppress all evidence obtained from this traffic stop. Defendant contends that the evidence of the firearm found in his car should be suppressed because the officers did not have reasonable suspicion to initiate the traffic stop, and because the officers unconstitutionally prolonged the traffic stop after determining the Defendant’s car had a valid temporary registration tag. Défen-dant agrees that La. R.S. 47:521 requires temporary license plates to be visibly displayed in-the rear window of a vehicle and maintained in a condition that is clearly legible and free from foreign materials. However, Defendant also contends that Officer Norman and Sgt. Lawrence, who conducted the traffic stop on the date in question, have since admitted that they could see the valid temporary license plate in Defendant’s rear window after they began approaching his vehicle to conduct the traffic stop. Defendant contends that, once the tag was seen by the officers, there was no need to continue with the traffic stop.
The Government opposes Defendant’s motioh on several grounds. First, in light of the conditions at the time of the stop, the Government contends that it was objectively reasonable, even if a mistake, for Officer Norman to stop the Defendant because he could not decipher whether the paper he observed on the rear window of Defendant’s vehicle was a temporary registration tag in compliance with Louisiana law. In the alternative, the Government contends that the stop was constitutional because Officer Norman could not decipher the numbers on the temp tag due to the angle of the rear window to which it was affixed and the darkness of night. Next, the Government claims that the stop was lawfully prolonged when Officer Norman observed an open can of alcohol in the Defendant’s console. The Government contends that the officers were at all times in good faith in conducting this stop and, upon realizing his mistake, Officer Norman’s decision to advise the Defendant why he initiated the stop was in the scope of the stop. Further, the open container
III. LAW & ANALYSIS
A. Motion to Suppress
Generally, “[t]he proponent of a motion to suppress has the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the evidence obtained was in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
B. Terry Traffic Stops
The legality of traffic stops are analyzed for Fourth Amendment purposes under the standard articulated in Terry v. Ohio.
Considering the first prong of the Terry analysis, the Fifth Circuit has 'held that, “for a traffic stop to be justified at its inception, an officer must have an objectively reasonable suspicion’that some sort of illegal activity, such as a traffic violation, occurred, or is about to occur, before stopping the vehicle.”
In evaluating the totality of the circumstances, a court may not consider the relevant factors in isolation from each other.
In a recent opinion, the Fifth Circuit discussed the' issue of whether a traffic stop is justified at its inception.
The government bears the burden of proving that the, stop was constitutional when, as here, the stop and. search were conducted without a warrant. Thus, the suppression hearing provided the government the opportunity and obligation to present evidence establishing the validity of the traffic stop.20
■ In this case, the Defendant claims that the officers did not have reasonable suspicion necessary to make a traffic stop at the outset of the encounter, nor did they have reasonable suspicion to extend the stop once the officers determined that the Defendant had a valid temporary tag displayed in his rear window.
The Government contends that, considering the time of night and the conditions surrounding the stop, Officer Norman had reasonable suspicion to believe the Defendant’s vehicle lacked a temporary registration tag that was clearly visible in compliance with Louisiana law. Considering the requirement of La. R.S. 47:521 that a temporary registration tag “shall at all times be in a clearly visible place and position,” the Government contends the stop was justified at its inception because Officer Norman had reasonable suspicion to believe the Defendant’s tag was not in compliance with Louisiana law.
The Government relies on United States v. Fontenot,
Because the transportation code requires that temporary tags be displayed in accordance with the rules of the administrative code, the officers’ stop of Fontenot’s vehicle was proper in light of the fact that the paper registration tag in the rear window was not legible from the rear of the vehicle as required by Texas law. The distance at which the tag was legible is irrelevant as both officers testified that they could not read the tag until after the stop.24
In the present case, the Government contends that Officer Norman had reasonable suspicion to believe the Defendant’s
In the alternative, the Government also contends that Officer Norman may have made an objectively reasonable mistake in believing that Defendant’s vehicle lacked a clearly visible temporary tag. In Heien v. North Carolina,
In United States v. Montes-Hernandez
Pictures of the license plate were admitted into evidence. The Texas statute at issue prohibits “a coating, covering, protective material, or other apparatus that ... alters or obscures one-half or more of the name of the state in which the vehicle is registered.”
On appeal, the Fifth Circuit discussed the difference between an officer’s mistake of law and a mistake of fact. Affirming the district court, the Fifth Circuit stated as follows:
Nonetheless, Montes maintains that stopping his vehicle could not have been reasonable because the officer’s observations rendered it impossible for the officer to tell whether Montes had in fact violated the law. He maintains that if the officer could not tell with certainty that the state name was at least one-half obscured, any attempt to stop the purported offender would be unreasonable. Montes’s argument falls by its own weight. To have an objectively reasonable suspicion, an officer does not have to determine that a suspect has in fact violated the law. Here, the district court*722 found that it was a very close call regarding whether the frame, obscured one-half of the state’s name. Under these circumstances, we find that the arresting officer had an objectively reasonable suspicion that a traffic violation had occurred.
In the alternative, as the district court also found, the officer’s alleged mistake of fact regarding whether the frame obscured one-half of the issuing state’s name provided the objective basis for reasonable suspicion.32
Similarly, in United States v. Berragan-Espino,
Those photographs, especially D-2, do not depict what Trooper Beck saw under the circumstances at the time he saw it. It must be remembered that Trooper Beck first noticed the- temporary plate at night while traveling 60-70 mph on I-20. It was not until Defendant’s and Trooper Beck’s vehicles were safely stopped on the side of the interstate that Trooper Beck could examine the plate more closely and determine that the plate was, in fact, a valid temporary license plate issued by the state of Georgia. The design of the plate is very unusual. Although a police officer for 13 years, Trooper Beck had never seen this type of temporary license plate before. His initial belief that the plate was not a valid government-issued plate was, under the circumstances, objectively-reasonable.36
The court also noted the Louisiana statute
The case before the Court is readily distinguishable from the cases discussed above. There has been no testimony or evidence presented in this case showing that the temporary tag was in any way altered-or obscured by-any foreign or vehicular substance or item. Moreover, for the reasons set forth below, the Court
C. Credibility of Witnesses
The judge’s role at a suppression hearing is to determine the credibility of witnesses and find the facts.
After a few seconds, the Defendant drove forward, and Officer Norman testified that, when he observed the Defendant’s vehicle pass him, he noticed that it did not have a hard license plate but had what appeared to be a temporary tag in the back window.
What is particularly troubling to the Court is that Officer Norman’s testimony at the hearing directly conflicts with his initial report of this incident, written “a day or two” after the Defendant’s June 2, 2015 arrest.
Sgt. Lawrence, who has been employed by the Baton Rouge Police Department for nearly twenty years,
It is clear to the Court that Officer Norman was motivated to stop the Defendant based on the Defendant’s alleged “suspicious” manner of evading the officer’s sight while stopped at the red light. The Court acknowledges that, “an officer’s subjective motivations are irrelevant in determining whether his conduct violated the Fourth Amendment.”
“A court may not arrive at reasonable suspicion ‘simply by piling hunch upon hunch.’ ”
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, the Defendant’s Motion to Suppress
IT IS SO ORDERED.
. Rec. Doc. No. 24.
. Rec. Doc. Nos. 28 & 31.
. See Rec. D.oc. Nos. 39 & 40.
.The factual background was derived from the Patties' briefs and testimony presented at the hearing.
. United States v. Kelley, 981 F.2d 1464, 1467 (5th Cir. 1993) (quoting United States v. Smith, 978 F.2d 171, 176 (5th Cir. 1992)).
. United States v. Valenzuela, 716 F.Supp.2d 494, 500 (S.D.Tex. 2007) (citing United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164, 178 n. 14, 94 S.Ct. 988, 39 L.Ed.2d 242 (1974)).
. 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968).
. United States v. Valadez, 267 F.3d 395, 398 (5th Cir. 2001) (citing Terry, 392 U.S. at 19-20, 88 S.Ct. 1868).
. Id. (quoting Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 500, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983).
. Id.
. Id. (quoting United States v. Shabazz, 993 F.2d 431, 436 (5th Cir. 1993)).
. U.S. v. Lopez-Moreno, 420 F.3d 420, 430 (5th Cir. 2005).
. United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 273, 122 S.Ct. 744, 151 L.Ed.2d 740 (2002).
. Lopez-Moreno, at 430.
. Arvizu, 534 U.S. at 274, 122 S.Ct. 744.
. Terry, 392 U.S. at 27, 88 S.Ct. 1868.
. Arvizu, 534 U.S. at 274, 122 S.Ct. 744.
. U.S. v. Raney, 633 F.3d 385 (5th Cir. 2011).
. Id., at 390.
. Raney, 633 F.3d at 392.
. No. 07-40493, 284 Fed.Appx. 193 (5th Cir. 2008).
. Id. at *1.
. Id.
. Id.
. — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 530, 539, 190 L.Ed.2d 475 (2014).
. Id.
. No. 08-51261, 350 Fed.Appx. 862 (5th Cir. 2009).
. Id. at 864.
. Id.
. Id. at 863, quoting Tex. Transp. Code § 502.409(a)(7)(B) (Supp. 2008).
. Id. at 864 (emphasis in original).
. Id. at 867-68 (citations omitted).
. No. 08-00121, 2008 WL 4661627 (W.D.La. Oct. 17, 2008).
. Id. at *4.
. Id.
. Id.
. Id. citing La. R.S. 47:521.
. Id. citing United States v. Santiago, 310 F.3d 336, 341 (5th Cir. 2002)(arguable violation .of traffic law justified initial stop, even if it was unlikely defendant could have been convicted of that violation). See also United States v. Fontenot, 284 Fed.Appx. 193, 2008 WL 2660777 (5th Cir. 2008)(initial stop was justified because officers could not read temporary license plate-which was lying on the rear dashboard-until after the traffic stop; tag was not legible from the rear of the vehicle as required by Texas law); United States v. Daniels, 265 Fed.Appx. 219, 221-222 (5th Cir. Feb. 7, 2008) (initial stop was justified because obscured paper registration tag in rear window was not visible as required by Texas law).
. See United States v. Jones, No. L12-10, 2012 WL 1309837, at *7 (S.D.Tex. Apr.16, 2012).
. Norman v. Stephens, No. H-13-0624, 2013 WL 6498979, at *21 (S.D.Tex. Dec.11, 2013).
. Transcript of Hearing, Rec. Doc. No. 36, p. 47, line 18.
. Id. at p. 15, lines 8-9,
. Id. at p. 17, lines 10-12.
. Id. at p. 17, lines 16-17.
. Id. at p. 48, lines 24-25 through p. 49, line 1.
. Id. at pp. 18-21.
. Id. at p. 21,
BY THE COURT: When you first saw the piece of paper in the back window, did you believe it to be a temporary tag?
CORPORAL NORMAN: Yes, Ma'am. I believed it to be a temporary tag. But like I said before, I .couldn’t make out the numbers, so I wanted to make sure that it was a valid temporary tag.
THE COURT: But from all outward appearances, it looked like a temporary tag, you just couldn’t make out the numbers on it?
CORPORAL NORMAN: Yes, Ma'am. Where it was placed I knew that's where normally a temporary tag would be placed.
THE COURT: But I'm talking about like from coloring or from size; was there anything that made you believe, well, that’s not even a temporary lag at all?
CORPORAL NORMAN: No, Ma’am. There’s nothing that made me think that it wasn’t a temporary tag.
. Id. at p. 50, line 16.
. Id. at p. 52.
. Id at pp. 50-52
. Id. at p. 54, lines 6-7.
. Id., lines 14-15.
. Id. at p. 55, lines 19-21.
. Id. at p. 61, lines 11-12.
. Id. at p. 62, lines 11-17.
. See id. at pp. 66-74.
. Id. at p. 81.
. Id. at p. 98, line 6.
. Id., line 22.
. Id. at p. 98, lines 24-25 through p. 99, line 1.
. United States v. Williams, No. 06-50140-01, 2007 WL 184996 at *3 (W.D.La. Jan. 22, 2007)(citing Scott v. United States, 436 U.S. 128, 138, 98 S.Ct. 1717, 56 L.Ed.2d 168 (1978); Devenpeck v. Alford, 543 U.S. 146, 153, 125 S.Ct. 588, 160 L.Ed.2d 537 (2004). See also Goodwin v. Johnson, 132 F.3d 162, 173 (5th Cir. 1997) (‘‘So long as a traffic law
. At the suppression hearing, the defendant introduced a copy of the temporary tag that was affixed to the rear window of the Nissan Altima which the defendant was driving at the time of the stop. Exhibit 501; Rec. Doc. 32
. Rec. Doc. No. 40, p. 8.
. The Government’s alternative argument that Officer Norman was justified in making the stop because he had reasonable suspicion that the city traffic law, which requires a license plate be current and properly displayed, (Baton Rouge Code of Ordinances § 11:252), had been violated, is likewise without merit. Based on the testimony at trial, the angle at which the tag was affixed to the rear bumper did not prevent Norman from recognizing it as a temporary tag. ;
. United States v. Ross, 400 F.Supp.2d 939, 947 (W.D.Tex. 2005)(quoting United States v. Valenzuela, 365 F.3d 892, 897 (10th Cir. 2004)).
. Rec. Doc. No. 24.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Dwight JONES
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- 2 cases
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- Published