Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca5-16-30655/USCOURTS-ca5-16-30655-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Lloyd E. Barmore
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 16-30655

Summary Calendar

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee

v.

LLOYD E. BARMORE,

Defendant-Appellant

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Western District of Louisiana

USDC No. 5:14-CR-166-1

Before DAVIS, BENAVIDES, and OWEN, Circuit Judges. 

PER CURIAM:*

Lloyd E. Barmore pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine 

with intent to distribute and was sentenced to 240 months of imprisonment 

and 5 years of supervised release. He reserved the right to appeal the district 

court’s denial of his motion to suppress. In the context of the denial of a 

suppression motion, we review the district court’s factual findings for clear 

 

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not 

be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH 

CIR. R. 47.5.4.

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

February 20, 2017

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

 Case: 16-30655 Document: 00513881526 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/20/2017
No. 16-30655

2

error and its legal conclusions de novo. United States v. Lopez-Moreno, 420 

F.3d 420, 429 (5th Cir. 2005).

Barmore argues that the facts and circumstances surrounding his arrest 

did not justify a warrantless search of his truck because they did not give rise 

to probable cause to believe that the truck contained contraband. “It is well

settled that probable cause to search an automobile exists when trustworthy 

facts and circumstances within the officer’s personal knowledge would cause a 

reasonably prudent man to believe that the vehicle contains contraband.” 

United States v. Edwards, 577 F.2d 883, 895 (5th Cir. 1978) (en banc). 

Barmore’s attempt to conceal the drug pipe would have allowed a reasonably 

prudent man to believe that there were other items of contraband related to 

illegal drug activity in the truck. Viewing the evidence in the light most 

favorable to the Government and considering the totality of the circumstances, 

we conclude that there was probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of 

the vehicle. See United States v. Zavala, 541 F.3d 562, 574 (5th Cir. 2008).

Because probable cause existed to search Barmore’s vehicle, we need not 

address the validity of the inventory search of the vehicle. 

AFFIRMED.

 Case: 16-30655 Document: 00513881526 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/20/2017