Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-06-03849/USCOURTS-ca8-06-03849-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
George W. Robinson
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

 The Honorable Laurie Smith Camp, United States District Judge for the

District of Nebraska.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 06-3849

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, * Appeal from the United States

* District Court for the District

v. * of Nebraska.

*

George W. Robinson, * [UNPUBLISHED]

*

Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: March 13, 2007

Filed: March 16, 2007 

___________

Before MELLOY, SMITH, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

George Warren Robinson, Jr., pled guilty to possession of crack cocaine with

intent to distribute, after the district court1

 denied his motion to suppress. 21 U.S.C.

§§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). The plea was conditional; Robinson appeals the denial of his

motion. This court affirms.

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 I.

On the evening of October 29, 2005, Omaha police officers Thomas Queen and

Richard Griffin were patrolling a high-crime area. They stopped a car driven by

Robinson, because it had no front license plate. See NEB. REV. STAT. § 60-3, 100.

Approaching the vehicle, Officer Queen noticed the handle of a knife under some

papers on the center console, within Robinson's easy reach. Officer Queen alerted

Officer Griffin to the knife, and asked Robinson for his identification and to exit the

vehicle.

Robinson did not follow the orders. Instead, exiting the vehicle, he reached for

a canvas bag from the front passenger seat. Fearing it contained another weapon,

Officer Griffin took Robinson by his other arm and ordered him to drop it. Robinson

did not release the bag. Officer Griffin took it from him. Once out of the car,

Robinson went for the bag again. Officer Griffin handcuffed Robinson. Officer

Queen searched the bag. Inside it was Robinson's identification, along with three clear

vials, containing 12.1 grams of crack cocaine.

II.

The Fourth Amendment protects "the right of the people to be secure in their

persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures". It

is undisputed that the initial traffic stop was legal. Robinson argues, however, that

there was no probable cause to search his car, and that the district court erroneously

applied the law. On a denial of a motion to suppress, this court reviews the district

court's factual findings for clear error and its constitutional conclusions de novo. See

United States v. Terry, 400 F.3d 575, 579 (8th Cir. 2005).

Robinson had a knife on the car's center console. "[A] law enforcement officer

may conduct a protective search for weapons if he or she has merely an articulable

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suspicion a suspect is armed and dangerous." United States v. Rowland, 341 F.3d 774,

783 (8th Cir. 2003) (citing Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 24 (1968)). The Terry rule

applies to auto searches during routine traffic stops. Michigan v. Long, 463 U.S.

1032, 1051 (1983) ("the balancing required by Terry clearly weighs in favor of

allowing the police to conduct an area search of the passenger compartment to

uncover weapons, as long as they possess an articulable and objectively reasonable

belief that the suspect is potentially dangerous."). Officers Queen and Griffin had

such a belief about Robinson.

It is "well settled a Terry search of a vehicle's interior is permissible even after

the un-arrested occupants have been removed from the vehicle." Rowland, 341 F.3d

at 783. Officer safety is the focus of Terry and Long: "Just as a Terry suspect on the

street may, despite being under the brief control of a police officer, reach into his

clothing and retrieve a weapon, so might a Terry suspect in Long's position break

away from police control and retrieve a weapon from his automobile." Long, 463 U.S.

at 1051. It is no answer for Robinson to argue that once handcuffed, he posed no

threat to the officers: "Also, if the suspect is not placed under arrest, he will be

permitted to reenter his automobile, and he will then have access to any weapons

inside." Id. at 1052.

Robinson was driving in a high-crime neighborhood with a partly-concealed

knife close at hand. During an otherwise-routine traffic stop, he repeatedly disobeyed

orders from the police. Officers Queen and Griffin had an articulable and objectively

reasonable belief that Robinson had another weapon in the bag. Their protective

search was constitutional. The district court correctly denied Robinson's suppression

motion.

III.

The judgment of the district court is affirmed.

______________________________

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