F I L E D

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit

April 11, 2006

Elisabeth A. Shumaker

Clerk of Court

PUBLISH

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

TENTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellant, 

v.

BOBBY JUDE LOPEZ,

Defendant-Appellee. 

No. 05-1323

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the District of Colorado

(D.C. No. 04-CR-500-D)

James C. Murphy, Assistant United States Attorney (William J. Leone, United

States Attorney, Philip A. Brimmer, Assistant United States Attorney, with him on

the briefs), Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Lynn C. Hartfield, Research and Writing Specialist (Raymond P. Moore, Federal

Public Defender, John A. Chanin, Assistant Federal Public Defender, with her on

the brief), Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before HENRY, BALDOCK and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.

MURPHY, Circuit Judge.
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I. Introduction

Appellant Bobby Jude Lopez was charged in a two-count indictment with

possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841,

and possession of ammunition by a previously convicted felon, in violation of 18

U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Before trial, Lopez moved to suppress the evidence

recovered from a search of his person and his car. Lopez argued the evidence was

the fruit of an unlawful detention. The district court granted Lopez’s motion,

concluding Lopez was seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment when a police

officer approached him on the street, requested identification, and then held his

driver’s license while running a computer check. The government brought this

appeal, challenging the district court’s conclusion Lopez’s detention was

unconstitutional. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3731, we affirm

the district court’s order granting Lopez’s suppression motion. 

II. Background

 During a routine patrol on November 24, 2004, Denver police officer

Bryce Jackson observed two men standing in the middle of the street next to a car

parked with its engine running. The two men were Defendant Lopez and his

friend Randy Romero. Jackson testified the car was not obstructing traffic but he

made the decision to contact Lopez and Romero because it was very early in the

morning and the street borders a high-crime area. Before exiting his patrol car,
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Jackson checked the license plate of the car on his mobile data terminal. He

learned the car had not been reported stolen and it was registered to a woman in

Westminster, Colorado. 

Jackson stopped his car approximately twenty feet behind Lopez and

Romero. His spotlight was on, but not his overhead lights or siren. Jackson

asked the men if either of them owned the car and Lopez responded that the car

belonged to him. Jackson then approached the two men and asked them for

identification. Romero produced a Colorado identification card and Lopez

produced a Colorado driver’s license. The address on Lopez’s license matched

the address of the registered owner of the car. Nevertheless, Jackson took

Lopez’s license to his patrol car and ran a warrants check. Jackson testified he

did not ask Romero and Lopez to remain by the car. Romero, however, testified 

Jackson instructed them to stay by the car and the district court found that

Jackson “told the men to wait by the rear of the parked car.” The government

does not challenge this finding as clearly erroneous. 

The warrants check revealed Lopez had an outstanding warrant for a

misdemeanor charge of harboring a minor. Based on this information, Jackson

called for backup and a second officer arrived approximately five minutes later. 

Lopez was arrested and searched. During the search, Jackson found crack cocaine
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in Lopez’s pants pocket. When Jackson searched Lopez’s car, he discovered a .22

revolver under the front seat, some plastic sandwich bags, and an electronic scale. 

Lopez was charged in a two-count indictment with possession with intent to

distribute crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841, and possession of

ammunition by a previously convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §

922(g)(1). Shortly after the indictment was filed, Lopez moved to suppress the

evidence recovered at the time of his arrest. The district court held a suppression

hearing, at which both Jackson and Romero testified. After the hearing, the

district court issued a written order suppressing the drugs and other evidence,

concluding they were the fruits of an unlawful detention. The district court

accepted the government’s concession that Jackson did not have reasonable

suspicion of criminal activity when he first contacted Lopez. Next, relying on

case law from this court and other circuits, the court concluded Lopez was not

free to leave, and thus seized, once Jackson took possession of his driver’s licence

and retained it to run the computer check. The government has appealed the

district court’s ruling, arguing the encounter between Lopez and Jackson was

consensual and thus did not implicate the Fourth Amendment. 

III. Discussion

When reviewing the grant of a motion to suppress, this court examines the

evidence in the light most favorable to the defendant and accepts the district
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court’s factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous. United States v.

Nielson, 415 F.3d 1195, 1198 (10th Cir. 2005). The ultimate determination as to

whether an officer’s conduct violates the Fourth Amendment, however, is

reviewed de novo. United States v. Oliver, 363 F.3d 1061, 1065 (10th Cir. 2004). 

This court has identified three categories of police-citizen encounters: “(1)

consensual encounters which do not implicate the Fourth Amendment; (2)

investigative detentions which are Fourth Amendment seizures of limited scope

and duration and must be supported by a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity;

and (3) arrests, the most intrusive of Fourth Amendment seizures and reasonable

only if supported by probable cause.” United States v. Torres-Guevara, 147 F.3d

1261, 1264 (10th Cir. 1998) (quotation omitted). Lopez did not argue he was

under arrest at the time Jackson ran the computer check and discovered the

outstanding warrant. Consequently, we must only determine whether the

encounter between Lopez and Jackson was either consensual or an investigative

detention. Because the government has conceded Jackson did not have reasonable

articulable suspicion to support an investigative detention, we must affirm the

district court’s grant of Lopez’s motion to suppress if we conclude the encounter

was not consensual. 

 The Supreme Court has made clear that “a seizure does not occur simply

because a police officer approaches an individual and asks a few questions.” 
1The government’s brief is less than clear. To the extent the government

argues the encounter was consensual “in fact” even if Lopez was seized, that is

not an argument it made before the district court. Cf. United States v. Caro, 248

F.3d 1240, 1247 (10th Cir. 2001). Accordingly, we will not consider it for the

first time in this appeal. See Robbins v. Wilkie, 433 F.3d 755, 772 (10th Cir.

2006). At oral argument, the government also asserted the right to interrogate an

individual about his identity necessarily encompasses the right to run a computer

check on the individual. Cf. Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada,

542 U.S. 177, 185-86 (2004). Again, this argument was not presented to the

district court and we, therefore, do not address it. United States v. Almaraz, 306

F.3d 1031, 1040 (10th Cir. 2002) (holding arguments presented for the first time

during oral argument are waived).

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Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429, 434 (1991). To constitute a seizure, an

encounter between an officer and a citizen must involve the use of physical force

or show of authority on the part of the officer such that a reasonable person would

not feel free to decline the officer’s requests or terminate the encounter. Id. at

439. 

The government argues the encounter was consensual in its entirety because

Lopez voluntarily handed his license to Jackson, thereby implicitly consenting to

Jackson’s use of the license for a reasonable period of time, including the time

necessary to run a computer check. According to the government, it was

reasonable for Jackson to believe Lopez agreed to allow his license to be used for

a warrants check. This argument is inapposite because our analysis of the seizure

issue focuses on assessing the encounter from the perspective of a reasonable

person in Lopez’s position, not a reasonable person in Jackson’s position.1

 See
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INS v. Delgado, 466 U.S. 210, 215 (1984) (“[A]n initially consensual encounter

between a police officer and a citizen can be transformed into a seizure or

detention within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, if, in view of all the

circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed

that he was not free to leave.” (quotation omitted)). Further, it is settled that “the

nature of the police-citizen encounter can change–what may begin as a consensual

encounter may change to an investigative detention if the police conduct changes

and vice versa.” United States v. Zapata, 997 F.2d 751, 756 n.3 (10th Cir. 1993). 

In Florida v. Royer, two plainclothes officers approached Mr. Royer at an

airport and requested his driver’s license and airline ticket. 460 U.S. 491, 494

(1983) (plurality opinion). Royer handed the documents to the officers “[u]pon

request, but without oral consent.” Id. (plurality opinion). Without returning his

documents, the officers asked Royer to accompany them to a small room where

they questioned him further and, eventually, searched his luggage. Id. at 494-95

(plurality opinion). Although the Supreme Court noted it was “no doubt

permissible” for the officers to ask for and examine Royer’s ticket and license, it

quickly rejected the government’s argument that the encounter between Royer and

the officers was wholly consensual. Id. at 501 (plurality opinion). In reaching

the conclusion Royer was seized for purposes of the Fourth Amendment, the

Court examined events that occurred after Royer voluntarily relinquished his
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documents. The Court relied on information in the record demonstrating “the

officers identified themselves as narcotics agents, told Royer that he was

suspected of transporting narcotics, and asked him to accompany them to the

police room, while retaining his ticket and driver’s license and without indicating

in any way that he was free to depart.” Id. (plurality opinion). Consistent with

Delgado and Royer, even if we assume the encounter between Lopez and Jackson

began consensually, we must still determine whether at some point during that

encounter, Jackson’s conduct would have communicated to a reasonable person

that he was no longer free to decline Jackson’s requests or otherwise end the

encounter. See Delgado, 466 U.S. at 215; Royer, 460 U.S. at 501 (plurality

opinion). 

This court has enumerated a non-exhaustive list of circumstances to be

considered in determining whether a police-citizen encounter amounts to a

seizure: 

the location of the encounter, particularly whether the defendant is in

an open public place where he is within the view of persons other

than law enforcement officers; whether the officers touch or

physically restrain the defendant; whether the officers are uniformed

or in plain clothes; whether their weapons are displayed; the number,

demeanor and tone of voice of the officers; whether and for how long

the officers retain the defendant’s personal effects such as tickets or

identification; and whether or not they have specifically advised

defendant at any time that he had the right to terminate the encounter

or refuse consent.
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United States v. Spence, 397 F.3d 1280, 1283 (10th Cir. 2005) (quotation

omitted). Although no single factor is dispositive, the “strong presence of two or

three factors” may be sufficient to support the conclusion a seizure occurred. 

Fuerschbach v. Southwest Airlines Co., 439 F.3d 1197, 1203 (10th Cir. 2006)

(quotation omitted). There is no dispute that Jackson and Lopez were in an open,

public place when Jackson contacted Lopez. Additionally, Jackson was the only

officer on the scene until after the warrants check was run and nothing in the

record indicates Jackson displayed his weapon during the encounter. It is

uncontested, however, that Jackson was driving a marked patrol car and was

dressed in his uniform. The district court found that Jackson “shined his highpowered spotlight on Mr. Lopez and Mr. Romero as he approached them, spoke to

them through his loud-speaker,” and did not advise Lopez he had the right to

terminate the encounter. Further, the district court found that Jackson specifically

instructed Lopez to remain by the parked car and then walked to his police cruiser

with Lopez’s license. The government does not challenge any of these findings. 

The district court also analyzed “whether and for how long” Jackson retained

Lopez’s license. Spence, 397 F.3d at 1283. The court concluded Jackson retained

Lopez’s license for more than a brief examination. The government argues it was
2Because we conclude the continued retention of Lopez’s license was undue

nearly immediately after Lopez relinquished it to Jackson, it is unnecessary to

address the government’s argument that the district court clearly erred when it

found Jackson retained Lopez’s license for ten minutes. Accordingly, for

purposes of this appeal we will assume Jackson held the license for only five

minutes before discovering the existence of the outstanding warrant.

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reasonable for Jackson to hold Lopez’s license for five minutes2 and, thus,

Jackson did not retain Lopez’s license for an undue length of time. 

It is well-established that the Fourth Amendment is not implicated when an

officer approaches an individual in a public place and requests, but does not

demand, to see his identification. United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 555

(1980) (“The respondent was not seized simply by reason of the fact that the

agents approached her, asked her if she would show them her ticket and

identification, and posed to her a few questions.”). The Supreme Court has also

made clear, however, that an individual “may not be detained even momentarily

without reasonable, objective grounds for doing so.” Royer, 460 U.S. at 498. 

Here, Jackson testified he approached Lopez because it was late at night and

Lopez was standing in a high-crime area. At the time he asked for Lopez’s

identification, Jackson knew the address of the owner of the car next to which

Lopez was standing and knew the car had not been reported stolen. Within

seconds of reviewing Lopez’s license, Jackson was able to establish Lopez’s

identity and confirm that Lopez’s address matched the address on the car
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registration. After that point in time, the continued retention of Lopez’s license

was undue.

This court arrived at the same conclusion in United States v. Lambert, 46

F.3d 1064, 1069 n.3 (10th Cir. 1995). In Lambert, narcotics agents followed the

defendant through an airport to the parking lot. Id. at 1066. The agents asked

Mr. Lambert for his driver’s license and airline ticket, actions which this court

concluded did not implicate the Fourth Amendment. Id. at 1068. We held,

however, that the encounter between Mr. Lambert and the agents “became an

investigative detention once the agents received Mr. Lambert’s driver’s license

and did not return it to him.” Id. The government attempts to distinguish

Lambert on the basis that the agents retained Mr. Lambert’s license for

approximately thirty minutes while, here, Jackson retained Lopez’s license for

only five minutes. The government’s argument falls short because our conclusion

in Lambert was not compelled by the fact that the agents held Mr. Lambert’s

license for thirty minutes. Instead, we held that the retention of Mr. Lambert’s

license became undue nearly immediately after the officers took possession of it. 

Id. at 1069 n.3 (stating “the retention of Mr. Lambert’s license was unjustified

after the agents were able to verify his identity with it” and further stating that

Mr. Lambert’s identity was established “almost immediately after the agents

received his license”).
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Having considered the relevant factors and the district court’s uncontested

findings of fact, we conclude the encounter between Lopez and Jackson was not

consensual at the time of the warrants check and, thus, Lopez was seized. 

Jackson, a uniformed officer in a marked police cruiser, not only held Lopez’s

license for longer than necessary to confirm Lopez’s identification, he

specifically instructed Lopez to remain by his vehicle while he ran the warrants

check and then took Lopez’s license back to his patrol car, thereby rendering

Lopez unable to leave. Under the totality of the circumstances, no reasonable

person in Lopez’s position would have felt free to terminate the encounter with

Jackson. Because the government concedes Jackson did not have probable cause

or reasonable articulable suspicion to detain Lopez until the warrants check was

completed, we conclude the seizure violated the Fourth Amendment.

IV. Conclusion

The order of the district court granting Lopez’s motion to suppress is

affirmed.