[ DO NOT PUBLISH] 

## In the 

# United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________ No. 20

- 14698
Non

- Argument Calendar

____________________
MICHAEL GORDON WATSON,
Petitioner

- Appellant,

versus UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Respondent

- Appellee.

____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No s . 6:19

- cv

- 01112

- WWB

- DCI , 6:17

- cr

- 00283

- RBD

- DCI

- 1 USCA11 Case: 20-14698 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 01/17/2023 Page: 1 of 72 Opinion of the Court 20

- 14698

____________________ Before J ILL P RYOR , B RANCH , and L UCK , Circuit Judges.

P ER C URIAM : Michael Watson appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. section 2255 motion which had collaterally attacked his criminal sentence

. Watson claimed that his trial counsel was ineffective because counsel didn’t rais e a viable suppression issue related to the traffic stop that led to Watson’s arrest. We affirm

. I. Watson pleaded guilty to possess ing meth and marijuana with the intent to distribute them and possessing a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime . He now contends his plea was involuntary and unknowing because counsel failed to raise with him or the district court that evi dence from his traffic stopmay have been seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Watson asserts there was no reasonable suspicion drugs were in his car
, and it was therefore unconstitutional for law enforcement to prolong his traffic stop for drivin g with a suspended license to wai t for a canine unit. The district court rejected these arguments and denied the section 2255 motion without holding a hearing

. It found Watson’s ineffective assistance claim was barred by his guilty plea, and , even if it hadn’t been barred , it failed on the merits. USCA11 Case: 20-14698 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 01/17/2023 Page: 2 of 720

- 14698 Opinion of the Court 3

II. When reviewing a district court’s order de n ying a section 225 5 motion , w e review legal conclusions de novo and factual findings for clear error. Spencer v. United States , 773 F.3d 1132, 1137 (11th Cir. 20 14) (en banc)

. Whether counsel was ineffective presents a mixed question of fact and law that is reviewed de novo. Payne v. United States, 566 F.3d 1276, 1277 (11th Cir. 2009).
III. We agree with the district court that Watson’s motion fails

.

“ A defendant who enters a plea of guilty waives all nonjurisdictional challenges to the constitutionality of the conviction, and only an attack on the voluntary and knowing nature of the plea can be sustained. ” Wilson v. United States , 962 F.2d 996, 997 (11t h Cir. 1992)

. But a d efendant doesn’t voluntarily and knowingly plead guilty when his counsel rendered ineffective assistance. See Hill v. Lockhart , 474 U.S. 52, 56

– 60 (1985)

. “[W] here a petitioner faultshis lawyer for failing to pursue a motion to suppress prior to entering a plea, both the deficient performance and prejudice prongs of Strickland turn on the viability of the motion to suppress. ” Arvelo v. Sec ’ y, Fla. Dep ’t of Cor r.

, 788 F.3d 1345, 1348 (11th Cir. 2015) ; see also Kimmelman v. Morrison , 477 U.S. 365, 375 (1986) ( “W here defense counsel ’ s failure to litigate a Fourth Amendment claimcompetently is the principal allegation of ineffectiveness, the defendant must

. . . p rove that his Fourth Amendment claim is meritorious

. . . . ” ). USCA11 Case: 20-14698 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 01/17/2023 Page: 3 of 74 Opinion of the Court 20

- 14698

Th e district court correctly concluded Watson’s Fourth Amendment clai m was not viable. Even accepting Watson’s factual description of the incident as true, the officer had reasonable suspicion there were drugs in the car
, justifying a prolong ed stop. First, after approaching Watson’s vehicle, the officer confirmed he was driving with a suspended license. See United States v. Pruitt
, 174 F.3d 1215 , 1220 (11th Cir. 1999 ) (“A variety of factors may contribute to the formation of an objectively reasonable suspicion of illegal activity. . .

. [A]mong those are driving with a suspended license.” ( quotation omitted ) )

. Second , the officer noticed Watson appeared nervous

. See Illinois v. Wardlow , 528 U.S. 119, 12 4 (2000) (“[N] ervous, evasive behavior is a pertinent factor in determining reasonable suspicion .”)

. Third , w hen asked if had past arrests
, 1 Watson admitted he had previously been arrested for trafficking methamphetam ine

. See United States v. Bishop , 940 F.3d 1242
, 12 49 n.4 (11th Cir. 2019) ( although it carries less weight
, “ w hen viewed in totality with the other relevant factors, knowledge of a defendant’s criminal history ” may contribute to reasonable suspicion )

. Fourth , t he officer noticed boxes of sandwich bags on the

1 In United States v. Campbell
, we held that questions asked during a traffic stop may be unlawful if they (1) are unrelated inquires aimed at investigating other crimes, (2) add time to the stop , and (3) lack reasonable suspicion. 26 F.4th 860, 885 (11th Cir. 2022) (en banc), cert. denied , No. 21

- 1468, 2022 WL 4651666 (Oct. 3, 2022). Here, Watson’s arrest history was related to the traffic stop ’s purpose. I t could shed insight on whether he had knowledge of his suspen ded license

. See Fla. Stat. § 322.34( 3 )

. And, i f he drove with a suspended license “ knowing ly
, ” greater penalties appl ied

. I d. § 322.34 (1)

– ( 2 )

. USCA11 Case: 20-14698 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 01/17/2023 Page: 4 of 720

- 14698 Opinion of the Court 5

car floorboard. See United States v. Mercer , 541 F.3d 1070, 1076 n.10 (11th Cir. 2008) (noting that a n officer “testified that, based on his experience, a large number of smaller baggies ‘ usually means that somebody is fixing to distribute [drugs] into smaller baggies to make purchase of it, to make sales ’ ” ) (alteration in original)) ; United States v. Perry , 14 F.4th 1253, 1261, 1275 (11th Cir. 2021) ( characterizing “numerous boxes of sandwich baggies” as “ drug paraphernalia ”).
A ny of these four facts alone may not have amounted to reasonable suspicion

. See, e.g., Brent v. Ashley , 247 F.3d 1294, 1302 (11th Cir. 2001) (“[N] ervousness, standing alone, ca nnot provide

‘ reasonable suspicion ’

. . . . ”)

. But that is not our analysis. “ W e may not consider each fact only in isolation, and reasonable suspicion may exist even if each fact ‘ alone is susceptible of innocent explanation. ’ ” United States v. Bautista

- Silva , 567 F.3d 1266, 1272 (11th Cir. 2009) ( quoting United States v. Arvizu , 5 34 U.S. 266, 27 7 (2002) )

. From the collective facts, “ a trained officer draws inferences and makes deductions

— inferences and deductions that might well elude an untrained person. ” United States v. Cortez
, 449 U.S. 411, 418 (1981).
T he totality of the cir cumstances gave the officer “a minimal level of objective justification ”

— in other words
, reasonable suspicion

— to believe contraband was in the car and to prolong the stop

to await the arrival of a canine unit to investigate further

. United States v. Perkins , 348 F.3d 965 , 970 (11th Cir. 2003)

. T hat the officer may have finished issuing Watson’s ticket for driving wit h a USCA11 Case: 20-14698 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 01/17/2023 Page: 5 of 76 Opinion of the Court 20

- 14698 suspended license before calling for the canine un it doesn’t render the det ention unconstitutional

. See United States v. Hernandez
, 418 F.3d 1206, 1212 n.7 (11th Cir. 2005) (underlining “that police are not constitutionally required to move at top speed or as fast as possible ,” and ruling fifty

- minute detention permissible where officer had to call for a canine unit)

. N or does the fact that Watson

was placed in the back of the police car for forty

- five minutes while

a waiting the unit’s arrival

. See United States v. Gil , 204 F.3d 1347,
1350

– 51 (11th C ir. 2000) ( upholding under Terry a seventy

- five

- minute , handcuffed de tention in the back of a police car) ; United States v. Street , 472 F.3d 1298 , 1307 (11th Cir. 2006) ( permitting sixty

- minute detention under Terry )

. Even if the detention as a whole lasted longer than reasonable for a suspended license traffic stop , the facts that arose during th e suspended license portion of the stop

— confirmation of suspended license driving, nervousness, a prior drug arrest , and boxes of plastic baggies

— established reasonable suspicion that an additional crime was being committed and justified prolonging the detention to investigate. See Hernandez , 418 F.3d at 1206 ( holding that when officer conducting a traffic stop developed “ reason to suspect that he was not dealing with just a speeding case ” he then had “ reason to detain [d] efendant longer than perhaps a traffic stop, in itself, would allow ”) ; see also Rodriguez v. United States , 575 U.S. 348 , 355 (2015) ( explaining that officers may prolong t r affi c stops when they have reasonable suspicion). USCA11 Case: 20-14698 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 01/17/2023 Page: 6 of 720

- 14698 Opinion of the Court 7

IV.

Because Watson’s Fourth Amendment claim was not viable
, his counsel’s failure to raise it with him and the district court did n’ t constitute ineffective assistance of counsel nor render his guilty plea involuntary or unknowing. T he district court properly deni ed his section 2255 motio n

. 2
AFFIRMED.

2 Our certificate of appealability encompassed whether Watson was entitled to an evidentiary hearing on his motion. H e was not because his alleged facts
, even if true, conclusively show ed he was not entitle d to relief. See Aron v. United States , 291 F.3d 70 8, 714

– 15 (11th Cir. 2002) ; Rosin v. United States
, 786 F.3d 873, 877 (11th Cir. 2015) ( “ T he district court is not required to grant a petitioner an evidentiary hearing if the [section] 2255 motion and the files and records of the case conclusively show th at the prisoner is entitled to no relief.” ( quotation omitted ) )

. USCA11 Case: 20-14698 Document: 52-1 Date Filed: 01/17/2023 Page: 7 of 7