IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 10-50187

Summary Calendar

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff-Appellee

v.

WILLIE SIMPSON,

Defendant-Appellant

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Western District of Texas

USDC No. 1:09-CR-299-1

Before REAVLEY, DENNIS, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

*

Willie Simpson entered a guilty plea to a charge of possession with intent

to distribute cocaine base and was sentenced to 120 months of imprisonment.

Simpson reserved the right to appeal the district court’s denial of his motion to

suppress cocaine base seized during a search of his person.

When a district court’s factual findings on a motion to suppress are based

on live testimony at a suppression hearing, we will accept those findings unless

they are “clearly erroneous or influenced by an incorrect view of the law.”

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

F I L E D

February 9, 2011

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

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.

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No. 10-50187

United States v. Jackson, 596 F.3d 236, 239-40 (5th Cir.) (internal quotation

marks and citation omitted), cert. denied, 130 S. Ct. 2126, 131 S. Ct. 90 (2010).

We review de novo the district court’s ultimate conclusions on Fourth

Amendment issues. United States v. Charles, 469 F.3d 402, 405 (5th Cir. 2006).

“[I]n the case of a lawful custodial arrest a full search of the person is not

only an exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment, but is

also a ‘reasonable’ search under that Amendment.” Lockett v. New Orleans City,

607 F.3d 992, 1001 (5th Cir), cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 507 (2010) (quoting United

States v. Robinson, 414 U.S. 218, 235 (1973)). Police officers are not constrained

to search only for weapons or instruments of escape on the arrestee’s person;

they may also, without any additional justification, look for evidence of the

arrestee’s crime on his person in order to preserve it for use at trial. See

Robinson, 414 U.S. at 233-34.

Simpson does not challenge the district court’s determination that Officer

Duboise’s search of his person was a search incident to arrest. Rather, Simpson

argues that the search of his person was unreasonable under the factors

identified in Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 559 (1979). Pursuant to Bell, the test

of reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment “requires a balancing of the

need for the particular search against the invasion of personal rights that the

search entails.” Bell, 441 U.S. at 559. We must consider (1) the scope of the

particular intrusion; (2) the manner in which it is conducted; (3) the justification

for initiating it; and (4) the place in which it is conducted. Id.

Simpson contends that the district court’s factual finding--that no evidence

existed that the officer reached inside his pants during the search--was clearly

erroneous and that because the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress

was based on this clearly erroneous factual finding, the district court’s denial of

his motion to suppress should be vacated. We will, however, uphold the district

court’s denial of the motion to suppress “if there is any reasonable view of the

evidence to support it.” United States v. Gonzalez, 190 F.3d 668, 671 (5th Cir.

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No. 10-50187

1999) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Officer Duboise’s

apparent reach in from the bottom of Simpson’s shorts to retrieve the bag of

crack cocaine did not render the search unreasonable. The search did not

unreasonably infringe on Simpson’s privacy interests when those interests are

balanced against the legitimate needs of the police to seize the contraband

Simpson carried on his person. See Bell, 441 U.S. at 559.

AFFIRMED.

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