Case Name: UNITED STATES of America v. Joyce E. HALL, a/k/a Joyce E. Sutton, Appellant
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1976-01-08
Citations: 525 F.2d 857
Docket Number: No. 74-1190
Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Joyce E. HALL, a/k/a Joyce E. Sutton, Appellant.
Judges: Before ROBINSON and ROBB, Circuit Judges, and MARKEY, Chief Judge, United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.
Reporter: Federal Reporter 2d Series
Volume: 525
Pages: 857–863

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America v. Joyce E. HALL, a/k/a Joyce E. Sutton, Appellant.
No. 74-1190.
United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.
Argued Oct. 31, 1974.
Decided Jan. 8, 1976.
Bradley Johnson, with whom Sherman L. Cohn, Washington, D. C. (appointed by this Court), and David J. Gottlieb,* were on the brief for appellant. Cornish Hitchcock * and John O’Donnell * also entered appearances for appellant.
Paul N. Murphy, Asst. U. S. Atty., with whom Earl J. Silbert, U. S. Atty. and John A. Terry, Asst. U. S. Atty., were on the brief for appellee.
Before ROBINSON and ROBB, Circuit Judges, and MARKEY, Chief Judge, United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals.
Entered appearances as student counsel pursuant to Rule 20 of the General Rules of this Court.
Sitting by designation pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 293(a).

Opinion:
ROBB, Circuit Judge:
The appellant Hall, referred to here as the defendant, was indicted for possession of a controlled substance, 61 tablets of phenmetrazine (also known as preludin), with the intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a). Her motion to suppress evidence — the 61 tablets— was heard and denied. Trial by jury resulted in a verdict of guilty and she was sentenced to imprisonment for five years pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4208(a)(2), to run concurrently with a sentence imposed on her in another case. She appeals. The only question on appeal is whether the District Court properly denied the motion to suppress. We affirm.
At about half past six on the evening of May 16, 1973 Officers Haskins and Kane of the Metropolitan Police were on patrol in their marked cruiser. In the 1800 block of 13th Street, N. W. in Washington they stopped a green Volkswagen because it had a broken windshield. The car was occupied by the driver and a passenger on the front seat. After the Volkswagen stopped Officer Haskins saw both occupants bend forward, the driver leaning to his right across the passenger, and apparently "passing something between each other" in a "secretive" and "unusual" manner." As Haskins approached on foot, the passenger, later identified as the defendant Hall, got out and began to walk away from the Volkswagen "as though she was trying to leave the scene." Officer Haskins testified: "I stopped her by asking for identification. She stopped and leaned up against the fence, and gave me an ID card, which had identification which identified her as being Joyce E. Sutton. The ID at that time appeared to be valid." Continuing, Officer Has-kins testified that after looking at the ID card he asked the defendant what she passed to the driver.
She stated that the driver had given her a pack of cigarettes.
I asked her, could I see the cigarettes.
At that time, she reached into her right pocket and exposed a white top, which appeared to be on a medicine bottle. Immediately after exposing this bottle, she pushed it back into her pocket; and using her left hand, reached in her left pocket and pulled out the pack of cigarettes.
After pulling out the cigarettes, I asked her to let me see what she had in her right pocket.
She said that it was medicine that she had just found at Seventh and Florida Avenue.
The defendant's reactions had made the officer suspicious, and prompted his request to see the bottle, because
first of all, she gave me the impression, upon stopping the vehicle, she got out of the car, and she began walking away, as though she was saying to the driver: This is where I want to get off. And she began to leave the scene. That particular area, there is a lot of drugs of this nature being sold there. The way she pushed her hand back in the pocket to try to hide the evidence or medicine, or what have you, gave me the impression that she was carrying in her possession drugs, illegal drugs,
In response to the officer's request the defendant handed him the bottle. Examining it the officer noticed that the label reflected a prescription for one Sabata Hardy. There were 30 yellow pills in the bottle, and from his experience the officer thought they were probably a drug called preludin, also known under the "street name" of "Bam".
After looking at the bottle and its contents Officer Haskins told the defendant he wanted her to come down with him to police headquarters. At this point the defendant pulled off her ring, gave it to the driver of the Volkswagen, and asked him to give it to the defendant's brother. She also asked the driver to give her brother a sweater that she had over her arm. Before the sweater was handed to the driver Officer Haskins examined it and found in the right pocket a bag in which was another bottle containing 31 yellow pills. The label on this bottle indicated that the pills had been prescribed for one Eddie Robinson. Both prescriptions were written by the same doctor. The proof at trial was that the pills were in fact preludin and the evidence indicated that preludin pills sell "on the street" for $8.00 apiece.
The district judge held:
Defendant's motion to suppress is denied. The drugs were in plain view, and on the special facts of this instance defendant volunteered to show them to the Officer during his initial proper inquiries.
The stopping and questioning of the defendant Hall by Officer Haskins was not an arrest but was a reasonable course of action in light of the circumstances confronting the officer; and being reasonable it was lawful. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 92 S.Ct. 1921, 32 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972); United States v. Coates, 161 U.S.App.D.C. 334, 495 F.2d 160 (1974); Cheung Tin Wong v. Immigration & Naturalization Service, 152 U.S.App.D.C. 66, 468 F.2d 1123 (1972); United States v. Hines, 147 U.S.App.D.C. 249, 455 F.2d 1317 (1971), cert. denied, 406 U.S. 975, 92 S.Ct. 2427, 32 L.Ed.2d 675 (1972); United States v. James, 147 U.S.App.D.C. 43, 452 F.2d 1375 (1971). In Adams v. Williams, the court said:
In Terry this Court recognized that "a police officer may in appropriate circumstances and in an appropriate manner approach a person for purposes of investigating possibly criminal behavior even though there is no probable cause to make an arrest." Id., at 22, 88 S.Ct. at 1880. The Fourth Amendment does not require a policeman who lacks the precise level of information necessary for probable cause to arrest to simply shrug his shoulders and allow a crime to occur or a criminal to escape. On the contrary, Terry recognizes that it may be the essence of good police work to adopt an intermediate response. See id., at 23, 88 S.Ct. at 1881. A brief stop of a suspicious individual, in order to determine his identity or to maintain the status quo momentarily while obtaining more information, may be most reasonable in light of the facts known to the officer at the time. Id., at 21-22, 88 S.Ct. at 1879—1880; see Gaines v. Craven, 448 F.2d 1236 (CA9 1971); United States v. Unverzagt, 424 F.2d 396 (CA8 1970).
Whether an officer's conduct was "reasonable" or "appropriate" depends on the facts and circumstances of the particular case, so that the decision in one case seldom furnishes a pat answer in another case. See Bailey v. United States, 128 U.S.App.D.C. 354, 357, 389 F.2d 305, 308 (1967); Hinton v. United States, 137 U.S.App.D.C. 388, 391, 424 F.2d 876, 879 (1969). A principle to be applied generally however is that in judging the reasonableness of the actions of the officer the circumstances before him are not to be dissected and viewed singly; rather they must be considered as a whole. So considered they are to be viewed through the eyes of a reasonable and cautious police officer on the scene, guided by his experience and training. See United States v. Davis, 147 U.S.App.D.C. 400, 458 F.2d 819 (1972).
We apply the test of Terry v. Ohio, Adams v. Williams, United States v. Coates and similar cases to the facts of the case before us, considering these facts as a whole. The defendant was in an area where "a lot of drugs [were] being sold" — a factor which the officer noted and might properly consider. United States v. Davis, supra, 147 U.S.App.D.C. at 403, 458 F.2d at 822 (1972); see Adams v. Williams, supra, 407 U.S. at 147 — 148. After the Volkswagen stopped the officer noticed a "secretive" and "unusual" "passing [of] something" between the defendant and the driver of the car. The defendant then got out and started to walk away, conduct not usual for a passenger in an automobile stopped for a traffic violation. The officer at this point had a right to ask the defendant for identification and to question her briefly about what had transpired between her and the driver of the car. When she produced a bottle from her pocket, apparently by mistake, and then "pushed her hand back" as if to "try to hide the evidence", this furtive action entitled the officer to ask for more information. In the light of his suspicions, which we think were reasonable, he was not required to shrug his shoulders and allow a suspected criminal to walk away. In response to his further and proper inquiry the defendant handed him the bottle of pills. As the' district judge no doubt had in mind when he found that the defendant "volunteered to show" the drugs, at no time did the officer lay his hand on the defendant, or threaten her, or do more than by questioning attempt to obtain information. There was no unreasonable search and seizure.
When the defendant produced the bottle of pills, which the officer believed to be preludin, he had probable cause to arrest her and he did so. The seizure of the drugs from her sweater, which followed, was valid as an incident to the lawful arrest.
The judgment is affirmed.