Case Name: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ricardo Alonza GOMEZ, Antonio Reyes Espinoza and Gilbert Barnett Hartman, Defendants-Appellants
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1985-10-08
Citations: 776 F.2d 542
Docket Number: No. 84-2648
Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ricardo Alonza GOMEZ, Antonio Reyes Espinoza and Gilbert Barnett Hartman, Defendants-Appellants.
Judges: Before RANDALL, DAVIS and HILL, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: Federal Reporter 2d Series
Volume: 776
Pages: 542–556

Head Matter:
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ricardo Alonza GOMEZ, Antonio Reyes Espinoza and Gilbert Barnett Hartman, Defendants-Appellants.
No. 84-2648.
United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
Oct. 8, 1985.
Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied Nov. 18, 1985.
Dissenting Opinion Nov. 18, 1985.
L. Aron Pena, Edinburg, Tex., for Gomez and Hartman.
J.A. Canales, Nancy M. Simonson, Corpus Christi, Tex., for Antonio Espinoza.
Helen M. Eversberg, U.S. Atty., Jack Freís, Sidney Powell, Asst. U.S. Atty., San Antonio, Tex., Mervyn Hamburg, Atty., U.S. Dept, of Justice, Washington, D.C., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before RANDALL, DAVIS and HILL, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
•AMENDED OPINION
W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge.
Ricardo Alonza Gomez, Antonio Reyes Espinoza and Gilbert Hartman appeal their convictions for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and aiding and abetting one another in the substantive offense of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. We find the evidence introduced at trial was insufficient to sustain Espinoza's convictions, but affirm the convictions of Gomez and Hartman.
This case had its genesis in a telephone call received by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) on June 5, 1983, in which an anonymous informant conveyed the information contained in the following testimony:
"This department received information that subjects staying in room 1408 of an unknown hotel in San Antone," and gave the phone number, which turned out to be the Marriott Inn North; that they were driving a stolen van loaded with 2,000 pounds of marijuana scheduled to be moved between seven o'clock and eight o'clock 'this date' which was the 5th of June of 1983, and the marijuana belonged to a Quintero subject who had forged papers. Said the other subjects were from the Chicago area.
Record, Vol. 4, p. 1-42.
On receiving this tip, Officer Kidd of the DPS proceeded to the San Antonio Marriott and surveyed the parking lot without discovering a stolen van. He was informed by the hotel clerks that rooms 1406 and 1408 were registered to a gentleman named Frank Garcia. One hotel clerk pointed out Espinoza and Gomez to Kidd as two of the individuals accompanying Garcia when he checked into the rooms. The rooms were placed under surveillance for the remainder of the day, but no activity of note was observed.
On the morning of June 6, the anonymous tipster again contacted the DPS, advising them that the promised marijuana transaction would take place that morning at a ranch in Seguin, Texas. The tipster further stated that the owner of the marijuana was from Harlingen, Texas, and apparently gave a phone number for the owner's supposed residence there. Finally, the informant stated that if the individuals in the Marriott rooms were followed they would end up at the place of the drug transaction. In response to this information, the Marriott rooms were once again put under surveillance. At 11:28 a.m., Espinoza emerged from room 1406 and drove an unidentified woman to the airport, where she boarded a plane for Houston and Harlingen, Texas. Espinoza then returned to the hotel, and after making a phone call in the lobby, returned to the room. Later, Gomez moved some luggage from room 1408 to room 1406. Shortly afterwards, Espinoza drove a Ford automobile to a Holiday Inn, picked up Hartman, and returned to the Marriott. At. 12:45 all three defendants left the Marriott and returned to the Holiday Inn. Gomez was dropped off at the Holiday Inn; Espinoza and Hartman in the Ford then drove north toward Seguin, Texas. At some point in this journey they were joined by a U-Haul truck or van driven by Gomez.
On arriving in Seguin, Espinoza and Hartman stopped at a Kentucky Fried Chicken establishment, while Gomez drove the U-Haul to a residence in the country outside of Seguin. Officers observed the truck parked next to a metal shed and observed Gomez standing outside the shed and speaking to another individual, but saw nothing actually being loaded or unloaded from the truck. After approximately 30 minutes, Gomez returned to the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, where Hartman took his place behind the wheel of the U-Haul. Hartman then drove east on I — 10 in the U-Haul; Gomez and Espinoza drove west in the Ford. A few miles later, at approximately the same time, police stopped both the U-Haul and the Ford.
Officer Kidd testified that on stopping the U-Haul he observed marijuana debris on the tailgate portion of the truck and smelled an odor of marijuana. Hartman signed a consent form allowing a search of the truck, which yielded 1,181 pounds of marijuana and a rental agreement bearing Hartman's name. Back at the Ford, Gomez and Espinoza were detained. After the marijuana was discovered in the U-Haul, they were taken back to that site, where both were searched and a small quantity of marijuana, similar in appearance to that found in the truck, was found in Gomez' boot. The following day, room 1406 at the San Antonio Marriott was searched and various materials, including notebook pages bearing what appeared to be computations of income, expense and profit, were seized.
Espinoza, Gomez and Hartman were first indicted on state charges in 1983, but for reasons not immediately apparent from the record, these charges were ultimately dismissed. In June 1984, a two-count federal indictment was returned charging the three defendants with conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 21 U.S.C. § 846, and aiding and abetting one another in the possession with intent to distribute of marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2.
In this appeal, the defendants contend that a number of improprieties in their arrests and joint trial require reversal: (1) their arrests and the searches of their vehicles were without probable cause, and therefore the evidence seized from their persons and the vehicles was improperly admitted; (2) the government's delay in obtaining the federal indictment violated their sixth amendment right to a speedy trial as well as the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161(b); (3) the prejudicial potential of the evidence seized from the Marriott room outweighed its probative value, and it was therefore erroneously admitted; and (4) each defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his respective conviction.
I. Fourth Amendment Issues
The only evidence seized from the defendants' vehicles or persons which was introduced at trial was the marijuana found in the U-Haul, the small additional amount found in Gomez' boot, and (apparently) the rental agreement from the U-Haul. The defendants contend that the searches which uncovered this evidence were carried out without the probable cause necessary for an arrest or the reasonable suspicion necessary for a Terry stop. We disagree, because the law enforcement agents were aware of sufficient facts to justify a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was taking place and thus to justify an initial Terry stop of both vehicles. After the vehicles were stopped,' events unfolded in such a fashion that the arrests and subsequent searches were based on probable cause.
A valid investigatory stop under Terry and its progeny, in simplest terms, requires a reasonable conclusion by the police officer, in light of his experience, that some kind of criminal activity is taking place. Reasonable suspicion must be based on "specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant that intrusion." Terry, 392 U.S. at 21, 88 S.Ct. at 1880, 20 L.Ed.2d at 906. Finally, these facts must "be judged against an objective standard: Would the facts available to the officer at the moment of seizure . 'warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that the action taken was appropriate?" Id. at 21-22, 88 S.Ct. at 1879-80, 20 L.Ed.2d at 906.
One of the factual circumstances which may go into the making of a reasonable suspicion is that presented by this case — a tip from an unknown informant of untested reliability. We have held that "a tip from an informant of unknown reliability ordinarily will not create a reasonable suspicion of criminality." United States v. Kent, 691 F.2d 1376, 1379 (5th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 462 U.S. 1119, 103 S.Ct. 3086, 77 L.Ed.2d 1348 (1983). Such a tip will often give no indication of the informant's past reliability, nor will it indicate the basis for the informant's information and conclusion that criminal conduct is taking place. The courts of appeals are in general agreement, however, that when the details of an anonymous informant's tip are corroborated by independent investigation, it may give rise to a reasonable suspicion. The degree of corroboration required depends upon the circumstances of the particular case. For example, when an anonymous tip from an untried tipster is corroborated by observation of facts which are actual evidence of criminal activity, the tip may even give rise to probable cause — which requires a greater amount of proof than the reasonable suspicion in question here. In order for such a tip to give rise to reasonable suspicion corroboration of an adequate number of innocent details may suffice.
For example, in United States v. White, an anonymous informant stated that a young black man wearing a blue jumpsuit would park an automobile in a certain location, enter another specifically described automobile, drive away, and then return carrying drugs. The apparently innocent details of this trip were verified by police. 648 F.2d at 30-31. The District of Columbia Circuit held that this tip and verification were sufficient to support a reasonable suspicion and thus a Terry stop.
This circuit's discussion in United States v. McLeroy is significant here. In McLeroy, an untested and unknown informant stated that "a black and white Chevrolet, 1977 Alabama license tag BMB 023, was parked at 1720 27th Street in Ensley, Alabama . the Chevrolet was in the possession of McLeroy, had a damaged right side, was possibly a stolen vehicle, and might have been involved in a hit and run accident. In addition, . McLeroy might be carrying a sawed-off shotgun." 584 F.2d at 747. Officers verified only that a car matching this description was parked at this address, that it was registered to McLeroy, and that the address given was McLeroy's. We held that a Terry stop was not justified, because "none of McLeroy's actions observed by the police were suspicious." 584 F.2d at 748 (emphasis in original). Since the only information in the tip which was corroborated was "readily available to many persons, . [t]hat the informant knew these few corroborated facts in no way reasonably suggests that the informant could have known more personal facts about McLeroy, such as whether he was involved in crime." Id.
In this case, surveillance and independent investigation sufficiently corroborated enough of the critical aspects of the informant's tip to form a sufficient basis for reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, and hence for a valid Terry stop of the Ford and the U-Haul. The informant gave specific room numbers at a hotel in San Antonio. Surveillance and independent investigation verified that the individuals occupying these rooms undertook activity which the informant had predicted — a journey to Seguin, Texas. This sort of information about an individual is not the sort readily available to the public, and it is reasonable to infer that an informant having it is sufficiently well-acquainted with the individual to know that he may be involved in criminal activity. On arriving in Seguin, the individuals undertook activity which reeked not only of the strange, but more particularly of a drug purchase.
Thus the defendants' own actions corroborated the tip given in this case. Based on all of these circumstances, the officers were justified in entertaining a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. As the Supreme Court stated in United States v. Cortez:
The [reasonable suspicion] assessment must be based upon all of the circumstances. The analysis proceeds with various objective observations, information from police reports, if such are available, and consideration of the modes or patterns of operation of certain kinds of lawbreakers. From these data, a trained officer draws inferences and makes deductions — inferences and deductions that might well elude an untrained person— Long before the law of probabilities was articulated as such, practical people formulated certain common sense conclusions about human behavior; jurors as fact finders are permitted to do the same — and so are law enforcement officers. Finally, the evidence thus collected must be seen and weighed not in terms of library analysis by scholars, but as understood by those versed in the field of law enforcement.
449 U.S. at 418,101 S.Ct. at 695, 66 L.Ed.2d at 629.
The defendants make two primary contentions to support their conclusion that the stops of their vehicles were not based on a reasonable suspicion — first, that much of the information in the tips was unverifiable or inaccurate, and second, that such of the information as was verified by investigation was as consistent with innocent activity as with criminal activity. With regard to the first of these contentions, while much of the information provided by this informant later proved to be unverifiable, and a smaller portion of the information proved to be simply wrong, the informant was correct in predicting some significant actions of the parties, particularly the journey to Seguin and their subsequent actions there which were consistent with a drug transaction. With regard to the second contention, simply because certain conduct may be construed as consistent with innocent behavior does not mean that this conduct may not form the basis for reasonable suspicion. In many cases a police officer, familiar with the salient characteristics of a particular type of criminal activity, may be able to "perceive and articulate meaning in given conduct which would be wholly innocent to the untrained observer." Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. 47, 52 n. 2, 99 S.Ct. 637, 61 L.Ed.2d 357 (1979).
The defendants also rely on United States v. DeVita, 526 F.2d 81 (9th Cir.1975). DeVita is quite distinct from this case. DeVita also involved tips from an unknown source, to the effect that DeVita would at some point in the future be transporting some type of drugs from San Diego "possibly to the Pittsburgh area." The tips were separated by some five months. After the tips were received, DeVita was placed under long term surveillance, but the surveillance uncovered no more sinister activity than DeVita collecting cardboard cartons, loading his family and some cartons into a car, and driving down the highway. The Ninth Circuit held that the stop of the vehicle on the highway was not supported by reasonable suspicion. 526 F.2d at 82-83. The tips and the facts uncovered by investigation in this case are much more specific and corroborate one another to a greater degree than those in DeVita.
Since the initial Terry stops of the vehicles were valid, we must next determine whether the searches of the truck and of Gomez were based on probable cause. It is clear from the record that they were. Officer Kidd testified that immediately after stopping the truck he observed marijuana debris on the tailgate. This furnished probable cause for a search of the truck, and this evidence was therefore untainted by any fourth amendment impropriety. According to the district court's findings of fact at the suppression hearing, Gomez and Espinoza were detained for a few moments, then returned to the truck, where they were arrested and the frisk of Gomez took place. All of this took place within approximately twenty minutes. These findings of fact, based on live testimony, must be accepted unless shown to be clearly erroneous. E.g., United States v. Maldonado, 735 F.2d 809, 814 (5th Cir.1984). One of the officers who stopped Gomez and Espinoza testified at trial that he was informed by radio of the discovery of marijuana in the truck prior to returning the two to the U-Haul. The point at which the officers detaining Gomez and Espinoza were informed that marijuana had been found in the truck was the point at which the reasonable suspicion ripened into probable cause to arrest. The brief period of detention between the stop of the Ford and the time that Gomez and Espinoza were returned to the truck was not unreasonable in the circumstances of this case. See United States v. Sharpe, - U.S. -, 105 S.Ct. 1568, 84 L.Ed.2d 605 (1985). The marijuana taken from Gomez' boot was therefore untinged by fourth amendment impropriety as well.
II. Sufficiency of the Evidence
Gomez and Hartman argue that there is no evidence which allows an inference that they knew of marijuana in the truck or of any sort of conspiracy to possess the marijuana. We disagree. In evaluating the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, we view the evidence and the inferences to be drawn from it in the light most favorable to the verdict— that is, in the light most favorable to the government's position. E.g., United States v. Barnes, 761 F.2d 1026, 1030-31 (5th Cir.1985). If a reasonable trier of fact could find that the evidence establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the conviction may stand. Id. In addition, in a conspiracy case, "[t]he government must show beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had the deliberate, knowing, and specific intent to join the conspiracy." E.g., United States v. Jackson, 700 F.2d 181, 185 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 842, 104 S.Ct. 139, 78 L.Ed.2d 132 (1983).
We find that the evidence is sufficient to support the convictions of Gomez and Hartman. In the case of Hartman, his actions in renting and driving the truck, loaded with over a thousand pounds of marijuana, smelling of marijuana and having marijuana debris on the tailgate suffice to allow an inference that he was aware of the presence of the marijuana and was part of a conspiracy. See United States v. Blessing, 727 F.2d 353, 356 (5th Cir.1984), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 105 S.Ct. 777, 83 L.Ed.2d 773 (1985); United States v. Del Aguila-Reyes, 722 F.2d 155, 158 (5th Cir.1983). Likewise, that Gomez drove the truck from San Antonio to the farmhouse and subsequently turned it over to Hartman in the above described condition, in addition to which marijuana similar in appearance to that found in the truck was found in his boot, suffices to allow an inference that he was aware of the presence of the marijuana, had possession of it, and was part of the conspiracy.
In the case of Espinoza, however, the inference of knowledge and participation cannot be made. One of the themes which runs through all of our cases involving conspiracy is that a defendant may not be convicted merely on a showing that he associated with individuals participating in a conspiracy, or by evidence that merely places him in "a climate of activity that reeks of something foul." Examining the facts in this case in the light most favorable to the government, nothing more has been done than to place Espinoza in some very bad company. The key link in the government's evidence that is missing as to Espinoza is that he knew drugs were in the truck picked up by Gomez and delivered to Hartman. The government has proven only that Espinoza chauffered Gomez and Hartman, who were involved in a conspiracy, and spent some time in a motel room with these individuals. A reasonable jury simply could not conclude beyond a reasonable doubt from these facts that Espinoza had the required knowledge. Espinoza's convictions must therefore be reversed.
III. Other Matters
The defendants argue that the government's delay until June 1984 in obtaining the federal indictment violated their right to a speedy trial under the sixth amendment and the provisions of the Federal Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161(b). A prior state arrest, however, even if based upon the same operative facts as a subsequent federal accusation, does not trigger the sixth amendment right to a speedy trial. United States v. Walker, 710 F.2d 1062, 1068-69 (5th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1005, 104 S.Ct. 995, 79 L.Ed.2d 229 (1984). Neither does a state arrest trigger the provisions of the Federal Speedy Trial Act. See United States v. Wilson, 657 F.2d 755, 767 (5th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 951, 102 S.Ct. 1456, 71 L.Ed.2d 667 (1982). We therefore find these contentions to be without merit.
The defendants also argue that their subsequent federal prosecution, after the state charges were abandoned, violates the double jeopardy clause of the fifth amendment and the federal "Petite policy." Since the defendants have produced no argument or reasoning indicating why the double jeopardy clause is implicated by their federal prosecution, and since they were in fact never actually brought to trial in the state court, we do not address this issue. With regard to the Petite policy, the government assures us that this policy is not implicated in this case, and this assurance suffices for our purposes. See Fry v. United States, 569 F.2d 303, 304 (5th Cir.1978).
Finally, the defendants contend that the probative value of the material seized from the room at the San Antonio Marriott was outweighed completely by its prejudicial potential, and that its admission therefore requires the reversal of their convictions. Evidentiary rulings of this sort are reviewed only for "clear abuse of discretion." United States v. McMahon, 592 F.2d 871, 873 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 442 U.S. 921, 99 S.Ct. 2847, 61 L.Ed.2d 289 (1979). We find no abuse of discretion here.
The convictions of defendants Gomez and Hartman are AFFIRMED. The conviction of defendant Espinoza is REVERSED.
. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). The government argues in its brief that not all of the defendants have standing to challenge the constitutionality of the seizure of all of the evidence; for example, Gomez and Espinoza should not be allowed to challenge the search of the truck, which Hartman was driving. Since at least one defendant is entitled to challenge each seizure, and since we ultimately find these challenges to be without merit, we do not find it necessary to reach the standing question.
. See, e.g., United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 417, 101 S.Ct. 690, 694, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981); Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. at 30, 88 S.Ct. at 1884, 20 L.Ed.2d at 911; United States v. Gordon, 722 F.2d 112, 113-14 (5th Cir.1983).
. See United States v. Kent, 691 F.2d at 1379; United States v. McLeroy, 584 F.2d 746 (5th Cir.1978); United States v. White, 648 F.2d 29, 41 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 924, 102 S.Ct. 424, 70 L.Ed.2d 233 (1981). See also Spinelli v. United States, 393 U.S. 410, 89 S.Ct. 584, 21 L.Ed.2d 637 (1969).
. See, e.g., United States v. Kent, 691 F.2d at 1380; United States v. White, 648 F.2d at 41; United States v. Andrews, 600 F.2d 563, 569 (6th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Brooks v. United States, 444 U.S. 878, 100 S.Ct. 166, 62 L.Ed.2d 108 (1979); United States v. Sierra-Hemandez, 581 F.2d 760 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 936, 99 S.Ct. 333, 58 L.Ed.2d 333 (1978).
. See, e.g., United States v. Brand, 556 F.2d 1312 (5th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1063, 98 S.Ct. 1237, 55 L.Ed.2d 763 (1978); United States v. Brennan, 538 F.2d 711 (5th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1092, 97 S.Ct. 1104, 51 L.Ed.2d 538 (1977).
. See also United States v. Andrews, 600 F.2d 563 (6th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom., Brooks v. United States, 444 U.S. 878, 100 S.Ct. 166, 62 L.Ed.2d 108 (1979) (name, description, and flight on which individual arrived corroborated, tip also stated drugs would be delivered to known dealer — held, sufficient to justify investigative stop); United States v. Sierra-Hernandez, 581 F.2d 760 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 936, 99 S.Ct. 333, 58 L.Ed.2d 333 (1978) (unidentified individual told border patrol agent that a specifically described truck had just loaded with marijuana at a canebrake, agent knew canebrake to have been site of past smuggling activity and found the truck nearby — held sufficient to justify investigatory stop of truck); United States v. Aldridge, 719 F.2d 368 (11th Cir.1983) (anonymous tip that suspicious individuals in specifically described automobile were fooling around construction site, in light of description and temporal and spatial proximity to construe tion site held sufficient to justify investigative stop).
. It is also significant that many of the details of the informant's tip were simply unverifiable, not necessarily inaccurate.
. We note that Hartman also gave an apparently valid consent to the search of the truck.
. United States v. Galvan, 693 F.2d 417, 419 (5th Cir.1982); United States v. Jackson, 700 F.2d at 185 United States v. Fitzharris, 633 F.2d 416, 423 (5th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 988, 101 S.Ct. 2325, 68 L.Ed.2d 847 (1981); United States v. White, 569 F.2d 263, 268 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 848, 99 S.Ct. 148, 58 L.Ed.2d 149 (1978).
. Although not argued by the government, we have considered whether the record would support an inference that Espinoza smelled the marijuana in the U-Haul truck and saw the marijuana debris on the truck's tailgate while it was parked in the Kentucky Fried Chicken parking lot. The officers who had the three defendants under surveillance at the fast food restaurant did not testify that they saw or smelled marijuana in the van while it was in the parking lot. Officer Kidd testified that he saw and smelled the marijuana as he "walked past the vehicle" after the truck was stopped on 1-10. Kidd testified that the odor didn't "stand out" and that he "had a little trouble" detecting the odor in the closed van. With respect to Espinoza's opportunity to see or smell the marijuana, all the record indicates is that the truck and Ford automobile were parked in the same parking lot and that Hartman left in the truck "about" the same time Gomez and Espinoza left in the van. The record does not disclose whether Hartman left in the truck before Espinoza walked out of the restaurant to get in the Ford. Even if Espinoza walked from the restaurant to the Ford automobile before the truck departed, how close he got to the truck is not disclosed. We conclude therefore that the record is inadequate to allow a jury to infer that Espinoza was in a position to see or smell the marijuana in the truck.
. The Petite policy is an internal Department of Justice guideline barring a federal prosecution following a state prosecution for the same acts, except in certain limited circumstances. See Rinaldi v. United States, 434 U.S. 22, 25 n. 5, 98 S.Ct. 81, 54 L.Ed.2d 207 (1972).