Opinion ID: 1358987
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The district court properly determined the officers had reasonable suspicion to justify Booker's stop.

Text: Booker argues Officer Campbell did not have reasonable suspicion to stop his van because the officers had no corroborating evidence that a battery actually occurred or that someone fired a gun. Further, Booker claims the group of men Tennin reported were involved in the battery had already left on foot and that Tennin did not mention a van until he spotted Booker's. Finally, Booker argues he was the only one in the van, which did not match Tennin's description that several men were involved in the incident. Booker contends that if the officers had not stopped his van, they would not have seen the gun inside. Under the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine of Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963), Booker argues the gun and his statements should be suppressed. When reviewing a district court's decision on a motion to suppress, we review legal conclusions de novo and factual determinations for clear error. United States v. Burks, 490 F.3d 563, 565 (7th Cir.2007). The Fourth Amendment protects individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. CONST. amend. IV. The requirement that officers obtain a warrant from a neutral, detached magistrate ensures individuals receive Fourth Amendment protection. United States v. Whitaker, 546 F.3d 902, 906 (7th Cir.2008). However, police may initiate an investigatory stop  a Terry stop  when the officer has reasonable suspicion that a crime occurred. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 21-22, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); United States v. Grogg, 534 F.3d 807, 810 (7th Cir.2008). Although an officer does not need probable cause to conduct an investigatory stop, the brief detention must be based on reasonable suspicion that the stopped individual has or is about to commit a crime. United States v. LePage, 477 F.3d 485, 487-88 (7th Cir.2007). When an officer initiates a Terry stop, he must be able to point to specific and articulable facts that suggest criminality so that he is not basing his actions on a mere hunch. Jewett v. Anders, 521 F.3d 818, 823 (7th Cir.2008); United States v. Lawshea, 461 F.3d 857, 859 (7th Cir.2006). Reasonable suspicion must be evaluated in the totality of the circumstances. United States v. Hicks, 531 F.3d 555, 558 (7th Cir.2008). In denying Booker's motion to suppress, the district court determined that Officer Campbell learned from Officer Presley's radio call that the maroon van may have been involved in the battery. The district court also found it was inconsequential that Booker did not match the description of the suspect Tennin gave because that description was not relayed to Officer Campbell, who made the stop. The trial court also pointed to our decision in United States v. Drake, for the proposition that Tennin's statement to police was entitled to greater weight because he was not an anonymous or confidential informant. 456 F.3d 771 (7th Cir.2006) (concluding reasonable suspicion existed when an identified eyewitness made a 911 call to report an ongoing emergency). Tennin's statements to police provided the officers with enough information for officers to believe a crime occurred and that Booker may have been involved. First, police received a 911 call reporting gunshot fire. When Officer Presley arrived, Tennin flagged him down, identified himself, and reported a battery that occurred earlier in the evening. Tennin gave the address of where the battery occurred and the area in which he believed he heard the gunshot. He also gave a specific description of a suspect and pointed out Booker's van as the one that he thought carried the men involved in the battery. When a single informant provides the tip that brought police to a Terry stop, this court looks to the amount of information given, the degree of reliability, and the extent that the officers can corroborate some of the informant's information. LePage, 477 F.3d at 488 (citation omitted). Like the caller in Drake, Tennin was not an anonymous informant, and he gave specific details, including describing two crimes that occurred, an address where the crimes occurred and a suspect description. Drake differs from this case because the witness in that case reported an ongoing emergency; however, Drake nonetheless supports the government's position that reports made by identified witnesses should be given more weight than anonymous callers. See Drake, 456 F.3d at 775. Tennin was willing to identify himself to police and have officers speak with his daughter, which differentiates him from other anonymous tipsters whose reports may not give rise to reasonable suspicion. See United States v. Robinson, 537 F.3d 798, 802 (7th Cir.2008) (anonymous sources are less reliable because officers have no way to hold the source responsible if the information turns out to be fabricated); see also Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266, 269, 120 S.Ct. 1375, 146 L.Ed.2d 254 (2000) (anonymous tips are less reliable and can form basis of reasonable suspicion only if accompanied by specific indicia of reliability). Tennin also described hearing a gunshot when the men involved in the battery ran from the house. Although this may not have been an ongoing emergency by the time officers arrived on the scene, it certainly was a dangerous situation that officers needed to investigate immediately. [W]hen the police believe that a crime is in progress (or imminent), action on a lesser degree of probability, or with fewer procedural checks in advance, can be reasonable. United States v. Wooden, 551 F.3d 647, 650 (7th Cir.2008). Tennin's statements provided police with enough articulable facts to believe a crime had just occurred. Whether the officers had reason to believe Booker was the person who committed the crime is a closer call. Tennin originally stated that the men involved in the battery left on foot, but then pointed out Booker's van as it entered the driveway. Although it is true Tennin said he thinks Booker's maroon van was the van the suspects were in, that conjecture does not necessarily make the statement unreliable. Reasonable suspicion is a lower threshold than probable cause and `does not deal with hard certainties, but with probabilities.' United States v. Jerez, 108 F.3d 684, 693 (7th Cir.1997) (quoting United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 418, 101 S.Ct. 690, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981)). Tennin said the suspects left on foot and that a group of men, not just one man, was involved, but that does not change the fact that Tennin told police that he thought the people involved in the incident were in the van Booker was driving. That Booker's appearance did not exactly match the description offered by Tennin does not help Booker because Officer Campbell was about 200 feet away from Booker when he stopped the van and could not have seen whether Booker was bald under his cap. Moreover, the fact that Officer Campbell may have been told to answer a call reporting a battery incident, and not a gunshot, is of no significance. The knowledge of one officer can be imputed to another where police officers are communicating with one another. United States v. Lenoir, 318 F.3d 725, 728 (7th Cir.2003). Additionally, both a battery and firing a gun indicate a crime was likely afoot, and the officers had enough information to begin to investigate. Under the totality of the circumstances, the officers had reasonable suspicion to stop Booker's van. See Hicks, 531 F.3d at 558 (determining reasonable suspicion is an objective inquiry based on the totality of the circumstances known to the officer at the time of the encounter). So, the gun, which was seen in plain view inside Booker's van, should not be suppressed. See United States v. Raney, 342 F.3d 551, 558-59 (7th Cir.2003) (finding that when an officer who is lawfully present sees an object in plain view, and the incriminating nature of the object is readily apparent, the object can be seized under the plain view doctrine); see also United States v. Willis, 37 F.3d 313, 316 (7th Cir.1994) (officer properly seized gun in plain view following legitimate investigatory stop). The district court also correctly declined to suppress Booker's post-arrest admissions because he made those statements voluntarily without any questioning by police. [1] See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 478, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) (Any statement given freely and voluntarily without any compelling influences is, of course, admissible in evidence.).