Opinion ID: 396247
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The truck warrant.

Text: 23 Jeffrey further contends that the truck warrant was invalid and, therefore, that evidence of the sixty pounds of marijuana seized from the pickup truck should have been suppressed at trial. We find that the truck warrant was based on sufficient probable cause, and affirm Jeffrey's conviction for possession with intent to distribute. 24 Jeffrey argues that because the police stopped the truck in order to execute the invalid 630 warrant as to his person, any information obtained during that stop was tainted and could not be used to establish probable cause to search the truck. 25 In our view, when Jeffrey Schmidt began to drive away from the Donald Schmidt residence and the decision was made to stop the truck, the circumstances presented adequate grounds for an investigative stop of the nature upheld in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). See Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 145, 92 S.Ct. 1921, 1922, 32 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972); United States v. Sanders, 631 F.2d 1309, 1311-1312 (8th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1127, 101 S.Ct. 946, 67 L.Ed.2d 114 (1981); United States v. Stevie, 578 F.2d 204, 207-208 (8th Cir. 1977), aff'd on rehearing en banc, 582 F.2d 1175 (1978), cert. denied, 443 U.S. 911, 99 S.Ct. 3102, 61 L.Ed.2d 876 (1979); United States v. Scott, supra, 545 F.2d at 40. Terry permits law enforcement officials, without a warrant, to conduct a limited investigation if, on the basis of specific and articulable facts, they acquire a reasonable suspicion that a crime is being committed. Terry v. Ohio, supra, 392 U.S. at 20-27, 88 S.Ct. at 1879-1883. 26 According to the affidavit for the truck warrant, the police had initiated surveillance on October 14, 1980, on the basis of the informant's tip, which said in substance: (1) the Schmidt brothers were marijuana dealers; (2) Jeffrey Schmidt was expecting to receive a large shipment of marijuana on or about October 14, 1980; and (3) the Schmidts packaged their marijuana in plastic garbage bags for further distribution by vehicle. A reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity could thus arise when the officers, in possession of this tip, observed Jeffrey's furtive suspicious behavior while driving the truck, 5 see Sibron v. New York, 392 U.S. 40, 66, 88 S.Ct. 1889, 1904, 20 L.Ed.2d 917 (1968); United States v. Sanders, supra, 631 F.2d at 1311-1312, and his subsequent loading of objects from his brother's garage into the rear of the truck. Regardless of the officer's subjective intent in initially stopping the vehicle, the objective circumstances involved here were entirely consistent with a warrantless investigatory stop. See United States v. Vargas, 633 F.2d 891, 896 (1st Cir. 1980). 27 Because the vehicle was legally stopped, the plain view of the six large plastic garbage bags through the windows of the truck's topper did not constitute a Fourth Amendment search. The viewing officers were easily able to discover what was inside the vehicle while standing in a place where they had a right to be, i.e., a public street. See Harris v. United States, 390 U.S. 234, 236, 88 S.Ct. 992, 993, 19 L.Ed.2d 1067 (1968). 6 The officers' observation of the garbage bags, coupled with the information received from the informant that this was how the Schmidts market their marijuana, 7 provided the officers, who had witnessed Jeffrey's activities, with sufficient probable cause to search the truck. 8 The affidavit detailing this information was a sufficient basis for issuing the truck warrant. 28 We do not agree with the appellants that invalidation of the 630 warrant necessitates suppression of the evidence seized from the pickup truck as prohibited fruit of the poisonous tree. Our conclusion that the truck warrant was issued on sufficient probable cause does not depend on any information in the warrant pertaining to the illegal searches of Jeffrey's house and person; we have only examined untainted portions of the affidavit. United States v. Williams, 633 F.2d 742, 744-745 (8th Cir. 1980); United States v. Koonce, 485 F.2d 374, 379 (8th Cir. 1973). Furthermore, we do not think that any items seized from Jeffrey's house or person, or any leads gained therefrom, tended significantly to direct the police towards the garbage bags of marijuana in the truck. See United States v. Bacall, 443 F.2d 1050, 1057 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 404 U.S. 1004, 92 S.Ct. 565, 30 L.Ed.2d 557 (1971). Nothing that was discovered in the illegal searches heightened or diminished the inference of probable cause raised when the officers observed plastic garbage bags in the rear of the truck. Thus, we find no exploitation of the prior illegality by the police. See, Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 488, 83 S.Ct. 407, 417, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963). 29