Opinion ID: 555115
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: oneil stephenson

Text: Stephenson contends that the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress statements and evidence obtained during his detention by Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent Carl Hicks at Kansas City International Airport on August 4, 1988. Specifically, Stephenson argues that the detention of him and the seizure of suspected drug money from him and his companion was unlawful due to the lack of any reasonable and articulable basis to support it. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1967). In support of the district court's ruling, the government advances a two-pronged argument defending the lawfulness of the stop and the seizure of the money. The government contends that the initial meeting between Stephenson and Hicks was merely a consensual encounter and, as such, neither implicated nor infringed upon the Fourth Amendment. The government then concedes that after Stephenson's answers and reactions aroused Hicks' suspicions, the encounter indeed escalated into a Terry investigative stop, but suggests that the requisite legal justification was clearly present. A hearing on Stephenson's motion to suppress was held before United States Magistrate John T. Maughmer on January 17, 1989. The evidence adduced at that hearing revealed that on the morning of August 4, 1988 Agent Hicks and another law enforcement officer were observing departing passengers in an effort to discover individuals traveling from Kansas City to New York City with illegal narcotics proceeds. At approximately 8:30 a.m., Hicks' attention was drawn to Stephenson and his companion, later identified as Tony D. Smith, because they appeared to be of Jamaican descent or members of a Los Angeles gang known for cocaine trafficking. Hicks observed a thick wad of money through the fabric of Smith's back pants pocket, and he noticed bundles of a similar size and shape in both front pockets. According to Hicks, both Stephenson and Smith appeared nervous as they approached the security gate. Based upon all of these observations, Hicks came to the conclusion that Stephenson and Smith were possibly carrying to New York currency obtained from the sale of illegal narcotics in Kansas City. Hicks showed his badge to both Stephenson and Smith, identified himself as a police officer and asked if he could briefly speak with them, to which Stephenson replied in the affirmative. The other officer was roughly ten feet away during this initial discussion. Hicks at that time observed that Stephenson's hands and knees were shaking noticeably, and that Stephenson spoke with a Jamaican accent. Stephenson advised Hicks that he was traveling to New York City after having spent time in Los Angeles. After Stephenson voluntarily displayed both his and Smith's airplane tickets, Hicks noticed that the tickets were one-way to New York City and had been purchased for cash earlier that morning. The tickets were in the names of T. Smith and J. Smith. Both Stephenson and Smith told Hicks that they had no identification with them. Having become more suspicious of these two, Hicks again displayed his badge and identified himself as a DEA agent. He asked Stephenson and Smith if they had any drugs on their person, which they denied. Stephenson then consented to Hicks' request for permission to inspect his carry-on bag. A total of nearly $6,000 in cash was eventually recovered from Stephenson's bag and Smith's pockets, all in a consensual manner. Stephenson informed Hicks, inaccurately, that his real name was Steven Oneil, not J. Smith. The cash in question was mostly $20 bills sorted into bundles of $100, a common manner for drug traffickers in Kansas City to bundle and carry proceeds from drug transactions. At this point, Hicks concluded that the currency taken from Stephenson and Smith was related to illegal narcotics transactions. He advised Stephenson and Smith that the money was being secured and, if they wished to wait for it to be counted, they would be given a receipt. Stephenson and Smith elected, however, to proceed to New York and gave Hicks a telephone number where they could be reached for information as to how to send the receipt to them. Shortly thereafter, a trained drug detection dog alerted to the smell of narcotics on the currency. The receipt mailed by Hicks to Stephenson in New York City was returned unclaimed and unopened and no claim for the seized money was ever received. We review the district court's findings of fact under the clearly erroneous standard, and the ultimate conclusion of whether the Fourth Amendment was violated is subject to de novo review. United States v. Campbell, 843 F.2d 1089 (8th Cir.1988). We find no clear error in the findings of fact. As for the legal conclusions to be drawn therefrom, we agree with the decision below that the initial questioning of Stephenson and Smith was lawful. Such encounters do not implicate the Fourth Amendment on account of their consensual and public nature. Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983); United States v. Hernandez, 854 F.2d 295 (8th Cir.1988). In Royer, the Supreme Court stated: [L]aw enforcement officers do not violate the Fourth Amendment by merely approaching an individual on the street or in another public place, by asking him if he is willing to answer some questions, by putting questions to him if the person is willing to listen, or by offering in evidence in a criminal prosecution his voluntary answers to such questions. See Dunaway v. New York, supra, 442 U.S. , at 210, n. 12, 99 S.Ct. [2248], at 2255, n. 12 [60 L.Ed.2d 824] [ (1979) ]; Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S., at 31, 32-33, 88 S.Ct., at 1885-1886 (Harlan, J., concurring); id., at 34, 88 S.Ct., at 1886 (White, J., concurring). Nor would the fact that the officer identifies himself as a police officer, without more, convert the encounter into a seizure requiring some level of objective justification. United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 555, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 1877, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980) (opinion of Stewart, J.) 1 460 U.S. at 497, 103 S.Ct. at 1324. 2 Stephenson claims that the encounter became an investigative (Terry ) stop when agent Hicks again flashed his badge, identified himself as a DEA agent and advised Stephenson and Smith that he suspected them of carrying currency obtained in illegal narcotics transactions. The cases in this circuit are somewhat inconsistent in their holdings as to the occurrence or non-occurrence of a Terry-stop under facts similar to those in this matter. Compare United States v. Condelee, 915 F.2d 1206 (8th Cir.1990), United States v. Millan, 912 F.2d 1014 (8th Cir.1990) and United States v. Drinkard, 900 F.2d 140 (8th Cir.1990) with United States v. McKines, 917 F.2d 1077 (8th Cir.1990), reh'g en banc granted, (Dec. 28, 1990). However, we need not reach this issue because, even if an investigative stop occurred, the requirements of Terry were satisfied here. We find that the cumulative effect of the large bundles of cash visible in Smith's pockets, Stephenson's and Smith's noticeable nervousness, the apparent use of fictitious names, the one-way airplane tickets, and the time and manner of the purchase of the tickets was sufficient to give rise to a reasonable and articulable suspicion that these two individuals either had committed, or were committing, a crime.
3 Stephenson also argues that the district court unfairly and improperly applied the Sentencing Guidelines in determining that his criminal record placed him for sentencing purposes in Criminal History Category II under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. Stephenson contends that the court's assignment of one criminal history point pursuant to Sec. 4A1.2(a)(3) of the Guidelines for the imposition of a prior sentence of less than sixty days imprisonment and two points pursuant to Sec. 4A1.1(d) for committing the instant offense while under a sentence of probation resulted in the imposition of a grossly disproportionate sentence that violated his rights under the Eighth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Stephenson suggests that the district court's determination was the product of a double-counting that unfairly resulted in an additional five years of imprisonment. He asks that we order the district court to resentence him, this time as a Category I offender. 4 We find no error in the district court's placement of Stephenson in Criminal History Category II for sentencing purposes. Guidelines Section 4A1.1 provides, in subsections (a) and (b), that three points should be added for each prior sentence of imprisonment exceeding one year and one month and two points for each prior sentence of imprisonment of at least sixty days not counted in (a). Of greater relevance here is the provision in Sec. 4A1.1(c) that 1 point [should be added] for each prior sentence not included in (a) or (b), up to a total of 4 points. Nowhere in the Guidelines or the Commentary thereto is a sentence of probation excepted from the provisions of Sec. 4A1.1(c). The addition of one point thereunder was proper. The Guidelines provide in Sec. 4A1.1(d) that the sentencing court should [a]dd 2 points if the defendant committed the instant offense while under any criminal justice sentence, including probation ... Certainly, it was not error for the district court to assign two points pursuant to this provision. 5 The one point added under subsection (c) merely addressed prior criminal conduct generally. The two points added under subsection (d) addressed the additional consideration of the recency of the prior criminal activity. Clearly, these provisions involve two distinct considerations and do not result in an improper or unconstitutional double-counting.