Opinion ID: 65371
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Long Period of Time between when Hardin First Saw the Ford Tempo and when Coronado Began to Follow it

Text: Rodriguez next contends that the three and one half hours he claims passed between when Hardin first saw the Ford Tempo and when Coronado first spotted it was much longer than the period of time it would have taken to drive the distance between these two points, which he maintains are 95 miles apart. He contends the passage of time increases the probability that the suspicious vehicle followed a different route from that staked out by Agent Coronado or that the vehicle had already passed by the intersection he was observing. The mere passage of time does not advance Rodriguez's argument much, however. There are many plausible reasons why Rodriguez might have ended up in the place where Coronado spotted him at that time rather than earlier. More importantly, review of this factual determination is for clear error, and Rodriguez has failed to make out this claim with any specificity, beyond noting the fact that Interstate Highway 10, an acknowledged drug trafficking corridor, and another town (Ozona, Texas) were interposed between the two agents' locations. Perhaps that merely meant that Rodriguez stopped in Ozona for lunch. It is irrelevant. He has cited no cases for what is, at bottom, his claim that the district court clearly erred in finding that his taking slightly longer to travel between points A and B than he would have had he been traveling non-stop at the speed limit undermined the reasonableness of the stop. To call the district court's finding on this point clear error would be to deprive that term of all meaning.