Opinion ID: 433446
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Second Seizure.

Text: 27 The district court concluded that reasonable suspicion also justified the stop by Agents Lewis and Kramer. Ilazi does not contest this finding, but argues instead that the second stop, occurring as it did soon after the initial stop by Olby and Mortensen, exceeded the bounds of an investigatory stop and, therefore, constituted an arrest without probable cause. We disagree. 28 An investigatory stop, allowable on the mere suspicion of criminal activity, must be limited in scope and duration. Florida v. Royer, --- U.S. ----, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1326, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983); United States v. Miller, 546 F.2d 251, 253 (8th Cir.1976). The importance of these requirements cannot be overstated for it is the limited and transitory nature of the stop that justifies the elimination of the probable cause requirement typically accompanying fourth amendment seizures. 29 Here we have not one stop, but two. Both must be limited in scope and duration. To end our inquiry here, however, would allow law enforcement officials to circumvent these requirements by subjecting an individual to successive stops, each sufficiently limited in scope and duration to satisfy the conditions of an investigatory seizure, but collectively so intrusive as to be tantamount to an arrest. 30 The Fifth Circuit considered the problem of successive stops in United States v. Morin, 665 F.2d 765 (5th Cir.1982). There, a police officer first stopped and questioned Morin, a suspected narcotics courier, in the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Having failed to establish probable cause, the officer allowed Morin to board a plane to Austin, but alerted Austin law enforcement officials to his arrival. In Austin, Morin deplaned and, after passing through airport security, went to a public restroom. As Morin stood before a urinal in the otherwise empty restroom, four law enforcement officers entered the restroom and positioned themselves one on either side of Morin and two more ten to fifteen feet away. They identified themselves as police officers, and declared that they suspected Morin of carrying narcotics. After confiscating Morin's identification and his airline ticket, the officers asked him to accompany them to the airport police office for questioning. In concluding that Morin's second encounter with law enforcement officials constituted an arrest, the court acknowledged the coercion inherent in the successive stop situation and stated that successive stops of an individual based on the same information strongly indicate a finding that an arrest has taken place. Id. at 769. 31 We agree with the Fifth Circuit's observations, but that agreement does not compel a finding that an arrest occurs in every case involving successive stops. The Fifth Circuit itself did not so hold. The court simply added the presence of successive stops to its list of factors to be considered in determining when an interrogation rises to the level of arrest. 3 The Fifth Circuit conceded that even the application of its traditional test supports the characterization of the second encounter as an arrest, id. at 769, emphasizing that all of the circumstances surrounding this interrogation confirm its custodial character. Id. at 770 (emphasis added). 32 Turning to the facts before us, we cannot say the same. On the contrary, had this stop been the first, it would fall well within the bounds of an investigatory stop. Agents Lewis and Kramer approached Ilazi and Pinjoli in a public place. They did not draw their weapons nor in any way block Ilazi's progress. The agents simply asked to speak to the two men and, upon that request, Ilazi and Pinjoli stopped walking and turned to face the agents. The agents did, of course, identify themselves as federal officers and display their badges, but this alone is not a show of authority sufficient to transform an investigatory stop into an arrest. Unlike the officers in Morin, Agents Lewis and Kramer did not ask that Ilazi accompany them to an office or a room elsewhere in the airport. Agent Lewis did not demand to see their airline tickets and identification, but rather asked, Do you mind if we take a look at your travel papers? After examining the documents, Agent Lewis did not keep them, but immediately returned them to Ilazi. 33 Under these circumstances, we do not believe this stop exceeded permissible bounds merely because it was a second stop--even though, as a second stop, it was inherently more intrusive and coercive than the first. To so hold would preclude law enforcement officials from stopping a suspect a second time whenever the first stop did not provide probable cause, even though it tended to confirm their suspicions of illegal activity. We believe that to adopt a per se rule prohibiting successive investigatory stops would unduly hinder efforts to interdict illegal drug traffic. Because of the inherently transient nature of drug courier activity, immediate, on-the-spot investigations, which frequently involve talking directly to the individuals suspected of such activity, substantially enhance the likelihood that law enforcement officers will be able to prevent the flow of illegal narcotics into distribution channels. 34