Opinion ID: 773427
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Stop and Search Involving Peso Chavez

Text: 12 Peso Chavez's claim evolved out of the stop, search, and arrest of a white 1 motorist, George Koutsakis. In November 1992, an Illinois state trooper, and Valkyrie officer, stopped Koutsakis for exceeding the sixty-five mile per hour speed limit. Koutsakis was driving a red or burgundy rental car bearing California license plates, and had open maps, a mobile phone, and fast food wrappers in his vehicle. While the trooper was in the process of issuing a warning ticket, a second Valkyrie officer arrived (Trooper Graham) and walked his drug-detecting canine around the vehicle. The dog alerted, indicating the presence of drugs, and the subsequent search of Koutsakis's vehicle uncovered over two hundred pounds of marijuana in the trunk. Koutsakis's criminal defense attorney, Nancy Hollander, suspected that state troopers were stopping motorists based on skin tone or travel patterns, and decided to explore whether the stop of Koutsakis might have been pretextual. As part of her criminal defense strategy, she thus hired Chavez, a private investigator and New Mexico resident, to recreate the circumstances leading to Koutsakis's stop and arrest. 13 Chavez, who is Hispanic, emulated the circumstances surrounding Koutsakis's stop and arrest, to see if he would be stopped by the Illinois State Police. He rented a red car with California license plates. On February 18, 1993, he placed open maps, fast food wrappers, a cellular phone, and a gym bag in the car, and proceeded to Interstate 80 (I-80). Katherine Austin, a white female from the Public Defenders' Office, followed closely behind him in a separate car. Chavez and Austin traveled to the western edge of Bureau County, Illinois, and began driving east on I-80. When Chavez's vehicle passed State Trooper Larry Thomas, parked on the east-bound shoulder of I-80 at mile post fifty-three, Trooper Thomas decided to follow it. Thomas followed Chavez's vehicle for approximately twenty-four miles, or almost one-half hour, though he could not explain why he decided to do so. Chavez was not speeding; he traveled no faster than sixty miles per hour, although the speed limit was sixty-five. At one point, Thomas drove alongside Chavez's vehicle and looked him in the face. Thomas learned that the car was a rental car after he had a license plate check run through the dispatcher 14 Thomas stopped Chavez at about mile post seventy-seven, allegedly because Chavez failed to signal a lane change. Chavez testified that he did signal and denied committing any traffic violation. Austin, who had been following Chavez, agreed. Defendants conceded for the purposes of summary judgment that Chavez did not violate any traffic laws. Thomas approached the car and noticed several items inside, including Chavez's small suitcase, several fast food bags, and an atlas. He also saw Chavez's hands shaking and thought Chavez was nervous. Thomas requested Chavez's driver's license and registration, and returned to his squad car. 15 Thomas was subsequently joined by Sergeant Dan Gillette, who had been monitoring traffic at mile post seventy- seven. Gillette claims that Thomas told him there was something funny about Chavez, that he smelled air freshener in the car and that he did not see any luggage. Gillette suggested that Thomas run a criminal history check and a check through the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC), a database that contains information about border crossings. Gillette then went over to Chavez's vehicle and asked Chavez where he was going. Chavez replied he was going to Chicago for the day; this was not entirely true because Chavez had not yet decided whether he would go or not. To Gillette, Chavez appeared nervous and deceptive regarding his destination. Gillette also testified that he saw a road atlas and fast food wrappers in the car, and thought the car was too clean to have come from Albuquerque. Gillette returned to Thomas's vehicle and Thomas informed him that Chavez's license and registration were valid and that Chavez had no criminal history. Gillette told Thomas that he was still suspicious due to the numerous indicators of drug trafficking. 16 Thomas issued Chavez a warning ticket based on the alleged failure to signal, and returned Chavez's license and registration once he signed the citation. Thomas then asked Chavez for permission to search his car. Chavez did not consent to the search and stated that he wanted to leave. Based on the indicators, Gillette felt there was sufficient reason to detain Chavez for a canine walk around, and thus the officers detained Chavez to await the arrival of a canine unit. 17 When Trooper Graham arrived with his police dog, Krott, Thomas asked Chavez if he would consent to a canine walk-around. Gillette testified that Chavez did not consent, though Thomas's report said he did. The dog did not alert on the first walk-around. Chavez admits that he became nervous during the encounter. Because it was a rental car, he had no knowledge of whether it had previously been used to transport drugs. He also feared that, if the search was unsuccessful, the troopers would become frustrated and plant evidence. 18 The troopers conducted a second walk- around. Graham testified that this time the canine alerted, but Chavez did not see the alert. In response, Gillette asked Chavez to go sit in Officer Thomas's vehicle. Gillette, Graham, and Trooper Robert Cessna (who went to the scene when radio traffic indicated that Chavez was suspicious) then proceeded to search Chavez's car. The officers examined the car's interior, trunk, and wheel wells, and the contents of Chavez's luggage. The EPIC report then came back and indicated that Chavez's rental car had made several border crossings during the previous year. The car was searched again, this time using flashlights, and this search included an examination of the engine. Again, the officers did not find any contraband. Finally, thirty-five to fifty-five minutes after he was stopped, Thomas told Chavez he was free to go. Thomas completed a field report regarding the search of Chavez's vehicle and listed Chavez's race as white, despite the fact that the report contained a listing for Hispanic. 19 Although Chavez resides in New Mexico, plaintiffs allege that his business has a prominent Illinois nexus and Chavez is confident that he will travel to Illinois in the future. Nonetheless, Chavez was not stopped by the ISP on subsequent travel dates of February 25 and 27, 1993, and has not returned to Illinois since February 1993. 20