Opinion ID: 163735
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: f ourth a mendment

Text: Mr. Sanchez challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress the methamphetamine found hidden in the compartment under the rear floorboard, as well as the day planner and its contents, which were found in the trunk. His appeal presents two issues: 1) whether the officer had objectively reasonable and articulable suspicion to justify further detention beyond the scope of the traffic 2 To access the compartment, the trooper testified he removed the rear seat. Under the seat was an elaborately controlled access panel that opened the hidden compartment. (ROA, Vol. IV, 8-9). -3- stop; and 2) whether the consent to search the vehicle was voluntary. We will uphold the district court’s denial of the motion to suppress unless clearly erroneous. United States v. Gonzalez-Lerma, 14 F.3d 1479, 1483 (10th Cir. 1994), cert. denied 511 U.S. 1095 (1944) (citations omitted). But, the ultimate determination of reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment is a question of law, which we review de novo. Id. During a routine traffic stop, an officer may request a driver's license and vehicle registration, ask about travel plans and vehicle ownership, and may run a computer check before issuing a citation. United States v. Williams, 271 F.3d 1262, 1267-68 (10th Cir. 2001), cert. denied 535 U.S. 1019 (2002); United States v. Zubia-Melendez, 263 F.3d 1155, 1161 (10th Cir. 2001). Once the driver has produced a valid license and proof that he is entitled to operate the car, further detention and questioning beyond that related to the initial stop is permissible “only if there exists an objectively reasonable and articulable suspicion that criminal activity has occurred or is occurring.” Williams, 271 F.3d at 1268; Zubia-Melendez, 263 F.3d at 1161 (internal quotations and citations omitted). Mr. Sanchez does not contend the initial traffic stop was improper. Instead, he claims his constitutional rights were violated because the trooper fabricated his justification for the subsequent detention and further questioning. Mr. Sanchez challenges the trooper’s testimony that an odor of raw methamphetamine was -4- detectable during the initial encounter. 3 As a result, we must determine whether reasonable suspicion existed to support the detention of Mr. Sanchez beyond the time required for the initial stop. Considering all the evidence, the district court believed the trooper’s testimony that he detected an odor, which his training and experience indicated was the scent of raw methamphetamine. The trooper testified the odor was “distinct,” and he recognized the scent when he first approached the vehicle. (ROA, Vol. IV at 5). Even though the odor testimony alone, if credible, could satisfy the threshold test and justify further detention and questioning, the district court also credited the testimony about inconsistent travel plans given by the two defendants, as well as the dubious registration of the vehicle to a person they could not readily identify. 4 Nothing suggests the district court’s finding of reasonable and articulable suspicion was erroneous, so we turn to the question of 3 He discredits the trooper’s testimony that the odor of methamphetamine was readily detectible by pointing out that a trained canine, released at the scene sometime after the arrest and search, but before the drugs were removed from the compartment, did not alert immediately to the presence of drugs. (ROA, Vol. V, 179-83). Instead, the canine alerted only when led to the back seat of the vehicle. (Id. at 183). Mr. Sanchez’s argument, while plausible, did not persuade the trial judge or the jury; perhaps because by the time the canine approached the vehicle, the doors were open and the back seat removed, allowing the inference that the odor was no longer concentrated inside the vehicle. (Id. at 180, ln. 17). 4 After handing the registration to the trooper, the Defendants were only able to identify the registered owner as “David.” Neither could recall his last name. (Vol. IV at 39, ln. 22). -5- probable cause to search. 5 “An officer has probable cause to search a car if, under totality of circumstances, there is a fair probability the car contains contraband or evidence.” United States v. Parker, 72 F.3d 1444, 1450 (10th Cir. 1995) (internal quotations omitted). The scent of raw methamphetamine emanating from vehicle (as was the case here) will suffice to provide probable cause for a search of the entire vehicle, including the trunk. United States v. Wald, 216 F.3d 1222, 1228 (10th Cir. 2000) (emphasis added). 6 Additionally, the factors found to justify the detention and questioning also support a probable cause determination. Still further, after discovering the secret compartment and its contents (twenty pounds of methamphetamine), the trooper had abundant reason to thoroughly search the trunk and its contents, which we 5 Mr. Sanchez contends that his motion to suppress should have been granted because he did not voluntarily consent to a search of the vehicle. It might be debatable whether continued detention became consensual when Mr. Sanchez signed the consent form, but it is academic. Because we conclude that the detention and the warrantless search were lawful, we do not reach the consent issue. 6 The smell of raw or burnt drugs justifies a search of the passenger compartment, but the smell of burnt marijuana does not justify the search of the trunk. Wald, 216 F.3d at 1228; Parker, 72 F.3d at 1450. In Wald, we noted that “the rule is premised on the common sense proposition that the smell of burnt marijuana is indicative of drug usage rather than drug trafficking, and because it is unreasonable to believe people smoke marijuana in the trunks of cars, the mere smell of burnt marijuana does not create the fair probability that the trunk contains marijuana.” Wald, 216 F.3d at 1226. -6- note was done post-arrest. There was no Fourth Amendment violation.