Opinion ID: 619116
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Reasonable Suspicion for a Stop

Text: We agree with the district court's determination that the 911 call and Petitioner's evasive conduct gave rise to reasonable suspicion that Petitioner was involved in a shooting, justifying an investigatory stop. We start with the general rule that a police officer may conduct an investigatory stop if he has a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the person has been, is, or is about to be engaged in criminal activity. United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696, 702, 103 S.Ct. 2637, 77 L.Ed.2d 110 (1983) (citing Terry, 392 U.S. at 22, 88 S.Ct. 1868). It is not enough to have an inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or `hunch,' Terry, 392 U.S. at 27, 88 S.Ct. 1868, but the level of suspicion required for a Terry stop is obviously less demanding than for probable cause, Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 330, 110 S.Ct. 2412, 110 L.Ed.2d 301 (1990) (quoting United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 7, 109 S.Ct. 1581, 104 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989)). Where an informant tip, rather than police observation, is the basis of an investigatory stop, the tip must exhibit sufficient indicia of reliability to provide reasonable suspicion to make the investigatory stop. Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266, 270, 120 S.Ct. 1375, 146 L.Ed.2d 254 (2000) (quoting White, 496 U.S. at 327, 110 S.Ct. 2412). The tip is evaluated under a totality of the circumstances standard. Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 231, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983) (evaluating whether anonymous informant tip gave rise to probable cause); White, 496 U.S. at 328-29, 110 S.Ct. 2412 (applying Gates' totality of the circumstances standard to determine if anonymous tip gave rise to reasonable suspicion). An informant's veracity, reliability, and basis of knowledge are highly relevant to the analysis. Gates, 462 U.S. at 231, 103 S.Ct. 2317. Where a tip cannot be verified because it is anonymous, the Supreme Court recognizes the probative value of corroboration of details of an informant's tip by independent police work. Id. at 241, 103 S.Ct. 2317. In White, an anonymous phone tip stated that a woman would be leaving 235-C Lynwood Terrace Apartments at a particular time in a brown Plymouth station wagon with the right taillight lens broken, that she would be going to Dobey's Motel, and that she would be in possession of cocaine. 496 U.S. at 327, 110 S.Ct. 2412. This tip, substantially corroborated by the police, was sufficient to justify an investigatory stop. Id. at 332, 110 S.Ct. 2412. In Florida v. J.L ., however, a tip from an unknown caller from an unknown location, stating merely that J.L. was standing at a particular bus stop, dressed in plaid, and armed with a gun, did not contain sufficient indicia of reliability to establish reasonable suspicion for a stop. 529 U.S. at 271-72, 120 S.Ct. 1375. Significantly, the tip was from a completely anonymous caller who provided no predictive information whereby the police could test the informant's knowledge or credibility. An accurate description of the suspect's location and appearance was not enough because such a tip does not show that the tipster has knowledge of concealed criminal activity. Id. at 272, 120 S.Ct. 1375. And, [a]part from the tip, the officers had no reason to suspect [J.L.] of illegal conduct. Id. at 268, 120 S.Ct. 1375. Petitioner contends that J.L. controls his case because the 911 call here was likewise an anonymous, uncorroborated tip. We find Petitioner's case distinguishable for four reasons. First, we agree with the district court's conclusion that this call was not completely anonymous. The district court found that [t]he call `was made by a citizen-tipster, who was an eyewitness to the events [ ] he reported to the police,' and who provided his address to the police dispatcher. Robinson, 2010 WL 4942839, at  (quoting United States v. Reed, 1 Fed.Appx. 706, 708 (9th Cir.2001)). Justice Kennedy explained in his concurring opinion in J.L. that in assessing the reliability of a tip, a court may consider the fact that an informant places his anonymity at risk. J.L., 529 U.S. at 275, 120 S.Ct. 1375 (Kennedy, J., concurring) ([A] tip might be anonymous in some sense yet have certain other features, either supporting reliability or narrowing the likely class of informants, so that the tip does provide the lawful basis for some police action.). The Tenth Circuit, in United States v. Brown, 496 F.3d 1070 (10th Cir.2007), found persuasive the fact that a 911 caller, though she did not leave her name or number, identified herself as the crime victim's friend and stated that she had been with the victim earlier that day. The court reasoned: [I]t was reasonable for the officers to believe a limited number of people were both [the crime victim's] friend and present in her apartment on the morning [in question]. The caller in this case belonged to a relatively small population, and therefore is not analogous to the anonymous caller in J.L. who did not distinguish him or herself from the more than two million people who lived in MiamiDade County. Brown, 496 F.3d at 1076. While the identifying information provided in the 911 call here was minimalthe caller did not claim to live at the reported address or assert any other connection to itthe address is an indicium of reliability that adds to the totality of the circumstances and distinguishes the call from the completely unidentifiable tipster in J.L. Second, the 911 call here was a contemporaneous eyewitness account. Firsthand knowledge and contemporaneity weigh in favor of a statement's reliability. This Court, in evaluating an in-person tip, found that an informant's proximity in time and space to the reported criminal activity indicated the tip was reliable because it reflects that the informant acquired the information firsthand. Henness v. Bagley, 644 F.3d 308, 318 (6th Cir.2011) (citing United States v. Chapman, 305 F.3d 530, 534 (6th Cir.2002)). Other circuits have similarly found eyewitness tips reliable where they are over the phone or anonymous. See United States v. Terry-Crespo, 356 F.3d 1170, 1176-77 (9th Cir.2004) (analogizing to the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule in finding that a victim-informant's tip, made immediately after the alleged crime, was reliable); see also Brown, 496 F.3d at 1076-77 (finding that firsthand knowledge and contemporaneity with the described events increased the reliability of an anonymous 911 call); United States v. Perkins, 363 F.3d 317, 322 (4th Cir.2004) (The [unnamed] tipster's basis of knowledgea contemporaneous viewing of the suspicious activityenhanced the tip's reliability.). Third, unlike J.L., the call in this case did not simply report a man potentially carrying a gun but described shots being fired. While we have not yet addressed whether a tip reporting an ongoing emergency is entitled to a greater degree of reliability than a non-emergency tip, our sister circuits that have considered the question have found exigency to matter. See United States v. Hicks, 531 F.3d 555, 559 (7th Cir.2008) (listing circuit decisions affording greater reliability to emergency calls than to anonymous tips concerning general criminality). The Second Circuit has aptly captured the reasons for this: The higher degree of reliability is rooted in the special reliability inherent in reports of ongoing emergencies. Given the greater reliability of an emergency 911 call, the requisite level of corroboration is lower. This approach recognizes the need for police to act on reports of an emergency situation without delay, but still requires police officers to corroborate allegations of criminal activity in some meaningful way. United States v. Simmons, 560 F.3d 98, 105 (2d Cir.2009) (internal citations and quotations omitted). We consider such reasoning persuasive and find that the emergency nature of the call in this case adds to the totality of the circumstances comprising reasonable suspicion. Further, this finding is consistent with J.L., which acknowledged that its holding did not extend to emergency situations. See J.L., 529 U.S. at 273, 120 S.Ct. 1375 (The facts of this case do not require us to speculate about the circumstances under which the danger alleged in an anonymous tip might be so great as to justify a search even without a showing of reliability.). Fourth, reasonable suspicion in this case was based on more than just the 911 call. There is evidence the Petitioner acted evasively upon seeing police approach, jumping out of the car while yelling, I've done nothing wrong! and walking away from Deputy Kasholo after being ordered to stay put. Nervousness, hurrying away from the police, and other evasive behavior are relevant factors in the reasonable suspicion analysis. See Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119, 124, 120 S.Ct. 673, 145 L.Ed.2d 570 (2000) ([N]ervous, evasive behavior is a pertinent factor in determining reasonable suspicion.); United States v. Caruthers, 458 F.3d 459, 466 (6th Cir. 2006) (taking into account the fact that defendant hurried away in a semi-running manner from the police in determining whether reasonable suspicion existed for a stop). Based on the totality of the circumstances, we find that the officers reasonably suspected Petitioner of a shooting and that their investigatory stop was thus justified. We do not decide whether any of these factors alone would establish reasonable suspicion. We find simply that, here, the information given in the 911 call, in addition to the Petitioner's conduct when confronted by the police, sufficed to justify a stop of the Petitioner.