Opinion ID: 149612
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Totality of the factors

Text: Trooper Bowles clearly was suspicious of Mr. Simpsonhe continued questioning him about his travel plans while waiting for the license plate check, and, then he ordered him to stay in the Trooper's car so that he could bring the canine to sniff Mr. Simpson's vehicle. The question is whether this suspicion was reasonable and articulable rather than a hunch that turned out accurate. See Sokolow, 490 U.S. at 7, 109 S.Ct. 1581 (observing that an officer's inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or hunch is insufficient to give rise to reasonable suspicion (internal quotation marks omitted)). In essence, we are asked to decide whether a police officer who has lawfully stopped a person is allowed to continue to detain that person for a short period of time when that person has a criminal record of drug trafficking, is acting extremely nervous in a situation where others typically relax, and provides evasive answers that describe a fairly implausible travel plan. We must determine whether the Constitution demands that a police officer in such a situation to cease the immediate investigation and let that person go on his way. Although a close call, we conclude that Trooper Bowles had reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot, and thus, had the right to briefly detain Mr. Simpson for further investigation. Reasonable suspicion is not, and is not meant to be, an onerous standard. Mr. Simpson's record of prior criminal activity enhanced the suspicious nature of the other factors. All of them combined permitted Trooper Bowles to constitutionally continue questioning Mr. Simpson, and submit his vehicle to a drug sniff by a trained dog. See Arvizu, 534 U.S. at 277, 122 S.Ct. 744 (stating that each of these factors alone is susceptible of innocent explanation, and some factors are more probative than others but concluding that together the individual favor provided reasonable suspicion). This circuit has previously held, in White, that these three factors were sufficient to provide reasonable suspicion, and under the facts before us, we reach the same conclusion.