Opinion ID: 167519
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Officers’ Conversation with the Defendant

Text: Any doubts about probable cause to expand the search are dispelled by three suspicious aspects of M s. Concepcion-Ledesma’s initial conversation with Trooper Ranieri. First, the small amount of luggage in the back of the van was inconsistent with the women’s stated travel plans to spend up to two weeks in Los Angeles, and their intention to “find some friends” for a two-week stay was implausible. See U nited States v. Ozbirn, 189 F.3d 1194, 1200 (10th Cir. 1999) (finding probable cause based in part on a “vague description” of travel plans); United States v. Arango, 912 F.2d 441, 447 (10th Cir. 1990) (finding probable cause to arrest based on evidence of a secret compartment along with “the inadequate amount of luggage in the truck for [the defendant’s] purported twoweek vacation”). Second, M s. Concepcion-Ledesma denied any association with any other vehicles traveling nearby, which was suspicious because Trooper Ranieri had observed two other vehicles— including one from M ichigan, judging by its license plates— traveling close together with the van in the slow lane on I- 70. Third, the district court found that M s. Concepcion-Ledesma’s “extreme nervousness” contributed to probable cause. M em. & Order 19. Although “nervousness is a sufficiently common— indeed natural— reaction to confrontation with the police,” we have held that “extraordinary and prolonged nervousness can weigh significantly in the assessment” of probable cause or reasonable suspicion. Santos, 403 F.3d at 1127. These circumstances, together with the evidence of a - 22 - hidden compartment discovered in the course of the consensual search, easily provide probable cause for a search of the side panels of the rear of the van.