Opinion ID: 814751
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Duration and Scope of Stop

Text: A traffic stop “must be temporary and last no longer than is necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop, unless further reasonable suspicion, supported by articulable facts, emerges.” United States v. Brigham, 382 F.3d 500, 507 (5th Cir. 2004) (en banc). “If the officer develops reasonable suspicion of additional criminal activity during his investigation of the circumstances that originally caused the stop, he may further detain [the] occupants [of the vehicle] for a reasonable time while appropriately attempting to dispel this reasonable suspicion.” United States v. Pack, 612 F.3d 341, 350 (5th Cir. 2010). Andres argues that his “detention impermissibly exceeded its original scope when Sergeant Brody detained him longer than necessary to issue a written warning and then questioned him about matters wholly unrelated to the purpose of a routine traffic stop.” This court has emphasized that police questioning, even about matters unrelated to a traffic stop, does not violate the Fourth Amendment absent some nonconsensual restraint on one’s liberty. Brigham, 382 F.3d at 508. Accordingly, the question is only whether Andres was detained for longer than necessary to deal with the initial traffic violations, and if so, whether additional reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing developed during the time that Brody was legitimately addressing the traffic violations. The government understandably does not contend that the entire stop, including the continued interrogation of Andres and his passenger and the dog search, was justified by the initial traffic violations. Rather, the government argues that Andres’ untruthful answers and nervousness, the anonymous tip stating that the 7 Case: 11-40783 Document: 00512099859 Page: 8 Date Filed: 01/03/2013 No. 11-40783 truck was carrying drugs, and other factors created additional reasonable suspicion justifying the continued detention. Andres contends that after Brody checked his driving and criminal records and wrote a warning ticket, Brody should have immediately obtained his signature on the ticket and let him go. Instead, Brody asked Andres to walk to the back of the trailer to look at the lights that were previously flickering and the wiring that might have been loose. After briefly discussing the lights and wiring, Brody handed Andres the warning ticket to sign and immediately asked him where he was coming from. Andres responded that he had come from Joliet. However, Brody knew that Simington had spotted Andres coming from south of Joliet, and that given the amount of time that had passed since Simington spotted Andres, Andres would not have had time to make a stop in Joliet. The government argues that this initial question, which revealed to Brody that Andres was lying and thereby created further suspicion, took place while Andres was signing the warning ticket and did not extend the duration of the stop. The district court found that the initial question and answer occurred “as the legitimate stop [was] still in progress,” and that Andres’ further responses and nervousness created additional suspicion. The district court concluded that these facts provided Brody with a legitimate basis to continue the stop. We do not find it unreasonable that an officer who has stopped a driver based on code violations and safety concerns involving a trailer would ask the driver to exit the vehicle to look at the trailer and discuss the problems. Furthermore, we agree that Brody’s question asking where Andres was driving from occurred before Brody had finished dealing with the traffic offenses and did not extend the scope or duration of the stop. Andres’ untruthful answer created further suspicion justifying continued detention, and his subsequent answers created even further suspicion. Based on this reasonable suspicion, Brody continued to investigate, ultimately requesting and receiving permission to 8 Case: 11-40783 Document: 00512099859 Page: 9 Date Filed: 01/03/2013 No. 11-40783 search the truck. Because Brody’s continued search and seizure beyond the scope of the initial traffic stop were justified by additional reasonable suspicion, the district court did not err in concluding that the scope of the stop was reasonable.