Opinion ID: 493363
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The June 25 Encounter and Arrest

Text: 13 Espinosa first challenges the denial of the motion to suppress the money, keys, wallet, and other papers seized during the June 25 encounter with Officers Keenan and Baello. On appeal, Espinosa does not contest the district court's finding that he consented to the search of his car. He argues only that any consent was tainted by an illegal detention and arrest. See Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 501, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1326, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983).
14 Espinosa contends that the initial detention was illegal under Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968), because Officers Keenan and Baello did not have an articulable, reasonable suspicion that the defendant had committed or was about to commit a crime. See Royer, 460 U.S. at 498-99, 103 S.Ct. at 1324-25; United States v. Sokolow, 808 F.2d 1366, 1369 (9th Cir.1987). We review the ultimate conclusion that a reasonable suspicion existed de novo and underlying factual determinations for clear error. United States v. Kerr, 817 F.2d 1384, 1386 (9th Cir.1987); Sokolow, 808 F.2d at 1369 & n. 3; United States v. Erwin, 803 F.2d 1505, 1509-10 (9th Cir.1986). 15 The fourth amendment does not place restrictions on police officers who approach persons on the street and ask them questions, if the person is willing to listen and answer. Royer, 460 U.S. at 497-98, 103 S.Ct. at 1323-24; Martinelli v. City of Beaumont, 820 F.2d 1491, 1494 & n. 2 (9th Cir.1987); Sokolow, 808 F.2d at 1369. After the officers requested identification, however, they informed Espinosa that he was being detained to determine whether he was involved in a narcotics transaction. Thus, we must determine whether the information the officers had at that time was sufficient to constitute a reasonable, articulable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot. We may not consider any information that the officers obtained after the initial detention. Sokolow, 808 F.2d at 1370. 16 Espinosa relies exclusively on People v. Bower, 24 Cal.3d 638, 156 Cal.Rptr. 856, 597 P.2d 115 (1979), and Sokolow, 808 F.2d 1366. In Bower, the California Supreme Court held that police officers did not have a reasonable, articulable suspicion when they had only observed a white man talking to several black persons at night in a black residential area known to be a high crime area. Bower, 24 Cal.3d at 645, 156 Cal.Rptr. at 860, 597 P.2d at 119-20. The Bower Court declined to rely on evidence of the suspect's arguably furtive and evasive actions, because the officers themselves stated that they did not rely on such factors. Id. at 647, 156 Cal.Rptr. at 861, 597 P.2d at 120. In Sokolow, the Ninth Circuit held that the fact that a suspect wore a black jump suit and gold jewelry, had no checked luggage, and paid for an airline ticket to Miami with cash did not justify a Terry stop. Sokolow, 808 F.2d at 1370-71. 17 The circumstances in Espinosa's case are clearly distinguishable from those in Bower and Sokolow. Officers Keenan and Baello observed the defendant with a handful of money, apparently about to give it to the second man in an area known for drug trafficking. Cf. Bower, 24 Cal.3d at 647, 156 Cal.Rptr. at 862, 597 P.2d at 121 (noting that in that case [n]othing was being concealed, disposed of, exchanged, or even carried). When the defendant spotted the officers, he slipped the money into his pocket and walked away at a fast pace; the second man ran away. Cf. Sokolow, 808 F.2d at 1371 (noting that appearing nervous or taking evasive action tends to raise a suspicion that criminal activity is going on); Erwin, 803 F.2d at 1511. Although there is no litmus test for determining when a reasonable suspicion exists, id. at 1510, the particular circumstances of this case, taken together, lead us to conclude that an experienced police officer would have a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the defendant had committed or was about to commit a crime. Put another way, we do not believe that investigative detentions based on these facts would subject a very large category of presumably innocent persons to virtually random seizures. See Reid v. Georgia, 448 U.S. 438, 441, 100 S.Ct. 2752, 2754, 65 L.Ed.2d 890 (1980) (per curiam); Sokolow, 808 F.2d at 1371.
18 Espinosa also argues that the consent was tainted by an illegal arrest. He charges that, in view of the discrepancies between the birth date he gave and the one on the traffic warrant for Henry Rodriguez and between his height and weight and those for Henry Rodriguez on the warrant, the record shows that the arrest was nothing but a policeman's ploy to search his person and car for narcotics. An arrest may not be used as a pretext to search for evidence. United States v. Smith, 802 F.2d 1119, 1124 (9th Cir.1986). 19 The two Ninth Circuit cases on which Espinosa relies involve far more extreme circumstances than those in the present case. In Taglavore v. United States, 291 F.2d 262 (9th Cir.1961), we concluded that the police had engaged in a deliberate, pre-planned scheme to evade the requirements of the fourth amendment, because officers waited one day to issue and serve a traffic warrant in order to arrest the suspect at a time when he might have narcotics in his possession. Id. at 265-67. We expressly distinguished the case in which a police officer is confronted with a sudden and unexpected situation [and] made a miscalculation in acting. Id. at 267. In United States v. Prim, 698 F.2d 972 (9th Cir.1983), we held invalid an after-the-fact attempt to use an outstanding nonsupport warrant to justify a search for narcotics that lacked probable cause. Id. at 974-75. The officers testified at the suppression hearing that they did not rely on that warrant when making the search. Id. at 974. 20 In Espinosa's case, the officers stated that they acted under a belief that the defendant was wanted on an outstanding traffic warrant. Thus, unlike Prim, the officers did not use the warrant as a pretextual basis to arrest Espinosa. At the time the officers first indicated that the defendant was being placed under arrest, Espinosa had given his birth date only orally. Despite the protestations that he was not the person wanted under the warrant, it was not unreasonable for the officers to believe that he was. See Hill v. California, 401 U.S. 797, 803, 91 S.Ct. 1106, 1110, 28 L.Ed.2d 484 (1971) (noting that aliases and false identifications are not uncommon). To be sure, the discrepancy between the height and weight figures should have given the officers pause to question whether they had the right person, and the record indicates that it did. See supra note 1; cf. Hill, 401 U.S. at 802-04, 91 S.Ct. at 1110-11 (holding that officers had a reasonable, good-faith belief that the arrestee was the person sought in a robbery when the arrestee fit the physical description of the robber). On balance, however, we believe that the district court's determination that the officers did not arrest the defendant under the pretext of the traffic warrant in order to search for narcotics is not clearly erroneous. 2 See McCusker v. Cupp, 541 F.2d 850, 851 (9th Cir.1976) (per curiam); Williams v. United States, 418 F.2d 159, 161 (9th Cir.1969), aff'd, 401 U.S. 646, 91 S.Ct. 1148, 28 L.Ed.2d 388 (1971); see also Maryland v. Garrison, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 1013, 1018-19, 94 L.Ed.2d 72 (1987) (noting the need to allow some latitude for honest mistakes that are made by officers in the dangerous and difficult process of making arrests); Hill, 401 U.S. at 804, 91 S.Ct. at 1111 (stating that the officers' mistake was understandable and the arrest a reasonable response to the situation facing them at the time).