Opinion ID: 78192
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Osgood's Motion to Suppress

Text: Before trial, Osgood filed a motion to suppress marijuana discovered in connection with a traffic stop and an administrative inspection of a commercial motor vehicle. He argued, inter alia, that the search of the truck violated the Fourth Amendment because there was no probable cause to make the initial stop and that an Alabama statute authorizing the administrative inspection violated the Fourth Amendment under the Supreme Court's decision in New York v. Burger, 482 U.S. 691, 107 S.Ct. 2636, 96 L.Ed.2d 601 (1987). With respect to the latter point, he argued that the statute violated the third prong of the test set out in Burger because it did not provide an adequate substitute for a warrant, as it did not provide notice of when, where, and under what circumstances an inspection may be conducted and, thus, did not sufficiently constrain the discretion of inspecting officers. The government responded that the initial stop was justified because the officer had probable cause to believe a traffic violation had occurred. The government also argued, inter alia, that the evidence should not be suppressed even if Alabama's administrative inspection statute was unconstitutional because, under Illinois v. Krull, 480 U.S. 340, 107 S.Ct. 1160, 94 L.Ed.2d 364 (1987), the inspecting officer reasonably relied on the validity of the statute. At the suppression hearing, the government called Alejandro Gonzalez, a law enforcement officer with the Interstate Criminal Enforcement Unit of the Hoover City Police Department, who testified as follows. On May 21, 2007, while monitoring traffic from the median of Interstate 20, he observed a tractor-trailer following another vehicle too closely. Without putting his overhead lights on, Gonzalez exited the median and pulled up alongside the truck, at which point the truck attempted to move into Gonzalez's lane without using a turn signal. This constituted an improper lane change because the truck did not use its turn signal and it was not safe to make the lane change. At that point, Gonzalez pulled the truck over. Upon making contact with Osgood, who was the driver of the truck, Gonzalez immediately informed Osgood, even before asking for Osgood's license, that he was conducting a level two inspection of the truck and would not be issuing a traffic citation. A level two inspection was a safety inspection requiring Gonzalez to review the truck's paperwork and equipment. Gonzalez conducted this inspection pursuant to an Alabama statute, and the government asked the court to take judicial notice of Ala.Code § 32-9A-3. When Osgood asked why he had been pulled over, Gonzalez informed him that he had been following another vehicle too closely. Osgood and Steed, his passenger, exhibited signs of nervousness, and Osgood produced paperwork for the truck that contained several omissions and irregularities. While Gonzalez was in the midst of his inspection, he requested a canine unit, which arrived shortly thereafter and gave a positive alert to the trailer. After Gonzalez finished his inspection, he informed Osgood that, based on the canine's alert, he was going to conduct a probable cause search of the trailer. The search revealed approximately 1,600 pounds of marijuana. On cross-examination, Gonzalez testified that it was in the officer's discretion regarding which vehicles to inspect and that he had not been provided with any procedures or regulations on when to conduct an inspection. The district court denied Osgood's motion to suppress. It first found that the initial stop was valid because Gonzalez had probable cause to believe that the driver of the truck was following another vehicle too closely and had made an improper lane change, both of which constituted traffic violations under Alabama law. The court then concluded that the Alabama statute and federal regulations authorizing administrative inspections of commercial motor vehicles satisfied the three-part test in Burger. Because the initial stop and administrative inspection were both valid, the court found that the subsequent probable cause search of the trailer, based on the canine's positive alert, was constitutional. The court alternatively concluded that, even if the Alabama statute was unconstitutional, suppressing the evidence would still be inappropriate because, under Krull, Gonzalez relied in good faith on the validity of the statute.