Opinion ID: 554968
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Walker's Motion to Suppress

Text: 15 Walker argues that there was lack of articulable suspicion to perform the stop and lack of reasonable belief that Walker was in possession of a weapon. We review the district court's finding as to the inferences reasonably drawn from the facts and circumstances presented at the suppression hearing under the clearly erroneous standard. See, e.g., United States v. Stanley, 915 F.2d 54, 57 (1st Cir.1990); United States v. Figueroa, 818 F.2d 1020, 1024 (1st Cir.1987); United States v. Wiseman, 814 F.2d 826, 827-828 (1st Cir.1987). 16 The question of whether an officer has reasonable grounds to stop and to frisk falls directly within the Fourth Amendment's proscription against unreasonable searches and seizures. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 16, 20, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1877, 1879, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). The Supreme Court stated that in justifying the particular intrusion the police officer must be able to point to specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant that intrusion. Terry, 392 U.S. at 21, 88 S.Ct. at 1880. 17 In determining the reasonableness of a Terry stop, the court must first consider whether the officer's action was justified at its inception; and, second, whether the action taken was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place. Stanley, 915 F.2d at 55 (citations omitted). When applying this familiar two-prong test, the court must view the circumstances relating to the stop and frisk as a whole. Id. 18 First, we turn to the determination of whether the police action was justified at its inception. We continue to recognize that this determination depends on the totality of the circumstances confronting the officer, United States v. Trullo, 809 F.2d 108, 111 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 482 U.S. 916, 107 S.Ct. 3191, 96 L.Ed.2d 679 (1987), and that due weight must be given, not to his inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or 'hunch', but to the specific reasonable inferences which he is entitled to draw from the facts in light of his experience. Stanley, 915 F.2d at 56 (quoting Terry, 392 U.S. at 27, 88 S.Ct. at 1883). 19 The circumstances in this case clearly support that Officer Lyons had reasonable suspicion that a crime was afoot. The magistrate's report, later endorsed by the district court, found that the area had a history of crime. The magistrate's report found that: 20 [i]t was entirely reasonable for Officer Lyons to have approached the defendant and Chrispman in connection with his investigation of possible criminal behavior. Their presence at 2:30 a.m. near a trailer rig loaded with wood and a detached cab was clearly suspicious, especially so in light of Officer Lyons' knowledge of previous burglaries at this same site and elsewhere in the area. 21 Recommended Decision on Motion to Suppress (February 15, 1990), at 5. We agree. The type of area in question is clearly a consideration officers use in deciding to make a Terry stop. See Stanley, 915 F.2d at 56; Trullo, 809 F.2d at 111. Officer Lyons testified that he knew there had been early morning break-ins in this area in the past. 22 In addition to this general factor, there were other particular facts that gave rise to Officer Lyons' impression that a crime was in progress. It was 2:30 a.m. and Officer Lyons had patrolled this area for 4 years and never before had noticed an early morning delivery made at C.R. Wood. The trailer, which was loaded with lumber, was parked in a dimly lit area in the back of the building, as if in an effort to be concealed. The fact that the trailer had out-of-state license plates also caused Officer Lyons to question whether any illegal activity was going on. Such facts would permit a reasonable officer with Officer Lyons' experience to conclude that a burglary was in progress or that a legitimately loaded trailer might be in the process of being attached to a pirate cab. 23 Having determined that Officer Lyons' actions were justified at the inception, we turn to the question of whether the stop and frisk was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the inference in the first place. In regard to this inquiry, the Supreme Court has made clear that in regard to a frisk for weapons [t]he officer need not be absolutely certain that the individual is armed; the issue is whether a reasonably prudent man in the circumstances would be warranted in the belief that his safety or that of others was in danger. Terry, 392 U.S. at 27, 88 S.Ct. at 1883. Therefore, Officer Lyons' concerns for his own safety is of paramount importance in assessing the appropriateness of the action taken. 24 Officer Lyons testified at the suppression hearing that he had a great concern for his safety at the time he conducted the weapon search, based on his belief that either the defendant or Chrispman may have been armed. His knowledge of the prior burglaries in the area led to his concern that these two leery men were involved in a burglary in progress at this early hour of the morning. The dimly lit area where the officer was questioning the two men heightened his skepticism. More importantly, his experience that burglars often carry weapons or other dangerous objects and the evasive conduct on the part of Chrispman when asking to return to the cab to get his identification, clearly support Officer Lyons' concern for his safety and suspicions that these men might be armed. When viewing the totality of all the circumstances, we find that Officer Lyons' actions in this case were reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the original stop and therefore did not violate the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights.