Opinion ID: 537189
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Initial Stop of Defendants.

Text: 18 The fourth amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures does not control every encounter between citizens and police. Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 497, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1323-24, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983); United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 555, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 1877-78, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980); United States v. Sugrim, 732 F.2d 25, 28 (2d Cir.1984). When, however, an officer even briefly detains an individual and restrains that person's right to walk away, he has effected a seizure and the limitations of the fourth amendment become applicable. Sugrim, 732 F.2d at 28; see also Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 16, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1877, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); United States v. Adegbite, 846 F.2d 834, 837 (2d Cir.1988). 19 The test for determining whether an encounter between a police officer and an individual constitutes a seizure is whether, in view of all of the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. at 554, 100 S.Ct. at 1877. Examples of circumstances that may indicate a seizure include the threatening presence of several officers, the display of a weapon by an officer, some physical touching of the person of the citizen, or the use of language or tone of voice indicating that compliance with the officer's request might be compelled. Id.; see also Sugrim, 732 F.2d at 28. On the other hand, police questioning, by itself, is unlikely to result in a Fourth Amendment violation. While most citizens will respond to a police request, the fact that people do so, and do so without being told they are free not to respond, hardly eliminates the consensual nature of the response. INS v. Delgado, 466 U.S. 210, 216, 104 S.Ct. 1758, 1762, 80 L.Ed.2d 247 (1984). 20 In support of his claim, Libreros, who has limited proficiency in the English language, urges that Siegel's request to speak with him, coupled with Siegel's display of his badge and following closely upon Mancini's request to speak with the defendants, conveyed an implication of obligation, see United States v. Ceballos, 812 F.2d 42, 48 (2d Cir.1987) (citing Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200, 207 n. 6, 99 S.Ct. 2248, 2253-54 n. 6, 60 L.Ed.2d 824 (1979), and quoting Model Code of Pre-Arraignment Procedure Sec. 110.1 commentary at 261 (1975)), which led Libreros reasonably to believe that he was not free to leave. Thus, it is argued, the encounter was a seizure. Although Moreno's primary fourth amendment contention relates to his arrest at a later stage of his encounter with the DEA agents, he also contends that he was improperly seized as a result of his initial stop and questioning by Mancini in the vestibule of the apartment building. 21 We disagree. The initial contacts between the agents and both defendants were thoroughly consensual. Mancini merely asked defendants to come over here for a second. Neither agent raised his voice, drew a weapon, touched the defendants, or physically impeded them in any way. Moreno responded to the request by voluntarily turning around and walking in the direction of the agents. We see no serious argument that Moreno was seized at that juncture or during the ensuing events prior to his arrest in the vestibule of the apartment building, and Moreno makes only passing reference to this contention on appeal. 22 As to Libreros, although he initially took several steps away from the agents, he too stopped when Siegel identified himself as a police officer and asked to speak to him. Siegel asked Libreros what was contained in the bag he was shifting from hand to hand, and Libreros thereupon displayed its contents to him. At no point did Libreros indicate that he did not wish to speak with Siegel, nor did Siegel indicate either physically or verbally that Libreros could not walk away. Even considered in context, Siegel's displaying his badge and walking toward Libreros did not amount to the kind of imposing or intimidating presence that would transform their encounter into a seizure implicating the fourth amendment. 23 United States v. Ceballos, 812 F.2d 42 (2d Cir.1987), upon which Libreros relies, is not to the contrary. In that case, agents of the Secret Service came to Efrain Adames' place of work and asked Adames, who like Libreros was not proficient in the English language, to come to a field office for questioning. The request was made at Adames' place of work and in a manner that the principal agent admit[ted] conveyed a strong sense of urgency and the impression that the agents did not intend to leave without Adames. 812 F.2d at 48. The initial impression of obligation to accompany the agents was compounded by their denial of Adames' request to follow them in the company van. Id. We accordingly ruled that Adames had been seized, and suppressed evidence and statements subsequently elicited from him. As the foregoing quotations should make clear, however, there is little factual similarity between the situation presented in Ceballos and the chance street encounter between Siegel and Libreros upon which we must rule. 24