Opinion ID: 3035323
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Accelerating and Exceeding the Speed Limit

Text: Officer Boehmer testified that after turning right onto Las Vegas Boulevard, Willis turned right onto Charleston Boule16566 UNITED STATES v. WILLIS vard, turned right onto Third Street, and finally turned right back onto Hoover Avenue. The distance on Las Vegas Boulevard between Hoover Avenue and Charleston (i.e., between Willis’s first and second turns) is one block. The distance on Charleston between Las Vegas Boulevard and Third Street (i.e., between his second and third turns) is two blocks. The distance on Third Street between Charleston and Hoover (i.e., between his third and fourth turns) is a block and a half. After his fourth right turn back onto Hoover, Willis parked his car on the south side of the street at or near the northwest corner of Third and Hoover. Willis traveled essentially in a circle, covering a total distance of somewhere between four-and-a- half and five blocks. On direct, Officer Boehmer testified that he was driving northbound on Fourth Street at the intersection of Fourth and Hoover when he first saw Willis. Officer Boehmer was one block away from Willis, who at that moment was making his “rapid” right turn from Hoover onto Las Vegas Boulevard. Officer Boehmer testified that he turned right onto Hoover toward Las Vegas Boulevard to follow Willis. Then, as Officer Boehmer turned right onto Las Vegas Boulevard from Hoover, he saw Willis — still one block ahead of him — turning right onto Charleston. Officer Boehmer testified, “I accelerated to attempt to catch up with the vehicle because it was apparent to me, with the distance he had gained, he had been accelerating. I then made a westbound turn onto Charleston, and at the time the vehicle was just beginning to make a turn onto northbound Third Street.” Boehmer testified that in his opinion Willis was trying to evade him. He said, “Just from my experience — my three years experience, in the past people trying to evade me, make rapid continuous turns like that.” On further questioning by the magistrate judge, Officer Boehmer reiterated his view that Willis’s right turn onto Las Vegas Boulevard had been a traffic violation. He also stated UNITED STATES v. WILLIS 16567 for the first time that, although he could not tell “exactly how fast” Willis was traveling, he was exceeding the speed limit: Q: [A]s you reached Hoover, to your right you looked and saw this white vehicle making a right turn from Hoover onto Las Vegas Boulevard south- bound? A: Yes. Yes, Your Honor. Q: A rapid turn? A: Yes, a rapid turn. Q: Was it a traffic violation in your judgment? A: It is. Basically the way he made his turn. Q: Is that what you thought at the time? A: Oh, definitely at the time, that’s why I contin- ued to follow him. And then once I made the turn and I observed how far he had gotten from me, the distance that he had gained, he wasn’t going the speed limit. I had, you know, no way to tell exactly how fast, but he wasn’t going the speed limit because I had to accelerate excessively to try to catch up with him. The magistrate judge sought to clarify the distances (and, by inference, the speeds) involved, asking if Officer Boehmer could see Willis after he turned onto Charleston from Las Vegas Boulevard, and then again after he turned onto Third from Charleston: Q: So you saw him make a right turn on Third [from Charleston]? 16568 UNITED STATES v. WILLIS A: Yes I did. Q: And then when you reached Third and made a right turn, do you recall where he was when you were able to see down Third Street? A: Yes. I believe he was already past Coolidge because I was saying — I remember saying to myself, man, this guy is driving so fa[s]t, you know it was almost to the point I was going to call out the vehicle pursuit, but I had no other description besides the white vehicle. The distance between Charleston and Third is a block and a half. Coolidge comes into Third at an angle, joining Third half a block up from Charleston. The magistrate judge contin- ued: Q: And then when you turned north on Third Street, he was already halfway between Coolidge and Hoover? A: Yes. Q: He must have been slowing down as he approached Hoover, correct? A: He did. Q: And he then made a right turn on Hoover? A: Yes. Q: Just around the corner practically — A: Yes. Q: — and parked — UNITED STATES v. WILLIS 16569 A: Yes. Q: On the south side of the street? A: Yes, Your Honor. When Willis parked his car, he was less than two blocks from where he had been when Officer Boehmer had first spotted him. He was now back on Hoover, pointed in the same direction he had been driving when he made his “rapid turn” from Hoover onto Las Vegas Boulevard. Officer Boehmer never testified as to the speed limit on the streets on which Willis traveled, or as to the exact speed Willis was traveling. He also made no attempt to explain how Willis had been able to exceed the speed limit when he never traveled more than two blocks in a straight line. Nor did Officer Boehmer attempt to reconcile his belief that Willis was trying to evade him with the fact that Willis had essentially driven in a four-and-a-half to five-block circle, coming back onto Hoover and then stopping voluntarily.