Court Opinion

ID: 9529963
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:55:52.715974+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:27:57.701063
License: Public Domain

BAILEY, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority's conclusion that Officer Watterson did not have reasonable suspicion to stop Brennan for suspected narcotics activity. The totality of the cireumstances was sufficient for a police officer of reasonable caution to believe that an investigation of the Taurus for narcotics activity was appropriate.
The United States Supreme Court announced in Ornelas v. U.S. that "the principal components of a determination of reasonable suspicion or probable cause will be the events which occurred leading up to the stop or search, and then the decision whether these historical facts, viewed from the standpoint of an objectively reasonable police officer, amount to reasonable suspi-clon or to probable cause." 517 U.S. 690, 696, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996). It noted further "a police officer views the facts through the lens of his police experience and expertise." Id. at 699, 116 S.Ct. 1657. Therefore, in determining whether the totality of the cireum-stances supports a finding of reasonable suspicion, we must look at the circum*174stances through the lens of the police officer's experience and expertise leading up to the so-called Terry stop.
Officer Watterson is a patrolman on the Indianapolis Police Department's Neighborhood Resource Officer Unit, combating mainly street-level drug dealing, handguns, and prostitution. In the past four years, this particular Marathon gas station on Tibbs Avenue has been the location of twenty to fifty arrests made by Officer Watterson for crimes involving narcotics, handguns, and prostitution. In fact, this location was one that Officer Watterson watched regularly for such criminal activity. From these experiences, it can be reasonably inferred that this street patrol officer had gained an expertise in differentiating between behavior indicating illegal activity and behavior of legitimate customers of the Tibbs Avenue gas station. Based on his testimony, Officer Watterson was not acting on knowledge that the general neighborhood was crime ridden, but that this specific gas station was a hot spot for illegal activities, including narcotics dealing. This officer's specific knowledge about the location provides a much stronger foundation for reasonable suspicion when observing the particular events on March 25, 2005.
First, a Taurus with heavily tinted windows pulled into the gas station, circling the lot before parking at the far west curb of the gas station. For ten minutes, the Taurus sat in the parking lot known for drug activity. None of the passengers exited the vehicle to make business transactions typically associated with a gas station. However, in that same interval, occupants of other vehicles had entered and exited the gas station, making appropriate business transactions.
Second, a white car pulled into the gas station, coming to a stop beside the Taurus. Then, a man exited the front passenger side of the Taurus and entered the passenger side of the white car, after which the white car proceeded to cirele the lot slowly and drive off.
In my opinion, these cireumstances observed from the perspective of a police officer that has effectuated numerous arrests in recent years for drug related activity at this very gas station rise to the level of reasonable suspicion. The passengers of both vehicles acted contrary to the other patrons of the Marathon in that they did not make any purchases customary for customers of a gas station. Additionally, violence is commonly associated with the drug trade. Here, the Taurus with dark tinted windows sat in a parking lot known for its drug trade for ten minutes. No one was observed exiting the vehicle during this interval; yet, when the passenger leapt from the Taurus and into the white car, the Taurus remained in the parking lot and no further activity was observed. In light of these circumstances, I believe there was a reasonable suspicion to warrant the officer's decision to approach the Taurus to check on the occupants' safety and investigate possible illegal activity.
In so concluding, I am guided by the principle that "[aln appeals court should give due weight to a trial court's finding that the officer was credible and the inference was reasonable." Ornelas, 517 U.S. at 699, 116 S.Ct. 1657. I would give such due weight to this trial court's finding that Officer Watterson was credible and that his inference of drug activity based on his experiences with the specific location and from the unusual actions of the occupants of the Taurus and the white car was reasonable.