Court Opinion

ID: 9486036
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 11:36:29.465269+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:51:30.082184
License: Public Domain

KEITH, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I disagree with the majority’s determination that the stop at issue was not unlawfully pretextual. More importantly, I am disturbed by the majority’s adoption of a new standard to determine when a police stop is unlawfully pretextual. Therefore, I respectfully dissent from Parts II and III of the Court’s opinion, and write separately to address those portions. In addition, I join Judge Jones’ dissent.
I have no dispute with the majority’s account of the facts in this case. Part I of the Court’s opinion, however, fails to mention that it was only upon Writesman’s review of photographs from the scene of the traffic stop that he realized there was a drive out tag lying on the shelf of the rear window of the Ford. This fact indicates Writesman’s *394failure to investigate the absence of a visible license plate on the Ford.
The majority correctly states that “[t]his Circuit has repeatedly maintained that the test to be utilized in determining whether a stop is pretextual is the ‘would’ test as set out by the Eleventh Circuit in Smith, 799 F.2d at 709.” (Majority Opinion at 390) (footnote omitted). This Circuit adopted the Smith test in United States v. Pino, 855 F.2d 357, 361 (6th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1090, 110 S.Ct. 1160, 107 L.Ed.2d 1063 (1990). In United States v. Ferguson, 989 F.2d 202 (6th Cir.1993), this Court applied the Smith test to determine whether the stop at issue was unlawfully pretextual. The Ferguson Court, Judge Boggs dissenting, held that Writesman’s stop and search of Lester’s vehicle was unlawfully pretextual:
Ferguson contends that his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures was violated because Officer Writesman’s stop and search of Lester’s vehicle was unreasonably pretex-tual. Specifically, Ferguson argues that the absence of a visible license plate on the Ford served as a pretext to stop and search the vehicle for drugs. The district court, however, found that the stop was based on probable cause and was not pre-textual. We must review the district court’s findings of fact as to Ferguson’s motion to suppress under the clearly erroneous standard. United States v. Duncan, 918 F.2d 647, 650 (6th Cir.1990), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 2055, 114 L.Ed.2d 461 (1991).
Ferguson argues that the weapon and drugs seized as a result of the stop should not have been admitted into evidence against him. See Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 486-87, 83 S.Ct. 407, 416-17, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963) (Court suppressed the use of narcotics discovered as a result of illegal police activity as “fruit of the poisonous tree”). This Circuit’s standard for determining when a police investigatory stop is illegally pretextual is explained in United States v. Pino, 855 F.2d 357, 361 (6th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1090, 110 S.Ct. 1160, 107 L.Ed.2d 1063 (1990). In Pino, we adopted the Eleventh Circuit’s analysis regarding pre-textual stops, applying the reasoning of United States v. Smith, 799 F.2d 704 (11th Cir.1986), cert. denied, —— U.S.-, 112 S.Ct. 428, 116 L.Ed.2d 448 (1991). In Smith, the Eleventh Circuit wrote:
[Tjhat in determining when an investigatory stop is unreasonably pretextual, the proper inquiry ... is not whether the officer could validly have made the stop but whether under the same circumstances a reasonable officer would have made the stop in the absence of the invalid purpose.
799 F.2d at 709 (emphasis in original). We note that the “reasonable officer” standard articulated in Smith and adopted by this Court in Pino is the controlling standard in this Circuit regarding pretextual stops. Pino, 855 F.2d at 361; see also United States v. Crotinger, 928 F.2d 203, 206 (6th Cir.1991).
In Smith, a Florida Highway Trooper and a Drug Enforcement Agent followed two men traveling on Interstate 95 in a 1985 Mercury. The Trooper testified that they followed the vehicle because the men matched a drug courier profile. According to the Trooper, they followed the vehicle for about a mile and a half and pulled the vehicle over when they noticed the vehicle start to weave. After stopping the men, the Trooper questioned the driver about the ownership of the vehicle and also called for a drug dog to sniff the vehicle for drugs. With the assistance of the dog, the officers discovered cocaine in the trunk of the vehicle. The two men were arrested and charged with cocaine possession and conspiracy to distribute. They filed motions to suppress the cocaine found in their trunk, alleging that the stop of their vehicle was unreasonable. The trial court ruled that the stop was legal.
On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit wrote that “[t]he stop was unreasonable not because the officer secretly hoped to find evidence of a greater offense, but because it was clear that an officer would have been uninterested in pursuing the lesser offense absent that hope.” 799 F.2d at 710. In analyzing the objective evidence in the ease, the court noted that:
*395[W]hat turns this case is the overwhelming objective evidence that [Agent] Vo-gel had no interest in investigating possible drunk driving charges: he began pursuit before he observed any “weaving” and, even after he stopped the car, he made no investigation of the possibility of intoxication.... Based on this objective evidence, we conclude that a reasonable officer would not have stopped the car absent an additional, invalid purpose.
799 F.2d at 710-11. We think that the investigatory stop at issue in the instant case is disturbingly similar to the stop that was found to be pretextual in Smith.
In this ease, Officer Writesman began his pursuit of Ferguson and Lester before he noticed that Lester’s vehicle had no visible license plate. Writesman became suspicious of the two men when he saw Lester lay down across the front seat of the Ford, shortly after overhearing Ferguson’s conversation with the guard. Writes-man positioned himself across the street from the motel so that he could observe Ferguson and Lester’s activity from a position of concealment. He observed Ferguson get out of his vehicle and then into the vehicle with Lester. He observed them drive to room 410, where Ferguson entered the room and came out a few minutes later. He continued to observe the men drive back to the Lincoln to retrieve a briefcase and then back to room 410, where Ferguson entered the room with the briefcase. When the two men finally left the motel parking lot, heading east on Summer avenue, Writesman followed them. According to Writesman’s testimony, he did not notice that Lester’s vehicle did not have a visible license plate until he began following the vehicle. Furthermore, Writesman stated that one of the reasons he stopped the vehicle was because of what he observed at the motel. We also think it is significant that Writes-man made no inquiry or investigation whatsoever concerning the absence of a visible license plate on the Ford, nor did he give Lester a citation for not having a visible license plate.
Based on our review of the evidence in this ease, we do not believe that a “reasonable officer” would have stopped Lester because his vehicle had no visible license plate, absent some additional, invalid purpose. The objective evidence, which includes Writesman’s own testimony, shows that Writesman was not interested in giving Lester a warning or a citation for driving a vehicle with no visible license plate. Although Writesman testified that he routinely stops vehicles that do not display a visible license plate, there is overwhelming evidence that Writesman stopped the vehicle because he wanted to conduct an investigatory drug stop, suspicious of the activity he observed at the motel. Accordingly, we find that the district court’s denial of Ferguson’s motion to suppress the weapon and drugs seized during his arrest is clearly erroneous.
Ferguson, 989 F.2d at 204-05.
The Ferguson Court distinguished the traffic stop at issue in that case from the stops that were challenged and upheld in Pino and Crotinger:
This case is distinguishable from Pino and Crotinger, where this Court applied the Smith analysis and found that the challenged police stops were not illegally pre-textual in either case. In Pino, an officer observed a vehicle swerving on and off the freeway, nearly hitting the guardrail. The officer pulled the vehicle over, questioned the driver, and decided to give the driver a citation and to arrest the driver for illegal lane changing. Pino, 855 F.2d at 358-59. Applying the “reasonable officer” analysis from Smith, we held that the stop of the vehicle was not pretextual, noting that the officer’s “observation of the swerving vehicle gave him probable cause to believe that Pino had violated one or more ... Tennessee motor vehicle statutes.” Id. at 361.
In Crotinger, an officer using a speed radar detector pulled over a vehicle for going 66 mph in a 55 mph zone. Upon approaching the ear, the officer observed white pills on the floor and detected the smell of marijuana. The officer obtained written consent from the owner of the vehicle to conduct a search of containers and compartments within the vehicle. A search was conducted and marijuana was found. The defendant, however, challenged the introduction of the marijuana as *396evidence against him, on the ground that it was illegally obtained as the result of a pretextual traffic stop. We rejected this argument and held that probable cause existed for stopping the vehicle and that “[ojbjectively, it is reasonable for a police officer operating a speed trap to stop and ticket vehicles going 66 mph in a 55 mph zone.” Crotinger, 928 F.2d at 206.
Based on clearly established precedent in this Circuit, we think the district court committed reversible error by denying Ferguson’s motion to suppress. Therefore, we reverse Ferguson’s conviction. Accordingly, we need not address Ferguson’s argument that the district court erred by refusing to consider his challenge to the validity of two prior convictions used to categorize him as a career offender.
Ferguson, 989 F.2d at 205-06.
In addition, Judge Boggs’ relied upon Smith as the controlling standard for determining whether the traffic stop was unlawfully pretextual:
Although the court professes allegiance to the objective test, it buttresses its conclusion with subjective evidence and concentrates primarily on Officer Writesman’s actions after the stop was made.... The proper inquiry is whether a reasonable officer would have stopped Ferguson and Lester “in the absence of an illegitimate motivation.” Smith, 799 F.2d at 708. (emphasis added). By focusing entirely on the illegitimate motivation and whether it was the true or dominant reason for the stop, the court, despite ostensibly adhering to the objective test, has applied a subjective test.
Of course, not every minor violation of traffic regulations justifies a stop. As the Eleventh Circuit stressed,- the question is not whether a reasonable officer could legally have stopped the defendant, but whether a reasonable officer would have stopped the defendant. Smith, 799 F.2d at 708. The appropriate inquiry under the objective test is whether the traffic violation is one that is so minor (e.g., failing to signal before changing lanes on an open road; going one mile over the speed limit; or failing to come to an absolutely complete stop before turning right at a stop sign) that a reasonable officer would not have stopped an unsuspicious car, or whether the stop was for a reason that would have led a reasonable officer to make the stop under any circumstances.
Ferguson, 989 F.2d at 206-07.
Despite this Circuit’s repeated application of the Smith test, as followed by the original Ferguson Court, the majority has now applied, en banc, a new standard for determining when a police stop is unlawfully pretextual. By fashioning the law on pretextual stops to suit its own preferences, the Court overrules well established precedent in this Circuit. The majority’s creation of a new rule for pretextual stops is not in the interest of justice.
For the Fourth Amendment to have meaning, a neutral and detached judge must evaluate the reasonableness of a particular search or seizure in light of the specific circumstances in which the search or seizure occurred. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 21-22, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1879-1880, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). The Smith test as set out by the Eleventh Circuit provides meaningful Fourth Amendment protection. By merely focusing on whether an officer ‘could’ stop an individual, the majority fails to assess the reasonableness of an officer’s conduct under specific circumstances and forfeits meaningful review of that conduct. Under the ‘could’ test, officers are given virtually unlimited discretion to determine who they will stop for minor traffic violations. Pursuant to the Smith test, however, the necessity of finding whether a reasonable officer would have stopped the individual limits the amount of discretion officers exercise.
By adopting the ‘could’ test, this Circuit diminishes the guaranteed protections of the Fourth Amendment. Although the majority attempts to distinguish the test it adopts, there is no meaningful distinction. Because the Smith test preserves the guaranteed protections of the Fourth Amendment, the Court should adhere to the Smith test and affirm the ruling in Ferguson.