Court Opinion

ID: 9910183
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-12-15 01:00:36.449942+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:51:22.262189
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-40828         Document: 00517001952             Page: 1      Date Filed: 12/14/2023

              United States Court of Appeals
                   for the Fifth Circuit
                                      ____________                    United States Court of Appeals
                                                                               Fifth Circuit

                                       No. 22-40828                          FILED
                                     Summary Calendar                December 14, 2023
                                     ____________                       Lyle W. Cayce
                                                                             Clerk
   United States of America,

                                                                      Plaintiff—Appellee,

                                             versus

   Brian Edwards,

                                               Defendant—Appellant.
                      ______________________________

                      Appeal from the United States District Court
                          for the Southern District of Texas
                                USDC No. 2:22-CR-62-1
                      ______________________________

   Before Higginbotham, Stewart, and Southwick, Circuit
   Judges.
   Per Curiam: *
          Brian Edwards entered a conditional guilty plea to possession with the
   intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in violation of
   21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B), reserving the right to appeal the district
   court’s denial of his motion to suppress the evidence. He was sentenced to
   an 87-month term of imprisonment, followed by a four-year term of
          _____________________
          *
              This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.
Case: 22-40828      Document: 00517001952           Page: 2    Date Filed: 12/14/2023

                                     No. 22-40828

   supervised release. On appeal, he argues that the police officer who arrested
   him did not have probable cause to do so. Therefore, the following search
   that discovered methamphetamine in Edwards’s pocket was not justified as
   incidental to the arrest.
          When reviewing a district court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, we
   review factual findings for clear error and legal conclusions de novo, viewing
   the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party. United States
   v. Cervantes, 797 F.3d 326, 328 (5th Cir. 2015). The denial of a motion to
   suppress should be upheld “if there is any reasonable view of the evidence to
   support it.” United States v. Michelletti, 13 F.3d 838, 841 (5th Cir. 1994)
   (en banc) (quotation marks and citation omitted).
          As found by the district court, the officer had probable cause to arrest
   Edwards. The suspicion required for probable cause “need not reach the
   fifty percent mark.” Scott v. City of Mandeville, 69 F.4th 249, 255 (5th Cir.
   2023) (quotation marks and citation omitted). Given the “totality of facts
   and circumstances within [the] police officer’s knowledge at the moment of
   arrest,” a reasonable person could have “conclude[d] that the suspect had
   committed or was committing an offense.” United States v. Wadley, 59 F.3d
   510, 512 (5th Cir. 1995); see also District of Columbia v. Wesby, 583 U.S. 48, 61
   (2018). Additionally, the search did not exceed the parameters of a valid
   search incident to arrest. Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332, 338 (2009).
          AFFIRMED.

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