Court Opinion

ID: 9794416
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:05:21.519857+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:13:03.078494
License: Public Domain

*674ORME, Judge
(dissenting):
In its brief, the State does not contend that there was probable cause to arrest defendant or subject him to anything more intrusive than a level-two Terry stop at the time the police officers effected the stop and asked their initial questions. Accordingly, the debate on appeal was principally directed to whether the police officers possessed the articulable suspicion necessary to justify a level-two encounter. I agree the officers had the requisite articulable suspicion to warrant a level-two stop. It does not follow, however, that what the officers actually effected was a proper level-two stop. Given the intrusive tactics employed by the investigating officers, I believe the main opinion errs in determining that the initial seizure was a level-two stop and not a de facto arrest requiring probable cause.
According to the record, the police officers stopped defendant because they suspected him of committing a non-violent felony — possession of equipment used in the manufacture of controlled substances. There were four police officers present, and three police cars, while only defendant and his female companion occupied the stopped vehicle. The stop occurred along the shoulder of a well-traveled highway, apparently during daylight.1 At no time prior to the stop had the officers seen defendant or his companion in possession of a weapon, and the record provides no indication that the police had anything more than a pre-stop hunch that defendant might be dangerous. When defendant’s vehicle came to a halt on the shoulder of the highway, defendant voluntarily exited the vehicle and walked toward the police cars. There is no evidence that defendant made furtive gestures, carried himself suspiciously, or otherwise approached the police in anything but a cooperative, nonviolent manner.2
Nonetheless, Officer Fox testified that before questioning defendant, he ordered defendant to kneel down at the side of the highway. The female occupant of defendant’s vehicle was placed in one of the police cars. Further, although neither Officer Fox nor Officer Caldwell recalled specifically whether any of the police officers drew their guns at the time they made the stop, Officer Fox claimed it was “very possible” guns were drawn, and Officer Caldwell stated that he “hoped” at least one of the officers had drawn his gun. Finally, Officer Fox testified that before questioning defendant, Officer Caldwell advised defendant of his Miranda rights.
A Terry stop “involves no more than a brief stop, interrogation, and, under the proper circumstances, a brief check for weapons.” United States v. Robertson, 833 F.2d 777, 780 (9th Cir.1987). Anything beyond such a brief and narrowly-defined intrusion constitutes a de facto arrest, and probable cause is required. See id.; Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200, 99 S.Ct. 2248, 2254, 60 L.Ed.2d 824 (1979). The accepted rule is that what might have otherwise been a level-two stop evolves into a level-three de facto arrest when, in view of all the circumstances, a reasonable, innocent person in the suspect’s place would believe himself to be under arrest. See United States v. Pinion, 800 F.2d 976, 979 (9th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 936, 107 S.Ct. 1580, 94 L.Ed.2d 770 (1987). See also Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 502, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1326-27, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983) (characterizing relevant inquiry as whether the suspect believed he was being detained). Accordingly, in the course of a valid Terry stop the police may not, as a matter of routine, utilize methods which might commonly be employed incident to arrest. 3 W. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 9.2(d) at 366 (2d ed.1987).
*675There is, however, one exception to this general proscription against intrusive police conduct. Police are permitted to employ a show of force or other exceptional methods during a Terry stop when such measures are reasonably necessary for the protection and safety of the investigating officers.3 However, even then, the investigating officers must employ the least intrusive means reasonably available to effect the purpose of the stop. See Royer, 103 S.Ct. at 1325 (recognizing that, although permissible level of intrusion will vary with circumstances, least intrusive means must always be employed).
I agree that, in the instant case, the State has set forth sufficient facts to support a finding that the police had reasonable suspicion to stop defendant and make a level-two inquiry. However, given the circumstances of the encounter, I do not believe those same facts support a finding that the intrusive methods used by the police were necessary to protect the officers during the stop.4 The State has provided no additional evidence to justify the officers’ conduct.5 Therefore, on the record before us, I believe the seizure to have been too intrusive to qualify as a level-two stop.6
*676It is the State’s burden to show that the seizure it seeks to justify was sufficiently limited to satisfy the conditions of a level-two stop. United States v. Williams, 714 F.2d 777, 781 (8th Cir.1983) (quoting Royer, 103 S.Ct. at 1325-26). See United States v. Al-Azzawy, 784 F.2d 890, 894 (9th Cir. 1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1144, 106 S.Ct. 2255, 90 L.Ed.2d 700 (1986). For the reasons discussed above, I believe the State falls short of satisfying that burden. See also note 4, supra. Accordingly, I would hold that the district court erred in determining defendant was subjected to a valid level-two stop, reverse the denial of defendant’s suppression motion,7 and remand with instructions to permit withdrawal of his guilty plea.

. Although the record does not state the time of the stop, other facts — i.e., that, just prior to the stop, officers had been conducting surveillance at a wholesale establishment open for business, and that officers clearly saw bandannas being waved from defendant’s vehicle — indicate that the stop took place during daylight hours.

. It would thus appear that any pre-stop concern the officers had about the potential dangerousness of defendant would have been largely dispelled by his non-confrontational approach. Any lingering concern could have been dispelled by a simple pat down of the sort permitted by Terry.

. For situations in which police officers may draw weapons while effecting a stop, see, e.g., United States v. Jones, 759 F.2d 633, 638-39 (8th Cir.) (drawing weapons is permissible part of vehicle stop "if the police action is reasonable under the circumstances," taking into consideration "the number of officers and police cars involved, the nature of the crime and whether there is reason to believe the suspect might be armed, the strength of the officers’ articulable, objective suspicions, the erratic behavior of or suspicious movements by the persons under observation, and the need for immediate action by the officers_”), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 837, 106 S.Ct. 113, 88 L.Ed.2d 92 (1985); United States v. Nargi, 732 F.2d 1102, 1106 (2d Cir.1984) (display of weapons does not transform stop into arrest when suspected crime is a serious felony and stop was made in an isolated area); United States v. Jacobs, 715 F.2d 1343, 1345-46 (9th Cir.1983) (drawing weapon acceptable when vehicle’s occupant is suspected of bank robbery and is possibly under the influence of drugs, and the police officer is alone).'
For situations in which police officers may require a suspect to lay down on the ground, see, e.g., United States v. Laing, 889 F.2d 281, 285 (D.C.Cir.1989) (when suspect ran toward apartment for which police had a warrant to search for guns and drugs, and suspect put his hand into his pants, it was acceptable for police to force suspect to lie on the floor), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1069, 110 S.Ct. 1790, 108 L.Ed.2d 792 (1990); United States v. Taylor, 716 F.2d 701, 709 (9th Cir.1983) (stop not invalid because police ordered suspect to lie on the floor, when suspect had disobeyed police commands to raise his hands and had made furtive gestures); People v. Chestnut, 51 N.Y.2d 14, 409 N.E.2d 958, 962, 431 N.Y.S.2d 485, 490 (ordering suspect to the floor was permissible when suspect was in company of man whom there was probable cause to arrest for an armed robbery that had just been committed, and police had witnessed a suspicious exchange between that man and the suspect), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1018, 101 S.Ct. 582, 66 L.Ed.2d 479 (1980).

. The officers did not frisk defendant, or otherwise attempt to discern if he was carrying a weapon. This strongly suggests that, once defendant had been stopped and exited his car, the officers did not suspect he was armed. Robertson, 833 F.2d at 781. Other circumstances of the stop — the highway-side locale, the presence of four officers, the non-violent nature of the suspected offense, and defendant’s non-furtive attempt to approach the police vehicles — also indicate the situation was not potentially dangerous, and that intrusive tactics were inappropriate.

. The problem may essentially be a failure by the State, at the trial court, to develop the available evidence so as to meet its burden of proof. Little attention seems to have been given at the evidentiary hearing to what the police did in effecting the stop as opposed to what they knew in deciding to effect the stop.

. Nonetheless, I might still be willing to view the facts as not moving the case from the level-two to the level-three pigeonhole if, at the time the seizure occurred, a reasonable, innocent person in defendant’s place would not have believed himself to be under arrest. See United States v. Pinion, 800 F.2d 976, 979 (9th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 936, 107 S.Ct. 1580, 94 L.Ed.2d 770 (1987). I find such a possibility unlikely here. The police converged on defendant in three separate cars. The initial confrontation was somewhat hostile despite defendant’s passivity, and may well have included a show of weapons by one or more officers. Defendant was ordered to his knees at the side of the highway, while his female companion was placed in the back of a police vehicle. Defendant was then informed of his Miranda rights. It is unlikely that, at this point in the encounter, a reasonable person in defendant’s position would believe his seizure to be less than a level-three custodial one. Other cases have reached the same result in similar circumstances. See, e.g., United States v. Delgadillo-Velasquez, 856 *676F.2d 1292, 1295 (9th Cir.1988) (Terry-stop of suspected drug dealers held invalid when police approached with guns drawn, ordered the suspects to lie down in the street, and handcuffed them, since the "show of force and detention used in this context are indistinguishable from police conduct in an arrest”); Kraus v. County of Pierce, 793 F.2d 1105, 1108-09 (9th Cir.1986) (under circumstances in which police turned spotlights on the suspects, drew their weapons, and ordered the suspects to drop to their knees, a reasonable person would have believed himself to be under arrest), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 932, 107 S.Ct. 1571, 94 L.Ed.2d 763 (1987).

. The evidence seized from the car and from defendant's home is tainted by the illegality of his "arrest” on less than probable cause. Probable cause came into existence only when defendant made incriminating statements when in custody, but such custody was improper where it was supported by nothing more than an artic-ulable suspicion.