Felders v. Bairett

885 F. Supp. 2d 1191, 2012 WL 3242258, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111456
CourtDistrict Court, D. Utah
DecidedAugust 7, 2012
DocketCase No. 2:08-cv-0993 CW
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 885 F. Supp. 2d 1191 (Felders v. Bairett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Felders v. Bairett, 885 F. Supp. 2d 1191, 2012 WL 3242258, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111456 (D. Utah 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER

CLARK WADDOUPS, District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

Trooper Brian Bairett stopped plaintiff Sherida Felders for speeding on 1-15 near Cedar City, Utah. After issuing her a traffic citation, Trooper Bairett continued questioning Ms. Felders and her two passengers and then detained them to conduct a canine sniff of her vehicle. Thirty minutes after Trooper Bairett called for a K-9 unit, Deputy Jeff Malcom arrived at the scene with Duke, a dog trained to detect narcotics. Duke allegedly alerted to the smell of narcotics. Consequently, Trooper Bairett, Deputy Malcom, and another officer conducted a thorough search of the vehicle, but found no drugs or other contraband.

Ms. Felders and her two passengers now advance three causes of action: first, an unlawful seizure claim under the [1197]*1197Fourth Amendment against Trooper Bairett; second, an unlawful search claim under the Fourth Amendment against Trooper Bairett and Deputy Malcom; and third, a unlawful racial profiling claim under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment against Trooper Bairett. Ms. Felders, Trooper Bairett, and Deputy Malcom all move for summary judgment.

For the reasons discussed below, the court grants summary judgment in favor of Trooper Bairett on the plaintiffs’ claims for unlawful seizure and racial profiling. With respect to the claim against Trooper Bairett for unlawful search, the court concludes that Trooper Bairett facilitated Duke’s entry into the vehicle. Consequently, if Duke did not alert prior to entering the vehicle, Trooper Bairett violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional right to be free from unreasonable search. A material fact is in dispute, however, as to whether Duke alerted and whether Deputy Malcom handled him properly during the search. Accordingly, the court denies both the plaintiffs and the defendants’ motions for summary judgment on this cause of action.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On November 20, 2008, Ms. Felders, a fifty-four year old, African-American woman, was pulled over for speeding on 1-15 near Cedar City, Utah by Trooper Bairett. Ms. Felders was traveling with two passengers, Elijah Madyun, who was seventeen years old, and Delarryon Hansend, who was eighteen years old. The plaintiffs do not dispute that Trooper Bairett had reasonable cause to initiate the traffic stop due to the speed at which Ms. Felders was traveling. The subsequent stop, detention, and search were captured by Trooper Bairett’s dashboard video camera.

After Ms. Felders pulled to the side of the highway, Trooper Bairett requested, and Ms. Felders provided, her driver’s license and vehicle registration. She did not have a copy of her insurance card. During this initial contact, Trooper Bairett alleges that he observed the plaintiffs were very nervous and that Ms. Felders would not maintain eye contact with him. He also observed that an air freshener was emitting a strong odor from inside the vehicle and that the vehicle had a license plate ring with “Jesus” written on it. Trooper Bairett asked Ms. Felders several questions, including the purpose of her trip, and her reason for driving over the speed limit. Trooper Bairett then returned to his vehicle with Ms. Felders’ documents. Trooper Bairett did not run any computer checks while in his patrol car at that point in time. Brian Joseph Bairett Deposition, 35:20-36:5, 44:6-9, 54:13-55:8, 56:11-22 (Dkt. No. 86, Ex. 2) (hereinafter “Bairett Depo.”).

Approximately four minutes later, Trooper Bairett approached Ms. Felders’ vehicle again and asked that she step out of it so he could explain the citation. Trooper Bairett does not routinely ask people to step out of their vehicles. Bairett Depo., 59:8-21. He did so in this case, however, to further question Ms. Felders because he suspected that the plaintiffs were involved in criminal activity based on their nervousness, the air freshener, and the Jesus license plate ring. Id. at 51:9-17, 60:16-18. At that point, his suspicion was not specific about any crime; rather, it was just a hunch he wanted to pursue. Id. at 70:7-14.

When Ms. Felders complied with Trooper Bairett’s request, he first explained the citation to her. Then, while she was signing the citation, he started asking his additional questions about her travel plans. Even after Ms. Felders signed the citation and gave it back to Trooper Bairett, he continued holding her driver’s license and vehicle registration while he continued [1198]*1198questioning her.1 About twenty-five seconds later, Trooper Bairett handed Ms. Felders her license and registration. The questioning continued and Ms. Felders also asked Trooper Bairett a couple of questions to which he responded. During this exchange, Trooper Bairett alleges that Ms. Felders repeatedly stretched, rubbed her face, covered her mouth, avoided eye contact and moved away from him. Nevertheless, Trooper Bairett “was still just investigating to find out whether there was a crime,” and had no articulable reasonable suspicion. Bairett Depo., 85:17-86:3.

After conversing with Ms. Felders for about a minute, Trooper Bairett asked if he could talk with her passengers. She consented. Trooper Bairett then spoke with Ms. Felders’ passengers for approximately one and a half minutes before returning to question Ms. Felders further because he had noted inconsistencies in the plaintiffs’ statements. Specifically, (1) Ms. Felders said her passengers were friends of her grandchildren, while the passengers said they were her cousins, (2) Ms. Felders said her grandchildren were flying to Colorado, but later said they lived there; and (3) Ms. Felders said they were returning on December 1st, but her passengers said they were returning on Sunday, which Trooper Bairett took to mean Sunday, November 23rd.2

When Ms. Felders attempted to explain to Trooper Bairett how there was an explanation for the inconsistencies, Trooper Bairett told Ms. Felders her story did not make sense. At that point, he believed he had sufficient reasonable suspicion that Ms. Felders was transporting drugs. Bairett Depo., 106:3-107:3. Consequently, he asked if she had any cocaine in her vehicle. Ms. Felders gave no response for approximately seven seconds. When Trooper Bairett asked her again, she said “no.” Trooper Bairett continued questioning her about the presence of other types of drugs, and Ms. Felders continued to deny she had any drugs in the vehicle. Finally, Trooper Bairett asked if he could search her vehicle. Ms. Felders said, “No. No, you can’t search my car.” Transcript of Dash Cam Video, 15:23-24 (hereinafter ‘Video Tr.”). In response, Trooper Bairett informed Ms. Felders he was detaining her until a K-9 unit arrived to do a sniff of her vehicle.

Some difficulty ensued in locating a K-9 unit. During that delay, Trooper Bairett called his sergeant, Ryan Bauer, and reported the details of the stop and what he had observed. See Bairett Depo., 88:16-23; Summary Report of Sgt. Ryan Bauer, 2 (Dkt. No. 86, Ex. 6) (reporting that Trooper Bairett had contacted him during the stop for advice). He also told his sergeant, “If I can’t get a dog, I’ll just have to let her go.” Video Tr., 23:8. Following a prompting from his sergeant, Trooper Bairett ran three computer checks on Ms. Felders for the first time. Dispatch reported back that Ms. Felders previously had “one charge of receiving stolen property and battery on a police officer with a firearm.”3 Video Tr., 23:22-

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885 F. Supp. 2d 1191, 2012 WL 3242258, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111456, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/felders-v-bairett-utd-2012.