United States v. Arthur T. Weaver

966 F.2d 391, 1992 WL 119902
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedAugust 11, 1992
Docket89-2887
StatusPublished
Cited by66 cases

This text of 966 F.2d 391 (United States v. Arthur T. Weaver) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Arthur T. Weaver, 966 F.2d 391, 1992 WL 119902 (8th Cir. 1992).

Opinions

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Arthur T. Weaver appeals his conviction on a charge of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, a violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A). The sole issue before us on appeal is whether the district court1 erred in denying Weaver’s motion to suppress evidence. We affirm.

I.

In the early morning hours of March 8, 1989, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Carl Hicks and Platte County Detectives Paul Carrill and Tully Kessler were at the Kansas City International Airport awaiting the arrival of Braniff Flight 650, a direct flight to Kansas City from Los Angeles due in at 6:45 a.m. As Weaver disembarked from Flight 650 he caught Officer Hick’s attention because he was a “roughly dressed” young black male who was carrying two bags and walking rapidly, almost running, down the concourse toward a door leading to a taxi stand. Because Hicks was aware that a number of young roughly dressed black males from street gangs in Los Angeles frequently brought cocaine into the Kansas City area and that walking quickly towards a taxicab was a common characteristic of narcotics [393]*393couriers at the airport, he became suspicious that Weaver was a drug trafficker.

Hicks and his fellow officers began running down the concourse after Weaver. Weaver stopped, turned around, saw the three men approaching him, and hesitated. Hicks displayed his badge and asked Weaver if he would answer some questions. In response to Hicks’ question, Weaver said that he had been in Los Angeles trying to find his sister who had been missing for several years. Hicks requested to see Weaver’s airline ticket, but after searching-his pockets Weaver said that he must have left it on the plane. When Hicks asked Weaver if he had any identification, Weaver replied that he did not, but gave Hicks his name and Kansas City address. Hicks testified that while it is extremely uncommon for adults not to have identification, it is common for persons carrying narcotics not to have any. Hicks also testified that Weaver appeared to be very nervous: his voice was unsteady, his speech was rapid, his hands shook, and his body swayed. Officer Carrill testified that although people often become nervous when approached by a police officer, Weaver exhibited more nervousness than innocent people usually do.

Hicks again displayed his badge, identified himself as a DEA agent looking for drugs, and asked to search Weaver’s bags. After telling Hicks that he did not have any drugs, Weaver initially assented to Hicks’ searching his bags, but then changed his mind and told Hicks that he could not search the bags without a warrant. Weaver then said that he needed to catch a taxi to see his mother in the hospital, picked up his bags, and walked out of the terminal towards a taxicab.

Hicks decided at this point to detain Weaver’s bags and apply for a search warrant. He and the other officers followed Weaver to the sidewalk outside the terminal, where Hicks told Weaver that he was going to detain his bags and attempt to get a search warrant. Weaver stopped, set down the bags, opened one of them and removed a sweater, saying, “[L]ook, there’s no drugs in my bag,” but would not let Hicks look in the bag. Weaver again picked up the bags and walked toward a taxi.

Hicks followed Weaver and again told him that he was going to seize his bags and attempt to get a search warrant. Hicks told Weaver that he was free to remove anything he needed in order to continue his trip. Weaver said he needed a coat out of the bag. Hicks told him that that was fine and that he would give Weaver a receipt for the bag. Nevertheless, Weaver got into the back seat of a taxi with both bags. Hicks grabbed one of the bags and tried to take it out of the taxi. When Weaver began hitting Hicks' hand in an attempt to pry it off his bag, Hicks placed him under arrest.

The officers then conducted a pat down search on Weaver. They found a plastic bag filled with crack cocaine and a smoking pipe, along with $2,532 in currency. Hicks obtained a warrant and searched both of Weaver’s bags. One of the bags contained more than six pounds of crack cocaine.

Weaver moved to suppress all physical evidence obtained from his person and baggage. Following a hearing, the district court denied the motion. Weaver entered a conditional guilty plea, reserving the right to appeal the denial of the suppression motion. The district court sentenced Weaver to 151 months’ imprisonment, supervised release of five years, a fine of ten thousand dollars, and a special assessment. This appeal followed.

II.

Weaver contends that the law enforcement officers did not have a reasonable, articulable suspicion of criminal activity and thus violated his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Police may, without a warrant, briefly stop and ask questions of a person whom they reasonably suspect of criminal activity. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 20-23, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1879-81, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). Detention of a person’s luggage in an airport must satisfy the same Terry [394]*394standards. United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696, 708, 103 S.Ct. 2637, 2645, 77 L.Ed.2d 110 (1983); United States v. White, 890 F.2d 1413, 1416 (8th Cir.1989), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 77, 112 L.Ed.2d 50 (1990). Reasonable suspicion must derive from more than an “inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or ‘hunch.’ ” Terry, 392 U.S. at 27, 88 S.Ct. at 1883. For a Terry stop to be valid, the police must point to particular facts and inferences rationally drawn from those facts that, when viewed under the totality of the circumstances and in light of the officer’s experience, create a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 7-8, 109 S.Ct. 1581, 1585-86, 104 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989); United States v. Crawford, 891 F.2d 680, 681 (8th Cir.1989). “[T]he relevant inquiry is not whether particular conduct is ‘innocent’ or ‘guilty,’ but the degree of suspicion that attaches to particular types of noncriminal acts.” Sokolow, 490 U.S. at 10, 109 S.Ct. at 1587 (quoting Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 243-44 n. 13, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 2335 n. 13, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983)). Thus, a series of acts that appear innocent, when viewed separately, may warrant further investigation when viewed together. Id. “[Cjonduct typical of a broad category of innocent people provides a weak basis for suspicion.” Crawford, 891 F.2d at 681; see also Reid v. Georgia, 448 U.S. 438, 441, 100 S.Ct. 2752, 2754, 65 L.Ed.2d 890 (1980) (per curiam).

Because Weaver felt free to leave when the officers first questioned him, that encounter was consensual and did not constitute a seizure. Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 497-508, 103 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
966 F.2d 391, 1992 WL 119902, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-arthur-t-weaver-ca8-1992.