United States v. Collazo

37 F. Supp. 3d 942, 2014 WL 3853841, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108157
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Tennessee
DecidedAugust 6, 2014
DocketNo. 3:13-00209
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 37 F. Supp. 3d 942 (United States v. Collazo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Collazo, 37 F. Supp. 3d 942, 2014 WL 3853841, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108157 (M.D. Tenn. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

TODD J. CAMPBELL, District Judge.

I.Introduction

Pending before the Court is Defendant Juan Collazo’s Motion To Suppress Evidence (Docket No. 53). The Court held an evidentiary hearing on the Motion on June 18 and 19, 2014. The parties have filed post-hearing briefs. (Docket Nos. 109, 110). For the reasons stated herein, the Motion To Suppress (Docket No. 48) is GRANTED in part, and DENIED in part.1

II.Factual and Procedural Background

Through his Motion To Suppress, the Defendant makes the following claims: (1) the initial traffic stop was unlawful; (2) the stop was unlawfully prolonged; (3) the search of his vehicle was unlawful; (4) the search of his cell phone was unlawful; and (5) officers violated his Miranda rights.

III.Analysis

A. Initial Traffic Stop

The Defendant first argues that the initial stop of his vehicle violates the Fourth Amendment. The Government argues that the stop was supported by probable cause to believe the Defendant committed the civil traffic violation set forth in Tennessee Code Annotated Section 55-8-124(a) of following the vehicle in front of him too closely.

Stopping and detaining a motorist constitutes a “seizure” under the Fourth Amendment. See, e.g., United States v. Cochrane, 702 F.3d 334, 340 (6th Cir.2012). The Sixth Circuit has held that an officer may lawfully stop a vehicle when he or she either has probable cause to believe that a civil traffic violation has [945]*945occurred or reasonable suspicion of an ongoing crime. United States v. Jackson, 682 F.3d 448, 453 (6th Cir.2012); United States v. Smith, 601 F.3d 530, 542 (6th Cir.2010). If probable cause exists for the traffic stop, the officer’s subjective motivation for making the stop is not relevant. Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 116 S.Ct. 1769, 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996).

“Probable cause” is a reasonable ground for belief supported by less than prima facie proof but more than mere suspicion. See, e.g., United States v. Alexander, 528 Fed.Appx. 515, 518 (6th Cir.2013). Probable cause determinations are “fact-dependent and will turn on what the officer knew at the time he made the stop.” United States v. Valdez, 147 Fed.Appx. 591, 594 (6th Cir.2005).

Tennessee Code Annotated Section 55-8-124(a) provides: “The driver of a motor vehicle shall not follow another vehicle more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard for the speed of the vehicles and the traffic upon and the condition of the highway.” The Sixth Circuit has specifically held that an officer does not violate the Fourth Amendment when he or she stops a vehicle based upon probable cause to believe a violation of this statute has occurred. See United States v. Kelley, 459 Fed.Appx. 527, 532 (6th Cir.2012) (Officer’s testimony that he saw the defendant’s vehicle, traveling about 55 miles-per-hour, within three to five feet of vehicle in front of it supported a finding of probable cause for the stop); United States v. Sanford, 476 F.3d 391, 395-96 (6th Cir.2007) (Officer who observed defendants’ vehicle momentarily follow another vehicle within a distance of 10 feet while traveling 65 miles-per-hour and a third vehicle passing in the passing lane had probable cause to believe Tenn.Code Ann. § 55-8-124(a) had been violated, and was justified in making the stop); Valdez, supra (Officer who observed vehicle traveling approximately 60 miles per hour pull to within 20 to 30 feet of another vehicle is justified in making a stop for violation of Tenn.Code Ann. § 55-8-124(a)); United States v. Jimenez, 446 Fed.Appx. 771 (6th Cir.2011) (Probable cause to believe statute violated where officer testified that he saw defendant’s vehicle, traveling at a speed of 55 miles-per-hour, come within 24 inches of the vehicle in front of it).

At the hearing, Preston Hill, a deputy for the Haywood County Sheriffs Department and a special agent with the West Tennessee Drug Task Force, testified that on October 9, 2013,2 he was on duty in the median of the eastbound side of Interstate 40 around mile marker 46 when he observed the Defendant’s vehicle. (Transcript of Suppression Hearing, Volume I, at 8-13 (Docket No. 104)). Deputy Hill testified that the Defendant’s vehicle was following a tractor-trailer truck and was traveling with surrounding vehicles at a speed of approximately 70 miles per hour. (Id., at 13, 21). After observing the Defendant’s vehicle for a short period of time, Deputy Hill determined that the Defendant was traveling too closely behind the tractor-trailer truck. (Id., at 13, 21-25). Deputy Hill testified that as he neared the Defendant’s vehicle, the Defendant began to decelerate and increase the distance between his vehicle and the truck. (Id., at 22-23).

Deputy Hill testified that in making the determination that the Defendant was following too closely, he applied a rule of thumb that a vehicle should allow one car [946]*946length for every 10 miles per hour that it is traveling. {Id,., at 20). Thus, according to Deputy Hill, a vehicle traveling 60 miles per hour is likely following too closely if it is closer than six car lengths behind the vehicle in front of it. {Id.).

Upon determining that the Defendant’s vehicle did not allow such a safe distance between it and the truck in front of it, Deputy Hill eventually pulled behind the Defendant and activated his blue lights. {Id., at 25). The Defendant then stopped his vehicle in the break-down lane and Deputy Hill pulled behind him. {Id.).

Deputy Hill testified that his car has a camera that is activated when he turns on his lights, and begins recording 30 seconds or so prior to that point. {Id., at 14-19). According to Deputy Hill, the audio capability for the camera was not working on the date in question. {Id.). The video of the stop, filed at Docket No. 92, was' played multiple times during the evidentia-ry hearing.

The Defendant testified at the hearing that the stop occurred as he was traveling on Interstate 40 heading to Nashville. (Transcript of Suppression Hearing, Volume II, at 253-54) (Docket No. 105). After passing mile marker 42, the Defendant testified, he noticed a white Tahoe on an access road between mile markers 43 and 43. (Id., at 254). The Defendant testified that after seeing that an officer was in the vehicle, he slowed down to 68 miles per hour. (Id., at 255). According to the Defendant, he then noticed another officer had pulled a vehicle over in the breakdown lane, and he moved into the left lane of traffic with the other vehicles that were in the left lane. (Id., at 255-56).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
37 F. Supp. 3d 942, 2014 WL 3853841, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108157, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-collazo-tnmd-2014.