United States v. Davidoff

46 F. Supp. 3d 744, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123537, 2014 WL 4377757
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedSeptember 3, 2014
DocketCase No. 1:14-CR-00179
StatusPublished

This text of 46 F. Supp. 3d 744 (United States v. Davidoff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Davidoff, 46 F. Supp. 3d 744, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123537, 2014 WL 4377757 (N.D. Ohio 2014).

Opinion

ORDER & OPINION [Resolving Doc. No. 10]

JAMES S. GWIN, District Judge:

The Government charges Defendant Sergei Davidoff with being an identify thief. Davidoff moves to suppress evidence obtained during and after a search of his car. Davidoff makes two arguments. First, he argues that Ohio State Patrol Trooper Sergeant Timothy Timber-lake did not have probable cause to pull Davidoff over for an alleged lane change violation. Second, Davidoff says Sergeant Timberlake did not have probable cause to search Davidoff s vehicle based upon a dog alert for illegal drugs — an alert that was wrong — when the dog was arguably not properly certified.

With this decision, we unfortunately return to another occasion where police stop a citizen for a traffic “infraction” that no police officer would normally enforce. Sergeant Timberlake says he stopped Da-vidoff for improperly changing lanes on a mostly vacant interstate highway. More probably, Sergeant Timberlake stopped Davidoff because Davidoff drove an older van with Arizona license plates, and this led Sergeant Timberlake to suspect Davi-doff was trafficking drugs.

But more important to this decision, this Court considers whether sufficient evidence gave Sergeant Timberlake probable cause to stop Davidoffs - vehicle even if Davidoff suddenly shifted from a middle lane to the left lane of a three lane highway when no other vehicle was present or affected by the lane change.

This Court also considers Davidoff s argument that a drug sniffing dog could not give probable cause to search Davidoffs vehicle because the dog was arguably not currently certified. Although the dog gave a false signal for the presence of drugs— no drugs were ever found — the Court finds that the dog’s alert was sufficiently reliable even though the dog had not been certified within the prior year.

The motion is DENIED.

[747]*747I. Background

On the morning of March 28, 2014, Defendant Davidoff drove his Arizona-registered van northbound on Interstate 71 when he was stopped by Sergeant Timber-lake. Sergeant Timberlake had been parked in the median of the highway with the front of his patrol car perpendicular to the flow of traffic. Although parked in the median depression between the interstate lanes, Timberlake’s vehicle was “slightly above the lane.”1

As Sergeant Timberlake’s vehicle parked in the depressed median strip, Sergeant Timberlake saw Davidoffs van approaching through his passenger window. Defendant drove past Sergeant Timber-lake’s patrol car “well below the posted speed limit” in the middle lane of a three-lane highway.2 Somewhat illogically, Sergeant Timberlake testified that Davidoffs driving below the speed limit alerted him.3 Sergeant Timberlake says that two to three seconds after Davidoff “cleared where [his] vehicle was sitting”, Defendant’s van swerved halfway into the left lane before “violently jerk[ing] back to the right.”4 Sergeant Timberlake testified that “one-half of the van went to the left over the lane line” but inconsistently testified that Davidoffs van crossed over the dashed lane lines for only a “millisecond” before Davidoff turned the van back to the middle lane.5

If Sergeant Timberlake’s testimony is accepted, Davidoff pulled into the left lane and quickly returned to the center lane between 176 feet and 264 feet after passing Sergeant Timberlake’s patrol car.6 No other vehicles were close enough to be affected by any lane change that Davidoff made.

Logic and experience make Sergeant Timberlake’s description unlikely. As Sergeant Timberlake acknowledges and consistent with most other drivers, Davidoff slowed his vehicle below the speed limit after seeing Sergeant Timberlake. Having slowed his vehicle below the speed limit and after seeing a highway patrol car, nothing explains why Davidoff would suddenly shift into and then out of the left lane. Having sought to avoid notice by slowing down, why would a driver then invite notice by suddenly shifting lanes?

Sergeant Timberlake testified that this lane shift caused him immediate concern for driver safety: “I wasn’t sure if the person was sick, I wasn’t sure if he was drunk, wasn’t sure if he was falling asleep. I just — I was concerned with the safety of the other motorists and him at that time.”7

Although claiming concern for other motorist safety, Timberlake then pulled behind Davidoff and followed him for more [748]*748than 108 seconds before pulling Davidoff to the side.

Sergeant Timberlake says that, while he was following Defendant, he observed Defendant twice drift into the right lane.8 The traffic video taken by Sergeant Tim-berlake’s vehicle does not support this testimony. The video shows Davidoffs vehicle traveling within his lane and shows Davidoffs vehicle’s tires twice getting close to the lane divider lines, but does not show Davidoffs tires ever touching or crossing over those lines. ' .

Nevertheless, Sergeant Timberlake stopped Defendant for the lane violations.9

Sergeant Timberlake approached the stopped van and asked Defendant to exit the car.10 Defendant went to the rear of Sergeant Timberlake’s vehicle.

About forty seconds after Defendant exited the vehicle, Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper D.A. Norman arrived with his trained narcotics detection dog, Storm.11 Sergeant Timberlake told Defendant that 1-71 was known as an active corridor for trafficking drugs (which Sergeant Timber-lake knew often came from southwestern states like Arizona12), and that he would have Storm sniff the car while he was checking Defendant’s information.13

Trooper Norman took Storm around Defendant’s van, and Storm passively alerted at'the passenger door seam, indicating the presence of narcotics.14 Based on Storm’s alert, Sergeant Timberlake and Trooper Norman searched the van.15 They did not find any drugs, but they did find credit cards, copies of driver’s licenses, and a notary stamp with the names of people other than Defendant.16 They also found a large number of gift cards and electronic equipment including several cell phones, computers, flash drives, an inkjet printer/seanner, and camera equipment.17

The officers took Defendant into custody. Defendant was charged with possessing with intent to unlawfully use and transfer false identification documents, possessing identification document-making implements, altering Social Security cards, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.18

Defendant Davidoff moves to suppress the physical evidence seized from his van as well as any subsequent statements he made.19 Defendant says that Sergeant Timberlake lacked probable cause for the initial traffic stop because there was insufficient evidence at the time to suggest that he had committed a lane violation. Defendant also says that the dog sniff of his car lacked reliability and thus could not be the basis for a probable cause search of his van. The prosecution opposes the motion.20

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
46 F. Supp. 3d 744, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123537, 2014 WL 4377757, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-davidoff-ohnd-2014.