United States v. Edwards

519 F. App'x 411
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedApril 1, 2013
DocketNo. 12-3183
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 519 F. App'x 411 (United States v. Edwards) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh 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. Edwards, 519 F. App'x 411 (7th Cir. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

Bertrand Edwards appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence discovered during a warrantless search of his vehicle incident to arrest. He had been arrested for operating a vehicle under the influence of marijuana, see Wis. Stat. § 346.63(l)(a), but the subsequent search of the car uncovered evidence of counterfeiting — a scanner, a straightedge paper cutter, household chemical solvents, a pen used to detect counterfeit currency, and counterfeit twenty-dollar bills. He ultimately pleaded guilty to passing counterfeit currency. See 18 U.S.C. § 472. Because the officer had probable cause to arrest Edwards — for either operating a vehicle while under the influence of marijuana, or possession of marijuana, see Wis. Stat. § 961.41(3g)(e) — we affirm the judgment.

[412]*412Background

Around 4:00 a.m. on October 5, 2011, the Dunn County Sheriffs Department received information from the Jackson County Sheriffs Department that around an hour earlier an individual in a green Chevrolet Blazer drove off without paying for gas in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. The information included the Blazer’s license plate number and the suspect’s description — a black man with dreadlocks. Within minutes Deputy Chad Pollock located the Blazer parked askew between two spots in a rest area off 1-94 near Menomo-nie, Wisconsin (about 75 miles from Black River Falls).

When Deputy Pollock approached the Blazer, he saw Edwards — who matched the reported description — sleeping behind the wheel; Pollock also noted that the vehicle’s hood was still warm. He woke Edwards, who told him that he had pulled off the highway only about ten minutes earlier. Deputy Pollock observed that Edwards’s eyes were bloodshot, his pupils dilated, his speech slow and mumbled, and his responses to questions delayed. He also wrote in his police report that he detected the “odor of stale marijuana coming from the vehicle.”

Deputy Pollock asked Edwards to get out of the Blazer and then noticed an opened bottle of beer and fresh ash spread across the floorboard, center console, and seats. On the floorboards he also saw what he considered “shake” (small leafy bits of marijuana that gather at the bottom of the plastic bags in which that drug is often sold, see http://en.wiktionary.org/ wiki/shake). Deputy Pollock noted that Edwards’s coordination was poor as he exited the Blazer, though he denied having used any illegal drugs and said he had consumed only a few drinks earlier that evening. Suspecting that Edwards was intoxicated, Deputy Pollock administered a series of field-sobriety tests. During all these tests, Edwards swayed, failed to follow directions, and was uncoordinated. Edwards’s preliminary breath test, however, showed zero percent blood alcohol content. Based on the field-sobriety tests, the marijuana odor in the vehicle, and the shake on the Blazer’s floor, Deputy Pollock arrested Edwards for operating a vehicle under the influence of marijuana.

Deputy Pollock then began a search of the Blazer, as he put it in his police report, “for evidence supporting the arrest for Operating Under the Influence of Drugs.” During the search Deputy Pollock noted that Edwards appeared nervous and repeatedly told him that the car did not belong to him and that he did not know what was in it. Deputy Pollock found white sheets of paper with U.S. currency printed on one side, as well as counterfeit bills — some of which were damp (from having been recently printed, Deputy Pollock suspected). He also discovered a straight-edge paper cutter, household chemical solvents, and a pen used to detect counterfeit currency. Finally, in the back seat under a blanket, he uncovered an inkjet printer/scanner. Under the scanner’s lid was a “real” twenty-dollar bill bearing the same serial number as several of the counterfeit bills. Amother counterfeit bill with this same serial number had been passed off the previous day at a convenience store; store employees reported that an individual, later identified in a surveillance video as Edwards, had used the bill to buy cigarettes. That same day Edwards also used bills with the same serial number at a restaurant.

Edwards was charged with one count of making counterfeit currency, see 18 U.S.C. § 471, and two counts of passing counterfeit currency, see id. § 472. He moved to quash his arrest and suppress the evidence discovered during the search. The parties [413]*413did not dispute the facts surrounding the arrest or search and so agreed to proceed without an evidentiary hearing.

Edwards’s motion to suppress was denied by the district judge, who adopted the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation. The magistrate judge concluded that Deputy Pollock had probable cause to arrest Edwards for operating a vehicle under the influence of marijuana, and alternatively, could have arrested him for possession of marijuana. The district judge agreed, concluding that the signs of impairment Edwards exhibited, the marijuana odor, Edwards’s poor performance on field-sobriety tests, and the shake on the vehicle’s floorboards provided probable cause for Deputy Pollock to arrest Edwards for either crime. Incident to arresting Edwards, Deputy Pollock was entitled to search the vehicle for further evidence of marijuana or other drugs.

Edwards then pleaded guilty to one count of passing counterfeit currency, but reserved in his plea agreement the right to appeal his motion to suppress. The district judge accepted Edwards’s plea and sentenced him to 24 months’ imprisonment.

Analysis

On appeal Edwards argues that Deputy Pollock lacked probable cause to arrest him either (1) for operating a vehicle under the influence of marijuana or (2) for possessing marijuana, and thus could not lawfully search the Blazer under the exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement for searches incident to arrest. See Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332, 343-44, 129 S.Ct. 1710, 173 L.Ed.2d 485 (2009); see also United States v. Slone, 636 F.3d 845, 851-52 (7th Cir.2011); United States v. Stotler, 591 F.3d 935, 939 (7th Cir.2010). Responding to the former charge, he contends that Deputy Pollock did not have probable cause to arrest him for operating a vehicle under the influence of marijuana because Pollock had no reason to believe that he was under the influence of any substance (rather than simply being groggy from taking a nap).

The district judge, however, was right that the signs of impairment exhibited by Edwards coupled with the signs of marijuana use were sufficient to establish probable cause that Edwards had operated a vehicle under the influence. Indeed the general signs of intoxication Edwards exhibited (his slow speech, delayed responses, bloodshot eyes, and poor performance on field-sobriety tests) could alone have justified Deputy Pollock’s decision to arrest him. See Smith v. Ball State Univ., 295 F.3d 763

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Bluebook (online)
519 F. App'x 411, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-edwards-ca7-2013.