United States v. Lambert

351 F. Supp. 2d 1154, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26252, 2004 WL 3037735
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedDecember 1, 2004
Docket04-40102-01-SAC
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 351 F. Supp. 2d 1154 (United States v. Lambert) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Lambert, 351 F. Supp. 2d 1154, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26252, 2004 WL 3037735 (D. Kan. 2004).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CROW, Senior District Judge.

The case comes before the court on the defendant’s following pretrial motions: Motion to Suppress Evidence and Statements (Dk.19), Motion for Discovery Related to Drug Detection Dog (Dk.20), and Motion to Suppress Statement (Dk.21). The government has filed a consolidated response (Dk.22) opposing these pretrial motions. On November 16, 2004, the parties presented their evidence and arguments. The defendant emphasized his request for court-ordered discovery concerning the drug detection canine and for additional time to file any related motions. After reviewing all submissions and researching the law relevant to the issues, the court is ready to rule.

INDICTMENT

The defendant is charged in a two-count drug trafficking indictment. Count one charges that on August 6, 2004, the defendant possessed with the intent to distribute approximately 850 grams of methamphetamine. Count two charges that from on or about July 20, 2004, to on or about August 6, 2004, the defendant conspired with others to distribute and to possess with the intent to distribute in excess of 500 grams of methamphetamine.

MOTION TO SUPPRESS EVIDENCE AND STATEMENTS (Dk.19)

On August 6, 2004, the Kansas Highway Patrol was operating a drug check lane ruse near exit 138 on Interstate 135. Just over one-half mile west of this exit, there was a white sign with black lettering that read “DRUG CHECK LANE 1 MILE AHEAD.” 1 The next sign visible to a person traveling east was the standard large interstate sign indicating that the next exit was exit 138, “County Rd U,” and it was one-half mile away. Just before exit 138, there were two signs, similar in size and lettering to the first drug check lane sign,' that were posted on both sides of the road and that read “K-9 IN USE 1/2 MILE.” There were no signs along I-35 to indicate the availability of any services at exit 138. The exit was principally used by local traffic accessing nearby farmsteads and a dirUgravel plant.

Clint Epperly, a trooper with the Kansas Highway Patrol assigned to patrol a three county area with emphasis.along I-35, borrowed these three drug check lane signs from the Lyon County Sheriffs Department and posted them that day. The signs were part of a ruse, as there was no drug check lane ahead. Trooper Epperly was parked a short distance south of exit 138 facing northbound on the shoulder of County Road U observing the vehicles using this exit. 2 The trooper explained that the ruse was intended to alert him to drug traffickers who in response to the signs *1157 would act irrationally and take the first available exit to avoid the announced drug check lane and drug detection dogs. Because the exit offered nothing to travelers other than access to local farmsteads and the gravel plant, the trooper watched particularly for vehicles with out-of-state or out-of-county license plates using this exit.

Around 5:55 p.m, Trooper Epperly observed a white Ford pick-up stop at the top of the ramp to exit 138. The pickup turned in the direction of the trooper and stopped along side the patrol car. The driver rolled down his window on the driver’s side and then exited the pickup leaving it stopped in the middle of the southbound lane of County Road U. Walking around the pickup and up to the passenger side of the patrol car, the driver asked Trooper Epperly where he could get a tire fixed as one of his tires had low air pressure and felt wobbly on the road. Trooper Epperly exited his patrol car expecting to help the driver with a flat tire. The driver showed Trooper Epperly the tire' about which he was complaining. The tire did not appear to have low air pressure or to be losing tread, and Trooper Epperly could not see anything wrong with the tire.

At this point, Trooper Epperly noticed that the driver was unusually nervous for someone who was approaching a trooper ostensibly for help. The driver’s hands were visibly shaking. Trooper Epperly also was able to see that the truck had Arizona license plates. Based upon his training and experience, Trooper Epperly testified that 1-35 is a common drug traffic corridor with drugs typically flowing north from source states like Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, which are located along the border with Mexico from which a substantial amount of drugs come into the United States. Trooper Epperly asked about travel plans and learned that the defendant had left Phoenix, Arizona, and was headed to Des Moines, Iowa, for a construction job. Trooper Epperly was suspicious of the driver’s story about taking exit 138 because of tire concerns. Not only did the tire look “perfectly fine” but the defendant had taken an exit with no advertised services and had just passed the Emporia exit eight miles earlier which advertised itself as offering all kinds of motorist services. Suspicious about these circumstances, Trooper Epperly asked for the driver’s operating license and proof of insurance and directed the defendant to move his truck off the roadway and in front of the patrol car.

Trooper Epperly radioed Deputy Cory Doudican with the Lyon County Sheriffs Department. He asked Deputy Doudican, a trained drug detection dog handler, to come to scene and check the pickup with the dog. When he received Trooper Ep-perly’s call, Deputy Doudican was approximately one-half mile away from the exit.

The driver produced an Arizona license that identified him as Travis Lambert. When he reached his patrol car with the defendant’s documents, Trooper Epperly activated his video camera and radioed dispatch with requests for NCIC and> Triple I checks. While waiting to hear back from dispatch, Trooper Epperly wrote a traffic violation warning. The defendant’s driver’s license was valid and the vehicle insurance was current. Deputy Doudican arrived on the scene and approached the patrol car when dispatch radioed that there was a positive Triple I on the defendant. Trooper Epperly and Deputy Doud-ican returned to the pickup, and Trooper Epperly asked the defendant to join him in the patrol car while Deputy Doudican employed his dog.

On the way back to the patrol car, Trooper Epperly first asked the defendant if there was someone the defendant wanted him to call about fixing the tire and then asked whether there were any illegal *1158 drags in the pickup. The defendant said there were no drags. In the patrol car, Trooper Epperly continued to receive Triple I information from dispatch which indicated that the defendant had a prior arrest for drugs. The trooper and the defendant discussed the Phoenix area and the travel plans of the defendant’s employer. Trooper Epperly then asked the defendant if he had been arrested for drugs in 2002, and the defendant answered, “no.”

The video shows Deputy Doudican walking his dog around the pickup once with an extended stop at the rear of the pickup outside the view of the video camera. The deputy is next seen stepping into view and giving a thumbs up sign. The video shows the deputy and his dog walking around the rear of the pickup before the deputy returned the dog to the patrol car. During this period, Trooper Epperly was still receiving information from dispatch.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
351 F. Supp. 2d 1154, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26252, 2004 WL 3037735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-lambert-ksd-2004.