United States v. Terry Wayne Quarles, United States of America v. Lamont Alberto Brown

955 F.2d 498
Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit·Decided February 21, 1992·No. 90-5536, 90-5552·Published·Cited by 23 cases

Opinions

BOWMAN, Circuit Judge.

Defendants Terry Quarles and Lamont Brown appeal their convictions of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute in excess of fifty grams of cocaine base (“crack”). Brown also appeals his conviction of possession of crack with intent to distribute. Both defendants attack the District Court’s1 denial of their motions to suppress evidence seized during two separate stops of automobiles involved in the events leading to their arrests. Quarles raises additional issues relating to his trial and sentencing. We affirm.

I.

On June 6, 1990, & reliable confidential informant told the St. Paul police that Brown and Quarles had received a large quantity of crack and would be making deliveries that afternoon in a white Cadillac driven by either Brown, Quarles, or a juvenile named Ogean Pruitt. Each of these individuals is a young black male. On the basis of this information the police put several surveillance teams in the Summit-University area that afternoon. At about 4:15 p.m. one of these teams saw a white Cadillac, driven by a young black male, enter a short side-street that ends in a parking lot. The police had estimated a vehicle would only take thirty to forty seconds to traverse this street; although they temporarily lost sight of the white Cadillac, they saw it reappear about five minutes after it had entered the street. They then stopped the vehicle.

The driver was identified as Ogean Pruitt and placed under arrest. A search of the Cadillac produced four grams of crack along with some hotel keys, one of which was a key to Room 30 of the Midway Motel. During this search, Quarles appeared on foot and asked what was going on. When the police informed him that [500] Pruitt had been arrested, Quarles told them he owned the Cadillac and asked if he could have the motel keys. The police refused and Quarles left.

At about 5:00 p.m., Officers McNeely and Cooper arrived in plain clothes at the Midway Motel. They had been directed to secure the area until a warrant could be obtained to search Room 30. Both officers were given all available intelligence regarding the possible receipt of a large quantity of crack by Quarles and Brown as well as the details of Pruitt’s arrest. The motel’s manager told the officers that Room 30 had been vacant since June 3 and consented to a search of the room.

Nothing was found during this search, after which Officer Cooper went to the motel’s office to review telephone records for the room while Officer McNeely waited outside in their unmarked cruiser. A short time later Quarles entered the motel’s office and spotted a police radio Cooper had left on the front desk. Cooper testified that Quarles appeared to be very nervous and began backing out of the office. When Cooper asked if she might help him, Quarles asked at what age a person could rent a room and backed out the office door.

McNeely, who recognized Quarles from a previous contact, watched him exit the office and approach two other men who were walking towards Quarles from a bronze Cadillac. One of those men later was identified as Brown. As the three conversed, McNeely overheard Quarles say something about “cops.” Immediately, the officer radioed for a backup, got out of his car and identified himself. Quarles and Brown stopped, but the third man began walking away from the motel. McNeely went after the third man and ordered him to stop. While McNeely was thus occupied, Quarles and Brown attempted to drive off in the bronze Cadillac. McNeely went after the pair, ordered them out of the car, and asked for identification. With McNeely busy with Quarles and Brown, the third man again attempted to leave the motel area. At that point officers Flaherty and Scott arrived. McNeely told them to watch Quarles and Brown and again went after the third man.

As McNeely turned to pursue the third man, Officer Flaherty saw Brown reach into his pants. Flaherty suspected that Brown may have been reaching for a weapon; the officer rushed Brown, placed his hands on the Cadillac, and performed a “pat-down” search. Flaherty felt a hard lump, reached into Brown’s pants and pulled out a quantity of cocaine that was found to weigh 210 grams. Both Brown and Quarles then were arrested and later were indicted on the charges at issue in this appeal.

Prior to their trial, Brown and Quarles moved to suppress the evidence seized during the stops of the Cadillacs. After a hearing, the magistrate2 found the stop of the white Cadillac was a valid investigatory stop; the officers had probable cause to arrest Pruitt; and the subsequent search of the Cadillac was valid as incident to Pruitt’s arrest. With respect to the bronze Cadillac, the magistrate found McNeely had a reasonable suspicion to order Brown and Quarles to stop the car and identify themselves; the two were not initially under arrest at the time of the stop; and Officer Flaherty was justified in searching Brown’s pants after Brown appeared to reach for a weapon. Based upon these findings, the magistrate recommended that defendants’ motions to suppress be denied. The District Court adopted the magistrate’s findings and denied the motions.

A jury found Brown and Quarles guilty of conspiracy to possess crack with intent to distribute. Brown also was convicted of possession of crack with intent to distribute. Quarles was acquitted on the possession charge. Both defendants appeal, reasserting the arguments they advanced in support of their suppression motions. Quarles also challenges an instruction to the jury; the sufficiency of the evidence; an alleged inconsistency between his con[501] spiracy conviction and his acquittal on the possession charge; and the calculation of his sentence.

II.

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United States v. Terry Wayne Quarles, United States of America v. Lamont Alberto Brown, 955 F.2d 498 (8th Cir. 1992).

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