United States v. Thibodeaux

276 F. App'x 372
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedApril 24, 2008
Docket07-30047
StatusUnpublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 276 F. App'x 372 (United States v. Thibodeaux) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth 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. Thibodeaux, 276 F. App'x 372 (5th Cir. 2008).

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

During a traffic stop, Baton Rouge City Police Officer Chris Fischer (“Fischer”) found a semi-automatic handgun in the car of Defendant-Appellee Ronald Thibodeaux (“Thibodeaux”), and the United States (the “Government”) charged Thibodeaux with unlawful possession of a firearm. The district court granted Thibodeaux’s motion to suppress the weapon based on its finding that Fischer illegally prolonged the traffic stop, and the Government appeals. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM the ruling of the district court.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On October 1, 2005, at approximately 6:00 a.m., Fischer was traveling on Interstate 10 in Louisiana when he observed a Chrysler PT Cruiser (“the Cruiser”) in the lane next to him. Suddenly and without warning, the driver of the Cruiser, Thibodeaux, attempted to change into Fischer’s lane of travel without signaling, and the Cruiser almost collided with Fischer’s police vehicle. To avoid a collision, Fischer hit his brakes heavily and momentarily sounded his siren. Thibodeaux did not apply his brakes or adjust his driving. To stop the Cruiser, Fischer pulled behind it, activated the strobe lights on his police vehicle, and sounded his siren. Fischer testified that he intended “basically to find out what was going on, that [Thibodeaux] was okay, and to find out why he decided to get over like that.” Thibodeaux proceeded past one exit on the interstate before exiting at the next one; he then drove to the next major intersection and made one turn before stopping. Fischer estimated that the Cruiser traveled almost a *374 mile before it stopped. Fischer stopped his police vehicle approximately twenty feet behind the Cruiser.

Once the Cruiser stopped, Fischer used his public address system to ask Thibodeaux to step out of the vehicle; Thibodeaux did so, leaving his car door open. Fischer then asked Thibodeaux to come over to the police vehicle; Thibodeaux hesitated, then did so. Upon Fischer’s request, Thibodeaux presented a valid driver’s license. When Fischer questioned him about his driving, Thibodeaux told Fischer that he had been falling asleep at the wheel. Fischer testified that he had no reason to disbelieve this explanation. Fischer also stated that he noticed nothing in Thibodeaux’s behavior that would suggest he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Fischer testified that during this conversation, Thibodeaux “started backing up towards [his] vehicle ... so I asked him to just come on back to me ... and that went back and forth a few times.” He said, “a couple of times I had to approach him to stop him from gaining reentry to the vehicle and the whole time he was very jittery.” Fischer testified that “there are certain behaviors that kind of stick out. And he started producing that behavior. It was more of a flight-type behavior. I mean, you could see it in his eyes that he didn’t want anything to do with me.” Fischer testified that he “wasn’t sure if Thibodeaux was trying to get back to the vehicle to either flee in the vehicle or to gain access to a weapon.” However, he also stated that Thibodeaux “was not showing any active aggression.” At one point, Fischer placed himself between Thibodeaux and the vehicle and asked Thibodeaux to step back to the police vehicle, which Thibodeaux did.

Fischer then asked Thibodeaux to sit in the back of the police vehicle. Fischer testified that he wanted to “make sure [Thibodeaux] had no weapons on his person and to get him in my vehicle to find out why he was so scared.” When Fischer asked Thibodeaux to sit in the police car, Fischer testified that Thibodeaux “kind of became emotional.” Fischer stated that Thibodeaux fell on the ground and sat down, saying, “ ‘I’m not getting in the car. I’m not getting in the car.’ ” Fischer insisted that Thibodeaux get into the vehicle; Thibodeaux eventually did, and Fischer closed the door behind him. Fischer stated that when Thibodeaux entered the police vehicle, “no criminal offense was evident at that time, but in my experience, when you have somebody react like that, they either have some type of warrant, or there is something in the vehicle that they are not supposed to have.” Fischer testified that at that point he intended to look into the Cruiser and “to ensure that [Thibodeaux] did not have any warrants.” Before beginning to run a check for warrants, Fischer approached the Cruiser and shined his flashlight through its open door. He observed a semi-automatic handgun lying on the driver’s seat with the handle and side of the weapon viewable from the open car door. Fischer then returned to his police vehicle and initiated a computer check for warrants and prior convictions; he discovered that Thibodeaux had five prior convictions for armed robbery and was on probation until 2011. Fischer then placed Thibodeaux under arrest for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Thibodeaux was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). He filed a motion to suppress the evidence of the weapon seized from the car, which the district court granted. The district court found that an illegal seizure occurred when Fischer detained Thibodeaux in the police car for reasons other than confirming or dispelling the suspicion that justified the initial stop or addressing reasonable suspi *375 cion that arose during the stop. It found that Thibodeaux’s delay in stopping was reasonable, given that it was dark and they were on the interstate. The court also expressed doubt that Fischer was concerned for his safety, because Fischer failed to testify that he felt endangered, did not do a pat-down of Thibodeaux, and did not call for backup. The district court concluded that Fischer merely had a hunch, not supported by reasonable suspicion, that Thibodeaux was hiding something, and that detaining Thibodeaux to investigate that hunch was an illegal seizure. The district court denied the Government’s motion for reconsideration, reiterating its conclusion that it was unable to identify any articulable facts that would give any officer reasonable suspicion. 1 The Government appeals, and this court has jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3731.

II. DISCUSSION

When considering an appeal of a grant of a motion to suppress, we review the district court’s factual determinations for clear error and its ultimate Fourth Amendment conclusions de novo. United, States v. Gonzalez, 328 F.3d 755, 758 (5th Cir.2003) (citing Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 699, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996)). The Fourth Amendment guarantees individuals the right “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” U.S. Const, amend. IV. The stopping of a vehicle and the detention of its occupants constitutes a “seizure” under the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Brigham, 382 F.3d 500, 506 (5th Cir.2004) (en banc).

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Bluebook (online)
276 F. App'x 372, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-thibodeaux-ca5-2008.