United States v. Williams

76 F. App'x 728
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedJuly 30, 2003
DocketNo. 02-3764
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 76 F. App'x 728 (United States v. Williams) 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. Williams, 76 F. App'x 728 (7th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

ORDER

Anton Williams was riding in a car stopped for a traffic violation when a police officer patted him down and found a gun. Williams later pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), but preserved the right to challenge on appeal the denial of his motion to suppress the gun. Because the poliee officer had reasonable suspicion to conduct the pat-down, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

On February 13, 2002, poliee stopped the car in which Williams was riding because the windshield was obstructed by a radar detector and items hanging from the rearview mirror. The parties do not dispute what happened during the traffic stop. When Officer Darlington observed the violation, he intended to issue a warning and direct the driver to remove the items. But as soon as he turned on his emergency lights, Darlington noticed that the back-seat passenger-later identified as Williams-continuously glanced back nervously at the approaching squad car. Darlington pulled over behind the other car, and while he was speaking to the driver he observed that Williams appeared to be avoiding eye contact with him. After obtaining a license and insurance card from the driver, Darlington asked Williams and the other passenger for identification. When both passengers responded that they were not carrying identification, Darlington returned to his squad car to check [729]*729the driver’s information. At that time he also called for backup.

While in his squad car Officer Darling-ton noticed that Williams was moving around in the back seat as if he was trying to conceal something. At the hearing on the motion to suppress, Darlington explained that he saw Williams “moving slightly to his left with ... his right shoulder elevating as if he was trying to conceal something with his right hand.” Darling-ton continued to watch Williams while confirming the validity of the driver’s documents. He then returned to the vehicle with his backup officer and directed Williams to exit the car. Darlington asked Williams if he was carrying anything that could “injure or hurt” the officer, but Williams did not answer and instead asked what was going on. Darlington repeated the same question two more times before Williams finally answered, “No.” Darling-ton then asked Williams for his name, which Williams gave as “Allen J. Morris.” Not satisfied, Darlington questioned the driver and the other passenger about Williams’s identity, eventually discerning that Williams had given a false name. Darlington then handcuffed Williams, and the backup officer began patting him down. During the pat-down, the backup officer again asked for identification, and Williams reached his handcuffed hands toward his coat pocket. The backup officer stopped him and, after discovering a weapon in that pocket, arrested him. The entire stop took slightly more than ten minutes.

Williams does not dispute that Officer Darlington properly stopped the car in which he was riding because the driver had committed a traffic violation by obstructing the windshield. See 625 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/12-503(c) (2003). And, of course, an officer conducting a valid traffic stop can detain the occupants of the car long enough to accomplish the purpose of the stop. United States v. Childs, 277 F.3d 947, 953 (7th Cir.2002). During that time the officer can order passengers to exit the car, Maryland v. Wilson, 519 U.S. 408, 414-15, 117 S.Ct. 882, 137 L.Ed.2d 41 (1997), or ask them questions, Childs, 277 at 953-54. Further, if a police officer has reasonable suspicion that a detained individual is armed or dangerous, he may conduct a protective pat-down search of the detainee’s outer clothing. Knowles v. Iowa, 525 U.S, 113, 117-18, 119 S.Ct. 484, 142 L.Ed.2d 492 (1998); United States v. Hendricks, 319 F.3d 993, 1004 (7th Cir. 2003). Although “reasonable suspicion” is something short of probable cause, the officer must have more than an “inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or ‘hunch.’ ” Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 28, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). Whether reasonable suspicion exists is “based on the totality of the circumstances even if each individual indicator would not by itself justify the intrusion.” United States v. Brown, 188 F.3d 860, 864 (7th Cir.1999). An officer has reasonable suspicion that the detainee poses a danger if “a reasonably prudent man in the circumstances would be warranted in the belief that his safety or that of others was in danger.” Terry, 392 U.S. at 27, 88 S.Ct. 1868.

At the hearing on the motion to suppress, Officer Darlington asserted that he had reasonable suspicion because Williams looked nervously at the approaching squad car, avoided eye contact, moved furtively within the car, and gave a false name. The district court, citing Brown, 188 F.3d at 865, opined that Williams’s nervousness and refusal to make eye contact could not have justified the pat-down but nevertheless reasoned that all four factors combined gave rise to reasonable suspicion. The government accepts the district court’s reading of Brown, but we note that Brown says only that “[njervousness or [730]*730refusal to make eye contact alone will not justify a Terry stop and pat-down.” 188 F.3d at 865 (emphasis added). Brown expresses no opinion about whether nervousness and refusal to make eye contact would justify patting down a detainee legitimately stopped for other reasons, and we found no case answering that question in this circuit or any other. Because there were other factors justifying Darlington’s search, however, we need not answer this question.

On appeal Williams argues that Darling-ton’s concerns about him were “unfocused and vague” and thus did not establish reasonable suspicion to believe that he was armed or dangerous. Williams notes that Darlington ordered him out of the car simply because he had glanced over his shoulder at the approaching squad car and had refused to make eye contact, behavior that Williams says was not enough to warrant Darlington’s concern for his safety. But as noted above, Darlington did not need reasonable suspicion to question Williams, Childs, 277 F.3d at 953-54, or to get him out of the car, Wilson, 519 U.S. at 414-15, 117 S.Ct. 882. Williams also reasons that Darlington could not have feared for his safety because he did not immediately convey that fear when the backup officer arrived. But Darlington was entitled to call for backup without reasonable suspicion, so this argument is a nonstarter. See McNair v. Coffey, 279 F.3d 463, 467 (7th Cir.2002) (noting that police “may call extra cars to the scene to ensure that violence does not erupt”).

Williams also argues that Darling-ton improperly detained the occupants of the car because he would have completed the traffic stop sooner if he had not paused to question them.

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Bluebook (online)
76 F. App'x 728, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-williams-ca7-2003.