United States v. Raymond Rafus

MEMORANDUM

Defendant-Appellant Raymond Earl Ra-fus appeals his conviction pursuant to a conditional plea of guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1) and (b)(1)(C). We affirm.

Rafus argues that the district court erroneously denied his motion to suppress, and he raises two issues. We review de novo the denial of a motion to suppress, while reviewing for clear error the underlying factual findings. United States v. Davis, 530 F.3d 1069, 1077 (9th Cir.2008).

Rafus first contends that his seizure on August 20, 2008, by the Clark County, Nevada Gang Task Force was a full scale arrest lacking probable cause rather than a mere investigatory detention. Police may conduct an investigatory stop under the Fourth Amendment if “the officer’s action is supported by reasonable suspicion to believe that criminal activity may be afoot.” United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 273 , 122 S.Ct. 744, 750 , 151 L.Ed.2d 740 (2002) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted); see also Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 30 , 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1884-85 , 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). A full scale arrest, however, must be supported by probable…