United States v. Victor Santos

MEMORANDUM

Defendant-Appellant Victor Garcia Santos (Santos) appeals his convictions and 30-month sentence imposed following his guilty plea to two counts of possession with intent to distribute heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841 (a)(1), (b)(1)(B), and (b)(1)(C). Santos contends that the district court erred by denying his motion to suppress heroin discovered in his car. Santos also appeals the written judgment insofar as one condition of supervised release differs from a condition orally pronounced at his sentencing hearing. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Reviewing the district court’s legal conclusions de novo and its underlying factual findings for clear error, see United, States v. I.E.V., 705 F.3d 430, 434 (9th Cir.2012), we conclude that the motion to suppress was properly denied.

Under the totality of the circumstances, the officers’ use of guns to detain Santos did not transform an investigatory stop into an arrest, and therefore, the officers did not need probable cause to detain Santos; reasonable suspicion, which they had, was enough. See Green v. City & Cnty. of San Francisco, 751 F.3d 1039, 1047-49 (9th Cir.2014). Santos was a…