United States v. Joseph Garcia

MEMORANDUM

After a bench trial on stipulated facts, Defendant-Appellant Joseph Garcia was convicted of possession of methamphet- . amine with intent to distribute and sentenced to 135 months in prison followed by 5 years of supervised release. Garcia appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence, a package of methamphetamine, obtained during a search of his car pursuant to a warrant. Garcia contends that officers lacked reasonable suspicion to conduct their initial Terry stop, exceeded the scope of a reasonable Terry stop, and lacked probable cause to ultimately seize his car while awaiting issuance of the warrant. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

There was no error in concluding, based on the totality of the circumstances, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s officers conducted a lawful Terry stop. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 , 88 S.Ct. 1868 , 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). Where, as here, a source of the officers’ information is an informant’s tip, the central inquiry is whether there are sufficient “indicia of reliability,” Adams v. Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 147 , 92 S.Ct. 1921 , 32 L.Ed.2d 612 (1972), to establish “a particularized and objective…