Robert Thomas v. Oregon State Police

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff-Appellant Robert Thomas (“Thomas”) appeals. from the district court’s order granting judgment as a matter of law m favor of Defendant-Appellees Scott Vaughn (“Vaughn”) and the Oregon State Police (“OSP”). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

1. The district court did not err in granting Vaughn judgment as a matter of law on Thomas’s Fourth Amendment claim that Vaughn detained Thomas for an unreasonable length of time while Vaughn conducted an investigation.

Although the duration of an investigative detention bears on its reasonableness, “there is no strict time requirement.” United States v. Mayo, 394 F.3d 1271, 1276 (9th Cir. 2005) (citing United States v. Sharpe, 470 U.S. 675, 687 , 105 S.Ct. 1568 , 84 L.Ed.2d 605 (1985)); see also Sharpe, 470 U.S. at 685 , 105 S.Ct. 1568 (“Much as a ‘bright line’ rule would be desirable, in evaluating whether an investigative detention is unreasonable, common sense and ordinary human experience must govern over rigid criteria.”). “In assessing whether a detention is too long in duration to be justified as an investigative stop,” the inquiry is “whether the police diligently pursued a means…