United States v. Steven Michael Parr

Defendant-appellant Steven Parr was charged and convicted of possessing stolen mail in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1708 (1982). On appeal he argues that the stolen mail, discovered and seized by a municipal police officer during a routine vehicle stop, should have been suppressed. We agree that the warrantless search of Parr’s car and subsequent seizure of the contraband were unlawful and that the evidence should have been suppressed. We reverse and remand on that ground. We do not reach Parr’s other contentions that the district court committed several evidentiary errors during trial and failed properly to instruct the jury.

FACTS AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

In the early morning of May 15, 1986, Steven Parr was stopped and detained by a Portland police officer. The officer stopped Parr because he suspected Parr was driving with a suspended driver’s license. As the officer was stopping Parr, he noticed Parr and a companion in the car bend towards the floorboard and “make furtive movements.” The officer attributed Parr’s attention to the floorboard as the cause of Parr driving partially up on the sidewalk before stopping.

After stopping Parr, the officer asked him to exit the car. Parr…