United States v. Shane Nault

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 20-30231 Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. v. 4:19-cr-00051-

BMM-

SHANE ALAN NAULT,

Defendant-Appellant. OPINION

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana Brian M. Morris, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted October 4, 2021 Seattle, Washington

Filed July 21, 2022

Before: A. Wallace Tashima, Milan D. Smith, Jr., and Jacqueline H. Nguyen, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Nguyen; Dissent by Judge Tashima SUMMARY *

Criminal Law

The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of Shane Nault’s motions to suppress evidence and to traverse a search warrant that resulted in the discovery of methamphetamine and a firearm in Nault’s vehicle.

Nault pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and felon in possession of a firearm, but reserved the right to appeal the denial of the motions. An officer stopped the vehicle after learning that the vehicle— whose registered owner, Joei Ross, had an outstanding arrest warrant—was in the parking lot of a gas…