United States v. Jackson

MEMORANDUM **

Leonard Lee Jackson appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence and the 210-month sentence imposed following his guilty-plea conviction for possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

Jackson contends that because he committed no vehicle code violation, the traffic stop leading to his arrest was unwarranted, and his motion to suppress evidence should have been granted. We review a district court’s denial of a motion to suppress de novo and its factual findings for clear error. See United States v. Garcia, 205 F.3d 1182, 1186 (9th Cir.2000). The district court’s finding that Jackson committed a traffic violation is supported by the record and not clearly erroneous. Accordingly, the motion to suppress was properly denied. See Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 810 , 116 S.Ct. 1769 , 135 L.Ed.2d 89 (1996) (observing that generally, the decision to stop an automobile is reasonable where police have probable cause to believe that a traffic violation has occurred).

We reject Jackson’s contention that his sentence should be vacated…