United States v. Horacio Mancilla

MEMORANDUM

Horacio Mancilla appeals the district court’s order denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained from what Mancil-la claimed was an unlawful stop of the vehicle in which he was riding. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review questions of law de novo and findings of fact for clear error. United States v. Sandoval, 390 F.3d 1077, 1080 (9th Cir.2004). We affirm the district court.

The record indicates that the facts known to the officers who stopped Mancil-la’s vehicle, when combined with reasonable inferences, were sufficient to create reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle. See United States v. Hartz, 458 F.3d 1011, 1017 (9th Cir.2006) (“Reasonable suspicion exists if ‘specific, articulable facts ... together with objective and reasonable inferences’ suggest that the persons detained by the police are engaged in criminal activity.” (alteration in original)). The model, color, and number of occupants in the stopped vehicle closely, though not perfectly, matched the reporting party’s description of the vehicle chasing her. It was reasonable for the district court to infer that, in a small rural town like Sunnyside, Washington, it is unlikely that…