United States v. Lincoln

MEMORANDUM *

Robert Lincoln appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence found during a search of his person and vehicle, as well as statements he made before and after his formal arrest. Lincoln seeks to suppress the evidence and statements as the fruit of violations of the Fourth Amendment and Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 , 86 S.Ct. 1602 , 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). We affirm.

I. TERRY STOP AND FRISK

Officers had reasonable suspicion to detain Lincoln briefly and frisk him for weapons. Officers knew specific, articulable facts that provided a reasonable basis to infer that Lincoln was engaged in criminal activity. See, e.g., United States v. Michael R., 90 F.3d 340, 345 (9th Cir.1996) (stating standard). Officers responded to a 911 call in which Lincoln’s girlfriend complained that the two had been fighting and Lincoln was selling drugs. Officer Hokenson also had been called to Lincoln’s trailer the night before for a similar do *636 mestie disturbance. When the officers arrived, Lincoln was letting the air out of a van’s tires in the middle of the night. Finally, the officers knew that drug dealers often carry guns and that domestic disturbances…

Dissenting.

I respectfully dissent, because the majority’s holding in this case conflicts with our ruling in United States v. Miles, 247 F.3d 1009 (9th Cir.2001).

The validity of the seizure of evidence in this case is inextricably intertwined with the validity of the patdown conducted pursuant to Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 , 88 S.Ct. 1868 , 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). As we recognized in Miles , “the purpose of a Terry stop is to allow the officer to pursue his investigation without fear of violence.” Miles, 247 F.3d at 1012 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). If the stop exceeds a brief restraint and check for weapons, an arrest occurs, requiring probable cause. See id.

*637 If during a Terry patdown, the officer feels an object that he recognizes immediately as contraband, that tactile recognition may constitute probable cause. See id. at 1013. However, if the object is not immediately recognized as contraband and is not a weapon, any further inquiry is “not authorized by Terry . ” Id. at 1014.

In Miles , the officer felt a box in the suspect’s pocket, “one-half the size of a package of cigarettes.” Id. We ruled that the “small box ... could not possibly be a…