Wake Forest Law Review
4Sep

As Free as a Bird: The Middle Finger and the First Amendment

Categories: Current Issues Blog
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By Michael Johnston

When Shawn Ellis extended his middle finger while riding in the passenger seat of a vehicle on U.S. Highway 52, he likely did not know that he would become involved in the latest of a string of appellate cases on the First Amendment.

The First Amendment provides that “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . .”[1] Freedom of speech under the First Amendment was incorporated against the states via the Fourteenth Amendment, limiting the ability of the states to restrict freedom of speech under the United States Constitution.[2] Expressive conduct outside of verbal speech can also merit First Amendment protections if there is an intent to convey a particularized message and there is a great likelihood that the message will be understood by those who view it in the surrounding circumstances.[3]

The extension of one’s middle finger, colloquially known as shooting or flipping the bird,[4] has a long history of being used to express emotions ranging from anger and protest to comfort and familiarity.[5] While this gesture can be used to express contempt, several courts have been reluctant to conclude that the middle finger gesture falls into a category of unprotected speech that can be prosecuted.[6] For example, the Sixth Circuit recently determined that a police officer did not have reasonable suspicion or probable cause of criminal activity to stop plaintiff a second time simply because she extended her middle finger after the first stop.[7] The court reasoned that the plaintiff violated no identified law and that “[a]ny reasonable officer would know that a citizen who raises her middle finger engages in speech protected by the First Amendment.”[8]

Fighting words, however, are one exception to the First Amendment; they are words “which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.”[9] The Supreme Court further explained that fighting words are not essential to the discussion of ideas, and any benefit to the social discourse derived from them is outweighed by society’s interest in morality and order.[10] Despite the expressive value of extending one’s middle finger, courts are more willing to conclude that the gesture can support a disorderly conduct charge if there are other disruptive circumstances or if a third party can testify that they felt offended or threatened.[11] For example, the Third Circuit held that a police officer had probable cause to charge plaintiff with disorderly conduct under the totality of the circumstances, namely the plaintiff’s display of his middle finger and aggressive driving directed at another driver on the road.[12] With additional disruptive circumstances, a court is more likely to conclude that the speech constitutes fighting words and that the person using such speech can be charged with disorderly conduct.[13] For expressive purposes, disorderly conduct statutes have been limited by the Supreme Court to the proscription of fighting words.[14]

In State v. Ellis,[15] the defendant was stopped by a police officer after the officer observed the defendant extending his middle finger in the officer’s general direction.[16] The defendant was initially using a waving gesture as his vehicle drove past the stopped officer, but after the defendant’s vehicle passed the officer, the defendant changed his gesture to an extended middle finger.[17] There were other vehicles moving down the highway near the defendant’s vehicle.[18] In its initial opinion, the North Carolina Court of Appeals concluded that this conduct was sufficient for an officer to have reasonable suspicion of disorderly conduct.[19] The panel then withdrew its initial opinion and substituted it with another opinion; the panel majority clarified that the officer had reasonable suspicion of disorderly conduct because there was an objective basis to believe that the defendant’s gesture could have been directed at a third party and that the changing gestures suggested that the potential disorderly conduct was escalating.[20] While the court noted cases concluding that giving a middle finger to law enforcement is protected by the First Amendment, the court distinguished them by concluding that the possibility that defendant’s middle finger could have been directed at a third party was a sufficient basis for reasonable suspicion for disorderly conduct.[21] According to the court, this reasonable suspicion justified the stop and later justified the defendant’s charge and conviction of resisting, delaying, or obstructing a public officer for failing to provide his identification.[22]

The standard for a police officer to conduct a traffic stop is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity,[23] which is a lower standard than probable cause of criminal activity.[24] For reasonable suspicion, the police officer must, under the totality of the circumstances, have specific and articulable facts supporting a suspicion of criminal activity.[25] An innocent explanation for suspicious conduct does not defeat reasonable suspicion,[26] and innocent conduct can contribute to reasonable suspicion under the totality of the circumstances.[27]

However, as the dissenting opinion notes, the majority’s opinion in Ellis seems to disregard the First Amendment protections for defendant’s speech.[28] There is a sizeable amount of authority from around the United States concluding that extending one’s middle finger in the presence of third parties does not constitute disorderly conduct under the First Amendment.[29] Furthermore, there is also authority concluding that simply displaying one’s middle finger is insufficient for reasonable suspicion of criminal activity under the First Amendment.[30] In both Cruise-Gulyas v. Minard[31] and Ellis, for example, an officer stopped someone after they displayed their middle finger in the direction of the officer.[32] While the Sixth Circuit concluded that the officer in Cruise-Gulyas lacked reasonable suspicion to stop the plaintiff in response to the gesture under the First Amendment, the court of appeals in Ellis distinguished Cruise-Gulyas on the basis that it was unclear whom the gesture was directed at in Ellis, even though it seems unlikely that there were no other drivers on the street who might have seen the gesture in Cruise-Gulyas.[33] Just as there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and “[a]ny reasonable officer would know that a citizen who raises her middle finger engages in speech protected by the First Amendment” in Cruise-Gulyas,[34] the same should be true in Ellis. Furthermore, other courts have viewed the middle finger as sufficient for reasonable suspicion or probable cause of criminal activity only when there are other disruptive circumstances associated with the conduct or a third party can testify that they felt offended or threatened.[35] Unlike in Favata v. Seidel,[36] there were no other disruptive circumstances in Ellis, such as reckless driving, to justify reasonable suspicion or probable cause of disorderly conduct.[37] The Ellis opinion does find some support in North Carolina case law, but one of the more helpful cases for the Ellis opinion is also likely inconsistent with other authorities interpreting the First Amendment.[38]

On a practical note, the Ellis opinion will give law enforcement broader discretion to stop people, even if the stops are only motivated by personal animus. While the motivation of an officer might not be legally relevant when determining whether the officer had reasonable suspicion,[39] such stops can undermine community faith in law enforcement.[40] To justify such a stop, an officer would only need to claim that the offensive conduct of the defendant occurred in the presence of a third party. As in Ellis, the State would not need to provide evidence that the third party was actually offended by the gesture or even observed the gesture.[41] If the analysis of this question focused purely on reasonable suspicion standards under North Carolina law, this outcome might be logical due to the lower standard required for reasonable suspicion. However, in light of the protections for expressive conduct under the First Amendment, law enforcement officers stopping someone simply for using expressive, albeit distasteful, conduct in the presence of others is inconsistent with our constitutional freedoms and history.[42] Given our nation’s long history of protecting dissident speech under the First Amendment even when it happens to be offensive, extending a middle finger should not be a criminal offense, and it should not be treated as reasonable suspicion of a criminal offense simply because a third party might have seen it.

Mr. Ellis is in the process of appealing the panel’s decision.[43] In light of this appeal, the North Carolina Supreme Court should establish that the First Amendment protects expressive conduct in the form of extending a middle finger in public.

[1] U.S. Const. amend. I.

[2] U.S. Const. amend XIV, § 1; see Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359, 368–70 (1931); Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652, 666 (1925).

[3] See Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 404 (1989) (quoting Spence v. Washington, 418 U.S. 405, 411–12 (1974)).

[4] See Ira P. Robbins, Digitus Impudicus: The Middle Finger and the Law, 41 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1403, 1405–06 (2008).

[5] See id. at 1407–10.

[6] See Cruise-Gulyas v. Minard, 918 F.3d 494, 497 (6th Cir. 2019) (holding that plaintiff’s extension of middle finger did not justify officer stopping her a second time because the gesture was protected under the First Amendment and the gesture itself did not create probable cause or any reasonable suspicion of any criminal act); Swartz v. Insogna, 704 F.3d 105, 110 (2d Cir. 2013) (holding that traffic stop was not lawful because plaintiff giving officer middle finger while riding in vehicle did not create a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity); Sandul v. Larion, 119 F.3d 1250, 1255 (6th Cir. 1997) (holding that, despite defendant directing his middle finger and profane language at protestors while driving, “a reasonable officer should have known that the words and gestures employed by Sandul amounted to protected speech” because they were not likely to incite an immediate breach of the peace when Sandul’s vehicle was traveling quickly on the opposite side of the street from the protestors, the incident only lasted a few seconds, there was no evidence that any protestor was offended or even acknowledged the conduct except for the officer, and there was no face-to-face contact between Sandul and protestors), cert. dismissed, 522 U.S. 979 (1997); Duran v. City of Douglas, 904 F.2d 1372, 1378 (9th Cir. 1990) (holding that vehicle passenger’s use of profanity and display of middle finger to police officer protected by the First Amendment); Youngblood v. Qualls, 308 F. Supp. 3d 1184, 1190, 1195–97 (D. Kan. 2018) (holding that plaintiff’s display of middle finger and use of profanity directed at neighbor’s house was insufficient for probable cause for disorderly conduct under Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-6203 and the First Amendment); Brown v. Wilson, No. 1:12-CV-1122-DAE, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88871, at *8–14 (W.D. Tex. July 9, 2015) (holding that plaintiff’s middle finger to police officer while driving was not in violation of Texas’s disorderly conduct statute and did not fall under the fighting words exception to the First Amendment because there was no indication of actual or threatened violence tending to incite an immediate breach of the peace); Corey v. Nassan, No. 05-114, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68521, at *23–37 (W.D. Pa. Sept. 25, 2006) (holding that plaintiff’s alleged raising of his middle finger to police officer while driving was protected by the First Amendment in part because of the absence of “some particularized showing that the gesture in the specific factual context constitutes ‘fighting words’ or is otherwise illegal”); Perkins v. City of Gahanna, No. C2-99-533, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23209, at *5–11 (S.D. Ohio Sept. 21, 2000) (holding that plaintiff’s display of middle finger to police officer as he was leaving a police station was protected by the First Amendment and not disorderly conduct); Nichols v. Chacon, 110 F. Supp. 2d 1099, 1101, 1110 (W.D. Ark. 2000) (holding that officer improperly charged plaintiff with disorderly conduct after officer observed plaintiff display his middle finger while driving because the disorderly conduct statute, Ark. Code Ann. § 5-71-207(a)(3), was limited to fighting words and the display of one’s middle finger did not constitute fighting words); United States v. McDermott, 971 F. Supp. 939, 942–43 (E.D. Pa. 1997) (holding that defendant’s use of profanity with only officers and two other people present insufficient for fighting words exception under disorderly conduct statute); Cook v. Bd. of the Cty. Comm’rs, 966 F. Supp. 1049, 1052 (D. Kan. 1997) (holding that “the Court cannot infer that a reasonable police officer would necessarily believe that plaintiff was engaged in disorderly conduct or that — in light of clearly established law and the information known to Officer Drake — a reasonable police officer would have had probable cause to arrest plaintiff and charge him with disorderly conduct in violation of Kansas Law” when plaintiff displayed his middle finger while driving past officer’s parked patrol car); Freeman v. State, 805 S.E.2d 845, 849–51 (Ga. 2017) (holding that defendant’s disorderly conduct conviction based on his display of his middle finger in church was improper because the statute Ga. Code Ann. § 16-11-39(a)(1), as applied to expressive conduct under the First Amendment, only criminalized fighting words and there was no evidence that defendant engaged in any other threatening conduct or intended anything other than protest against secular education); In re Fechuch, No. 2005 AP 02 0012, 2005 Ohio App. LEXIS 3941, at *3–9 (Ohio Ct. App. Aug. 16, 2005) (holding that there was insufficient evidence to support defendant’s conviction for disorderly conduct because defendant’s use of profanity and her middle finger did not constitute fighting words under the First Amendment as they were not inherently likely to provoke a violent reaction from the ordinary citizen); Coggin v. State, 123 S.W.3d 82, 87–88, 91–92 (Tex. App. 2003) (holding that the evidence at trial was legally insufficient to uphold defendant’s conviction of disorderly conduct after defendant in car displayed his middle finger to driver of another car because the interaction was brief, there was no actual or threatened violence, and the interaction was not face-to-face).

[7] See Cruise-Gulyas, 918 F.3d at 497.

[8] See id.

[9] See Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568, 571–72 (1942) (footnote omitted).

[10] See id.

[11] See Favata v. Seidel, 511 F. App’x. 155, 159–60 (3d Cir. 2013) (holding that there was probable cause for disorderly conduct because plaintiff was driving recklessly in addition to displaying his middle finger); City of Akron v. Lorenzo, No. 20475, 2001 Ohio App. LEXIS 4327, at *8 (Ohio Ct. App. Sept. 26, 2001) (holding that it was not a manifest miscarriage of justice for a trial court to find defendant guilty of disorderly conduct under fighting words exception because defendant repeatedly shouted profanities at officers and displayed his middle finger); State v. Wood, 679 N.E.2d 735, 739–40 (Ohio. Ct. App. 1996) (holding that defendant’s conviction for disorderly conduct was proper after concluding that defendant’s actions, namely approaching university police officers and then repeatedly using profanities against them and displaying his middle finger to them, constituted fighting words); In re S.J.N-K., 647 N.W.2d 707, 711–13 (S.D. 2002) (holding that there was sufficient evidence to justify a guilty jury verdict for disorderly conduct under the fighting words exception after defendant repeatedly displayed middle finger and mouthed profanity to school principal while following principal in car); Estes v. State, 660 S.W.2d 873, 874–75 (Tex. App. 1983) (holding that there was sufficient evidence to justify a guilty jury verdict for disorderly conduct after defendant displayed his middle finger to high school principal and principal resisted “animal instinct to retaliate” because the gesture could have constituted fighting words to an average person).

[12] See Favata, 511 F. App’x at 156–57, 159–60.

[13] See, e.g., Wood, 679 N.E.2d at 739–40 (holding that defendant’s conviction for disorderly conduct proper after concluding that defendant’s actions, namely approaching university police officers and then repeatedly using profanities against them and displaying his middle finger to them, constituted fighting words).

[14] See Gooding v. Wilson, 405 U.S. 518, 527–28 (1972); State v. Summrell, 192 S.E.2d 569, 574–76 (N.C. 1972), overruled in part on other grounds in State v. Barnes, 380 S.E.2d 118, 119 (N.C. 1989).

[15] No. COA18-817, 2019 N.C. App. LEXIS 713 (N.C. Ct. App. Aug. 20, 2019) petition for writ of supersedeas filed, motion for temporary stay allowed, No. 340A19-1, 2019 N.C. LEXIS 848 (N.C. Aug. 29, 2019). While this case was officially filed for publication by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on August 20, 2019, it has not been given an official reporter designation at the time of this publication.

[16] Id. at *7–8.

[17] Id.

[18] Id. at *6.

[19] N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-288.4(a)(2) (2017); State v. Ellis, No. COA18-817, 2019 N.C. App. LEXIS 628, at *6–8 (N.C. Ct. App. Aug. 6, 2019), withdrawn (Aug. 13, 2019), modified, No. COA18-817, 2019 N.C. App. LEXIS 713 (N.C. Ct. App. Aug. 20, 2019), petition for writ of supersedeas filed, motion for temporary stay allowed, No. 340A19-1, 2019 N.C. LEXIS 848 (N.C. Aug. 29, 2019).

[20] Ellis, 2019 N.C. App. LEXIS 713, at *9–11.

[21] Id.

[22] See id. at *9–12.

[23] See State v. Barnard, 658 S.E.2d 643, 645 (N.C. 2008).

[24] See State v. Johnson, 803 S.E.2d 137, 139 (N.C. 2017).

[25] See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 20–22 (1968); State v. Styles, 665 S.E.2d 438, 443–40 (N.C. 2008).

[26] See United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 277 (2002); State v. Williams, 726 S.E.2d 161, 167 (N.C. Ct. App. 2012).

[27] See United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 9–11 (1989); Terry, 392 U.S. at 22.

[28] See State v. Ellis, No. COA18-817, 2019 N.C. App. LEXIS 713, at *22 (N.C. Ct. App. Aug. 20, 2019) (Arrowood, J., dissenting), petition for writ of supersedeas filed, motion for temporary stay allowed, No. 340A19-1, 2019 N.C. LEXIS 848 (N.C. Aug. 29, 2019).

[29] See Sandul v. Larion, 119 F.3d 1250, 1255 (6th Cir. 1997) (holding that, despite defendant directing his middle finger and profane language at protestors while driving, “a reasonable officer should have known that the words and gestures employed by Sandul amounted to protected speech” because they were not likely to incite an immediate breach of the peace when Sandul’s vehicle was traveling quickly on the opposite side of the street from the protestors, the incident only lasted a few seconds, there was no evidence that any protestor was offended or even acknowledged the conduct except for the officer, and there was no face-to-face contact between Sandul and protestors), cert. dismissed, 522 U.S. 979 (1997); Youngblood v. Qualls, 308 F. Supp. 3d 1184, 1190, 1195–97 (D. Kan. 2018) (holding that plaintiff’s display of middle finger and use of profanity directed at neighbor’s house was insufficient for probable cause for disorderly conduct under Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-6203 and the First Amendment); United States v. McDermott, 971 F. Supp. 939, 942–43 (E.D. Pa. 1997) (holding that defendant’s use of profanity with only officers and two other people present insufficient for fighting words exception under disorderly conduct statute); Freeman v. State, 805 S.E.2d 845, 849–51 (Ga. 2017) (holding that defendant’s disorderly conduct conviction based on his display of his middle finger in church was improper because the statute Ga. Code Ann. § 16-11-39(a)(1), as applied to expressive conduct, only criminalizes fighting words and there was no evidence that defendant engaged in any other threatening conduct or intended anything other than protest against secular education); Coggin v. State, 123 S.W.3d 82, 91–92 (Tex. App. 2003) (holding that the evidence at trial was legally insufficient to uphold defendant’s conviction of disorderly conduct after defendant in car displayed his middle finger to driver of another car because the interaction was brief, there was no actual or threatened violence, and the interaction was not face-to-face).

[30] See, e.g., Cruise-Gulyas v. Minard, 918 F.3d 494, 497 (6th Cir. 2019) (holding that plaintiff’s extension of middle finger did not justify officer stopping her a second time because the gesture was protected under the First Amendment and the gesture itself did not create probable cause or any reasonable suspicion of any criminal act); Sandul, 119 F.3d at 1255.

[31] 918 F.3d 494 (6th Cir. 2019).

[32] See id. at 497; Ellis, 2019 N.C. App. LEXIS 713, at * 7–8.

[33] See Cruise-Gulyas, 918 F.3d at 495–97; Ellis, 2019 N.C. App. LEXIS 713, at *6–10.

[34] See Cruise-Gulyas, 918 F.3d at 497.

[35] See, e.g., Favata v. Seidel, 511 F. App’x. 155, 159–60 (3d Cir. 2013) (holding that there was probable cause for disorderly conduct because plaintiff was driving recklessly in addition to displaying his middle finger); State v. Wood, 679 N.E.2d 735, 739–40 (Ohio. Ct. App. 1996) (holding that defendant’s conviction for disorderly conduct was proper after concluding that defendant’s actions, namely approaching university police officers and then repeatedly using profanities against them and displaying his middle finger to them, constituted fighting words).

[36] 511 F. App’x. 155 (3d Cir. 2013).

[37] See id. at 156–57, 159–60; Ellis, 2019 N.C. App. LEXIS 713, at *6–10.

[38] See In re V.C.R., 742 S.E.2d 566, 568, 570–71 (N.C. Ct. App. 2013) (holding that officer had reasonable suspicion to seize teenage defendant for disorderly conduct under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-288.4(a)(2) after officer began driving away and defendant said, “What the fuck, man?”). It is unlikely that a reasonable person would sincerely believe that a teenager’s use of what was likely rhetorical profanity amongst friends would be plainly likely to provoke violent retaliation and thereby cause a breach of the peace. Furthermore, such speech is likely protected by the First Amendment. Compare id., with Cruise-Gulyas, 918 F.3d at 497 (holding that officer’s second stop of plaintiff after plaintiff extended her middle finger was not based on reasonable suspicion of any criminal act and that plaintiff’s gesture was protected under the First Amendment).

[39] See Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806, 813 (1996); State v. Nicholson, 813 S.E.2d 840, 846 (N.C. 2018).

[40] See Albert J. Reiss, Jr., The Police and the Public 175–76 (1971).

[41] See State v. Ellis, No. COA18-817, 2019 N.C. App. LEXIS 713, at *2–3 (N.C. Ct. App. Aug. 20, 2019); id. at *22 (Arrowood, J., dissenting).

[42] See, e.g., Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 414 (1989); Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 25–26 (1971).

[43] See State v. Ellis, No. COA18-817, 2019 N.C. App. LEXIS 713 (N.C. Ct. App. Aug. 20, 2019), petition for writ of supersedeas filed, motion for temporary stay allowed, No. 340A19-1, 2019 N.C. LEXIS 848 (N.C. Aug. 29, 2019).

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14Mar

4th Amendment Rights: The Reasonableness of Prolonged Traffic Stops

Categories: 4th Cir. Blog Weekly Roundup
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By: Matthew Welch & Gilbert Smolenski

On March 1, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit published an opinion for United States v. Brian Bowman.  The court held that Bowman’s Fourth Amendment right, freedom from unreasonable seizures, was violated and reversed the district court ruling.

I. Facts and Procedural History

In the predawn hours the morning of June 20, 2015, Officer Waycaster was patrolling on Route 25 in Henderson County, North Carolina.  He received a tip from the DEA that two individuals driving a red, older model Lexus could be narcotics runners.  The DEA also provided a license plate number for the car.  At 3:40 a.m., Officer Waycaster spotted an older red Lexus.  Rather than stopping the vehicle based on information from the DEA, Officer Waycaster followed the car “looking for [his] own infractions . . . for [his own] reason to stop the vehicle.”  When the vehicle weaved over a fog line and accelerated to 10 mph over the speed limit, Officer Waycaster pulled the vehicle over, suspecting that the driver may have been under the influence.  The government agrees that the DEA tip should not be considered in any legal analysis.

After stopping the vehicle, Officer Waycaster noticed two men in the vehicle: Bowman, the driver, and Alvarez, the passenger.  Officer Waycaster testified that Bowman appeared nervous because his hands were shaking, he failed to make eye contact with Waycaster, and that his carotid artery was moving, indicating an elevated heart rate.  Officer Waycaster did not see any alcohol or firearms in the vehicle, but he did notice an energy drink in the center console, food wrappers, and a suitcase in the back seat.  Officer Waycaster explained why Bowman was stopped and then asked Bowman to exit the vehicle and go to the patrol car so that Officer Waycaster could check his information.  Alvarez remained in the passenger seat the entire time.

After Bowman exited the vehicle, he consented to a weapons frisk.  Officer Waycaster found no weapons.  Officer Waycaster then told Bowman to sit in the patrol car while Waycaster ran his driver’s license and registration.  While Officer Waycaster was running Bowman’s information, he asked Bowman where he was coming from.  Bowman said that he was heading home after picking up Alvarez from Alvarez’s girlfriend’s house.  He said he was returning the favor because Alvarez had done the same for him in the past. When questioned about the address of Alvarez’s girlfriend’s house, Bowman said he did not know it but that it was in his car’s GPS.  Officer Waycaster also asked Bowman what he did for a living.  Bowman replied, saying that he was a welder but was currently unemployed.  Bowman also said that he recently bought the Lexus off Craigslist.  Officer Bowman testified that this was a suspicious activity because “it was a known practice with narcotics traffickers to either use rental vehicles or use multiple, different vehicles, or buy and sell vehicles to transport narcotics.”  Officer Waycaster, believing that Bowman was not under the influence, then issued Bowman a ticket for speeding and unsafe movement of the vehicle.

Bowman then began to exit the vehicle but Officer Waycaster asked if he could speak further with Bowman.  Bowman consented.  After another round of questions about what Bowman and Alvarez had been doing that night, Officer Waycaster, who was seated in the patrol car with Bowman said that he “was going to ask [Alvarez] questions if you don’t mind, okay?”  Bowman responded, “okay,” and remained in the vehicle.  As Officer Waycaster exited the patrol car he told Bowman, “just hang tight right there, okay.”  Bowman responded with, “oh, okay.”  Office Waycaster testified that at this point, Bowman was not free to get out of the patrol car because Waycaster had developed, from the traffic stop alone, reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.

Office Waycaster then went back to the Lexus and interviewed Alvarez about what had transpired before the two men were pulled over.  Alvarez’s story conflicted with Bowman’s.  Officer Waycaster then return to the patrol car and asked Bowman if there was meth in the Lexus, to which Bowman responded no.  Bowman then refused to let Officer Waycaster search the Lexus.  Thereafter, Officer Waycaster removed Alvarez from the Lexus and placed him in the patrol car with Bowman.  Then Office Waycaster summoned a K-9 team.  The K-9 team passed around the outside of the Lexus.  The dog alerted an officer that illegal narcotics were present in the vehicle.  Thereafter, Office Waycaster and the K-9 handler searched the interior of the car.  They found meth, digital scales, and containers of ammunition.

Bowman was charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.  Bowman filed a motion to suppress the methamphetamine evidence, arguing that Officer Waycaster unlawfully prolonged the completed traffic stop without consent or reasonable suspicion.  The district court followed the recommendation of the magistrate judge in denying the motion to suppress.  The magistrate judge admitted that Bowman was not free to leave the patrol car but that the prolonged detention was permissible because “Waycaster had a justified, reasonable suspicion that Defendant Bowman was engaged in criminal activity.” The judge said that the totality of the circumstances supported this finding.  Bowman then filed an appeal.

II. Standard of Review

The Fourth Circuit reviews the district court’s determination that the officer had a reasonable suspicion to prolong the traffic stop de novo.

III. Reasoning

First, a traffic stop must be reasonable.  Here, Bowman does not challenge the reasonableness of the traffic stop.  Bowman was swerving and traveling 10 mph over the speed limit.  Instead Bowman’s Fourth Amendment challenge rests on the unreasonableness of his prolonged detention in the patrol car. The Fourth Amendment allows an officer to conduct an investigation unrelated to the reasons for the traffic stop as long as it does not lengthen the roadside detention.  To extend the length of the detention beyond the time necessary to accomplish the traffic stop’s purpose, an officer must have reasonable suspicion or receive the driver’s consent.  Here, the officer did not receive Bowman’s consent or have a reasonable suspicion.

The government argued that Bowman consented to the prolonged detention when he said “okay” after Officer Waycaster asked him to “hang tight right there, ok?”  However, under a reasonable person standard, the court said that this was not consent by Bowman.  Bowman never had time to respond to Officer Waycaster before Waycaster exited the vehicle and many would feel they were not free to leave in a similar situation. Furthermore, Waycaster was not asking a question, instead he was instructing Bowman what to do.  Thus, when Bowman remained in the patrol car as the officer went to question Alvarez, the encounter was no longer a consensual one but instead became a non-consensual seizure.

After the Fourth Circuit concluded the search constituted a non-consensual seizure, the Court then analyzed whether Waycaster’s “prolonged seizure was justified by reasonable suspicion.”  The Court noted there is no precise definition for what constitutes reasonable suspicion.  Instead, reasonable suspicion is a commonsense, nontechnical standard that considers the realities of everyday life.  The bar for reasonable suspicion is less than the probable cause standard and the facts articulated by the stopping officer and trial court must be taken in their totality.  However, each factor can be analyzed separately by the court before being taken together in a full consideration of the circumstances surrounding the traffic stop.

The Fourth Circuit focuses on four specific factors in its analysis.  First, Waycaster noted that both Bowman and Alvarez appeared to be nervous.  However, a driver’s nervousness is not a good indicator since most citizens are nervous when dealing with police.  The record indicated that Bowman and Alvarez did not exhibit any signs of nervousness above the norm, and the government conceded Bowman was calm once exiting the vehicle.  Moreover, although a suspect’s increased heart rate, which can be evidenced by a suspect’s throbbing carotid artery, can help support there was a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, the present facts do not show Bowman demonstrated nervousness beyond the norm. The fact that Bowman remained calm in the patrol car and failed to make eye contact with an officer is not indicative of criminal behavior.  Thus, the first factor weighed in favor of the Bowman.

Second, Waycaster stated that several articles in the car, specifically clothes, food, and an energy drink, helped give rise to a reasonable suspicion.  However, these items are consistent with innocent travel and “in the absence of contradictory information,” cannot reasonably imply criminal activity.  While Bowman may have made false statements about his travel plans, the government failed to connect that fact to any wrongdoing in the case.  Therefore, just the articles alone cannot be used to established untruthfulness, and subsequently reasonable suspicion.

Third, the district court noted that Bowman’s inability to recall Alvarez’s girlfriend’s address contributed to Waycaster’s reasonable suspicion.  But, the Fourth Circuit stated this was entirely reasonable, as it is clear from the video recording that Bowman repeatedly said he used the car’s GPS to find the house, and Waycaster could find the address by looking at the car’s GPS history.  The government failed to connect Bowman’s response with criminal activity, and the Fourth Circuit stated it is reasonable that Bowman did not know the address and was relying on GPS in a dark, unfamiliar area.

Finally, Waycaster believed Bowman’s vehicle purchases gave suspicion of criminal activity since he thought it was strange Bowman could afford to purchase multiple vehicles while unemployed and the use of multiple cars was a known practice of drug traffickers.  The Fourth Circuit readily disposed of Bowman’s vehicle purchasing habits, noting that Waycaster made “unsubstantiated assumptions.”  Even though Bowman was unemployed, there are numerous possible explanations to explain the car purchases that are all within the confines of the law.  Likewise, innocent travelers may use multiple vehicles, some of which they could buy from Craigslist, and that fact is entitled to little weight.

Consequently, none of the factors alone provide a basis for reasonable suspicion.  Even when looking at the totality of the circumstances, as mandated by precedent, the Fourth Circuit similarly found that the “combination of wholly innocent factors” did not give rise to reasonable suspicion.  Therefore, the Fourth Circuit reversed the district court, as Bowman’s motion to suppress should have been granted.

 

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3Feb

Fourth Circuit Affirms Conviction of Felon In Possession of Firearm

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By Eric Jones

On December 18, 2015, the Fourth Circuit issued a published opinion in the criminal case United States v. Stover.  Lavelle Stover was convicted of possession of a firearm as a felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).  At trial, Stover motioned to suppress the firearm that he discarded in front of his vehicle, but the motion was denied.  On appeal Stover argued that the firearm should have been suppressed as the product of an illegal seizure under the Fourth Amendment.  The Fourth Circuit affirmed his conviction.

The Arrest and Trial

In the early morning hours of March 13, 2013, police noticed Stover sitting in a vehicle that was double-parked in a small private parking lot.  When they returned several minutes later and saw that Stover was still double-parked, the officers decided to approach the vehicle because there had recently been several violent robberies in the area.  The uniformed officers activated their emergency lights and aimed a spotlight on Stover’s vehicle as they pulled in to block the car in the parking lot.  As the officers exited the patrol car, Stover exited his vehicle and made his way to the front of his car.  He completely ignored the officers’ ordering him to stop and return to his vehicle.  Stover tossed a loaded nine millimeter handgun into the grass in front of his vehicle.  One officer proceeded along the right side of Stover’s vehicle and confronted him with his gun drawn, believing that Stover was preparing to run.  At that point Stover silently complied with the officers’ orders and returned to his vehicle.

At trial in the District Court for the District of Maryland, Stover motioned to suppress the handgun on the theory that it was the product of an illegal seizure under the Fourth Amendment.  The District Court found that Stover had not submitted to police authority until after abandoning the firearm, and thus the protections Fourth Amendment did not apply.  The firearm was entered into evidence, and Stover was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 57 months in prison.  Stover filed a timely appeal.

The Fourth Amendment’s Protections Against Illegal Seizure

As the Fourth Circuit explained, the moment that Stover was seized is vital to determine whether or not the firearm should have been suppressed.  If the officers had reasonable suspicion to stop Stover, the Fourth Amendment is not implicated and the weapon was properly entered.  If there was not reasonable suspicion to stop the defendant, however, the Circuit Court explained that the exact circumstances of the stop are important to determine whether an illegal seizure has occurred.  The Fourth Circuit applied a two-part test outlined in California v. Hodari D..

First, the Circuit Court asked whether the Fourth Amendment was implemented due to a show of authority by the officers.  In order to determine whether a show of authority had occurred, the Supreme Court has explained that you must consider whether “in view of all the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave.”  As applied here, the Fourth Circuit held that blocking in Stover’s car with a marked police car, activating the emergency lights, using their spotlight, and approaching Stover’s vehicle in uniform all clearly indicated that a show of force had been made, and thus the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable seizures.

The second part of the two-part test in order to determine whether the firearm could be admitted into evidence asks precisely when the defendant was seized.  The Fourth Circuit explained that after submitting to police authority, the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable seizure.  If the defendant has not capitulated to the police’s orders, however, there has been at most an “attempted seizure,” and the protections of the Fourth Amendment are not applicable until after the defendant has submitted.  The Fourth Circuit explained that if a defendant is fleeing from the police, he has not submitted and thus anything he tosses to the side as he runs is not subject to the protections of the Fourth Amendment.  If, however, the defendant has submitted (by being tackled, by stopping voluntarily, or any other submission), the Fourth Amendment applies to anything found on his person.

Stover Did Not Submit to the Officers until After Abandoning His Firearm

In this case, the Fourth Circuit held that Stover had not submitted to the officers until after abandoning the firearm, and thus the Fourth Amendment was not applicable.  The Court relied on the fact that Stover exited his vehicle despite the flashing emergency lights and direct orders to remain in his vehicle.  He then proceeded toward the front of his car, directly away from the officers, and did not indicate that he heard them or intended to comply.  Only after abandoning his firearm and being confronted by the armed officer did Stover submit to their authority and follow their commands.  Thus, because Stover was not seized until after he threw the handgun into the grass, he simply abandoned it and it was not seized by the police.

One Circuit Judge dissented in this case, arguing that Stover acquiesced to the officers’ orders by remaining on the scene and simply attempted to abandon his firearm while remaining under police control.  If this were the case, the legality of the seizure would have been determined by whether or not the officers had reasonable suspicion to stop Stover.  The majority, however, held that ignoring verbal orders and proceeding away from officers is not consistent with submitting to the police, and thus no seizure had yet occurred.

The Fourth Circuit Affirmed Stover’s Conviction

Because the evidence indicated that Stover had not submitted to the police and may have been attempting to flee when he abandoned the handgun, the Fourth Circuit affirmed that he had not been seized and thus his firearm was not the product of an illegal search or seizure.  Because the handgun was properly admitted as evidence, therefore, the Circuit affirmed Stover’s conviction.

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27Feb

The “Totality of the Circumstances” Includes Conduct By Defendant Between The Time Police Officer Turns On Siren And When Vehicle Stops

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By: Michael Klotz

Today, in the unpublished opinion of Unites States v. Skyler Jovelle Holley, the Fourth Circuit reversed the decision of Senior District Judge W. Earl Britt of the District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. The court held that the district court erred in failing to consider conduct by the Defendant between the time that the police officer turned on his siren and when the Defendant was actually stopped in assessing “reasonable suspicion” under the Fourth Amendment.

Facts

Deputy John McArthur, who was on duty in Edenton, North Carolina, received a call from a confidential informant to be on the lookout for Mr. Holley, who had just pulled a gun on someone near the Crown Mart on Oakum Street and driven away in a white Cadillac. Deputy McArthur did not know Mr. Holley, but he had previously seen his headshot and knew that he was a black man. Shortly after receiving this call, Deputy McArthur saw a white Cadillac with two black male passengers on the other side of town. Deputy McArthur judged that enough time had passed that this could be the same vehicle referenced by the informant. Deputy McArthur turned on his lights and attempted to stop the vehicle. The driver of the white Cadillac, who was leaned back in his seat, did not pull over, but instead made a right turn and drove slowly and erratically. The vehicle eventually pulled into a driveway and stopped. When Duty McArthur searched the vehicle he discovered that Mr. Holley was one of the occupants. Mr. Holley had a .38 caliber pistol in his pocket, and another .38 caliber gun was discovered on the floor of the vehicle. Mr. Holley was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and 924.

District Court Grants Defendant’s Motion To Suppress

Mr. Holley filed a motion to the suppress the evidence discovered at the scene, including the guns, on the theory that Deputy McArthur did not have “reasonable suspicion” to stop his vehicle merely on the basis of a tip to be on the lookout for a black male driving a white Cadillac. Reasonable suspicion by a police officer is necessary to justify a stop under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The district court granted Defendant’s Motion to Suppress, holding that there was no “reasonable, articulable” grounds for the officer to believe that the vehicle stopped was the same vehicle referenced by the confidential informant. The court noted that Deputy McArthur did not recognize the driver as being Mr. Holley, and the fact that the driver was slumped in his seat—along with the fact that it was a white Cadillac with black occupants—was insufficient to justify the stop. The district court noted that Cadillacs are common in the black community in rural eastern North Carolina, and thus the vehicle stopped might have been uninvolved in the alleged incident. In rendering its decision, the district court did not consider Mr. Holley’s conduct between the time that Deputy McArthur initiated his siren and when the vehicle eventually pulled over. The government filed a motion for an evidentiary hearing or to reconsider the motion to suppress on the existing record, which was denied. The government timely appealed.

The Fourth Circuit Reverses Based Upon The “Totality Of The Circumstances”

The Fourth Circuit reversed the district court, denying the Defendant’s Motion to Suppress, and finding that based upon the “totality of the circumstances” Deputy McArthur did have reasonable suspicion to stop the suspect vehicle. The district court failed to consider the conduct by the Defendant while he was being followed by the police officer. However, under clear Fourth Circuit precedent a seizure requires either 1. the application of physical force; or 2. both an assertion of authority and submission or acquiescence to that show of authority. In this case, the second form of seizure is at issue. There was an “assertion of authority” by Deputy McArthur when he turned on his police siren. However, the Defendant did not acquiesce to this “show of authority” until the vehicle actually stopped. Thus, the district court erred as a matter of law in failing to consider the Defendant’s conduct between the time that the police siren was turned on and when the vehicle came to a halt. During this time, the Defendant failed to pull over and exhibited an “unusual driving pattern.” The Fourth Circuit concluded that this conduct, considered in light of the fact that the vehicle was a white Cadillac with black occupants as referenced by the informant, was sufficient to create “reasonable suspicion” to justify a Fourth Amendment seizure. Thus, the Fourth Circuit concluded that the district court erred in granting Defendant’s Motion to Suppress, and the decision was reversed and remanded.

 

 

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