U.S. v. Michelletti ( 1993 )

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
For the Fifth Circuit
No. 92-8274
UNITED STATES of AMERICA,
Appellee-Plaintiff,
VERSUS
JOHNNY CARL MICHELLETTI,
Appellant-Defendant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
For the Western District of Texas
(May 10, 1993)
Before REYNALDO G. GARZA, WILLIAMS and JONES, Circuit Judges.
REYNALDO G. GARZA, Circuit Judge:
Appellant, Johnny Carl Michelletti, appeals the denial of his
motion for suppression of evidence. Michelletti entered into a
plea agreement expressly reserving the right to challenge his
motion's denial. The appellant pled guilty to the unlawful
possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Upon careful review,
we find that the denial of the motion was proper and we therefore
affirm.
FACTS
On November 17, 1991, El Paso Police Officer George Perry and
his partner were on routine motor patrol in a high crime area at
around 2:00 a.m. As they were driving, Perry observed a man
walking in front of Alacran's Bar. When the man saw the patrol
car, he turned and ran behind the bar. The officers decided to
investigate and drove the car around the bar from the other
direction. Officer Perry saw a group of three men standing there,
including the man the police originally spotted and who was now out
of breath. Perry left his car and quickly scanned the subjects'
hands for weapons. At this instant a man pushed open the back exit
door and had an open beer can in his left hand while keeping his
right hand in his pants pocket. The officer testified that this
man, Johnny Carl Michelletti, seemed to have a cocky attitude and
he stared right at the policeman. He then attempted to walk past
the officer. Perry stated that he stopped the subject because he
was violating the law by leaving a bar with alcohol. He was
suspicious that some other criminal activity might be taking place
because the initial subject had run from the police and joined the
group of men at such a late hour in this crime ridden part of town.
The officer was particularly wary of Michelletti, who is six foot
two and weighs 220 pounds and kept his right hand in his pocket
when joining the suspicious trio. The appellant was told to put
the beer on the patrol car and put both his hands on the vehicle.
A quick frisk uncovered a .22 caliber pistol in the right hand
pants pocket that had originally drawn the officer's attention.
The appellant had been convicted of aggravated assault in 1989.
Michelletti pled guilty to the unlawful possession of a firearm by
a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). He
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specifically reserved the right to appeal the denial of his motion
to suppress the evidence of the pistol. He was sentenced to 33
months imprisonment, three years supervised release and a $50
assessment. Michelletti timely appealed.
ANALYSIS
The appellant argues that Officer Perry had no basis to detain
or frisk him and therefore the discovered concealed pistol should
not have been admitted into evidence. We disagree. An officer may
stop and search an individual if he has reasonable suspicion that
criminal activity is afoot and the suspect might be armed. Terry
v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 29-30, 88 S. Ct. 1868, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889 (1968).
"We are unwilling to tie the hands of police officers operating in
potentially dangerous situations by precluding them from taking
reasonable steps to ensure their safety when they have legitimately
detained an individual." United States v. Rideau, 969 F.2d 1572,
1575 (5th Cir. 1992).
Officer Perry had several reasons to be suspicious of the
appellant. The time was around 2:00 a.m., closing time for bars.
The officers were on routine patrol in a high crime area when they
observed a man turn and run away from them at Alacran's Bar. This
first subject immediately went behind the bar and joined his two
friends presumably to announce the policemen's arrival. Suspicions
were already aroused by this evasive individual joining these other
men when he was obviously apprehensive about the police presence.
When the policeman approached the group, Michelletti suddenly
pushes open the back door of the bar and approaches. He is holding
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an open beer can in his left hand while keeping his right hand in
his front pants' pocket. The appellant weighs 220 pounds and is
six foot, two inches tall. This imposing figure could cause a lot
of harm if he did have a weapon. The officer appreciated the risk
involved if indeed there was some criminal intent on the part of
the four men. The officer also surmised, in the alternative, that
the three men and the police might be in danger if the appellant
had ill intent and was actually armed. The fact that he kept his
right hand in his pocket at all times, given the surrounding
circumstances, was reason enough to suspect Michelletti of possibly
being armed and warranted the pat down frisk for the officers' and,
possibly, the bystanders' safety. The appellant had a bit of a
cocky attitude, stared at the officer and then attempted to walk
past him. Michelletti did not have any intention of setting the
beer down or pouring it out. The officer knew that if the bar had
a mixed beverage permit, as most bars do, that it was a violation
to remove any alcoholic beverage from the premises under the Tex.
Alco. Bev. Code Ann. § 28.10.1 If in the alternative, the
establishment had an off premises license, it would be a violation
under §§ 71.012 or 101.723. The record is silent as to which
1
§ 28.10 provides in relevant part:
Consumption Restricted to Premises
. . . .
(b) A mixed beverage permittee may not permit any person to
take any alcoholic beverage purchased on the licensed
premises from the premises where sold. . . .
2
§ 71.01 Authorized Activities.
The holder of a retail dealer's off-premise license
may sell beer in lawful containers to consumers, but not
for resale and not to be opened or consumed on or near
4
license the bar carried. The officer also did not know whether the
beer was illegally sold after 2:00 a.m., in violation of § 105.05.4
The officer had a definite duty to uphold the Code under § 101.07.5
It is clear that the officer had a good faith reason to believe
that a violation had taken place and therefore had the authority to
stop the appellant aside from the suspicions generated by the
surrounding events and Michelletti's concealed hand.
Given the appellants' attitude, stare and the placement of his
right hand while he cavalierly carried a beer out of a bar in
violation of Texas Law were grounds for suspicion. When you
combine these reasons with the time at night, the high crime area,
the suspicious actions of the three men, the officer had sufficient
the premises where sold.
3
§ 101.72 states in relevant part:
Consumption of Alcoholic Beverage on Premises Licensed for
Off-Premises Consumption
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
consumes liquor or beer on the premises of a holder of a
wine and beer retailer's off-premise permit or a retail
dealer's off-premise license.
4
§ 105.05 states in relevant part:
Hours of Sale: Beer
(a) No person may sell, offer for sale, or deliver beer
at any time not permitted by this section.
. . . . .
(c) In a county having a population of 300,000 or more,
according to the last preceding federal census, a holder of
a retail dealer's on-premise late hours license may also
sell, offer for sale, and deliver beer between midnight and
2 a.m. on any day.
5
§ 101.07 Duty of Peace Officers
All peace officers in the state, including those of
cities, counties, and state, shall enforce the provisions of
this code and cooperate with and assist the commission in
detecting violations and apprehending offenders.
5
reasonable suspicion that he might be in danger and that
Michelletti was possibly armed. The police did not know if they
were in a situation involving four hostile suspects or only one
possibly armed suspect giving the officer the added responsibility
of protecting the civilians. Michelletti was properly frisked
because he kept his hand where a weapon could and actually was
concealed. The danger these officers were facing is underscored in
the testimony given that a fellow officer and friend was shot to
death in El Paso only two weeks prior.
We view the evidence with all inferences in favor of the
verdict. United States v. Martinez, 975 F.2d 159, 161 (5th Cir.
1992), cert. denied, (1993). Findings of fact can be challenged
only for clear error. United States v. Richardson, 943 F.2d 547,
549 (5th Cir. 1991). We do not find any reversible error here.
CONCLUSION
We find that Officer Perry had reasonable suspicion to stop
and frisk the appellant. The fruit of that frisk, the concealed
pistol, was therefore properly admitted into evidence. For all the
above reasons, we
AFFIRM.
JERRE S. WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge, dissenting:
The district court determined that Officer Perry's stop and
frisk of Johnny Michelletti was justified, and it refused to
6
suppress the handgun found in Michelletti's pocket. The majority
affirms the district court's decision. Because I do not find a
sufficient reasonable suspicion to justify the frisk, I
respectfully dissent.
There is no significant dispute about the facts. Because we
are reviewing the district court's legal conclusion that Perry had
sufficient reasonable suspicion to justify the stop and frisk, the
de novo standard applies. United States v. Richardson, 943 F.2d
547, 549 (5th Cir. 1991).
In Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S. Ct. 1868, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889
(1968), the United States Supreme Court outlined an exception to
the rule requiring probable cause to detain and search an
individual. Under Terry, an officer may briefly detain someone if
he or she has reasonable suspicion that the person has been, or is
about to be, involved in some criminal activity. An officer then
may also frisk the detainee for weapons if the officer is
“justified in believing that the individual . . . is armed and
presently dangerous to the officer or to others.” Id. at 24, 88
S.Ct. at 1881. Thus, the suspicion that justifies a Terry stop
does not also sanction a lawful patdown search unless the officers
also reasonably suspect that the detainee is armed and dangerous.
The majority's opinion improperly treats these two requirements as
one.
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1. the stop
It is well established that an investigatory stop is
proper only when the detaining officer has a reasonable suspicion
“that criminal activity may be afoot.” Id. at 30, 88 S.Ct. at
1884. In the instant case, however, the record is devoid of any
evidence that Officer Perry was warranted in suspecting that
Michelletti violated or attempted to violate any criminal laws.
The district court concluded that Michelletti violated section
101.72 of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code (TABC), which forbids
the on-site consumption of beer purchased from a supplier licensed
only for off-premises consumption.6 But even this important point
is manifestly unestablished. As the majority concedes, the record
does not reveal whether Alacran's Bar carries the mixed-beverage
permit that bars carry almost by definition. It is fanciful to
imagine the converse, that a profit-seeking “bar” would hold merely
an off-premise license and forbid on-site consumption. In short,
only the implausible circumstance that Alacran's Bar carried an
off-premise license would support an arrest of Michelletti for
violating § 101.72, inferred from his possession of the open
container.
Other than § 101.72, TABC's regulatory scheme generally
governs the purveyors of alcoholic beverages, not the buyers. See,
6
Even for a multiple offender, however, the penalties
amount only to a fine between $100 and $200. Id. § 101.72(d).
8
e.g., V.T.C.A., Alcoholic Beverage Code § 28.10(b) (prohibiting a
mixed beverage permittee from allowing a patron to take a beverage
off the premises), § 32.15 (barring the removal of alcoholic
beverages from the premises of a private club), § 71.03 (forbidding
an off-premise licensee from selling beer to be opened or consumed
on or near the premises), and § 105.05(c) (prohibiting an on-
premise purveyor from selling beer after 2:00 a.m.). The only
other code provision that authorizes the arrest of a bar patron for
possession of a beer outside a bar comes into play if the patron is
consuming the beer after hours. Id. § 105.06. Perry, however,
made no reference to the time when he stated that “it was a
violation of Texas law to exit a bar in possession of alcoholic
beverages.” Additionally, the district court found that the stop
took place at 2:00 a.m. Under § 105.06, no violation occurs until
after 2:15 a.m.
The factually similar case of Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. 47, 99
S. Ct. 2637, 61 L. Ed. 2d 357 (1979), is instructive. In Brown, a
unanimous Supreme Court held that officers were unjustified in
detaining the defendant as he was walking down an alley amid a
“high drug problem area” merely because he “looked suspicious”:
The flaw in the State's case is that none of the
circumstances preceding the officers' detention of
appellant justified a reasonable suspicion that he was
involved in criminal conduct. Officer Venegas testified
at appellant's trial that the situation in the alley
“looked suspicious,” but he was unable to point to any
facts supporting that conclusion. [footnote omitted]
. . . The fact that appellant was in a neighborhood
frequented by drug users, standing alone, is not a basis
for concluding that appellant himself was engaged in
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criminal conduct.
Id. at 52, 99 S.Ct. at 2641.
As in Brown, the record fails to establish that Michelletti's
detention was warranted by Perry's asserted suspicion that
Michelletti himself was engaged in criminal behavior. I am willing
to concede, however, that Perry may have possessed a good faith,
though inaccurate, belief that Michelletti's possession of the beer
outside the bar was prohibited by TABC regulations. Additionally,
TABC § 101.07 charges all Texas peace officers with “detecting
violations and apprehending offenders.” A brief stop of
Michelletti could therefore be justified as part of an officer's
investigation of whether Alacran's Bar was a mixed beverage
establishment or private club that had allowed Michelletti to take
his beer from the premises. Officer Perry, however, never claimed
such a basis.
2. the frisk
Even assuming that, in light of all the circumstances,
Perry had sufficient reasonable suspicion to conduct a valid Terry
stop, I do not agree that he was justified in conducting the
subsequent frisk. To determine the separate question of whether an
officer was justified in frisking a detainee, we judge the facts
against an objective standard: Would “a reasonably prudent man
. . . believe, based on `specific and articulable facts,' that his
safety or that of others [was] in danger”? United States v.
10
Rideau, 969 F.2d 1572, 1574 (5th Cir. 1992) (en banc) (quoting
Terry, 392 U.S. at 27, 88 S.Ct. at 1883).
The officer in Terry had watched three men for ten or twelve
minutes. Two of those men had walked a dozen times past a
particular store window, studying it and consulting with each
other. When the officer stopped the men to ask their names and
business, they mumbled inarticulately. He therefore frisked them
and discovered two revolvers. The Supreme Court held that a
reasonably prudent officer could justifiably suspect the men were
casing the store and were armed for robbery. In Rideau, two
officers patrolling a high-crime area at night saw Rideau standing
in the middle of the road. After the officers flashed their
lights, Rideau stumbled out of the road. The officers approached
Rideau, suspecting public intoxication. When they asked him his
name, Rideau appeared nervous and pulled away, prompting the frisk
and discovery of a gun. This court placed particular emphasis on
both Rideau's nervousness and backing away in holding that the
officers were justified in suspecting he was armed and dangerous.
Id. at 1575.
This court in Rideau emphasized that “the police [do not] have
a right to frisk anyone on the street at night in a high crime
neighborhood,” and they must be able to point to “specific and
articulable facts indicating that their safety is in danger to
justify a patdown.” Id. at 1575-76. Perry offered no specific and
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articulable facts here. Perry testified at the suppression hearing
that Michelletti seemed suspicious because he had his right hand in
his pocket; he drank beer with his left hand; he was calm, but “a
little bit almost cocky”; and he made eye contact with the
officers, but then looked away. Perry further stated on cross-
examination that neither Michelletti nor the other three men
outside the bar did anything threatening. The officer admitted
that Michelletti's right hand in his pocket, his beer, and his
attitude offered “[n]othing that would suggest he was armed at that
time.”
This concession is significant. The conceded absence of
“specific and articulable facts” is critical. As the Supreme Court
first cautioned in Terry, an officer's belief that a suspect is
armed and dangerous cannot be based upon only a mere “inchoate and
unparticularized suspicion or `hunch.'” Terry, 392 U.S. at 21, 88
S.Ct. at 1883. This important warning, not followed by the
majority, was reiterated verbatim in the recent case of Maryland v.
Buie, 494 U.S. 325, 332, 110 S. Ct. 1093, 1097, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889
(1990).
Michelletti's response when the officers confronted him also
provided no justification for the frisk. Before asking any
questions, Perry directed Michelletti to approach the patrol car,
put down his beer, place his hands on the car, and submit to a
patdown. Michelletti complied without comment or resistance.
12
Unlike the situation in Terry, the officers here did not observe
Michelletti acting suspiciously before accosting him. Unlike the
officers in Terry and Rideau, Perry did not question Michelletti
before conducting the frisk. Unlike the defendant in Rideau,
Michelletti did not appear nervous, mumble, or draw away when
confronted. He submitted to authority and did nothing that was
potentially threatening. Neither was Rideau subjected to the
intrusive frisk of being “put up against a wall or across a car and
subjected to a shake down” as was Michelletti. Rideau, 969 F.2d at
1575-76. And unlike the officers in United States v. Wangler (987
F.2d 228, 231 (5th Cir. 1993) (per curiam)) who reasonably
suspected the defendant was a drug dealer and had found guns near
his truck on prior occasions, Perry did not detect a bulge in
Michelletti's front pants pocket.
Courts suppress evidence seized in violation of Terry and its
progeny, even in potentially hazardous encounters such as roadside
and on-the-street confrontations. See, e.g., United States v.
Cole, 628 F.2d 897, 899 (5th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S.
1043, 101 S. Ct. 1763, 68 L. Ed. 2d 241 (1981) (suppressing the
discovery of a pistol following patdown search because there was no
proof that the suspect might be armed and dangerous); United States
v. McQuagge, 787 F. Supp. 637, 653 (E.D. Tex. 1991) (suppressing
physical evidence, including firearms, where “there is no evidence
in the record . . . that the law enforcement officers who made the
arrest reasonably believed the defendants were dangerous when they
13
were stopped”); Harris v. State, 827 S.W.2d 49 (Tex. App.—Houston
[1st Dist.] 1992, review denied) (suppressing crack cocaine because
the frisking officer relied upon unparticularized hunches, not an
articulated and individualized suspicion that the suspect was
armed).
The United States Supreme Court has upheld the suppression of
contraband discovered similarly during an unjustified patdown
search in Ybarra v. Illinois, 444 U.S. 85, 100 S. Ct. 338, 62
L. Ed. 2d 238 (1979). In Ybarra, officers had a warrant to search a
bar and its bartender for heroin. The officers also conducted a
patdown search of Ybarra, a bar patron, despite the fact that
Ybarra had made no gestures suggesting criminal conduct, no
attempts to conceal contraband, and no suspicious statements. The
Court held that the patdown of Ybarra was invalid because “a
person's mere propinquity to others independently suspected of
criminal activity does not, without more, give rise to probable
cause to search that person.” 444 U.S. at 91, 100 S.Ct. at 342
(citing Sibron v. State of New York, 392 U.S. 40, 62-63, 88 S. Ct.
1889, 1902, 20 L. Ed. 2d 917 (1968)).
Certainly the late hour, the high-crime area, and the presence
of other individuals outside the rear door of the bar justified the
officers being on their guard. And viewed in a generous light,
Officer Perry apparently possessed a good faith belief that Texas
law had been violated, thus warranting further investigation.
14
Michelletti's behavior, however, did nothing to raise the
reasonable suspicion that he was armed and dangerous. While it is
true that the patdown revealed a weapon, this impermissible search
cannot be justified on hindsight. Accordingly, I disagree with the
majority's conclusion, and I would vacate the conviction.
15