United States v. Roper ( 2023 )

Case: 21-51208 Document: 00516692784 Page: 1 Date Filed: 03/28/2023
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
March 28, 2023
No. 21-51208
Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
United States of America,
Plaintiff—Appellee,
versus
Clarence Edward Roper,
Defendant—Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
USDC No. 7:21-CR-65-1
Before Higginbotham, Jones, and Oldham, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:
Clarence Edward Roper was convicted after a bench trial of possession
of a firearm by a felon. In this appeal, Roper contends that the district court
erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence. We AFFIRM.
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No. 21-51208
I.
“When reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress, we review
questions of law de novo and findings of fact for clear error.”1 “Factual
findings are clearly erroneous only if a review of the record leaves this Court
with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.”2
Determining “[w]hether there is sufficient evidence to support reasonable
suspicion[,]” at issue in this case, is a question of law reviewed de novo.3
“Demonstrating reasonable suspicion is the Government’s burden.”4
Where, as occurred here, “a district court’s denial of a suppression motion
is based on live oral testimony, the clearly erroneous standard is particularly
strong because the judge had the opportunity to observe the demeanor of the
witnesses.”5 Moreover, “[e]vidence is viewed in the light most favorable to
the party that prevailed in the district court—in this case, the Government.”6
Ultimately, “[a] district court’s ruling to deny a suppression motion should
be upheld ‘if there is any reasonable view of the evidence to support it.’”7
1
United States v. McKinney, 980 F.3d 485, 491 (5th Cir. 2020) (citing United States
v. Bolden, 508 F.3d 204, 205 (5th Cir. 2007)).
2
United States v. Hearn, 563 F.3d 95, 101 (5th Cir. 2009) (internal quotation marks
and citation omitted).
3
McKinney, 980 F.3d at 491 (citing United States v. Monsivais, 848 F.3d 353, 357
(5th Cir. 2017)).
4
Id. (citing United States v. Hill, 752 F.3d 1029, 1033 (5th Cir. 2014)).
5
United States v. Nelson, 990 F.3d 947, 953 (5th Cir.) (citing United States v. Gibbs,
421 F.3d 352, 357 (5th Cir. 2005)), cert. denied, 142 S. Ct. 490 (2021).
6
Id. at 952 (citing United States v. Rodriguez, 702 F.3d 206, 208 (5th Cir. 2012)).
7
Id. (citing United States v. Massi, 761 F.3d 512, 520 (5th Cir. 2014)).
2
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II.
At approximately 12:30 a.m. on February 21, 2021, a Midland resident
called the Midland Police Department (“MPD”) to report an individual en-
tering her backyard.8 MPD Officer Kienan Goodnight responded to the call
and took photos of the resident’s security camera footage that recorded the
alleged prowler. Shortly after the call, MPD Sergeant William Welch was
driving in the area and noticed a then-unidentified individual near the fence-
line of a corner lot. The individual dipped his shoulders as if trying to hide
from Welch.
Welch stopped his police cruiser at the entrance to the alley and exited
the vehicle, prompting the then-unidentified individual to begin walking
towards Welch with his hands raised. The individual stated without
prompting that “[t]wo Mexican dudes” “in a black truck [were] chasing
[him].” Welch then directed the individual to place his hands on the police
cruiser and to identify himself, which he did: Clarence Edward Roper. Welch
told Roper that he was going to pat him down for weapons and did so while
asking Roper additional questions.
Approximately two minutes into this stop, as Welch continued to
speak with Roper, Goodnight arrived and showed Welch the picture of the
prowler he had obtained from the resident’s security footage. The
photograph showed an individual who, like Roper, was a Black male with a
mustache and earring stud; however, the photographed prowler appeared
substantially younger and was wearing clothing nothing like what Roper
donned. Welch nevertheless proceeded to ask why Roper was “in some
lady’s back yard”; Roper did not deny the implied accusation but instead
8
This individual is referred to as a “prowler” in the Parties’ submissions. We
adopt this here for consistency and clarity.
3
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responded, “I was jumping fences, that’s why.” Welch speculated that the
prowler’s jacket in the photograph was a different color because the image
was taken from a security-camera in night vision mode and had been captured
in black and white. Roper then stated that the man in the photograph was the
one who was chasing him. After radioing in Roper’s identifying information,
Welch walked along the fence line by which Roper was originally hiding and
discovered a firearm on the ground. Upon this discovery, Welch promptly
placed Roper in handcuffs, explained why he was doing so, and read Roper
his rights. Roper protested that the gun was not his.
Following a hearing to suppress the gun, the district court
“conclude[d] that it was not reasonable to think that [Roper] was the prowler
shown on the security footage.” Nonetheless, the district court denied
Roper’s motion:
[T]here was reasonable suspicion to continue Defendant’s
detention after Officer Goodnight arrived with a photograph of
the prowler. Sergeant Welch observed [Roper] hiding in the
alley at approximately one o’clock in the morning, saw him
come forward in a manner potentially consistent with hiding
contraband, and [Roper] recited a story about being chased that
was inconsistent with his physical appearance and demeanor.
Additionally, [Roper] admitted to “jumping fences.” These
are specific and articulable facts that support reasonable
suspicion that criminal activity was afoot. Shortly thereafter,
Sergeant Welch discovered the pistol at the place in the alley
where [Roper] was hiding.
The district court subsequently held a brief bench trial wherein Judge
Counts convicted Roper and later sentenced him to a 105-month term of im-
prisonment and a subsequent three-year term of supervised release. Roper
filed timely notice of his appeal.
4
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III.
The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and
seizures.9 Pursuant thereto, “[w]arrantless searches and seizures are
presumptively unreasonable, subject to certain exceptions.”10 The Supreme
Court carved out such an exception in Terry v. Ohio, which held that “limited
searches and seizures are not unreasonable when there is a reasonable and
articulable suspicion that a person has committed a crime.”11 This Court
“employ[s] a two-part test to determine whether there was ‘reasonable
suspicion’”: first, “whether the officer’s action was justified at its
inception,” and, second, “whether the officer’s subsequent actions were
reasonably related in scope to the circumstances that justified the stop.’”12
Broadly speaking, the Supreme Court has “deliberately avoided
reducing” the “somewhat abstract” concept of reasonable suspicion “to a
neat set of legal rules.”13 Some principles nevertheless guide this inquiry. For
example, reasonable suspicion need not be found solely on one fact: “factors
which by themselves may appear innocent, may in the aggregate rise to the
level of reasonable suspicion.”14 As the Supreme Court noted, “Terry itself
9
U.S. CONST. amend IV.
10
McKinney, 980 F.3d at 490 (citing Hill, 752 F.3d at 1033).
11
United States v. Santiago, 310 F.3d 336, 340 (5th Cir. 2002) (citing Terry v. Ohio,
392 U.S. 1, 21 (1968)).
12
United States v. Jenson, 462 F.3d 399, 404 (5th Cir. 2006) (quoting United States
v. Brigham, 382 F.3d 500, 506 (5th Cir. 2004) (en banc)).
13
United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 274 (2002) (internal quotation marks and
citations omitted).
14
United States v. Ibarra-Sanchez, 199 F.3d 753, 759 (5th Cir. 1999).
5
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involved a series of acts, each of them perhaps innocent if viewed separately,
but which taken together warranted further investigation.”15 Accordingly,
[courts] must look at the “totality of the circumstances” of
each case to see whether the detaining officer has a
“particularized and objective basis” for suspecting legal
wrongdoing. This process allows officers to draw on their own
experience and specialized training to make inferences from
and deductions about the cumulative information available to
them that “might well elude an untrained person.”16
Additionally, while reasonable suspicion exists if the officer “can
point to specific and articulable facts” supporting a reasonable belief “that a
particular person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a
crime,”17 Terry does not require officers to have a “particularized suspicion
of a particular, specific crime.”18 Finally, “[i]f the officer develops reasonable
suspicion of additional criminal activity during his investigation of the
circumstances that originally caused the stop, he may further detain its
occupant[] for a reasonable time while appropriately attempting to dispel this
reasonable suspicion.”19 “Detention, however, may last no longer than
15
United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 9–10 (1989) (internal quotation marks and
citation omitted).
16
Arvizu, 534 U.S. at 273 (quoting United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 417–18
(1981)).
17
Monsivais, 848 F.3d at 357 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see
Terry, 392 U.S. at 21.
18
United States v. Pack, 622 F.3d 383, 383 (5th Cir. 2010).
19
United States v. Pack, 612 F.3d 341, 350 (5th Cir. 2010), opinion modified on
unrelated grounds on denial of reh’g, 622 F.3d 383.
6
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required to effect the purpose of the stop.”20 Simply put, Welch had a
reasonable suspicion that Roper was engaged in criminal activity in the alley.
Three factors support this conclusion. First, Roper’s location and
timing provide a strong foundation for finding reasonable suspicion. While
one’s “presence in an area of expected criminal activity, standing alone, is not
enough to support a reasonable, particularized suspicion that the person is
committing a crime,” the “relevant characteristics of a location” can
contribute to a finding of reasonable suspicion,21 and the timing of one’s
movements are a “permissible consideration” in reasonable suspicion
analysis,22 including holding that a defendant’s “specific moves” gave rise to
reasonable suspicion where they took place “at night, in a high crime area.”23
That Roper was discovered hiding after midnight near the location of a crime
supports a finding of reasonable suspicion.
Second, Roper’s emergence and subsequent actions similarly give rise
to reasonable suspicion. As Welch approached, Roper emerged from a
secreted location and offered information without being asked. Welch
testified that Roper’s actions “walking out of the alley as [he] approached”
contributed to his suspicion because “it was possible that [Roper] had
20
Jenson, 462 F.3d at 404 (citing United States v. Lopez-Moreno, 420 F.3d 420, 430
(5th Cir. 2005)).
21
Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119, 124, 126 (2000) (emphasis added); see also
United States v. Jaquez, 421 F.3d 338, 340–41 (5th Cir. 2005) (holding that, where the only
facts to justify a stop of a red vehicle was that a red vehicle was involved in a crime fifteen
minutes ago, the police officer lacked reasonable suspicion to stop the car); cf. Adams v.
Williams, 407 U.S. 143, 144, 147–48 (1972) (noting, notwithstanding this rule, that where a
Terry stop occurred—including in a “high crime area”—was a relevant contextual
consideration).
22
See United States v. Villalobos, 161 F.3d 285, 289 (5th Cir. 1998); United States v.
Lujan-Miranda, 535 F.2d 327, 329 (5th Cir. 1976).
23
United States v. Rideau, 969 F.2d 1572, 1575 (5th Cir. 1992) (en banc).
7
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abandoned something – whether it be drugs, some type of contraband – in the
alley and was distancing himself from that.” Although in another context,
this Court has previously found reasonable suspicion from efforts to distance
oneself from contraband.24 We apply the same consideration and credit here.
Third, Roper’s inconsistent and nonsensical answers to Welch’s
questions gave rise to reasonable suspicion. A detainee’s inconsistent and
implausible explanations are pertinent to whether an officer has a reasonable
suspicion to elongate a stop.25 Roper stated that two individuals were
“chasing” him, but Roper “didn’t appear to be out of breath like he had been
running,” nor did he “appear to be sweating or anything like” as if “he was
running from someone.”26 And when Welch asked if Roper “kn[e]w these
people that [we]re chasing you,” Roper responded affirmatively, but when
Welch asked for their names, Roper said only “[t]hey are Mexican, man, but
I[] can’t pronounce their names.” These statements, when viewed in concert
with Roper’s timing and location, are themselves “specific and articulable
facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts,
reasonably warrant that intrusion.”27, 28
24
See United States v. Figueroa, No. 93-2664, 1994 WL 574186, at *2 (5th Cir. Oct.
4, 1994) (unpublished) (per curiam) (finding reasonable suspicion in part because the
officer testified that the trafficker had checked his luggage in a fashion “typical of drug
traffickers who wish to distance themselves from their contraband and begin traveling as
soon as possible”).
25
See United States v. Cavitt, 550 F.3d 430, 437 (5th Cir. 2008); Pack, 612 F.3d at
360–61.
26
The body camera footage confirms this perception.
27
Terry, 392 U.S. at 21.
28
Two additional facts about the discussion, while not vital, are relevant. First,
Roper said that he was trying to go to the police station, yet upon the police’s arrival, he
expressed no appreciation for their aid, nor did he request protection or a ride to the station.
8
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Accepting the district court’s conclusion that it was unreasonable for
Welch to believe Roper was the prowler based on the photograph does not
end the inquiry. Even if Welch and Goodnight came to this realization in the
moment, Roper’s furtive actions and inconsistent, implausible statements
remained unresolved. When Welch effectively said to Roper that he was
caught on camera trespassing, Roper did not contest the accusation, but
responded in such a way that created additional suspicion for two reasons: 1)
Roper admitted that he was engaging in suspicious activity by “jumping
fences” after midnight; and, 2) Roper claimed the photographed man “was
the person that was chasing [him]”—singular—despite initially claiming that
two individuals—plural—were chasing him. In sum, even if Welch and
Goodnight realized in the course of the seizure that Roper was not the
individual in the photograph, there remained numerous articulable and
suspicious facts supporting a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing sufficient
to extend the seizure, namely Roper’s actions and statements before the
photograph’s arrival as well as his suspicious answers in response to
questions generated by the picture itself. The district court did not err in
denying Roper’s motion.
****
We AFFIRM.
Second, Roper volunteered without prompting that he was on probation for aggravated
assault.
9