United States v. Shelton, 3:20-cr-00050-HZ-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. JODY TYLER SHELTON, Defendant.

No. 3:20-cr-00050-HZ-1

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF OREGON

June 20, 2021

OPINION & ORDER

HERNÁNDEZ, District Judge:

Defendant Jody Tyler Shelton is charged with one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B), one count of Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i), and one count of Felon in Possession of a Firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Defendant moves to suppress the firearm and narcotics seized from him during a traffic stop, as well as statements he made during his arrest. The Court denies Defendant's motion.

BACKGROUND¹

Shortly after 5:00 am on January 15, 2020, Salem Police Officer Justin Carney was on patrol in the area of Silverton Road NE and Hadley Street NE, when he saw a dark-colored Jeep Cherokee with its lights on parked facing the wrong direction at the end of the Hadley Street. As Officer Carney drove past the Jeep, he saw that it was occupied, had no front license plate, and had a car dealership placard where a rear license plate would normally be displayed. The Jeep then pulled into an apartment parking lot and the driver got out and headed down the stairwell out of sight. Officer Carney knew from prior drug investigations, surveillance operations, and a recent complaint that known drug traffickers resided in two of the four apartment units in the building. Officer Carney parked nearby to conduct surveillance and wait for the Jeep to leave.

After approximately 10 minutes, the driver exited the apartment building, returned to the Jeep, and started driving eastbound on Silverton Road. Officer Carney followed the Jeep for a few blocks and saw it make a sharp right turn from the first lane crossing over the second lane and into a business parking lot. Officer Carney turned on his overhead lights to conduct a traffic stop based on the unlawful right turn.² The driver made a sweeping left turn in the parking lot,turned back toward the roadway, and revved his engine. Officer Carney thought the driver might have been trying to elude him, so he turned his patrol car toward the driver's door and turned on his spotlight. Officer Carney recognized the driver as Defendant Jody Shelton, who he was familiar with from previous drug investigations. The officer also saw that there was a female passenger in the vehicle. Approximately two or three weeks before the traffic stop, a long time, reliable informant told Officer Carney that Defendant was dealing narcotics and carried a firearm.

Officer Carney informed dispatch of the traffic stop and requested a backup officer due to Defendant revving the engine and the informant's report that Defendant was armed. Before exiting his patrol car, Officer Carney ordered Defendant to turn off the Jeep, which he complied with. Officer Carney approached the driver's side window, explained the improper right turn was the reason for the stop, and requested Defendant's license, registration, and proof of insurance. Defendant explained that he had made the abrupt turn because vehicle's rear window had come open causing the interior light to illuminate and he did not want to get into trouble. While remaining at the driver's side window, Officer Carney radioed dispatch to check Defendant for outstanding warrants and driving status. Dispatch reported that Defendant was a valid driver but was on probation for delivery of heroin.

Defendant did not, however, produce a vehicle registration. He explained that he was not the owner of the Jeep and that he was borrowing it from a friend. Defendant struggled to come up with a name at first; he eventually stated that "Cory" owned the Jeep but could not remember Cory's last name. At Officer Carney's suggestion, Defendant looked in the glovebox and located a bill of sale for the Jeep in the name of Cory Crawford. Based on his experience that people involved in drug activity often drive stolen vehicles to avoid detection, the lack of license plateson the Jeep, and Defendant's inability to provide him with the full name of the Jeep's owner, Officer Carney suspected that the vehicle was stolen.

Typically, Officer Carney would run a vehicle's VIN to determine whether it was reported stolen; however, he did not feel comfortable taking his attention away from Defendant to locate the VIN and, for officer safety reasons, decided to wait for the backup officer to arrive before taking further action to resolve the status of Jeep's ownership. Similarly, Officer Carney also did not begin to write a traffic citation for the unlawful right turn because doing so would have required him to take his attention away from Defendant and the passenger, and he needed to determine the vehicle's registration information to complete the citation anyway. Due to his safety concerns, Officer Carney remained at the driver's side window until his cover officer arrived.

While waiting for backup, Officer Carney saw a bottle of alcohol in the back-passenger seat area of the Jeep. Based on his experience, Officer Carney knew that a prohibition on possessing or consuming alcohol is a standard probation condition for corrections clients who, like Defendant, are on probation for drug-related offenses. When Officer Carney asked Defendant if the terms of his probation prohibited alcohol use, Defendant stated that he was not sure of his conditions because he had not yet met with his probation officer, and that the bottle of alcohol was not his anyway.

Backup arrived approximately three minutes after Officer Carney initiated the traffic stop. Officer Carney stepped away from the driver's window toward the rear of the Jeep to brief the cover officer on the situation. Officer Carney explained to the other officer that he did not believe Defendant was telling the truth about borrowing the Jeep and that he wanted to ask Defendant to exit the vehicle so that he could question Defendant and the female passengerseparately. While he was near the back of the Jeep, Officer Carney also noticed that, on top of lacking front and rear license plates, the Jeep was not displaying a temporary tag in violation of O.R.S. 803.540.

Officer Carney then asked Defendant to exit the Jeep and walk to the rear of the vehicle. When Defendant opened the door, Officer Carney saw a small black bag and what looked like the handle of a large knife on the driver's floorboard. Instead of walking to the rear of the Jeep, Defendant made his way towards the front of the vehicle. Officer Carney instructed Defendant to stop and redirected him towards the rear of the Jeep. He also instructed Defendant to set down his wallet and phone. While walking toward the back of the Jeep, Defendant slowly moved his phone and wallet from his right hand to his left hand and started to drop his right hand to his coat pocket. As he neared the back of the Jeep, Defendant did not slow down, giving Officer Carney the impression that Defendant was not going to stop to talk to him and was trying to create distance between himself and the officer. Based on his observation of the knife in the car, the informant's tip that Defendant was carrying a firearm, and Defendant's behavior after exiting the vehicle, Officer Carney became concerned for his and the cover officer's safety and grabbed Defendant's arm so that he could pat him down for weapons. Before doing so, Officer Carney told Defendant that he was making him nervous and asked if he had any weapons on him. Defendant hesitated before denying he had any weapons, which made Officer Carney even more suspicious that Defendant might be armed.

Officer Carney then directed Defendant to the front of the cover officer's patrol car and instructed Defendant to place his hands behind his back. Defendant complied. Officer Carney first patted down the pocket that he had just observed Defendant reach towards and immediately felt a small-frame revolver in Defendant's pocket. Because he knew Defendant was a felon whocould not legally possess a firearm, Officer Carney placed Defendant in handcuffs and read him his Miranda rights. Defendant was placed under arrest about eight minutes after he was stopped.

Before continuing the search of Defendant, Officer Carney asked him if he had anything on him that could harm the officer. Defendant said no, but Officer Carney found an unopened bag of hypodermic needles in his front pocket. Defendant then admitted that he had three heroin-filled needles in his pocket, which Officer Carney recovered. Officer Carney also located several bags containing heroin and methamphetamine in Defendant's chest coat pocket. Officer Carney continued to question Defendant about drug use and drug activity. Defendant made several statements and then requested an attorney. Officer Carney's search of the vehicle revealed additional drug contraband, U.S. currency, and other evidentiary items.

Defendant moves to suppress all evidence seized during the January 15, 2020 encounter, as well as all statements he made during the stop and his arrest. Defendant argues Officer Carney prolonged the traffic stop in violation of the Fourth Amendment by waiting for a backup officer and by shifting the mission of the stop from issuing a traffic ticket to investigating whether Defendant was complying with his probation terms. Def. Mot. 5, ECF 31 ("From the time of the completion of the check for warrants, everything that Officer Carney saw or heard is beyond the scope of the stop and is illegal.").

STANDARDS

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. U.S. Const. amend. IV; Elkins v. United States, 364 U.S. 206, 213 (1960) (applying Fourth Amendment to states and state actors through Fourteenth Amendment). A police officer "can stop and briefly detain a person for investigative purposes if the...