Filed: Nov. 24, 2009
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION NOV 24 2009 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 09-30064 Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 2:08-cr-00143-EFS-1 v. MEMORANDUM * QIANA LEE ROUBIDEAUX, a/k/a Quiana Lee Roubideaux, Defendant - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington Edward F. Shea, District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted November 5, 2009 Seattle, Washin
Summary: FILED NOT FOR PUBLICATION NOV 24 2009 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 09-30064 Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 2:08-cr-00143-EFS-1 v. MEMORANDUM * QIANA LEE ROUBIDEAUX, a/k/a Quiana Lee Roubideaux, Defendant - Appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington Edward F. Shea, District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted November 5, 2009 Seattle, Washing..
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FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION NOV 24 2009
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS U .S. C O U R T OF APPE ALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 09-30064
Plaintiff - Appellant, D.C. No. 2:08-cr-00143-EFS-1
v.
MEMORANDUM *
QIANA LEE ROUBIDEAUX, a/k/a
Quiana Lee Roubideaux,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Washington
Edward F. Shea, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted November 5, 2009
Seattle, Washington
Before: ALARCÓN, KLEINFELD and CLIFTON, Circuit Judges.
The government appeals from an order granting Roubideaux’s motion to
suppress evidence seized during a warrantless search of his automobile and backpack.
We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3731, and we reverse.
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
We review de novo a district court’s determination of whether probable cause
existed for the search of a vehicle, including its trunk. United States v. Alvarez,
899
F.2d 833, 836, 839 (9th Cir. 1990) “Probable cause exists if, under the totality of the
circumstances, there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will
be found in a particular place.”
Id. (internal quotation omitted); see also United States
v. Ross,
456 U.S. 798, 825 (1982) (“If probable cause justifies the search of a lawfully
stopped vehicle, it justifies the search of every part of the vehicle and its contents that
may conceal the object of the search”). In determining whether the officers had
probable cause, we must examine the evidence in the record in a “common-sense and
realistic manner.” United States v. Crozier,
777 F.2d 1376, 1380 (9th Cir.1985).
Under the totality of the circumstances in this case, sufficient evidence justified
the warrantless search of Roubideaux’s car and backpack. Roubideaux was illegally
parked in an area Deputy Smith knew was used for drug consumption and prostitution.
When searching Roubideaux’s person, Deputy Smith found $5,700 in cash in
Roubideaux’s sock. Roubideaux’s explanation for having that quantity of cash on him
was implausible: telling Deputy Smith that he had no job; that the $5,700 was, in part,
payment for work he did for a transient alcoholic; and that he did not know the
address or any other contact information for this person. On a further search of
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Roubideaux, Deputy Smith found a small “user’s quantity” of marijuana hidden in
Roubideaux’s pants, and noticed two air fresheners wedged around the car’s control
panels. Deputy Smith testified that, according to his experience and training, air
fresheners are used to mask drug use and the presence of drugs, and also that
individuals who traffic in controlled substances carry large amounts of cash.
If taken separately, the individual pieces of evidence known to the police before
searching Roubideaux’s car might be easily explained away. However, “[i]n
determining the existence of probable cause we must look to the totality of the
circumstances,” U.S. v. Hoyos,
892 F.2d 1387, 1393 (9th Cir. 1989), giving
consideration to the experience of trained law enforcement. U.S. v. Arrellano-Rios,
799 F.2d 520, 523 (9th Cir. 1986); see also U.S. v. Gil,
58 F.3d 1414, 1418 (9th Cir.
1995) (“[O]bservations of conduct consistent with drug trafficking, even though
apparently innocuous, can give rise to probable cause.”). Here, considering the
totality of the circumstances—the location where Roubideaux was illegally parked,
the amount of money found in his sock, his dubious explanation for having it, his
possession of marijuana, and the knowledge and experience of the police—there was
a fair probability that evidence or fruits of a crime would be found in the car,
including the trunk. The very large amount of hidden cash late at night in
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Roubideaux’s sock, and his implausible explanation, were hard to understand among
the other circumstances except as a reasonably probable indication of further evidence
of a crime in the car. Therefore, the district court erred in suppressing the evidence
obtained from Roubideaux’s car.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
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