Filed: Jul. 08, 2015
Latest Update: Mar. 02, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 14-4504 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. DERICK LAMONT LEGARDY, Defendant - Appellant. No. 14-4670 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. CHARLES RONNELL WILLIAMS, Defendant - Appellant. No. 14-4718 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. ALTON TREVON SIMS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Cat
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 14-4504 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. DERICK LAMONT LEGARDY, Defendant - Appellant. No. 14-4670 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. CHARLES RONNELL WILLIAMS, Defendant - Appellant. No. 14-4718 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee, v. ALTON TREVON SIMS, Defendant - Appellant. Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Cath..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 14-4504
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
DERICK LAMONT LEGARDY,
Defendant - Appellant.
No. 14-4670
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
CHARLES RONNELL WILLIAMS,
Defendant - Appellant.
No. 14-4718
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
ALTON TREVON SIMS,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Catherine C. Eagles,
District Judge. (1:13-cr-00370-CCE-2; 1:13-cr-00370-CCE-4;
1:13-cr-00370-CCE-3)
Submitted: June 30, 2015 Decided: July 8, 2015
Before KING and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Robert L. Cooper, COOPER, DAVIS & COOPER, Fayetteville, North
Carolina; Leza L. Driscoll, Raleigh, North Carolina;
Jorgelina E. Araneda, ARANEDA LAW FIRM, P.C., Raleigh, North
Carolina, for Appellants. Ripley Rand, United States Attorney,
Andrew C. Cochran, Special Assistant United States Attorney,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
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PER CURIAM:
In these consolidated appeals, codefendants Derick Lamont
Legardy, Charles Ronnell Williams, and Alton Trevon Sims appeal
their sentences after pleading guilty to robbing a bank that had
FDIC-insured deposits, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a)
(2012). Pursuant to a conditional plea agreement, Williams also
challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to
suppress. Finding no error, we affirm.
Williams’ motion to suppress challenged the investigative
stop and frisk that preceded his arrest. We review factual
findings underlying a district court’s denial of a motion to
suppress for clear error and legal conclusions de novo. United
States v. Hill,
776 F.3d 243, 247 (4th Cir. 2015). Consensual
encounters between a citizen and the police do not implicate the
Fourth Amendment, Florida v. Bostick,
501 U.S. 429, 434 (1991),
but nonconsensual encounters must be supported by a reasonable
suspicion of criminal activity. Terry v. Ohio,
392 U.S. 1, 21,
27 (1968). A seizure occurs when a “[police] officer, by means
of physical force or show of authority, terminates or restrains
[an individual’s] freedom of movement.” Brendlin v. California,
551 U.S. 249, 254 (2007) (internal quotation marks omitted);
accord United States v. Mendenhall,
446 U.S. 544, 554 (1980).
Whether there is reasonable suspicion to justify a stop
depends on “the totality of the circumstances,” including the
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information known to the officer and any reasonable inferences
to be drawn at the time of the stop. United States v. Foster,
634 F.3d 243, 246 (4th Cir. 2011). “[I]f the officer has a
‘reasonable fear for his own and others’ safety’ based on an
articulable suspicion that the suspect may be ‘armed and
presently dangerous,’ the officer may conduct a protective
search of, i.e., frisk, the outer layers of the suspect’s
clothing for weapons.” United States v. Holmes,
376 F.3d 270,
275 (4th Cir. 2004) (quoting
Terry, 392 U.S. at 30-31).
Our de novo review of the record confirms that the district
court did not err in finding that, until the officers asked
about weapons, Williams’ encounter was consensual and did not
implicate the Fourth Amendment. We agree with the district
court that Williams was seized for Fourth Amendment purposes
when the officers inquired about weapons and that, based on the
totality of the circumstances, the officers had a reasonable,
articulable suspicion of criminal activity at the time of that
seizure. We therefore conclude that the district court
correctly denied Williams’ motion to suppress.
Turning to Defendants’ challenges to their sentences, our
review is “under a deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.”
Gall v. United States,
552 U.S. 38, 41 (2007). We must “ensure
that the district court committed no significant procedural
error, such as . . . improperly calculating[] the Guidelines
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range.”
Id. at 51. If there is no significant procedural
error, then we consider the sentence’s substantive
reasonableness under “the totality of the circumstances.”
Id.
We presume that a sentence within a properly calculated
Sentencing Guidelines range is reasonable. United States v.
Louthian,
756 F.3d 295, 306 (4th Cir.), cert. denied,
135 S. Ct.
421 (2014). A defendant can rebut this presumption only “by
showing that the sentence is unreasonable when measured against
the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors.”
Id.
After reviewing the presentence reports and sentencing
transcripts, we conclude that Defendants’ within-Guidelines
sentences are both procedurally and substantively reasonable.
The district court correctly calculated each Defendant’s
advisory Guidelines range, listened to the parties’ arguments,
considered the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) (2012) factors, and
articulated its reasons for giving each Defendant a sentence
within his Guidelines range. See
Gall, 552 U.S. at 51. In
addition, no Defendant has made the showing necessary to rebut
the presumption of reasonableness accorded a within-Guidelines
sentence. See
Louthian, 756 F.3d at 306.
Accordingly, we affirm the judgments of the district court.
We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal
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contentions are adequately presented in the materials before
this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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