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1) Stephen Christian appealed the denial of his motion to suppress evidence found during a warrantless search of his vehicle. 2) The court found that the search was justified based on probable cause, not as a search incident to arrest as Christian argued. Officers had probable cause to search the entire vehicle based on seeing a firearm thrown from the car during pursuit, finding marijuana on Christian's person, Christian admitting there was more marijuana in the car, and smelling a strong odor of raw marijuana from the car. 3) Because probable cause supported the warrantless search of the vehicle, the district court did not err in denying the motion to suppress. The appeals court affirmed the district court's ruling.

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63 views5 pages

Unpublished

1) Stephen Christian appealed the denial of his motion to suppress evidence found during a warrantless search of his vehicle. 2) The court found that the search was justified based on probable cause, not as a search incident to arrest as Christian argued. Officers had probable cause to search the entire vehicle based on seeing a firearm thrown from the car during pursuit, finding marijuana on Christian's person, Christian admitting there was more marijuana in the car, and smelling a strong odor of raw marijuana from the car. 3) Because probable cause supported the warrantless search of the vehicle, the district court did not err in denying the motion to suppress. The appeals court affirmed the district court's ruling.

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UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS


FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 13-4975

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,


Plaintiff Appellee,
v.
STEPHEN CARLOS CHRISTIAN,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Greensboro.
William L. Osteen,
Jr., Chief District Judge. (1:13-cr-00166-WO-1)

Submitted:

June 26, 2014

Decided:

July 10, 2014

Before SHEDD and THACKER, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior


Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

J. Clark Fischer, RANDOLPH & FISCHER, Winston-Salem, North


Carolina, for Appellant. Ripley Rand, United States Attorney,
Kyle D. Pousson, Special Assistant United States Attorney,
Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:
Stephen Carlos Christian pled guilty to possession of
a

firearm

in

furtherance

of

drug

trafficking

crime,

in

violation of 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(1)(A)(i) (2012), and possession


of a firearm by a person convicted of a crime punishable by more
than one year in prison, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1)
(2012).

In his plea agreement, Christian reserved the right to

appeal the district courts denial of his motion to suppress


evidence found during a warrantless search of his vehicle.

The

propriety of the suppression ruling is the sole issue Christian


raises on appeal.

For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Christian
556

U.S.

332,

argues

343

that,

(2009),

pursuant

the

to

search

Arizona v.

of

his

trunk

Gant,
was

unconstitutional because he was already under arrest prior to


the vehicle search and was unable to access his vehicle.

The

Government asserts that the search was justified by probable


cause independent of the Gant analysis.
courts

denial

of

suppression

In reviewing a district

motion,

[w]e

review

the

district courts legal determinations de novo and its factual


determinations for clear error.

United States v. Kelly, 592

F.3d 586, 589 (4th Cir. 2010).

Because the district court

denied [Christians motion], we construe the evidence in the


light most favorable to the government.

Id.

The

Fourth

Amendment

guarantees

the

right

of

the

people to be secure . . . against unreasonable searches and


seizures and requires that searches be conducted pursuant to a
warrant

issued

by

an

independent

judicial

California v. Carney, 471 U.S. 386, 390 (1985).


exception

to

searches.

the

Kelly,

warrant
592

F.3d

requirement
at

589.

is
Under

officer.

An established
for

automobile

this

exception,

police may search a vehicle without a warrant if it is readily


mobile

and

contraband.

probable

cause

exists

to

believe

it

contains

Pennsylvania v. Labron, 518 U.S. 938, 940 (1996).

If both conditions are met, police may conduct a warrantless


search that is as thorough as a magistrate could authorize in a
warrant.

United States v. Ross, 456 U.S. 798, 800 (1982).

Furthermore, such a search may cover all areas of the vehicle.


United States v. Bullock, 94 F.3d 896, 899 (4th Cir. 1996).
The gravamen of Christians objection to the search of
his vehicle is that it was not authorized in light of Gant.

We

need not reach this issue because we conclude that officers had
probable cause to search the trunk.

See 556 U.S. at 347; see

United States v. Dickey-Bey, 393 F.3d 449, 456 (4th Cir. 2004)
(We need not . . . decide whether the search of [defendants]
automobile

was

properly

incident

to

his

arrest

because

we

conclude that the circumstances in this case provided officers


independent probable cause to search the automobile.).
3

Probable

cause

exists

where

the

known

facts

and

circumstances are sufficient to warrant a [person] of reasonable


prudence in the belief that contraband or evidence of a crime
will be found.
(1996).

Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 696

Probable

cause

is

commonsense

conception

that

deals with the factual and practical considerations of everyday


life.
695).

Kelly, 592 F.3d at 592 (quoting Ornelas, 517 U.S. at


In assessing whether probable cause exists, courts must

examine

the

facts

from

the

standpoint

of

an

objectively

reasonable police officer, giving due weight to inferences drawn


from

those

facts

by

local

law

enforcement

officers.

Id.

(internal quotation marks and ellipsis omitted).


Here,

as

the

district

court

found,

probable

clearly supported the search of Christians vehicle.

cause

During the

pursuit, an officer saw an object being thrown from Christians


vehicle and learned that the object recovered was a firearm.

In

addition, the officer found marijuana on Christians person, and


Christian admitted that there was more marijuana in the vehicle.
Finally, the officer testified at the suppression hearing that
there was a very strong odor of raw marijuana emanating from the
vehicle.

Based on the totality of the circumstances, there was

sufficient probable cause to support a warrantless search of


Christians vehicle.

Thus, the district court did not err in

denying the motion to suppress.


4

Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district


court.
legal
before

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and


contentions
this

court

are

adequately

and

argument

presented

would

not

in
aid

the
the

materials
decisional

process.
AFFIRMED

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