USA v. TURVIN
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an opinion in USA v. TURVIN, No. 06-30551, a criminal appeal. The panel consisted of J. Clifford Wallace, John T. Noonan, and Richard A. Paez, Circuit Judges.
WALLACE, Senior Circuit Judge:
The government appeals from the district court’s order suppressing evidence obtained from the search of Turvin’s vehicle. While Turvin was waiting for a police officer to issue a traffic citation, the officer questioned Turvin about methamphetamine and obtained Turvin’s consent to search his vehicle for contraband. The district court held that the officer’s questions about methamphetamine and request to conduct a . . .
PAEZ, Circuit Judge, dissenting:
Because I do not believe that reasonable suspicion supported Trooper Christensen’s decision to prolong his traffic stop of Turvin, I would affirm the district court’s order granting Turvin’s motion to suppress. I therefore respectfully dissent. First, I agree with the majority that after the Supreme Court’s decision in Muehler v. Mena, 544 U.S. 93 (2005), our analysis of the Fourth Amendment issues in this case must be guided by our recent decision in United States v. Mendez, 476 F.3d 1077 (9th Cir. 2007). There, we recognized that in Muehler, the Court decided that “mere police questioning does not constitute a seizure unless it prolongs the detention of the individual, and, thus, no reasonable suspicion is required to justify questioning that does not prolong the stop.” Mendez, 476 F.3d at 1080 (internal quotation marks omitted). Although Muehler did not arise in the context of a traffic stop, . . .