The district court concluded Agent Semmerling had objectively reasonable suspicion to justify stopping Ms. Westhoven. Based on the totality of the circumstances, we agree.The reasonable suspicion factors here included: (1) the stop location's characteristics, including proximity to the border; (2) traffic patterns on the road; (3) Ms. Westhoven's travelling during the border patrol shift change; and (4) Ms. Westhoven's driving behavior and vehicle characteristics.
First, Ms. Westhoven was driving in a relatively mountainous area 40-45 miles away from the U.S./Mexico border. Agent Semmerling, from his three years on the job, knew this stretch of road, because of its terrain, proximity to the border, and lack of border checkpoints, had high activity for drug and undocumented immigrant smuggling. Agent Semmerling testified this road is one of the only ones leading from Douglas, Arizona, a border town known for smuggling, that does not have a border checkpoint. Thus, smugglers attempting to avoid the Border Patrol's detection frequent this road.
Second, Agent Semmerling knew out-of-state drivers rarely used the road. Ms. Westhoven's license plates indicated her truck was registered in Tucson, Arizona. The agent also knew that travelling on this road was particularly unusual for a Tucson driver because it added approximately 100 miles to the drive. The more direct routes had border checkpoints. These facts indicated smuggling activity.
Third, Border Patrol agents changed shifts between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Agent Semmerling stopped Ms. Westhoven at 7:45 p.m. Smugglers frequently exploited that two-hour window. See Arvizu, 534 U.S. at 277.
Fourth, Agent Semmerling noticed as Ms. Westhoven was driving past him that she appeared stiff with elbows locked and hands in the ten-and-two position on the steering wheel. After he turned around, he had to drive significantly faster to catch up, indicating she increased her speed by an estimated 10 or more miles per hour after passing him. As he approached her vehicle from behind but before he turned on his lights, she abruptly hit her brakes.[1] These circumstances can contribute to reasonable suspicion depending on context. See Arvizu, 534 U.S. at 275-76 ("We think it quite reasonable that a driver's slowing down, stiffening of posture, and failure to acknowledge a sighted law enforcement officer might well be unremarkable in one instance (such as a busy San Francisco highway) while quite unusual in another (such as a remote portion of rural southeastern Arizona)."). The dark tinted windows on Ms. Westhoven's truck raised Agent Semmerling's suspicion that she might be concealing something or someone in the back of her truck.
Your extract reminds me of Monk. Taken together, I’d say the guy was very tuned in and doing his job. The reasoning for the ruling seems flimsy when parsed like it is prior to your post but he correctly exercised reasonable deduction several times over. Thanks for the whole story.
For all of that, we know the names of a handful of taxpayer supported nazi goons who have broken their oaths and are therefore no longer qualified to be employees of the people of the united States, and should be forcibly removed from their positions post haste.
This really chaps my hide as a four year resident of New Mexico who still travels on out of state credentials because for some reason I can not prove legal residency after living and working and paying taxes here all of that time, because extra proof is required of me as a native born and life long American citizen than would be required if I had a certain other national heritage (yes, I go in to DMV with exactly what is required of illegal aliens and I am denied every time). It makes me feel even better that I drive a white F150 with dark tinted back windows (because that is how they make them) and now that is good cause to be stopped anytime and anyplace.
It seems to me that a certain demographic is targeted for discrimination in some parts of this state (and by the state and federal governments and in all parts of it). I'm glad I don't live in those parts but still it would be nice to be free to travel in all of them unmolested (on all of the different levels in which it occurs).
I guess I need to work on my tan and my posture, and maybe get me some anti American bumper stickers or something, so I won't stand out as a law abiding American.
</rant>