PUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v. No. 08-4982
DAVID KELLY, JR., a/k/a Panama,
Defendant-Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk.
Raymond A. Jackson, District Judge.
(2:07-cr-00014-RAJ-TEM-1)
Argued: December 3, 2009
Decided: January 28, 2010
Before WILKINSON, SHEDD, and AGEE, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Wilkinson wrote the
opinion, in which Judge Shedd and Judge Agee joined.
COUNSEL
ARGUED: Jon Michael Babineau, RIDDICK BABINEAU,
PC, Suffolk, Virginia, for Appellant. Sherrie Scott Capotosto,
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Norfolk,
Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Dana J. Boente, Acting
United States Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellee.
2 UNITED STATES v. KELLY
OPINION
WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:
We are asked to review David Kelly’s convictions for con-
spiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute drugs
and three counts of drug possession with intent to distribute.
Kelly’s principal claim is that the police violated the Fourth
Amendment by conducting a warrantless search of an auto-
mobile parked on the street in front of his residence. He con-
tends that the automobile exception to the warrant
requirement does not apply here because the police were
armed, had the only two individuals at his residence under
arrest, and possessed the key to the ignition—thus eliminating
any immediate threat that the vehicle would be driven away.
We reject Kelly’s attempt to create an exception to the
automobile exception. The exception, as carefully crafted by
the Supreme Court, does not have an exigency requirement
apart from the inherent mobility of the automobile. Conse-
quently, if the police have probable cause, the justification to
conduct a warrantless search does not vanish once the police
have established some degree of control over the automobile.
After careful consideration, we also reject Kelly’s other
claims and affirm his convictions.
I.
A.
Federal agents and local narcotics investigators conducted
a year-long investigation into the drug dealing activities of
David Kelly and other co-conspirators. During the investiga-
tion, they learned that Kelly had distributed multiple kilo-
grams of cocaine in and around Hampton Roads, Virginia and
that his main cocaine supplier was a Hispanic male from New
York City. In addition, they learned that Kelly drove several
vehicles, including a dark green Lexus sedan.
UNITED STATES v. KELLY 3
On September 19, 2006, a federal magistrate issued arrest
warrants for Kelly and two of his co-conspirators. The magis-
trate also issued search warrants for Kelly’s residence and a
commercial building he owned. The warrant for his residence
did not refer to any of his vehicles.
On September 20, 2006, a police officer conducted surveil-
lance at Kelly’s residence from 5:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. in
preparation for the execution of the warrants. She spotted
three vehicles owned by Kelly and his girlfriend: two Chevro-
let sports utility vehicles parked in the lot of the residence and
an Infiniti parked along the street. There was no sign, how-
ever, of Kelly or the Lexus at any point that day. On the
morning of September 21, the officer resumed her surveil-
lance and immediately noticed that Kelly’s Lexus was parked
on the street in front of the residence. She also saw Kelly
come out of the residence to jump-start the Infiniti, which his
girlfriend then drove away.
Around noon of that day, a search team executed the war-
rant at Kelly’s residence. Once inside, the team arrested Kelly
and a man whom they unexpectedly discovered. The man
identified himself as Jose Jiminez and told the police that he
was from New York City. In his possession was a bag con-
taining travel items, such as underwear, soap, and toothpaste.
Based on these facts, the officers immediately suspected that
Jiminez was Kelly’s cocaine supplier and that the two of them
had arrived the previous night in the Lexus.
After waiving his Miranda rights, Kelly was placed in a
police cruiser and questioned by the officers. Kelly initially
denied that there were any drugs in either the residence or his
three vehicles parked outside. But after learning that a K-9
unit was on its way, Kelly nodded his head "yes" when asked
if there was cocaine in the vehicles. He did not, however,
specify which of the three vehicles contained the cocaine.
Subsequently, the K-9 unit arrived at the residence. A spe-
cially trained officer led a drug detection dog around the
4 UNITED STATES v. KELLY
Lexus, and the dog alerted positively by turning its head and
scratching at the driver’s door. Using Kelly’s car keys to open
the vehicle, the officers searched the passenger compartment
but did not find any drugs. They then searched the trunk and
discovered a backpack containing five kilograms of cocaine
and 856 tablets of ecstasy. The dog also alerted on Kelly’s
two sports utility vehicles, and the officers processed all three
vehicles for forfeiture under Virginia state law.
B.
On March 7, 2007, a grand jury returned an indictment
against Kelly and two co-defendants, both of whom subse-
quently pled guilty to various charges. Kelly was charged
with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to dis-
tribute cocaine and cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C.
§ 846, two counts of possession with intent to distribute
cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C.
§ 2, and one count of possession with intent to distribute
ecstasy in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C.
§ 2.
Prior to trial, Kelly moved to suppress the evidence seized
from his Lexus, claiming that the warrantless search of the
vehicle violated the Fourth Amendment. Following a suppres-
sion hearing, the district court denied the motion. It held that
the automobile exception to the warrant requirement applied
and that the police had probable cause to search the vehicle,
including its trunk, based on the totality of the circumstances.
It stressed three factors supporting probable cause: (1) the
presence of an individual that fit the description of Kelly’s
cocaine supplier, (2) Kelly’s admission that there was cocaine
in the vehicles, and (3) the drug detection dog’s positive alert
on the Lexus.
Kelly pled not guilty, and a jury trial began on May 13,
2008. The government put on evidence that Kelly had been
involved in a drug conspiracy since sometime around 2000.
UNITED STATES v. KELLY 5
Several cooperating co-conspirators testified that they person-
ally purchased cocaine from Kelly, set up cocaine deals
between Kelly and others, or otherwise witnessed Kelly dis-
tributing cocaine. Notably, Jose Jiminez explained that he
brokered deals for cocaine and, on one occasion, ecstasy
between Kelly and suppliers in New York City. Jiminez testi-
fied that he would travel to Virginia, stay at Kelly’s residence
while Kelly distributed the drugs, and then transport some of
the money back to New York City to pay the suppliers. The
last of these drug deals, Jiminez testified, ended when the
police arrested him and Kelly at Kelly’s residence. The gov-
ernment then presented witnesses and evidence regarding the
seizure of drugs from the Lexus in 2006.
On May 16, 2008, the jury convicted Kelly of all counts.
Subsequently, the district court imposed a sentence of life
imprisonment, ten years supervised release, and a special
assessment of $400.
On appeal, Kelly challenges the district court’s denial of his
motion to suppress the evidence seized from the Lexus. He
also appeals the district court’s denial of his motion for a mis-
trial based on prosecutorial misconduct and challenges the
sufficiency of the evidence introduced at trial. We address
each claim in turn and set forth additional facts as they
become necessary.
II.
A.
We first address the district court’s denial of Kelly’s
motion to suppress. Kelly challenges both elements of the dis-
trict court’s holding: that (1) the automobile exception to the
warrant requirement applies here and (2) the police had prob-
able cause to search the Lexus, including its trunk. We review
the district court’s legal determinations de novo and its factual
determinations for clear error. Because the district court
6 UNITED STATES v. KELLY
denied Kelly’s motion, we construe the evidence in the light
most favorable to the government. United States v. Branch,
537 F.3d 328, 337 (4th Cir. 2008).
We begin our analysis with a brief review of the law gov-
erning automobile searches. The Fourth Amendment gener-
ally requires the police to obtain a warrant before conducting
a search. There is a well-established exception to this require-
ment, however, for automobile searches. See, e.g., Carroll v.
United States, 267 U.S. 132, 153 (1925). Under this excep-
tion, "[i]f a car is readily mobile and probable cause exists to
believe it contains contraband, the Fourth Amendment thus
permits police to search the vehicle without more." Pennsyl-
vania v. Labron, 518 U.S. 938, 940 (1996) (per curiam). The
scope of a search pursuant to this exception is as broad as a
magistrate could authorize. United States v. Ross, 456 U.S.
798, 825 (1982). Thus, once police have probable cause, they
may search "every part of the vehicle and its contents that
may conceal the object of the search." Id.
There are two justifications for the automobile exception.
The Supreme Court’s early cases were based on the mobility
of the automobile. Unlike homes or other structures, cars "can
be quickly moved out of the locality or jurisdiction in which
the warrant must be sought." Carroll, 267 U.S. at 153. This
rationale for the automobile exception is not one whose utility
has diminished with time. Carroll, the seminal case, was
decided in 1925, and the speeds at which automobiles are
capable of travelling have only increased since that day. See
Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 375 (2007) (describing a car
chase "at speeds exceeding 85 miles per hour").
More recent cases provide a second justification for the
exception. "Besides the element of mobility, less rigorous
warrant requirements govern because the expectation of pri-
vacy with respect to one’s automobile is significantly less
than that relating to one’s home or office." South Dakota v.
Opperman, 428 U.S. 364, 367 (1976). It is true, of course, that
UNITED STATES v. KELLY 7
cars harbor personal effects and that some vehicles, mobile
homes for example, blend the properties of automobiles and
residences. But, unlike a home, a car has not been termed an
owner’s castle and, again unlike a home, an automobile ven-
tures out in public. This lesser expectation of privacy thus
stems from the fact that cars as movable public objects are
subject to "pervasive schemes of regulation." California v.
Carney, 471 U.S. 386, 392 (1985).
B.
Kelly first contends that the automobile exception does not
apply here because the police exercised control over the vehi-
cle and had therefore eliminated any potential exigencies. As
he points out, the officers at the scene were armed, had both
Kelly and Jiminez handcuffed and under arrest, and possessed
the keys to the Lexus. He further contends that he was placed
in a police cruiser and that four to seven officers were present
at the residence. Under these circumstances, he argues, there
was not "even the slightest possibility that any potential evi-
dence in the Lexus might be in danger of imminent destruc-
tion," and the police should have obtained a warrant before
conducting the search. Br. of Appellant at 13-14. In essence,
Kelly urges us to recognize an exception to the automobile
exception when the police have significantly reduced the like-
lihood that a car will be driven away.
As an initial matter, we note that officers may not have had
as much control over this situation as Kelly suggests. They
had no way of knowing whether Kelly’s girlfriend or one of
his co-conspirators would arrive at the residence during the
time it took them to secure a warrant, nor did they know
whether there was a spare set of keys to the Lexus. Moreover,
the Lexus was parked along a road where it was easily acces-
sible to others.
But even if Kelly is correct that there was little risk that the
Lexus would be driven away, it matters not. It is well estab-
8 UNITED STATES v. KELLY
lished that the exception "does not have a separate exigency
requirement" apart from the inherent mobility of the automo-
bile. Maryland v. Dyson, 527 U.S. 465, 467 (1999) (per
curiam). This is because "[e]ven in cases where an automobile
[is] not immediately mobile, the lesser expectation of privacy
resulting from its use as a readily mobile vehicle justifie[s]
application of the vehicular exception." Carney, 471 U.S. at
391. Thus, reviewing courts need not determine the probabil-
ity in each case that someone would have driven the car away
during the time it would have taken the police to secure a war-
rant. Michigan v. Thomas, 458 U.S. 259, 261 (1982) (per
curiam). Instead, the exception applies as long as a car is
"readily mobile" in the sense that it is "being used on the
highways" or is "readily capable of such use" rather than, say,
"elevated on blocks." Carney, 471 U.S. at 392-93, 394 n.3.
Following this precedent, we have previously declined to
carve out exceptions to the automobile exception based on the
degree of control police exercise over a vehicle. In United
States v. Brookins, 345 F.3d 231 (4th Cir. 2003), for example,
we applied the exception to the search of an unoccupied vehi-
cle parked in a driveway even though the police could have
blocked the vehicle from escaping. Id. at 237-38. Likewise, in
United States v. Gastiaburo, 16 F.3d 582 (4th Cir. 1994), we
applied the exception after the police had impounded a vehi-
cle, rendering it "virtually impossible for anyone to drive the
car away or tamper with its contents." Id. at 586. As these
cases recognize, "the justification to conduct a warrantless
search under the automobile exception does not disappear
merely because the car has been immobilized." Id.
These cases also reflect the well-recognized need to pro-
vide "clear and unequivocal guidelines to the law enforcement
profession" in the context of automobile searches. See Cali-
fornia v. Acevedo, 500 U.S. 565, 577 (1991) (internal quota-
tions omitted). As this very case illustrates, whether the police
exercise control over an automobile sufficient to eliminate
any exigencies may turn on a number of imponderable fac-
UNITED STATES v. KELLY 9
tors. Were the applicability of the automobile exception to
turn on such factors, it would be hard for courts to administer
the exception in a coherent and predictable manner. The result
would be a series of finely spun legal distinctions that would
render the exception difficult for police to follow in quickly
developing situations. Would the police, for example, have
sufficient control over a vehicle solely because the driver was
sitting in a police car? Would they have control if there were
six or seven officers at the scene? Two or three? What about
a passenger or two? Would the police have control if the
driver had a flat tire by the roadside or if he parked his car in
a driveway where the police could block his getaway? Would
they have control if they possessed the keys to the ignition?
And so on. Given the reduced privacy interests at stake, such
doctrinal complexities are particularly undesirable in this con-
text.
For these reasons, we reject Kelly’s attempt to create an
exception to the automobile exception. Turning to the facts
here, there is no doubt that Kelly’s Lexus was operational and
therefore readily mobile. Consequently, the police were not
required to obtain a warrant before searching the car or the
containers therein.
C.
We now turn to whether the police had probable cause to
conduct the warrantless search of the Lexus. Probable cause
is "not readily, or even usefully, reduced to a neat set of legal
rules." Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 232 (1983). However,
the Supreme Court has described it as "existing where the
known facts and circumstances are sufficient to warrant a man
of reasonable prudence in the belief that contraband or evi-
dence of a crime will be found." Ornelas v. United States, 517
U.S. 690, 696 (1996). When assessing probable cause, we
must examine the facts "from the standpoint of an objectively
reasonable police officer," giving "due weight to inferences
10 UNITED STATES v. KELLY
drawn from those facts by . . . local law enforcement offi-
cers." Id. at 696, 699.
Here, Kelly acknowledges that the police had probable
cause based on the drug detection dog’s positive alert and for
good reason. See Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 506 (1983)
("[A] positive result [from a dog] would have resulted in . . .
probable cause"); United States v. Jeffus, 22 F.3d 554, 557
(4th Cir. 1994) (finding probable cause based on a positive
alert); see also United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696, 707
(1983); United States v. Branch, 537 F.3d 328, 340 n.2 (4th
Cir. 1994). But Kelly challenges the scope of the ensuing
search. Although the dog’s alert at the driver’s door may have
provided probable cause to search the passenger compart-
ment, he argues, it did not provide probable cause to search
the trunk, which was a few feet away from the exact spot of
the alert. We disagree.
To be sure, probable cause to search one compartment or
container within a car does not invariably provide probable
cause to search the entire vehicle. See California v. Acevedo,
500 U.S. 565, 580 (1991). But it does not follow, as Kelly
would have it, that a dog’s alert at one compartment cannot
give probable cause to search another compartment simply
because the latter is a few feet away. Unsurprisingly, Kelly
cites no authority supporting such a bold proposition. The
only case on which he relies notes instead that a "dog’s alert-
ing [at a driver’s door] was sufficiently close to the trunk to
give [the officer] probable cause to believe it contained con-
traband," United States v. Carter, 300 F.3d 415, 422 (4th Cir.
2002). Kelly points us to no features of his car that would
allow us to deviate from Carter’s ultimate holding.
Probable cause is simply not so exacting a standard that it
requires a dog to be able to pinpoint the location of drugs
within a foot or two. Instead, it is a "commonsense" concep-
tion that deals with "the factual and practical considerations
of everyday life." Ornelas, 517 U.S. at 695 (internal quotation
UNITED STATES v. KELLY 11
omitted). Dogs, of course, react not to the presence of drugs
themselves but to their odors. And, as the K-9 officer in this
case explained, odors travel within a car and seep through
loose seals into the outside environment. Consequently, he
continued, it is not uncommon for dogs to alert at the doors
of vehicles where the seals tend to be heavily worn. Given
these practical realities, we think it was reasonable to con-
clude that the odor which the dog detected may have travelled
from the trunk, which is after all a logical place for drugs to
be stored.
The district court alluded to several additional factors here.
The first was the presence of an individual whom the police
believed to be Kelly’s drug supplier. The police had just com-
pleted a year-long investigation in which they learned that
Kelly’s main cocaine supplier was a Hispanic male from New
York City. When they entered Kelly’s residence on the day of
the search, they happened to find an individual meeting this
description. What is more, the police knew that both Kelly
and the Lexus had been absent from the residence the previ-
ous day. As the district court found, "it was logical to assume
[Kelly] and his suspected cocaine source had arrived the night
before in the dark green Lexus parked near [Kelly’s] resi-
dence." Kelly questions the strength of this inference, point-
ing out that the police did not have a detailed physical
description of his supplier and had not observed Kelly traf-
ficking drugs in the Lexus. But probable cause does "not
require officials to possess an airtight case before taking
action." Taylor v. Farmer, 13 F.3d 117, 121 (4th Cir. 1993).
Second, Kelly nodded "yes" when asked if there was
cocaine in the vehicles parked outside the residence. To be
sure, he did not specify which of the three vehicles contained
cocaine, but there was a fair probability that the drugs would
be found in the Lexus, which had been driven the most
recently.
12 UNITED STATES v. KELLY
There can thus be no question that the district court prop-
erly upheld the search of the Lexus for drugs, and the trunk
and the backpack therein were logical places for the officers
to look. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s denial of
Kelly’s motion to suppress.*
III.
Next, Kelly challenges the district court’s denial of his
motion for a mistrial based on prosecutorial misconduct. The
relevant facts are as follows. The indictment in this case listed
two prior occasions on which Kelly had been arrested for pos-
sessing drugs as overt acts in furtherance of the charged con-
spiracy. The first was a 2002 arrest in Norfolk for possession
of a few grams of cocaine, and the second was a 2006 arrest
in New York City for possession of marijuana. On the latter
occasion, police discovered two hidden compartments in
Kelly’s vehicle.
During her opening statement, the prosecutor referred to
both of these arrests as evidence of Kelly’s longstanding
involvement in the drug conspiracy. As the trial progressed,
however, she only opted to present evidence regarding the
second arrest. One of her witnesses explained that Kelly had
not been prosecuted in connection with that arrest.
On three different occasions, Kelly moved for a mistrial
based on these comments and evidence, claiming that the
prosecutor was "essentially forcing [him] to take the stand" to
explain the circumstances surrounding each arrest. Each time,
the district court denied the motion. It specifically found that
the prosecutor "[did not] force the defendant . . . to have to
*The government also contends that the evidence from the Lexus is
admissible even if the police lacked probable cause because the police
would have inevitably discovered the evidence when conducting an inven-
tory search prior to impounding the vehicle. Because we find that the
police did have probable cause, we need not reach this issue.
UNITED STATES v. KELLY 13
take the stand to defend himself in any way." In any event, it
ruled, Kelly "[did not] suffer any type of prejudice" in light
of the weight of the evidence against him. It also instructed
the jury that Kelly was on trial only for the charges against
him.
On appeal, Kelly argues that the prosecutor engaged in mis-
conduct by referring to the two arrests and by presenting testi-
mony regarding the latter one. This conduct, he contends,
"forced [him] to make a Hobson’s choice whether to waive
his absolute right [against] self-incrimination and testify so as
to clarify the circumstances of his prior arrests, or to remain
silent and have the jury draw impermissible conclusions based
on those prior arrests." Br. of Appellant at 22.
This claim is easily rejected. The prosecutor’s comments
regarding the 2002 arrest addressed an overt act in the con-
spiracy and, in all events, were fleeting and in no way preju-
diced Kelly in light of the overwhelming evidence against
him.
As to his 2006 arrest, Kelly does not contend that evidence
about this arrest was irrelevant or offered as a prior bad act
"to show action in conformity therewith" as prohibited by
Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b). Such claims would clearly
be meritless: the government’s theory was that Kelly routinely
travelled to New York City to obtain drugs, and it offered evi-
dence of this arrest to show that he was in that very city driv-
ing a car with hidden compartments for stowing contraband.
Instead, Kelly argues that this evidence violated his Fifth
Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination by
putting him in an undesirable predicament.
This claim too is meritless. Kelly claims that the govern-
ment was forcing him to explain that he had not been con-
victed in connection with the 2006 arrest, but any such
pressure was relieved once a government witness testified
explicitly that Kelly had not even been prosecuted. Even
14 UNITED STATES v. KELLY
assuming that the government’s evidence did somehow put
pressure on Kelly to take the stand (which he never actually
did), his constitutional rights were not infringed. Evidence by
its nature builds pressure to rebut it—that’s what the adver-
sary system is about. "That the defendant faces . . . a dilemma
demanding a choice between complete silence and presenting
a defense has never been thought an invasion of the privilege
against compelled self-incrimination." Williams v. Florida,
399 U.S. 78, 84 (1970). It is often true that "there are
undoubted pressures—generated by the strength of the gov-
ernment’s case against him—pushing the criminal defendant
to testify," but such pressures do not "constitute ‘compulsion’
for Fifth Amendment purposes." Ohio Adult Parole Auth. v.
Woodard, 523 U.S. 272, 287 (1998). Thus, we agree with the
district court’s conclusion that the government did not
improperly pressure Kelly to take the stand. Accordingly, we
affirm the court’s denial of Kelly’s motion for a mistrial.
IV.
Lastly, Kelly claims that the evidence at trial was insuffi-
cient to support any of his four convictions. His primary argu-
ment is that the majority of the government’s witnesses were
unworthy of belief because they were testifying pursuant to
plea agreements. But it is well established that "determina-
tions of credibility are within the sole province of the jury and
are not susceptible to judicial review." United States v. Bur-
gos, 94 F.3d 849, 863 (4th Cir. 1996) (internal quotation omit-
ted). Here, each of the government’s cooperating witnesses
disclosed whether he was testifying pursuant to a plea agree-
ment. It was up to the jury to weigh each witness’s credibility
in light of such agreements, and it is not our role to second-
guess these determinations.
After careful review, we find that Kelly’s other arguments
are likewise meritless and conclude that the evidence pre-
sented was sufficient to support the jury’s verdict.
UNITED STATES v. KELLY 15
V.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court
is
AFFIRMED.