F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS SEP 20 1999
TENTH CIRCUIT PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
UNITED STATES OF AMERCA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
No. 98-6331
v. (D.C. No. CR-98-30-C)
(W.D. Okla.)
JOHN ADRIAN DRISKILL, JR.,
Defendant-Appellant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before SEYMOUR, Chief Judge, EBEL and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
John Adrian Driskill, Jr. entered a conditional guilty plea to, inter alia,
manufacturing methamphetamine. He challenges the denial of his motion to
suppress and the computation of drug quantities for determining his sentence. We
affirm.
On January 30, 1998, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics acted on a tip that
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court
generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order
and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
Albert Mize was manufacturing methamphetamine in a storage unit at Storage
USA. The manager of Storage USA informed police officers that Mr. Driskill had
just entered the facility in a Camaro pulling a trailer, and was waiting for Mr.
Mize to rent another unit. Agent Roberts drove to Mr. Driskill’s location at
Storage USA and parked in a manner that did not block him. After Agent Roberts
approached Mr. Driskill and identified himself, Mr. Driskill immediately reached
for the floor of his vehicle. Believing Mr. Driskill was reaching for a gun, Agent
Roberts drew his weapon, instructed Mr. Driskill to “freeze,” and demanded to
“see his hands.” Rec., vol. III, at 22-23. Mr. Driskill got out of his vehicle and
fled from police over the fence surrounding the property.
After Mr. Driskill’s abrupt departure from his vehicle, it began to roll
forward because it was still in gear with the engine running. When it came to rest
against a building, Agent Roberts got into the vehicle, placed it in park, and
turned off the engine. At that time he saw two guns in Mr. Driskill’s vehicle and
smelled the “strong odor” of chemicals consistent with a methamphetamine
laboratory. He then retrieved his drug detection canine, which alerted to both the
vehicle and the trailer. Upon searching the vehicle and trailer, he discovered
methamphetamine, precursor chemicals, and equipment used to manufacture
methamphetamine.
At Mr. Driskill’s suppression hearing, the district court held Agent Roberts
-2-
had reasonable suspicion and a right to approach Mr. Driskill’s vehicle. The
court further found that Agent Roberts believed Mr. Driskill was reaching for a
weapon. Turning to the search of Mr. Driskill’s vehicle and trailer, the court
determined that Mr. Driskill “abandoned the vehicle and abandoned any
reasonable expectation of privacy” when he fled. Rec., vol. III, at 51-52. Based
on these findings, the court found Mr. Driskill’s detention and the search
reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. The district court’s determination of
reasonableness under the Fourth Amendment is a conclusion of law which we
review de novo. See United States v. Davis, 94 F.3d 1465, 1467 (10th Cir. 1996).
Mr. Driskill first argues the district court violated his due process rights to
notice and a fair opportunity to be heard by finding without notice that he
abandoned his property and denying his motion to suppress based on that theory
when it was never argued by the government and he was not afforded an
opportunity to rebut it. In response, the government analogizes the district court’s
substitution of a different legal theory to an appellate court’s agreement with a
trial court’s result, but not its reasoning. See, e.g., United States v. Soto-
Cervantes, 138 F.3d 1319, 1322 (10th Cir. 1998).
An appellate court may affirm on any ground not raised in the trial court
only if the record is sufficiently clear to permit reliance on that ground, and if
both parties had an adequate opportunity to develop the record on the issue. See
-3-
Griffith v. Colorado Div. Youth Serv., 17 F.3d 1323, 1328 (10th Cir. 1994);
Seibert v. University of Okla. Health Sciences Center, 867 F.2d 591, 597 (10th
Cir. 1989); see also United States v. Parr, 843 F.2d 1228, 1232 (9th Cir. 1988)
(“We are foreclosed, however, from affirming the district court’s suppression of
evidence on a theory not presented below when by doing so we unfairly deprive
the defendant of the opportunity to adduce evidence.”). Whether a defendant
“abandoned” property in the Fourth Amendment sense is a fact-intensive
determination which would ordinarily require an adequately developed record.
See e.g., LaFave, Search and Seizure, § 2.5(a). Nevertheless, even assuming Mr.
Driskill could or would have put on evidence that he did not abandon his vehicle,
any error the district court may have made in relying on an abandonment theory
was harmless in light of our conclusion that Mr. Driskell’s detention and the
subsequent search were reasonable based on the record and theories presented in
the district court. 1
Police officers do not violate the Fourth Amendment when they approach
1
Mr. Driskill cites Cole v. Arkansas, 333 U.S. 196 (1948), to support his
argument that the court’s reliance on a theory he never had an opportunity to
rebut denied him due process. See id. at 200-201 (reversing conviction where
evidence did not support the crime charged, but did support finding of guilt of
another crime). The facts of Cole are distinguishable in an important respect.
Rather than substituting a different criminal charge, the trial court here
substituted only a different legal theory to deny Mr. Driskill’s motion to suppress.
-4-
an individual simply to ask questions. See Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 497
(1983) (plurality opinion); United States v. Bell, 892 F.2d 959, 965 (10th Cir.
1989). Agent Roberts testified he merely intended to ask Mr. Driskill about his
relationship with Mr. Mize and his reason for renting a storage unit with him.
Significantly, Agent Roberts did not block Mr. Driskill’s vehicle when he made
the initial approach.
Mr. Driskill argues that by ordering him out of his car at gunpoint, Agent
Roberts effectively arrested him. We have previously held the use of firearms
does not transform a Terry stop into a full custodial arrest for which probable
cause is required where the totality of the circumstances reasonably warrant the
use of such forceful techniques. See, e.g., United States v. Perdue, 8 F.3d 1455,
1462-63 (10th Cir. 1993); United States v. Merkley, 988 F.2d 1062, 1064 (10th
Cir. 1993). We agree with the district court that the totality of the circumstances
here support Agent Roberts’ reasonable suspicion that Mr. Driskill was reaching
for a weapon. By ordering Mr. Driskill to freeze and show his hands, Agent
Roberts limited his demands to only those absolutely required for his own
immediate protection. See Perdue, 8 F.3d at 1462 (police officers are not
required to take unnecessary risks and may take such steps as are reasonably
necessary to protect their personal safety); Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 23-24
-5-
(1968). Agent Roberts acted reasonably and within the confines of Terry. 2
Mr. Driskill next challenges the warrantless search of his vehicle as
unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. 3 Agent Roberts’ drug detection
canine positively alerted to Mr. Driskill’s vehicle and trailer prior to the search.
Drug dog sniffs are not searches within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment
and require no supporting reasonable suspicion. See United States v. Place, 462
U.S. 696, 706-07 (1983); United States v. Morales-Zamora, 914 F.2d 200, 204-05
(10th Cir. 1990). Once Agent Roberts’ canine positively alerted to Mr. Driskill’s
vehicle and trailer, probable cause existed to search the property without first
obtaining a warrant. See United States v. Ludwig, 10 F.3d 1523, 1527 (10th Cir.
1993). The district court properly denied Mr. Driskill’s motion to suppress.
Mr. Driskill also challenges the district court’s drug quantity determination
made for sentencing purposes, arguing the determined amount was not based on
credible evidence. The United States Sentencing Guidelines require that when
2
Mr. Driskill cites us to Ybarra v. Illinois, 444 U.S. 85, 93 (1979), for his
contention that the officers never had reasonable suspicion to detain him. The
Supreme Court held that Mr. Ybarra’s presence at a bar being searched under a
warrant, without more, was insufficient to support reasonable suspicion to justify
a Terry stop. Agent Roberts did not detain Mr. Driskill merely because of his
presence at Storage USA, however, but because of his gesture towards the
floorboard.
3
There was ambiguity in the record as to whether a search warrant was ever
procured for Mr. Driskill’s vehicle and trailer. The government does not urge on
appeal the existence of a search warrant and we therefore assume no warrant was
issued.
-6-
any factor used to compute sentencing is in dispute, the information ultimately
relied upon by the sentencing court must have “sufficient indicia of reliability to
support its probable accuracy.” U.S.S.G. § 6A1.3(a). See also United States v.
Ruiz-Castro, 92 F.3d 1519, 1534 (10th Cir. 1996) (when drugs underlying
conviction are not seized, trial court may rely on estimate of drug quantity to
establish defendant’s guideline offense level as long as information relied on has
some basis of support in the facts). We review the district court’s factual findings
as to the quantity of drugs attributable to a defendant only for clear error. See
United States v. Morales, 108 F.3d 1213, 1225 (10th Cir. 1997).
Agent Haskins testified at Mr. Driskill’s sentencing hearing that he
interviewed Mr. Driskill several times in July and September 1997. At that time,
Mr. Driskill admitted to manufacturing approximately one pound of
methamphetamine per week with Mr. Mize, from the first week of August 1996
through June 21, 1997, when Mr. Driskill was incarcerated on unrelated charges.
Agent Haskins computed the total drug quantity manufactured during this time
period by counting the number of weeks, subtracting time periods when Mr.
Driskill was incarcerated, and arriving at an approximate total quantity of
methamphetamine manufactured by Mr. Driskill of fifty pounds. The district
court determined fifty pounds was “the most conservative estimate” and accepted
that amount because it was “the only fair thing to do when the evidence is in
-7-
conflict.” Rec., vol. V, at 51-52. The court held this quantity was supported by
Agent Haskins’ testimony concerning Mr. Driskill’s admissions, Mr. Mize’s
admissions, and other informants’ statements.
Mr. Driskill argues this evidence is an insufficient basis for determining the
drug quantity because his admissions were not used to compute Mr. Mize’s
sentence and thus cannot be considered reliable. Mr. Mize’s sentence was
computed under a plea agreement different from Mr. Driskill’s, however, which
precluded Mr. Mize’s own statements regarding the quantity of drugs from being
used against him at sentencing. Mr. Mize’s sentence is thus irrelevant. See
United States v. Sardin, 921 F.2d 1064, 1067 (10th Cir. 1990) (citing cases where
co-defendants’ disparate sentences upheld because disparity was explicable from
the record). We are not persuaded the district court’s finding regarding the
quantity of drugs for which Mr. Driskill was responsible was clearly erroneous.
See United States v. Cook, 949 F.2d 289, 296 (10th Cir. 1991).
We AFFIRM.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Stephanie K. Seymour
Chief Judge
-8-