IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
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No. 01-50113
_____________________
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Plaintiff-Appellee
v.
BOBBY LEE EARLS
Defendant-Appellant
_________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
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November 6, 2001
Before KING, Chief Judge, DAVIS, Circuit Judge, and VANCE*,
District Judge.
PER CURIAM:**
Defendant–Appellant Bobby Lee Earls appeals his conviction
on one count of possession with intent to distribute five grams
or more of cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1)
and (b)(1)(B). Specifically, Earls challenges the district
court’s denial of his motion to suppress the evidence seized as a
*
District Judge of the Eastern District of Louisiana,
sitting by designation.
**
Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
result of what Earls contends was an illegal stop and detention.
We need not decide whether the information contained in the
anonymous tip alone was sufficiently reliable to provide
reasonable suspicion for a Terry stop. The combination of the
anonymous tip and the independent corroborating observations of
the investigating officers--the shouted warning by the woman in
the apartment complex, Earls’s evasive and nervous behavior, and
his presence in an area known for drug trafficking--was
sufficient to provide the officers with reasonable suspicion to
stop the cab in which Earls was riding. See Illinois v. Wardlow,
528 U.S. 119, 124 (2000). The motion to suppress was correctly
denied.
Earls’s conviction and sentence are AFFIRMED.
2
United States v. Earls
Combined Opinion