United States v. Goldberg

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS September 24, 2003 FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Charles R. Fulbruge III Clerk No. 03-50099 Summary Calendar UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus RONALD JAMES GOLDBERG, Defendant-Appellant. -------------------- Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas USDC No. EP-02-CR-1361-ALL-DB -------------------- Before DUHÉ, BENAVIDES, and STEWART, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:1 Ronald Goldberg entered a conditional guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute marijuana. He appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress the marijuana and argues that the totality of the circumstances did not indicate that he had committed or was committing an offense at the time of his arrest and that the marijuana, which was in plain view in the back 1 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 R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR.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. seat of his vehicle, was improperly seized because the stop and detention were illegal. Our review of the record reveals that the federal agents reasonably believed from the totality of circumstances that Goldberg was conducting a drug transaction and that probable cause existed for the arrest. See United States v. Garcia, 179 F.3d 265, 268-70 (5th Cir. 1999). The marijuana was properly seized. See Texas v. Brown, 460 U.S. 730, 740 (1983); United States v. Wilson, 36 F.3d 1298, 1306 (5th Cir. 1994). The district court’s denial of the motion to suppress was correct. AFFIRMED. 2