United States v. Paul Martin, Jr.

USCA4 Appeal: 21-4337 Doc: 30 Filed: 03/14/2023 Pg: 1 of 4

UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 21-4337

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

PAUL ANTHONY MARTIN, JR.,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Loretta C. Biggs, District Judge. (1:20-cr-00291-LCB-1)

Submitted: February 28, 2023 Decided: March 14, 2023

Before THACKER, Circuit Judge, and TRAXLER and MOTZ, Senior Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

ON BRIEF: J. Clark Fischer, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellant. Sandra J. Hairston, United States Attorney, Margaret M. Reece, Special Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. *2 USCA4 Appeal: 21-4337 Doc: 30 Filed: 03/14/2023 Pg: 2 of 4

PER CURIAM:

Paul Anthony Martin, Jr., pled guilty to possession of ammunition by a convicted

felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), 924(a)(2). The charge arose after

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, police officers conducted a Terry * stop of the black Dodge

Charger that Martin was driving and recovered two bullets from Martin’s pants pocket.

Martin moved to suppress the bullets as evidence, arguing that they were the fruit of an

unlawful seizure. The district court denied the motion, and Martin subsequently entered

his guilty plea, preserving the right to challenge the court’s denial of his motion to suppress.

The district court sentenced Martin to 57 months’ imprisonment. On appeal, Martin

contends that the court erred in denying his motion to suppress because the officers lacked

reasonable, articulable suspicion to justify the stop. We affirm.

“When reviewing a district court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, [we] review[]

conclusions of law de novo and underlying factual findings for clear error.” United

States v. Fall, 955 F.3d 363, 369-70 (4th Cir. 2020) (cleaned up). “If, as here, the district

court denied the motion to suppress, [we] construe[] the evidence in the light most

favorable to the government.” Id. at 370 (cleaned up).

The Fourth Amendment protects “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their

persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” U.S.

Const. amend. IV. “An officer executes a lawful investigatory stop when [he] has

reasonable, articulable suspicion that criminal activity may be afoot.” United States v.

* Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968).

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Gist-Davis, 41 F.4th 259, 263 (4th Cir. 2022) (internal quotation marks omitted); see Terry,

392 U.S. at 30. The officer must have “at least a minimal level of objective justification,”

Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119, 123 (2000), meaning that he “must be able to articulate

more than an inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or hunch of criminal activity,” id. at

123-24 (internal quotation marks omitted). Courts assess whether an officer has articulated

reasonable suspicion for a stop under “the totality of the circumstances,” giving “due

weight to common sense judgments reached by officers in light of their experience and

training.” United States v. Perkins, 363 F.3d 317, 321 (4th Cir. 2004). Once officers are

authorized to conduct a brief Terry stop, they are similarly authorized to “conduct a

protective search of, i.e., frisk,” the individual “if the officer has a reasonable fear for his

own and others’ safety.” United States v. Holmes, 376 F.3d 270, 275 (4th Cir. 2004)

(internal quotation marks omitted).

Here, the responding officers testified that a witness reported that a Qushawn

Reeves fled the scene of a shooting in a black Dodge Charger. One of the officers knew a

Qushawn Reid and believed this was the person identified by the witness. Officers began

looking for vehicles matching the witness’s description. Martin was driving a black Dodge

Charger, and when he turned onto a road in front of two officers, the officers ran the

vehicle’s registration. The registration of the vehicle Martin was driving was the same as

a black Dodge Charger that had previously been linked to Reid. Martin drove the Charger

to an address that officers knew Reid frequented. Further, Reid was known to the officers

as someone potentially involved in prior shootings in the area. Based on their training and

expertise, the officers believed the shooting was likely gang-related and knew that Reid *4 USCA4 Appeal: 21-4337 Doc: 30 Filed: 03/14/2023 Pg: 4 of 4

was associated with the suspect gang. The district court found that the officers had

reasonable, articulable suspicion that Reid was involved in the shooting and denied

Martin’s motion to suppress. Considering the totality of the circumstances, we agree with

the district court’s assessment. See Perkins, 363 F.3d at 321. The subsequent frisk of

Martin was justified by his statement to a responding officer that he had two bullets in his

pocket and because of the vehicle’s suspected involvement in the shooting.

Therefore, because the district court did not err in denying Martin’s motion to

suppress, we affirm the district court’s judgment. We dispense with oral argument because

the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before this court

and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED