835 F.3d 833
8th Cir.2016Background
- On May 15, 2014, after two recent armed bank robberies in Little Rock and an anonymous tip about a gray Ford Taurus believed to be driven by a suspect (Keyontae Johnson), Little Rock police set up a roadblock on I-530 and stopped two cars: a gray Taurus and a black Honda containing Cameron Arnold as a passenger.
- Officers had identified Arnold as a suspect in an earlier (March 24) bank robbery and knew there was an outstanding warrant for him; Johnson had been connected to the May 13 and May 15 robberies.
- Following the stop, Johnson was detained and indicated the car ahead (the Honda) was involved; Arnold and the female driver were taken into custody and cash was discovered on/near the female driver.
- Arnold was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit bank robbery and three counts of aiding and abetting bank robbery; he moved to suppress the cash and his statement from the May 15 stop, which the district court denied.
- A jury convicted Arnold on all counts; he was sentenced to 210 months’ imprisonment. Arnold appealed denial of suppression, Batson rulings on peremptory strikes, and substantive reasonableness of his sentence.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Arnold) | Defendant's Argument (Government) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawfulness of the roadblock/stop under Fourth Amendment | Stop was based solely on an anonymous tip and lacked indicia of reliability; therefore seizure of passenger was unlawful | Roadblock was a reasonable, suspicionless group seizure justified by urgent public interest in apprehending an armed bank robber; reasonableness (Brown balancing) governs | Affirmed: roadblock reasonable. Officers had reliable info implicating suspect, high effectiveness (all occupants implicated), and brief detention justified the stop |
| Batson challenge to peremptory strikes of African-American venire members | Government struck jurors because they expressed distrust of police (a proxy for race); strikes were pretextual and discriminatory | Strikes were race-neutral: prior service on a hung jury, committee adjudication experience, and demeanor ("very animated/agreeable") justified peremptories | Affirmed: district court did not clearly err in finding race-neutral reasons and no purposeful discrimination |
| Sentencing disparity with co-defendants | 210-month sentence is substantively unreasonable given co-defendants received 30 months; violates 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(6) unwarranted disparity | District court considered relative culpability, Arnold’s leadership, furnishing guns, age differences, criminal history, and co-defendants’ cooperation/guilty pleas; sentence within guideline range | Affirmed: no abuse of discretion. Legitimate distinctions (leadership, criminal history, cooperation) justify disparity |
Key Cases Cited
- Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (prohibits race-based peremptory strikes)
- Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (reasonable-suspicion standard for investigative stops)
- Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325 (when anonymous tips can supply reasonable suspicion)
- Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266 (anonymous tip lacking predictive detail cannot justify stop)
- Illinois v. Lidster, 540 U.S. 419 (special-law-enforcement stops can be reasonable without individualized suspicion)
- Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. 47 (balancing test for reasonableness of seizures)
- United States v. Paetsch, 782 F.3d 1162 (10th Cir.) (upholding targeted roadblock to catch fleeing robber; applied Brown balancing)