United States v. Jose Granados, 20-10289

Jose Granados was convicted after a bench trial of being a felon in possession of a firearm (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)) and appealed the denial of his motion to suppress evidence.
Officers stopped/approached Granados’s vehicle after detecting a strong odor of marijuana and suspecting he might be transporting marijuana for sale.
A records check revealed Granados had a recent violent felony conviction (about two years earlier) with an eight-year sentence.
During the encounter officers observed Granados fidgeting and reaching toward the vehicle floorboard, and exhibiting nervous behavior (sweating, looking around, rubbing his legs/hands on a cold night).
Officers, relying on training and experience, suspected Granados was armed and dangerous and conducted a search; the district court denied suppression, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether officers had reasonable suspicion that Granados was armed and dangerous, justifying a search/protective measures	Granados argued the individual facts did not independently justify reasonable suspicion and suppression should have been granted	Government argued the totality of circumstances (odor of marijuana, suspected trafficking, violent criminal history, fidgeting/reaching, nervous behavior) gave officers a reasonable, experience-based suspicion that he was armed	Court held officers had reasonable suspicion under the totality of circumstances; denial of suppression affirmed
Whether factors must be analyzed separately rather than together	Granados urged that no single factor supported suspicion	Government argued the Supreme Court rejects ‘‘divide-and-conquer’’ and permits evaluation of the whole picture	Court rejected divide-and-conquer; evaluated all factors together under the totality of the circumstances

United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266 (2002) (courts must assess reasonable suspicion based on the totality of the circumstances, not isolated factors)
United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411 (1981) (reasonable suspicion is based on the whole picture and reasonable inferences from experience)
United States v. Burkett, 612 F.3d 1103 (9th Cir. 2010) (standards for evaluating reasonable suspicion in the Ninth Circuit)
United States v. Davis, 530 F.3d 1069 (9th Cir. 2008) (drug-trafficking indicators, like strong odor of marijuana, can contribute to reasonable suspicion of being armed)
United States v. Cotterman, 709 F.3d 952 (9th Cir. 2013) (en banc) (defendant’s criminal history can be a factor in assessing dangerousness)
Thomas v. Dillard, 818 F.3d 864 (9th Cir. 2016) (fidgeting and reaching toward vehicle interior can support officer suspicion of a concealed weapon)
United States v. Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1 (1989) (profile-based indicators may contribute to reasonable suspicion)
United States v. Brown, 996 F.3d 998 (9th Cir. 2021) (courts give appropriate weight to reasonable inferences officers draw from facts in light of their experience)